Short term missions: Gratitude is not enough...

                Summertime is the season of short term missions, which is causing me to reflect on the impact that short term trips often have on the participants and their response upon returning home, especially trips that take participants to areas where there is greater poverty than their home area.  Over the past several years, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with friends, colleagues, fellow church members, and many EMU students who have spent time internationally on a short term mission or study abroad trip. 

      After spending time volunteering in an area where there is poverty, a common sentiment expressed goes something like:  “The people I met were so happy yet they had so little.  It made me realize I should really be more grateful for what I have.”

    Based on the number of times I’ve heard this expressed, it is a very common response (and I’m sure I expressed the same sentiment after my first experience in another culture in 2002).  Upon further reflection, however, I’m troubled by this common response because I feel the response of gratitude is not wrong, but rather incomplete.  For those of us who were raised in an affluent community, spending time in a poorer community should cause us not only to be more grateful, but also to wrestle with two challenging questions:

1.        Why am I surprised to find that people are happy even when they have little?

2.       Why is this community poor, and how does my lifestyle and my community contribute to this inequality?

      I’m going to address the first question in my blog today, and then explore the second question in my next post.

In the US, we have been told over and over again that more things and more money will make us happy.  This sentiment is the entire basis of our multi billion dollar advertising industry and our capitalist economy.  Although many of us would claim that we don’t really believe this, our complete surprise that people can be so happy with so little is evidence that we have internalized this belief more than we realize.

So when we encounter people who appear to be content and joyful and yet don’t have much materially, it’s jarring for us. 

By responding to this situation by committing to simply be more grateful for what we have, we perpetuate our false way of thinking:

Having a lot = happiness. 

People with little = happy

 Me with more = more happy.

 Therefore, I should be even more happy because I have more. 

The problem with this of course is that it doesn’t challenge the basic assumption that having a lot = happiness.

Short term trips should cause us to question that very foundation.  We should be asking, Why do I believe that more things should make me happier?  Are there things that this community has that my own community is lacking? 

There are three things that I’ve noticed as I’ve spent time in other communities that I believe foster a sense of happiness and contentment that many of us in the West lack:

-          Limited exposure to advertising.  The purpose of advertising is to make us discontent.  If we were content with what we have, how we look, etc, we wouldn’t have the need to buy more things.  The general premise of advertising is to convince us that we are lacking in a specific way that their product can fix.  The promise is that true happiness will be found with the purchase of their product.  This promise is empty, and happiness continues to elude us as we try harder and harder to address our discontentment with stuff.

 

-          Strong community ties.  Many happiness studies have shown that strong relationships are one of the biggest determinants of happiness.  Many cultures, like Uganda, are people oriented, and place a very strong priority on relationships.   The average person in these communities has a strong network of family and friendship ties which also allows them to be resilient in the face of adversity. 

-          Strong faith – with the rise of secularism in the West, the culture in general lacks an “overarching narrative” that gives meaning to life.  The secular view is that life began as a cosmic accident, there are no spiritual forces beyond what we can see and feel, and when we die we simply cease to exist.  This worldview can easily lead to a sense of hopeless and despair.  Communities that have a strong religious faith have an overarching narrative that enables them to look at the whole of life as having meaning.   In an oversimplified way, a Christian narrative states that we were created by a loving and benevolent God, our life is a meaningful invitation to participate with God in the way He is working and present in the world, and when we die we have the hope and promise of eternal life.  Embracing this narrative results in a sense of hope and joy, as well as resilience in even difficult circumstances.

The typical response of determining to be more grateful is therefore incomplete because it enables us to continue with our false way of thinking, simply determined to “try harder” to appreciate the material abundance in our lives.  Instead, we should examine our own lives by asking questions such as:

-          How much and what kind of media do I expose myself to?  How does this affect the way I see myself?  How does this affect my ability to be content with where I am and what I have?

-          How much time do I invest in people?  Do I view relationships as expendable, simply a means to an end, or am I committed to the relationships in my life?  How can I rearrange my priorities to invest more in people and build stronger relationships?

-          Am I investing enough time in my spiritual life and spiritual development?  Am I being influenced by the meaninglessness of a secular worldview?  Do my life choices and actions reflect my faith and the ultimate meaning of my existence?

As a disclaimer, this discussion of people living in poverty and yet being happy can also cause us to idealize poverty, or to imagine that life in poverty is somehow ok because people appear to be happy.  True poverty is crippling and stressful, which leads us to the question I'll reflect on next - short term experiences should lead us to ask hard questions about poverty and economic inequality....more on that next time...

Kijani cloth diapers - made in Uganda!

When I was pregnant with Natalie, we were getting ready to move to the US for Muigai to start graduate school and we were looking for ways to save money on the baby.  We were living in Tanzania at the time, and many women used cloth diapers and hand washed them.  I figured if women could use cloth diapers and hand wash them, how hard could it be to use cloth diapers with a washing machine? 

I did some research online and was amazed at the variety of modern cloth diapers, which looked not only easy to use but also much cuter and cheaper than disposables.   So we used cloth diapers with Natalie, and we loved them -  we literally saved thousands of dollars by using cloth, not to mention saving thousands of diapers from ending up in the landfills.

