One of the interesting things about having the Kenyans and Ugandans encamped with us was the many opportunities for fellowship and getting to know each other. We pretty much ate, slept, worked with, worshipped with, these young people and their leaders for the entire week. And we talked. A lot. Mostly about our lives in our respective countries. We learned about their lives in Kenya and Uganda. They learned about our lives in the US. For both groups, a sense of the surreal was certainly apparent in conversation after conversation.
For example, I remember talking to a couple of the men from Kenya about how Americans feel about animals. Dogs and cats specifically. In Africa cats are only for eating rodents and dogs are kept just for protection. And neither are ever allowed in the house. Which strikes me as kind of funny since they can't track dirt into a house that already has a dirt floor.....? I thought of my completely pampered, spoiled 4 legged children at home. My golden retriever who wouldn't be caught dead outside unless someone was throwing a tennis ball for her and my cats who lounge the day away nestled in down comforters on our beds. They are certainly a far cry from the scrawny, starving canines and felines I saw over there. The conversation took a really bizarre turn as I tried, one evening, to describe a Pets'mart store to them:
"A store - just for dogs and cats?"
"Well, yes, primarily".
"And what do they sell?"
"Oh- lots of stuff. Special food. Clothing. Beds. Toys. Health aides. Fancy cat condos and dog houses. Special treats, and that's just a few of the things..."
"Dogs need clothing?".
"Uh, yes, apparently in our overly affluent, consumer driven society, a dog 'needs' clothes. Or at least Madison Avenue has managed to convince us that they do!"
"What is Madison Avenue?"
"Well, that would be people who make obscene amounts of money in advertising which is what drives consumers in the US to buy ridiculous things that they don't need. Like sweaters and rain boots for dogs, and miracle creams for wrinkles"
It sounded amazingly stupid even as I heard myself say it. But no more stupid than the fact that I wasn't making this stuff up, which if you could have seen John's and Simon's faces you would have been able to tell they thought I was pulling their legs! I assured them that Pets'marts are in virtually every city of any size in the US. All they could do was shake their heads and cluck their tongues.....
Another one of our campfire discussions centered around the question " What do you dream of?". One of the leaders of the Kenyan youths, a young married man named Reuben with a family volunteered that his dream is that one day he would not have to wake up and have his first thought be "How am I going to feed my family today?". To him, the best thing imaginable would be not to worry that his children would go to bed hungry that night. Seriously- when is the last time you heard anyone, ANYONE in your circle of friends and acquaintances express a similar dream for their life? What do we typically hear people in this country say they dream of? Winning the lottery maybe? Losing 30 pounds? Taking a long vacation to Europe? Owning a beach house? Being able to be rid of a spouse they can't stand? These are a few I have heard expressed by various people I know. I think about this a lot now. About how simple the dreams are for those living in poverty. A house with a floor that doesn't turn to mud during the rainy season. Enough food to feed the family. To be able to send the children to school. To be able to see a doctor or dentist when needed. Such simple, basic, reasonable things. It doesn't seem like too much to ask does it?
Or how about this one? Simon walks with a peg leg limp on one side. He can't bend one of his knees properly to allow him to walk with a normal gait. I noticed a very large scar across his knee. I knew that he had been in a pretty serious work related accident. Judging from the scar, I thought he had probably had open knee surgery for a blown out ACL ligament. As we were walking down a dusty road one day on our way to the work site I asked him about his surgery. He said he had surgery for a torn meniscus. Really? I asked again. Not a ruptured ACL? No- he reiterated again- it was a torn meniscus. This is a surgery we do in my work center hundreds of times each year. It is an outpatient procedure. 2 tiny little incisions, done in less than an hour, recovered and home about an hour later. Simon spent a long time in the hospital. He had to learn how to walk again. He was in his 40's when he had the accident. I just can't imagine this. Permanent disability from a minor knee injury. In this country this would never have happened, and if it had, he would have had treatment to fix the damage or been awarded a lot of money in a malpractice suit if that wasn't possible. TIA, however, and Simon just painstakingly limps his way wherever he goes. Without complaining, I might add. Just happy he can walk at all......
One more story of the incomprehensible. This one was told to me by one of the SLAM girls. One of the families I have previously written about, George and Margaret, once had 5 children. Their 2 oldest now live and work in Kampala. There are two boys still at home, Moses and Enoch. Moses is 15 yrs old, and Enoch is 11 or 12. There was one younger child- a 9 yr old boy named Joseph- until he died last summer. Joseph got sick with a cold virus and was taken to a clinic. It was determined that he was anemic (probably a suppressed immune response to the "cold"). He was given a blood transfusion. It was the wrong blood type and he died. Imagine. Your child develops a cold. You take him to a clinic. You are released with his body. This is Africa........
So yes- there is a great cultural divide. On one side there are people who dream of feeding their families, and medical treatments that don't kill their children or permanently damage their bodies, and just being able to struggle a wee bit less. And on the other, there are people from a country with unimaginable wealth who spend more money on their pets in a year than it would take to send a half dozen Ugandan kids to school. Who own enormous houses but desire a second one in a vacation area. Who complain bitterly every time the cost of gas goes up a few pennies, or the unemployment rate nudges up a fraction. It is very difficult to comprehend the concerns and desires of both of these groups, is it not? Hang in there with me. Try comprehending the incomprehensible. Think about it. That's all I ask. More importantly, I think it is what God asks of us......Shalom!
No comments:
Post a Comment