Behind the Bougainvillea

You know, by the time I leave Mexico in five days I will have spent up to one hundred dollars on giving alms to beggars.  And you know something, even by Mexican standards I am not that well off. In Canada I am considered working poor and the only reason I am able to make these trips is because I live in government subsidized housing and I am very good at budgeting.  I do not mind doing this at all, but this is one of many factors that have convinced me that I should take Mexico off my travel list.  It isn`t because I hate giving but that I am quite troubled that the government of this country and so many of its people are so indifferent towards the most vulnerable citizens who live here.  For example, that homeless man lying in the blazing sun on the sidewalk the other day, who might have been dead or dying, and all these well dressed Mexicans stepping around him as if he didn`t exist.  No one with a cell phone to call for the ambulance or check to see if he was alright.  Or today the elderly woman with a cane whom I assisted up the stairs at the Chapultepec Metro Station.  No elevator and not one single caballero to offer her assistance.  What is wrong with this country?  Here President Enrique Peña Nieto lives in luxury on top of a hill in Chapultepec Park and metres away some of the poorest Mexicans struggle to make a living selling unsafe food or useless junk because there are no other opportunities for them in this country.  Why does this country have such passive contempt towards its own people, and why aren`t more Mexicans doing anything about this?  I have noticed a healthy culture of protest in this country and I would love to see it grow till the elected leaders start to really pay attention to the real needs of Mexicans.
     Old women having to beg and homeless men dying on sidewalks should not be acceptable in any society.  To my friends who live here I have this to say.  Start.  Anything.  You have a voice.  Use it.  It is not as hopeless as you think and all you need is to start caring about your neighbour and to get over the fear, dispair and cynicism that hinders real and positive change from happening.  This is your country and you know it better than I do and you know whom to consult and whom to advise.  On behalf of our friendship I am asking and I am imploring you to do something.  I am asking you to care.  When I have returned to Canada I will be contacting the Mexican Consulate in Vancouver and the Mexican Embassy about this.  No excuses.  Do something.  This is your country.