My Front Porch Looking In ...: April 2011

This weekend I went on an exciting, exhausting, eye opening, and unique adventure! I am taking a halthcare missions class and to get the class credit we had to participate in a one of a kind experience. We were told to bring the bare minimum and a sleeping bag. Not a big deal we were only there for two days..but I had no idea what I was in for! ha! When we arrived we took a tour of the village.. which I might add is out in the middle of no where...we were in the wilderness. There were trails throughout leading you to each village simulating several parts of the world. It was a diverse worlwide sampling of housing representing the living conditions of many of the poor in the world. In class we were each assigned a village where we would be staying. There were mud huts in africa, Latin American adobe houses, an Applachian Shack, an Asian stilt house (my place for the weekend), a slum house, a refugee camp, a market down the road, and a few other buildings.

Welcome to Asia!

So here we go.... after the tour we were handed tin cups that we were suppose to use our entire stay. Then we presented our skits and teaching projects that our whole class had been working on. My group was given Asia and our topic was AIDS. I think we were given the hardest topic! Educating people who think this disease comes from ancestors punishing them for their past and who can barely read is not an easy task...but this is something healthcare workers deal with all the time in other countries. We were were given topics and had to present as if we were actual missionaries and Christian healthcare workers. Then we had lunch....and let me tell you about this lunch! We gathered around a fire and there were people there through the entire place playing their part. For instance, we were in "Africa" for lunch and ate what the family prepared. We were passed out plates and that was it. They came around and put a mixture of potatoes, corn, beans, and spinach on our plate. I was waiting for the silverware and then realized there would be none... in Africa the poor often have none....and we were in 'Africa' eating with the poor. That was so hard for me to do .. I can't not remember ever eating this type of food with my fingers. What an experience!!

Then we had to work for the money we would later be taking to the market to buy our dinner. We built earth bag homes in Haiti and ran a clinic for the afternoon. When we went to the municipal to get our pay the 'officers' took part of it and we were payed a minimum. This is also something that happens in the world we live in that made me realize how blessed we are here! In the midst of our clinic, people(the ones working at the camp) started screaming there had been an earthquake and we had to run and act accordingly to help the victims. This was utter chaos!! We had to run through the village to the site and start pulling people out from under stuff and putting them on whatever we could find to get them to the clinic. Our victim, bless his heart, was loaded on an old door and carried by six of us to the clinic.. we had to go through mud, up a hill, through the trees, and down a long path! Only to get to the clinic and be told we had to take our victim somewhere else. So back down the road, through some more mud, and up another huge hill we go! (in real life our victim would have probably not made it) It was nuts, but then again the entire time in my head I was thinking this is nothing to how people have to respond after a major earthquake, mud slide, tsunami, etc. etc.!! Just from our role playing it was exhausting, frustrating, and hard to accomplish any task!

On to the market and dinner time! We were given a tub with matches, plates, silverware(yay!), an old camping grill thing to place over the fire(to cook the food on), and a jug of water. That was it!! We had to head to the market and barter with the vendors for our food! Yes this is what we were going to have for dinner..all we were going to have! This was another surprise and in our information they told us not to bring any food.. all that would be provided.. well it sure was.. in a market! So we head to the market and the fun begins. We went from person to person trying to figure out how to feed six people with very little money and 'expensive-to us' food. In the middle of the market were some 'American tourists' so a couple of us from my group acted like we had no money and the tourists gave us some and let us try their American treats..6 skittles..ha! Another girl from my group charged them to take pictures with her and then they payed her some more to take pictures of just them! This was so funny, but we had to get more money to feed our 'family'! The 'police' were everywhere and even took back some food from different groups b/c they "stole it or did not have the proof they worked for their money." So crazy.. I thought we were going to go to bed hungry.. for real. At first I thought ok they will bring out the pizza they are going to serve or hot dogs to grill around our camp fire .. but umm no this was part of our weekend experience. Our group went back to our village with 6 potatoes, one ziplock bag of rice that was only half way full, one squash, an apple, an orange, and two ears of corn! Not kidding and this was what we had to get creative with to make a dinner for six people on a campfire that we had to start!! I have never been so thankful for the warm meals I can cook at home on a electric stove, running water, or for the utensils I have to prepare and eat the food with! Our menu consisted of crunchy rice, charred potatoes, grilled corm, grilled squash, and the orange was split 6 ways for dessert! Our food was disgusting, but there was something about the fact that we worked and bartered for it that made it bearable... or maybe it was the fact that we were starving?!

This entire experience was such an eye opener!! I am so humbled and thankful for the 'simple' things in life! I realize there are so many less fortunate but never in the ways as I did going through this experience! Not only did it make me thankful but it added to the spark in my heart that wants to help others! I pray for God to use me and anything that I have to bring to the table! I had fun but was so happy to be back home!

‎"All my needs You have supplied...when I was dead You gave me life...how could I not give it away so freely?..And I'll follow You into the homes that are broken.. follow You into the world..meet the needs for the poor and the needy God. Follow You into the World." :)