This last week, besides catching a bad case of the flu, I went to the girls hostel right behind my house to meet the 50 girls who live there and go to school nearby. They are from elementary to high school age. I was asked to do a special program with them weekly, so on Tuesdays I am meeting with the high schoolers, Wednesdays are junior high, and Thursdays are elementary. My first time meeting them on Monday was fun. They were as fascinated of me and my white skin and blue eyes as I was of them and their beautifully braided dark hair. And when I left, they all wanted to shake my hand at the same time. Talk about starting a riot! When I met with the high school girls on Wednesday, one of their first questions to me was if I am married. After saying no, one of the girls quickly offered that I could marry her uncle!
Pray for me as I start this ministry to these girls, that I would say the right things to them and show them the love and care of the Lord.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
I'm Not a Fan
This is a follow-up on my last entry. There are certain things here that I've come to dislike...alot.
1.Cockroaches. Who's a fan of cockroaches, anyway? Scientists? Well, I'm not a scientist and I don't like cockroaches, especially since I found that my new apartment had a large family of them living there. My first night here, it seemed like there was a cockroach hiding in every corner. My house-helper, Bala, went and bought some spray and has killed many a cockroach since then. I left for a weekend, so he came and sprayed in the kitchen and told me later that cockroaches started coming out from under the sink and by the time he was done, there were at least 50 dead cockroaches on the floor! Yuck!
2.Loudspeakers. Not the small kind you find in church. The large kind people hang up on the sides of buildings to make sure people can hear the event from blocks away. There is a church across the road from me who has a set of these loudspeakers, and they broadcast every event on them: Bible studies, weddings, church services, and a once-a-month all night prayer vigil, in which the church band rocks out all night and into the morning with very loud praise music.
3.Humidity. This is a very dry area of the country, but right before rainy season, it gets really humid. We can always tell when it has rained in another city because it gets humid and sticky. I feel constantly wet!
4.Drums. Not to put down any of you who like them or play them. But there has been drum practice for the last couple of weeks everyday for (I kid you not) about 5 hours a day. I wondered how and why one could practice the drums that long. And I had no idea where the sounds of the drums where coming from. So finally, I went to my backyard and peeked over the wall. In the middle of the field behind my house, there was a guy at a big red drumset playing away! Perhaps he has nothing better to do. Funny scene to see a guy in a field playing the drums; not so funny to have the sound of drums in my ears for five hours a day.
1.Cockroaches. Who's a fan of cockroaches, anyway? Scientists? Well, I'm not a scientist and I don't like cockroaches, especially since I found that my new apartment had a large family of them living there. My first night here, it seemed like there was a cockroach hiding in every corner. My house-helper, Bala, went and bought some spray and has killed many a cockroach since then. I left for a weekend, so he came and sprayed in the kitchen and told me later that cockroaches started coming out from under the sink and by the time he was done, there were at least 50 dead cockroaches on the floor! Yuck!
2.Loudspeakers. Not the small kind you find in church. The large kind people hang up on the sides of buildings to make sure people can hear the event from blocks away. There is a church across the road from me who has a set of these loudspeakers, and they broadcast every event on them: Bible studies, weddings, church services, and a once-a-month all night prayer vigil, in which the church band rocks out all night and into the morning with very loud praise music.
3.Humidity. This is a very dry area of the country, but right before rainy season, it gets really humid. We can always tell when it has rained in another city because it gets humid and sticky. I feel constantly wet!
4.Drums. Not to put down any of you who like them or play them. But there has been drum practice for the last couple of weeks everyday for (I kid you not) about 5 hours a day. I wondered how and why one could practice the drums that long. And I had no idea where the sounds of the drums where coming from. So finally, I went to my backyard and peeked over the wall. In the middle of the field behind my house, there was a guy at a big red drumset playing away! Perhaps he has nothing better to do. Funny scene to see a guy in a field playing the drums; not so funny to have the sound of drums in my ears for five hours a day.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
I'm a Fan
Here's 5 things I wasn't a fan of before I lived here, but now I am!
1.Ice Water- Yes, Mom, I now like ice! I haven't liked ice in my drinks for years, but the heat here is brutal! After working in 104 heat all day, I crave ice!
