Inflation

I remember the 1970's when the talk around the states was inflation. It was the economy and inflation that helped Reagan get elected president of the USA. I hadn't been out of college too long and inflation wasn't a terrible thing to me because it meant bigger raises.
Until now, I had never considered how inflation impacts the lives of people that live in extreme poverty. This week has opened my eyes. This past week I worked with a group from the U of Alabama. This team purchased and packed 2 loads of food to give away to families in need. When the bill for the food was paid, it was over $300 per load more expensive than it was just last summer. The food cost for basics like beans, rice, corn flour, sugar, coffee, and a few other items has risen by almost 25% in less than a year. For most of us from North America and the USA, this would be a concern yet, we would survive. We would survive by not eating out as often - since eating out for Terri and I would cost about $20 to $25, we would need to eat at home a couple of more times a month to make up for the rise in the cost of food. But - where would you be if every dime that you earned went for only two things. One of the two things is bus fare to get to your job and the other expense is food for your family. Unless you are able to start walking ot work, if your food prices increased in this situation, the only place to cut would be in the amount of food you were able to buy. You may think that the employers would be sympathetic to asking for a raise but, in a place where the unemployment rate is more than 30%, employers don't feel like they need to give raises. Compounding this is the fact that fuel costs are causing the bus fares to increase.
I don't know what one person can do about this problem of people that were already hungry being forced to cut back because of increasing prices. I do know that we will look for ways that we can offer a little relief. I also know that our God answers prayers and we are praying that He will use us to do everything that he has planned for us to do here in Honduras. One of the reasons we are here is because Jesus said " whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you have done it for me."
Be a blessing for somebody today,
Marc