Month 9, Hawassa Ethiopia
This month my team is serving in Hawassa, and, in complete honesty, I’m disappointed.
We are living in a family’s entryway in tight quarters, I set up my tent on the front porch and that is where I sleep. I expected tight quarters, so that’s not why I’m disappointed.
The electricity is sporadic, something else I expected and can easily live with.
The water situation is rough. Running water is basically nonexistent, sometimes it works but most often it doesn’t. That is also something I half expected, what I didn’t expect was how ill-equipped they seem to be, meaning water to flush the toilet and do laundry, is hard to come by. I’ve gotten used to the disappointment of thinking the water is running, and getting everything ready to shower only to turn it on and no water comes.
What I’m most disappointed with is our ministry; we have decided that we are a preaching choir. Most days consist of us going out to a church or gathering and doing our “program”; a few songs, a sermon and one or two testimonies. As soon as we’re done we are ushered back to our bajaj (the African tuk-tuk, which is often, generously, paid for by the church we are leaving) and taken home where I spend the rest of the day trying not to go stir crazy.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Africa, I love the people, the culture and the food, I love seeing how daily life works for people around the world; but for a country that has so many needs (there is a refugee camp just outside Hawassa) there has to be more, I want to be doing something, I want to interact with people, I want to hear their stories, I want to do something worthwhile.
I want my time here to mean something and right now it’s hard to believe I’m making a difference.