2.Ceiling Fans- I have never liked ceiling fans. They make me cold, blow papers around the room, dry out my contacts, and make annoying noises. I'd rather put up with the heat than have them on. Okay, so never mind about all that now. When the sweat starts dripping down your back and legs, all you can think about is hoping the electricity will come back on so the ceiling fan will come on.
3.Light Bulbs- Okay, so I wasn't not a fan of these before, but I never considered them in a list of my favorite things. I'm living in a place now where the electricity goes off every night at 7, leaving me in the dark. I often look at the light bulbs at night and wish for once I could have light at night!
4.Car Batteries- What? Okay, this is a little hard to explain, but those of us who live in third world countries with little electricity often set up what we call a “battery back-up system”, using a car battery to power lights and a few low voltage items in the house when the electricity is out. This means I can now have lights at night! Yes, I'm a fan!
5.Reruns of the Cosby Show- I have Season 1 with me, and this has cheered me up on my nights without electricity. Seriously, I have laughed harder than I have in a long time, and it's helped me forget that I'm sitting in the dark!
1.Ice Water- Yes, Mom, I now like ice! I haven't liked ice in my drinks for years, but the heat here is brutal! After working in 104 heat all day, I crave ice!
2.Ceiling Fans- I have never liked ceiling fans. They make me cold, blow papers around the room, dry out my contacts, and make annoying noises. I'd rather put up with the heat than have them on. Okay, so never mind about all that now. When the sweat starts dripping down your back and legs, all you can think about is hoping the electricity will come back on so the ceiling fan will come on.
3.Light Bulbs- Okay, so I wasn't not a fan of these before, but I never considered them in a list of my favorite things. I'm living in a place now where the electricity goes off every night at 7, leaving me in the dark. I often look at the light bulbs at night and wish for once I could have light at night!
4.Car Batteries- What? Okay, this is a little hard to explain, but those of us who live in third world countries with little electricity often set up what we call a “battery back-up system”, using a car battery to power lights and a few low voltage items in the house when the electricity is out. This means I can now have lights at night! Yes, I'm a fan!
5.Reruns of the Cosby Show- I have Season 1 with me, and this has cheered me up on my nights without electricity. Seriously, I have laughed harder than I have in a long time, and it's helped me forget that I'm sitting in the dark!
It's a Privilege
Last week, I took a walk with my African supervisor, Pastor Timothy, to see some hostels housing the children of African Christian workers. Their parents have sent them to the city to go to a prominent private Christian school. Finding a school with good education is hard to do here, and when you find a good Christian school, it's rare. Needless to say, admission into this school is in high demand, and there's a waiting list for the hostel.
When we walked into the boys hostel, I knew I needed to blog about what I saw, and I wished I had my camera with me so you could see it, too. Pastor Timothy and Markos, who is in charge of the hostel, told me that I would be surprised at what I saw. We walked down a hall with walls made of thin plywood with holes so you could see into the rooms. Each room was 6 foot by 6 foot, no beds, just four holey walls, a window, a ceiling, and a door that would barely close. Pastor Timothy turned to me and said that 12 boys sleep in each room! As I looked at the room, I wondered how 12 boys could possibly sleep here. There was a hole in the wall of one of the rooms that was big enough for a boy to crawl into the next room. I laughed and told Pastor Timothy that if a boy came to bed late and didn't find room to sleep, maybe he could crawl through that hole and see if there was space in the next room. Seriously though, I wondered if some boys would have to curl into a ball or even go into the hall to sleep at night.
Pastor Timothy told me that this place used to be one large room, and some of the parents came and wanted more privacy for the boys, so they built these small rooms. I wondered if it made the conditions more cramped.
We went on to a larger hostel next door. It was a huge room filled with bunk beds with about 100 or 150 boys staying there. Bags with the boys' belongings hung from the rafters. A few older boys were sitting around playing cards and taking a break from studying, while some others were cooking on little kerosene stoves inside. Pastor Timothy said that the boys do all their own cooking- no one cooks for them. These boys are high school age; imagine high school boys you know having to live in a cramped hostel and try cooking for themselves! There is only one set of hostel parents for all these boys in all the hostels, so the boys are basically living like bachelors. I looked up and saw that the ceiling was full of holes. During the upcoming rainy season, the inside of the hostel will be constantly wet.
