Credits to my roommate, Joy, and fellow teacher,
Daniel, from various conversations we’ve had on this topic.
When hearing about the trinity, you may understandably think of The
Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (capital T). However, on the mission
field, we have another trinity (small t) that occupies much of our thoughts and
time. This trinity: power, internet, and water, has the ability to keep life on
the field fairly pleasant, but when one, two, or all three of these elements
disappear, it all becomes a bit more difficult. Let me explain.
Power, while not a scarce commodity, is certainly an
unreliable one. Whether in the classroom, the airport, or sitting at home, it
is not a strange occurrence for the power to cut out. It has the possibility of
coming back in the next five minutes, or the next five hours. There is never an
assurance to how long you will be without it. While this problem can usually be
solved with a generator or lighting some candles, it also has farther-reaching
consequences than just a lack of light.
Internet
is used in this country as much as any other, but again can be rather
unreliable. When the power goes, then the internet also goes. This doesn’t seem
like such a big deal until you’ve finally set up, or even started, that
long-awaited Skype date. Hopefully, the other person remembers that you live in
Africa and you aren’t ignoring or forgetting them.
But
there are many (creative) causes of the loss of our internet. Sometimes, rats
crawl into the box that connects you to the local telecom hook-up and chew
through the cables. And even though the other company on your line is an
internet café, it still takes two weeks to get it fixed. Sometimes, the line is
disconnected for who knows what reason, and it takes a visit to the head of
internet for the whole country to get it fixed. At least there are some decent
stories out of the ordeal.
Water,
our current dilemma, is a much coveted and usually reliable source. This means
when it is gone, life is not fun. After so many days without bathing or a sink
overflowing with dirty dishes, grumpiness may start to occur. My roommate
remarked that, in a way, its almost like living like Laura in Little House on
the Prairie. Then we realized that they didn’t take baths very often or use so
much water, because it was so much effort. I am satisfied not emulating
that particular lifestyle.
Ideally,
all three resources are readily available and life goes on pretty happily. But then
again, times without any one of these resources do remind you to be grateful
when those happy times come back. As my friend, Daniel, says “Without one of
the three, life is ok. Without two, life gets more difficult. Without all
three, life is not good.”
This post applies to those of us
that are blessed to have access to these resources to start with. Living in a
capital city, we experience a different lifestyle than those that live
down-country or other places with less. I hold those people in high esteem and
applaud them from my home here in Addis.
