We arrived to Moria on Friday and had orientation on Saturday. Orientation I thought was really helpful to help align our minds and hearts to the people we’d be serving and the work we’d be doing. Upon getting a tour of the camp, I remember thinking “it’s not that bad.” The videos we watched and what we were told about Moria portrayed it as much worse, so “maybe this won’t be that bad” I thought.
Sunday morning is our first shift and I volunteer to do housing. I had no idea what I was walking into… My first assignment is to go ask a family of 7 to let another family of 3 move into their already small tent. They warned us coming in that we would have to be calloused in order to be able to be firm and say no to people even when it’s hard. So I have this guy begging me to please not bring another family into his tent and I’m trying as kindly and firmly as I can to let him know we have no other option, a boat with new arrivals has just come in and we have no other place to house people. He explains to me that his family is sick, he shows me the mold in his tent, tells me he is not animal, and again begs me to please please please not bring anyone else into his tent. I again smile and tell him that I understand (Do I though?) and plead with him to make room for another family that literally has no where else to go…It’s not that bad.
Later that day I get asked to help unload clothing boxes for a distribution happening the next day. I jump at the opportunity to do something different, something physical that doesn’t require me having to tell people hard things. As we unload boxes a couple of small kids join us and try to help. As we move the boxes from the van to the shipping container; we have to go through this narrow section of muddy rocks, we have boots on, the children have sandals. I quickly discover it’s not just mud we’re stepping on. It’s actually human feces, we are shocked, the kids are unfazed…It’s not that bad.
The next day we come to camp, it is pouring down rain, there is crazy thunder and lightning! People have to stand outside in line for hours in the soaking rain to get clothing that probably won’t fit them…It’s not that bad.
The camp looses power every 2 hours for 2 hours all day long…It’s not that bad.
There are live and dead mice all throughout camp…It’s not that bad.
I could go on and on about the things I’ve seen and experienced in just a few days here but needless to say, it is ACTUALLY really bad! After just a few hours here I started to question how I could possibly endure almost 5 weeks here. I felt so angry and frustrated and I don’t like feeling that way. I asked other volunteers how they felt about being here and they all replied that they loved it and wish they could be here longer! Wait, what!? How? Why? I really didn’t understand this.
Then I got to play with 2 little girls that were helping me in clothing distribution. At one point one of them finds my lunch Tupperware and hands it to me while pointing to her mouth, she’s hungry! I immediately open it and start feeding her pieces of my left over omelet, she is devouring it. I continue feeding the little girls see the smiles on their faces. I get the sense that THIS is why I’m here… It’s not that bad!