We saw a few more rooms, even smaller than the first rooms we saw, and we saw the porch where many boys sleep on mattresses because there is no room inside.
Then Pastor Timothy said something to me that I will remember for a long time. He said “Mary, these living conditions are terrible. I know that children in the U.S. would not ever want to live like this, and maybe you can tell them about how these boys live so they will be thankful for what they have. But Mary, this is a privilege for these boys to be here. There are many children who want to come here, but there is no room. This is a privilege!”
Both Pastor Timothy and I left the hostel feeling saddened that receiving the privilege of going to a good Christian school came at the price of living in such poor conditions.
I wish I could snap my fingers and fix the roof and provide more space for these boys. I wish I could cook good meals for all of them each day. I wish I could find several more good hostel parents for them who would help train them to be Godly men. I wish I could make it all right.
Even if I received all the money tomorrow to fix the roof, I'd still have to go through the proper channels, and it could take a very long time, maybe not even happen at all. So pray that I have wisdom in what to do about this. Pray as I talk to leadership and humbly find out the bigger picture of who is responsible for these hostels. And pray for the health and safety of these boys as they live at the hostel.
When we walked into the boys hostel, I knew I needed to blog about what I saw, and I wished I had my camera with me so you could see it, too. Pastor Timothy and Markos, who is in charge of the hostel, told me that I would be surprised at what I saw. We walked down a hall with walls made of thin plywood with holes so you could see into the rooms. Each room was 6 foot by 6 foot, no beds, just four holey walls, a window, a ceiling, and a door that would barely close. Pastor Timothy turned to me and said that 12 boys sleep in each room! As I looked at the room, I wondered how 12 boys could possibly sleep here. There was a hole in the wall of one of the rooms that was big enough for a boy to crawl into the next room. I laughed and told Pastor Timothy that if a boy came to bed late and didn't find room to sleep, maybe he could crawl through that hole and see if there was space in the next room. Seriously though, I wondered if some boys would have to curl into a ball or even go into the hall to sleep at night.
Pastor Timothy told me that this place used to be one large room, and some of the parents came and wanted more privacy for the boys, so they built these small rooms. I wondered if it made the conditions more cramped.
We went on to a larger hostel next door. It was a huge room filled with bunk beds with about 100 or 150 boys staying there. Bags with the boys' belongings hung from the rafters. A few older boys were sitting around playing cards and taking a break from studying, while some others were cooking on little kerosene stoves inside. Pastor Timothy said that the boys do all their own cooking- no one cooks for them. These boys are high school age; imagine high school boys you know having to live in a cramped hostel and try cooking for themselves! There is only one set of hostel parents for all these boys in all the hostels, so the boys are basically living like bachelors. I looked up and saw that the ceiling was full of holes. During the upcoming rainy season, the inside of the hostel will be constantly wet.
We saw a few more rooms, even smaller than the first rooms we saw, and we saw the porch where many boys sleep on mattresses because there is no room inside.
Then Pastor Timothy said something to me that I will remember for a long time. He said “Mary, these living conditions are terrible. I know that children in the U.S. would not ever want to live like this, and maybe you can tell them about how these boys live so they will be thankful for what they have. But Mary, this is a privilege for these boys to be here. There are many children who want to come here, but there is no room. This is a privilege!”
Both Pastor Timothy and I left the hostel feeling saddened that receiving the privilege of going to a good Christian school came at the price of living in such poor conditions.
I wish I could snap my fingers and fix the roof and provide more space for these boys. I wish I could cook good meals for all of them each day. I wish I could find several more good hostel parents for them who would help train them to be Godly men. I wish I could make it all right.
Even if I received all the money tomorrow to fix the roof, I'd still have to go through the proper channels, and it could take a very long time, maybe not even happen at all. So pray that I have wisdom in what to do about this. Pray as I talk to leadership and humbly find out the bigger picture of who is responsible for these hostels. And pray for the health and safety of these boys as they live at the hostel.
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