Karatina Market

On this first weekend we soon ran into a funny problem at Tumutumu.  Mainly, what's next?  How American of us, to expect a planned itinerary as soon as we arrived!  The hospital is closed on the weekend (except for the in-patients) and the Head Doctor, Dr. Kariithi, who is responsible for organizing us and appointing us positions at the hospital, wouldn't be in until Monday.  So Matthew and I, who are rather goal oriented, would be without a mission until Monday.  (Also, we would be without internet!  Sorry Mom!).  On top of which we were, temporarily, the only guests at the guest house. 

We asked around and expressed our desire to get out and see and do something on Saturday.  So hastily we were shuffled from host to host.  We received an impromptu tour of the hospital from Leah (see Matthew's post for details).  Then it was arranged for a driver from the hospital, Paul, to take us on a driving tour of Karatina.  There we met Carol, a nursing student of Tumutumu, who showed us around the Saturday market where an abundance of produce was sold: oranges and bananas, avocados, melons and mangoes, beans and lentils, onions, tomatoes and garlic, potatoes and yams....

Paul's tour of the city was interesting because he was the first person to discuss and address class with us.  There are several apartment buildings which have water and electricity.  This is where the upperclass people live.  They are also the only ones with cars.  Middle class residents live by the river so they can easily wash their clothes in the river because they do not have running water.  He didn't discuss where the poor lived.  The markets are even divided.  Wealthier patrons shop in 'boutiques', or stores with permanent locations in the downtown area.  If you can't afford the boutiques then you shop second hand clothing and shoes in the open air markets by the train tracks.  There is a third market, the food market, where sellers (mostly lower class) come on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays to sell produce.

A Boutique Shop

Market

So here we get a glimpse of what poverty looks like.  I've seen it in India and Cambodia and Thailand and it has the same face here.  It is dirty, it is crowded, it smells really bad.  It is mismatched clothing and shoes worn through their soles. It is homes made of wooden slats and roofs of tarp and thatch.  

How do we reconcile this?  I think this is what I struggle most with:  I am here, a comfortable Christian, and even if I give all of my money and self to this place the problems will not be solved.  That is still not enough.  There will still be periods of drought when people go without food.  There will still be disease and poverty.  It begs the question what is the use?  Why bother?  Theologically, this is right up there with “Why do bad things happen to good people?” and “Why does evil exist in the world?”.  I hate to disappoint you but I am without simple solutions to these too.

There isn't an easy, trite phrase to make this all add up.  I think just being here in fellowship has something to do with it.  I'll refer to Nouwen again (as I think I often will in these posts) to share some insight on the problem:

“The mystery of ministry  is that the Lord is to be found where we minister.  That is what Jesus tells us when he says:  “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40).  Our care for people thus becomes the way to meet the Lord.  The more we give, help, support, guide, counsel, and visit, the more we receive, not just similar gifts, but the Lord himself.  To go to the poor is to go the Lord.”