In the book Revolution in World
Missions, author K.P. Yohannan quotes economist
Robert Heilbroner who describes luxuries a
typical American family would have to surrender if they lived among the billion
hungry people in two-thirds of the world.
These include furniture, appliances, clothes, food, water, electricity,
media, literacy, government services, money, etc.
The four main simple things that most Americans take for
granted are:
- fresh
water available 24 hours a day
Instead of plumbing and running water, East Africans have to
go to the village well every day. The
women and children as young as five years old carry buckets on their heads; or
else men rig up several jerry cans to their bikes. I have really missed having a sink!
- unlimited
electrical power
The homes where we stayed in both Kenya
and Uganda
were without electricity, so we relied on our headlamps, lanterns, and candles. They used a generator to power the village
internet place.
- telephones
that work
I haven’t noticed any telephone wires, since there aren’t electrical wires either. But, of course, cellular phones are becoming more common around the
world. We have a team phone for
emergencies, although we don’t always have service out in the villages. This photo is actually from my visit to Tanzania
last year, but it’s appropriate: can the Maasai warrior hear me now?!
- a
remarkable network of paved roads
We went white water rafting at the source of the Nile this past weekend, flipping out of control on Class
5 rapids. On the bus ride back to base
camp, the guides joked about the road being Class 5 too! We also often refer to car rides as roller coaster
rides. And while it reminds us of
“off-roading” it technically is the
road sometimes, even though it is simply a thin dirt path through the trees.
Oh, and cars share the road with donkey carts, farm animals,
bicycles and scooters, and, of course, people on foot – there are no
sidewalks.
I’m not accusing you
of taking these four things for granted, but I know I sure did! It’s ordinary life for East Africans, but it
takes some getting used to for us. It
has caused me to re-think what is really essential
in life. I don’t think you have to be poor to really
appreciate things, but seeing how people in poverty live has given a different,
important perspective.
