We have tried to be very positive with our posts, but it
has been a very bumpy road - especially since moving to our "Ville". Most of the day I wonder – what did we commit
to do? There is no way we can do this
for four years – I am ready to leave today.
At that point I am very glad that God gave me much training as a long
distance runner during my life. One more
step – one foot in front of the other.
Bumpy. We have been
inundated with breakage since moving to the "Ville" (please keep in mind all this
broke in less than 10 days!). Personally
– a sawyer water filter and 2 ceramic water candels from another filter
(goodbye filtered water!), mp3 player, one laptop has been having lots of
trouble and not turning on consistently, badminton racket, a bowl, and a
transformer / converter to run any 110volt items from the US. Within the brand new guest house – a roof
leaking on my bed, water pipe in bathroom, lock and key for another guest's
door, refrigerator and power cord, a lake on the floor with our suitcases and 3
broken toilets. Each of these has a long
story, but I will spare the details.
Bumpy. The kitchen
consists of a table, a stove and a refrigerator nothing more. I am not kidding – no pots / pans, no pantry,
no silverware, no water, no light, no drain.
For over a week I was not able to find any vegetables and not many
fruits. I can only find highly processed
millet flour, rice, white bread and couscous - making me feel like I am not
feeding my family well. Some days we
have not been sure how we are going to find and prepare the next meal for our
children, as almost all shopping is at the market and we don't have enough
language skills or knowledge to do so on our own. Taking our children to the market for much
shopping is not possible because of the heat and all the walking, so one of us
has to go out alone. Either ingredients
are not available or I have not found them yet.
For meals I would throw food and a few seasonings together and hope it
tasted good. It has been stressful.
Bumpy. Then the water went off for 2 days and we had to
carry all our water to the guest house.
Bumpy. And at that
point we had some sickness going through the family.
Bumpy. No mosquito
nets, no closets or storage and 7 suitcases at first, all sleeping in one room
sharing two 1.5 size beds.
Obviously the actual roads in the Sahel are very, very bumpy,
so the song is very fitting. But at the
same time, it is very fitting for our journey.
So we are so grateful that this song was taught to us to remind us of
our commitment, our calling and that God doesn't call us (or always call us) to
the smooth road. He is accompanying us
on this bumpy road with His goal in mind.
At first in the "Ville" every day was bumpy, but we seemed to
have turned a little corner and the bumps are less frequent. Just recently I found a new road with a
market with fruits and vegetables! And a
young woman helped us to cook our sauce for our meal one evening – even helping
us pick out all the ingredients needed from the market. We went to bed satisfied and full.
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