More Than Food and Clothes

The other night I was reading my bible and came across Matthew, chapter 6, verse 25: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important that food, and the body more important than clothes?” Is not life more important than food and clothing? It certainly is. I am seeing that fully here in the middle of the bush in Africa. In fact, some of the children do not even wear clothes! And rice and beans are almost the only food that is eaten. I wanted to come to Africa, partly for selfish reasons, so that I may know and actually live how others in the world live. Eat what they eat. Wear what they wear. Sleep how they sleep.

I was talking with one girl yesterday and she asked me in America if we have running water, toilets, the kitchen, and beds all in the same house. I said yes. She said it must be a very big house. She also knew that we use machines to wash our clothes. Here, the girls spend hours washing clothes, drying them in the sun, and then ironing them. I attempted this the other day, though I did not do nearly as well as the girls do. It is so easy for me to throw a load of laundry in the washing machine at home while I watch t.v. or do something else. At home I do not think twice about getting up in the middle of the night and walking down the hallway barefoot to use the bathroom. Here, I dread getting out of bed, finding my flashlight and toilet paper, putting on my sandals, walking to the latrine, and squatting over a hole in the ground. At home, I do not think twice about turning on the faucet for a quick glass of cold water. Here, these girls have to walk the mile or so to get water, pump the water, and carry it back to the center, all with a baby strapped on their backs.

How many times have I told the kids at camp to be thankful for a bed to sleep in, a roof over their heads, and food on the table? Yet how many times have I thoughtlessly taken for granted the luxuries I have in a first world country? Before I came here, I was worried that people here would know how I live and feel bad that they do not have what I do. The truth is, they can’t imagine what my life is like. They can’t imagine a kitchen in the same building that I sleep in. I would not know how to explain a microwave or a curling iron to them. Life is simple here. And it shows that life is much more than what I eat and what I wear.