Sometimes It Hurts

Sometimes it is tough to witness the hardships people face here in Zimbabwe.  We just got back from a supply run to Harare and the contradictions here are still on my mind.  While there in Harare, you can witness two extremes of society.  There are some very affluent neighborhoods with extreme poverty a short distance away.  I have seen some wealthy areas that rival some neighborhoods in the US.  Across town there are parts of where people live in slums that you will only witness in 3rd world countries.  You can drive through the streets and see corn growing wherever there is any dirt, hundreds of people lying on the ground sleeping, dirt trails lined with people as far as you can see trying to sell something to earn some money, very small children that should be in school running between cars to try to sell trinkets, grass fires and garbage burning everywhere, and at night you see people huddled up around fires in the ditches.  


Out at Sanyati, the differences are not quite so obvious.  Most people live a life as subsistence farmers.  There are not many opportunities to earn money.  Some may have jobs at the mission center, schools, hospital or the cotton centers in ARDA.  Most people live in small family villages of bricks made from termite mounds.  Some along the roads have posted their family name up on a small sign as a bus stop for the combi vans that ferry people around.  Many of the rural schools appear to be abandoned buildings from many years past.  The windows are broken, the roofs leak, the doors may be missing and much of the wood is eaten by termites; however, when school is in session you may find the small room filled with 75 or more children sitting on makeshift mats … desks are rare.  Some schools have part of the children based outside and swap to be inside midway through the day.  There are days when you see many children walking around in the school uniforms.  My heart was broken when I asked why they were not at school.  I was told that they had been expelled because their parents could not pay the school fees.


Time working on the hospital brings a mixture of emotions.  Some days are very sad like one about a week ago where I witnessed nurses cart the bodies of two patients to the mortuary.  The storage containers where we keep our materials and tools are directly across from the mortuary.  It seemed like there was a lot of activity there over the next several days.  The police brought a body in one day, another day I saw a family come to collect a body in their scotch cart, and I had to explain the cries of a morning family to some people from America.  Mixed in the tough days, there are some that are very joyful.  Some of the last team got to hold newborn babies that we heard being born as we were working on the above roof.


I cannot help but feeling that the people here deserve far more.  I hear accounts of people going home to die all the time.  Just the other day, I found out the niece of someone I work with on a daily basis had lost her young baby that was only a few days old.  The only details I know are that the baby had a wound on its back and the hospital here referred them on to Kadoma and then Kadoma referred them on to Harare.  They could not afford to go to Harare so they came back home and the baby died.  Tragedy and death are very common here.  It hurts and it is hard not to be completely overwhelmed and just cry.  I try to pour all I can into the hospital because the people here deserve so much more.  I push on even when it is hard to bend and walk on the leg I hurt when I slipped and fell on the roof for the second time since I have been here.  It is hard to know that I have insurance that will evacuate me or a family member in a medical emergency.  The people here only have access to what the hospital can provide.  In many cases it is lifesaving, in others it is not adequate.  They are short on medicines and in dire need of a doctor.


My family and I live in a nice house on the mission center.  We have running water and electricity most of the time.  Though what we have here is far less than what we are accustomed to back in America, it is far more than many here will ever have access to.  It is hard to reconcile that we were born in an affluent country.  The plight of the people is burned into my heart.  I am reminded of the Sermon on the Mount which opens as:
Matthew 5:1-12
The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes
1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 
2 He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, 
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 
5 Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 
10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
11 Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 
12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 


Please continue to pray for the people of the Sanyati area.  Pray that the Lord provides for them by repairing the hospital and providing another doctor in addition to the safe return of Dr. Byler later this year.  Pray for encouragement and perseverance during tough times.


Ryan