I want to describe what a day can be like here in Bere'/Chad. The temperatures now are well over 110 degrees. It does not rain and it does not cool down. We sweat just constantly. I figured it out today that we each are drinking at the least 5 liters of water a day right now with the heat.
Well, this particular day was a hot one and we all felt it. We are having some sort of problems with the power and generator. Living without power is not that big of a deal but the fact that we cannot pump water into our water tower is a big deal. This particular morning we woke up and the water was gone.
Gary Roberts (the pilot) and another missionary Johnathan worked late the night before trying to fix our power. It got late so they decided to start the next day. Well the next day came but the water did not. I started to think about what it would really be like without water here. Our cook, Zashee, says that the "Nasara" people are like fish without water. And it is funny but is really true. We looked into our well and it was only about a pal and a half deep. Not enough to last for a week if needed. I started to freak out just a little cause we need some kind of water to flush the toilet, wash dishes, cook, and take a bath and most important drink. Where was I going to get all this water? And remember no Jamie, he is in America.
Michelle (a nurse volunteer) and I decided we would go get some water in the market to drink to start. So as we are walking to the market, my mind was just thinking about the people. We took some short cuts that really make you go in and out of the village. It was so hot that it is hard to describe. The heat is like you are in the middle of the desert. You are just dripping with sweat from head to toe, literally. Then you have the sand/dirt all over your feet and it is rubbing in your shoes. As we are going through the village I was more sympathetic toward the people and how they have to live. They don't have a choice if they want to live here or not, they just make do with what they have. The route we take is going up and down and down and up again. Why? I asked myself. It is because they have to build their houses out of sand and so everywhere you go right next to all of their houses is a huge ditch. We continue on and get closer to the market. There are more and more plastic bags and trash everywhere. There is a couple of pigs in muddy water hole, from who knows what, beside a house with little piglets. I am feeling discouraged about my situation. I start to think about why in the world am I here in this place, then my thought is interrupted by a man that said he knew me and he came to say thank you. He knew I helped his family with food while his cousin was at the hospital with tuberculosis and aids. He came to thank me for everything I did which for me it didn't seem to be much but he told me he wanted to officially thank me and come to my house the following Friday. Then we are interrupted by another man. This guy I have befriended from the market. He is an Arab and always smiles from ear to ear. It is a good thing to make friends here in the market. So I usually swing by his place when I am there. His younger brother was in the hospital a few weeks before and I was there to help make sure he got immediate attention and the best care. During their stay at the hospital I took him banana bread and some other goodies. I also took him some National Geographic magazines to look at while caring for his brother. So this guy too was happy to see me and let me know his brother is doing much better. Since I was on my way toward the market he let me know that he would be there shortly. At that moment I thought that God was reminding me why I am here. I am here for the people. Not for the comforts for myself.
As we make our stops in the market, things are happening left and right to remind me that the market is not my favorite place to hang out. We make our way to another Arab shop and his name is Abdoulay. All the volunteers get minutes on their phones here at this place. The routine is that you are suppose to come and shake their hands and greet them. Then you sit down and ask some more questions about their family etc. I tell you what, most of your time here is spent just saying hello to people. If you don't shake someone's hand that is very impolite and it tells the person you don't like them. As I was sitting there while Michelle is talking to Abdoulay I am taking in the reality of the view. After being here for 10 months I have been letting things slip by but not today. I was looking with my eyes wide open. I see very old women sitting across from us on the ground with their various foods on the ground on a piece of tarp. They look in need of a sale. Behind them sit a group of maybe 13 people sitting on four benches in a square. In the middle of them sit a very large bowl that would fit about 8 gallons of some kind of liquid and in this case it is some kind of alcohol. Then my attention is quickly directed to the very loud man greeting Abdoulay as he is over exaggerating his facial expressions as his body is creating a figure eight struggling to stand without falling over. I was told on a normal day this man is very quiet. Now while this is taking place and Abdoulay is trying to do his best to be considerate, I am still looking at the scenery. I am thinking "what kind of a place is this?" What have I been looking at all these months? I suddenly see a cripple woman passing by with her large piece of wood that is performing as her cane. She very slowly limps herself pass Abdoulay's shop. I notice that her shoes do not match and her clothes are extremely dirty. She stops right in front of us so that she can adjust the bag full of things on her head. So now that I am looking at her head I notice that this is the same lady that I saw a couple weeks ago in an alley digging through the most disgusting things that are hard for me to even bring back to my mind. But when that happened I helped her up as soon as I saw this I helped her up and Naomi was with me and she was able to interpret for me that she should never do this and handed her some money to get something to eat. I don't normally hand out money but this was a situation that I didn't even think twice.
So... this is what a short part of a day in Bere'/Chad can be like. Michelle and I got some water to take home. We also got a small ziplock like bag of water to drink right there on the spot so we can make the trip back refreshed. This ziplock like bag was something for me to get used to. When you drink it you are suppose to just bite a corner and suck it out. Just another crazy touch here in Bere'.
When we got back from the market adventure Michelle went to one house and I went to mine. We both went straight for the water to wash our hands from all the greets at the market. The water was there! I was so happy and so was Michelle. She came straight over to my house and she insisted that we thank the Lord for the water. There we knelt on my cement living room floor and thanked God for all His blessings.
I believe God allowed me to go through that experience to help me to be more compassionate toward the people for their need for water. I was angry and I was looking at all the horrible things before me but God put the people that thanked me and even the older lady that I helped to remind me why I am here.
Thank you Jesus for the discipline that you put me through so that I can grow to be a better worker for You.
Tammy
No comments:
Post a Comment