When Natalie was about 18 months old, went to Kenya for 3 months for Muigai to do his practicum for grad school.  I was introduced to a lady in my town who had a cloth diaper business, and she agreed to teach me how to make cloth diapers so that I could train some women in Kenya.  My original plan was to train women how to make the diapers so that they could set up their own businesses.

Unfortunately, the materials that are needed to make quality diapers were not available in Kenya, so my original plan fell through.

When we moved to Uganda, I brought along some diaper fabrics.  In January, I made a few diapers for a friend and through word of mouth, I started receiving some orders and requests for diapers.

Since January, I’ve trained two local tailors how to make cloth diapers and have been experimenting with different designs to find one that would be affordable for the local market, high quality, and relatively easy to make. 

I’ve settled on an “all in two” design where the diaper comes in two pieces – an outer cover and an inner soaker that snaps onto the cover.  When the soaker gets wet or dirty, another soaker is snapped onto the cover, which can be used two or three times until it needs to be washed.  Since the cover is more expensive to make, this design makes the diapers more affordable.  The diapers and soakers are also adjustable, so the same diaper will fit a newborn all the way until he/she is potty trained.

I’m so excited to see how this project is taking shape.  Through word of mouth only, we have filled orders for 42 covers and 65 soakers since January!  Since this is something that I am doing in my spare time, I’m planning to keep it small for now.  My main focus is on training local tailors how to make the diapers in order to provide more work and income for them.  My role will be to source for the necessary fabrics (some have to be sent from the US) and coordinate the orders.   

Here are a few pictures of the diapers “in action” – thanks to Muigai for these great shots – it’s nice being married to a good photographer!!

Fun family adventures resume!

                It’s been two months since either Muigai or I have traveled outside of Kampala, a record since we arrived in Uganda!  It’s been nice having a small break from our “fun family adventures,” but this month we are hitting the road again.  We spent the day in Masaka yesterday (about 3 hours south of Kampala) and will be headed to Jinja (less than 2 hours) in the upcoming weeks.  In addition, Muigai will travel to Soroti (about 6 hours north) and also Hoima (3 hours west).  Then, in mid July we head to the US for three weeks!

                This was our second time traveling to Masaka, and there is something about this region of Uganda that I love, so I was looking forward to the visit.  We have a strong partnership with the Catholic Diocese, and one of the Fathers, Father Peter Paul, is a good friend and advisor of MCC. 

                The reason we were traveling to Masaka is to meet the host family of one of our volunteers who will be arriving in August.  We have a one year volunteer program for young single adults where they volunteer with one of our partners in Uganda and live with a local host family.  One goal of the program is to enable our volunteers to really immerse in the culture and understand what life is like in that context.

So early yesterday morning we strapped the kids into their seats and headed off to Masaka.

We stopped for a quick breakfast of katogo along the way…katogo is cooked banana stew with beef and rice, a common breakfast in the central region of Uganda.

Nathan waiting for his breakfast

Masaka town

We passed through the main town of Masaka and drove about 20 minutes into rural Masaka where we met Rose, a retired schoolteacher who will be hosting our volunteer.  Hospitality is extremely important, especially in the rural areas, and we quickly realized we shouldn’t have stopped for breakfast along the way.  Rose gave us each two bananas, a bread roll, a large queen cake (like a muffin), two hard boiled eggs, and a large mug of tea!  This was meant to be a mid morning snack, not a meal.




Rose has several agricultural projects on her land, including fruit and vegetable drying (with a solar dehydrator), rain water harvesting, chicken rearing, and pig rearing.  Natalie, who loves being outside, was in her element and happily entertained seeing the animals and playing outside while the adults talked.

Rose's compound

Piglets - Natalie and Nathan had a great time chasing them and trying to catch them but the piglets were too fast

Playing with a "ball" made from plastic bags and string

After visiting with Rose, we went to the Diocese for lunch and then visited the school where our volunteer will be working.  St Jude's Secondary School is only two years old and struggles with a lack of resources, but the staff are committed to building and improving the school regardless of the challenges. 

St Jude's Secondary School

After that we packed everyone back in the car and headed back home to Kampala, passing through the equator on the way back. 

I don't know what I was thinking wearing a white shirt to the village!  We were all covered in dust by the end of the day

Things I'm learning in Uganda #7 - Dancing is always appropriate!

      One thing that I love about Ugandan culture is the way that music is so seamlessly incorporated into so many aspects of life.  Singing and dancing are a part of most occasions, regardless of how serious.  As somebody who is musically challenged (at least when it comes to singing) I appreciate the complete lack of self consciousness associated with singing and dancing and the related lack of biting and sarcastic comments about other's abilities.  Music and dancing are joyful, community activites that everyone should join in regardless of their ability, and everyone is too busy enjoying the moment to analyze the skills or lack of skills in others.

      A great example of how music is incorporated into various occasions was at our recent Annual General Meeting.  Two of our partners, Susan and Solomon, have done some singing together and have even created a CD.  They had an opportunity to share a song with us to close the meeting which included a lot of energetic traditional dancing from their region.  Everyone clapped along and cheered, and I couldn't help but think how something like this would be so out of place in an Annual General Meeting in the US.  But here, in Uganda, where dancing is always appropriate, it was the perfect way to end our meeting.