5-16-08
Post By Cathy Hackett
Tired, dirty, and hungry describes how our small team of ten plus the Esther Home girls arrived at our hotel after a long, hot day feeding refugees on the Rwanda-Tanzania border. We scooped thousands of cups of cornmeal into buckets, canvas sacks, and brightly colored plastic woven carryalls. By the time we were finished, approximately 1500 people had been given various amounts of cornmeal depending on the size of their family. A family of five, for example received 30 rations (between 2 ½ - 3 ½ cups per ration), or six rations per person.
Before the dispersement began, we played with the many children in the area, who showed up long before the other family members. Team members brought Frisbees, balloons, bombos (candy), footballs, soccer balls and other various toys to the delight of the kids. It took quite awhile for the rationing to begin, but once started the process was fairly efficient.
Four different rationing stations were set up, with each family assigned to a station according to where they lived in the camp. It was interesting to note that usually the woman of the family stood in line to receive their family’s portion, while the men sat under the trees in the shade. Most of the women also carried the cornmeal home, many with heavy amounts on her head. The camp manager had rosters containing the names of each person in the camp, so that when a family was called to receive their cornmeal, the volunteers would be told exactly how much to dole out. According to the manager, these people had not received any cornmeal since last November, when Ron and Joyce brought another team to the camp. November is in the rainy season, when after the dirt roads are so filled with water and potholes that it’s impossible for food to be transported to the camp. I can’t imagine the roads being much worse – it was a long, bumpy, dusty trip into the camp! Imagine those roads turning into mud and trying to slog through! When trucks are unable to reach the camp for months at a time, the refugees have to make do with whatever crops they have been able to grow. The last six or seven months have been especially lean thanks to buffalo from the nearby Akagera Game Park eating most of their crops. After the feeding, we walked through the camp distributing portable, fold-up shovels to some of the residents. Fran, one of our team members, works for Gerber, a knife and small tool company. Gerber donated 40 shovels, 25 of which were given here. Most of the people we visited lived in either a tent-like structure or a circular hut made of mud, sticks and palm thatching on the roof. These homes showed pride of ownership, having been swept free of debris around the house, and tidy gardens of corn, sunflowers and sorghum surrounded the individual plots of land. Not a piece of trash in sight. These people are very resourceful in using whatever materials are available. One hut had a door made out of cut-up jerry cans (used to carry water) framed in wood. Again, balloons, soccer balls and candy were given to the ever increasing crowd of children following us.
Maria, one of the Esther Home girls, is a former resident of this camp. She and her brother, Christian, who still lives here, relocated to the camp in 2006 when Tanzania kicked out Rwandans who escaped their country during the 1994 genocide. Other Rwandans had been living in Tanzania since 1959, when Belgium started tribal identification and giving one tribe preferential treatment while ostracizing the others. Many of the people in the camp today were the sons and daughters of grandchildren of the original emigrants. Most had been farmers, owning homes in Tanzania while working the soil, raising cattle and contributing to the Tanzanian economy. I was told most of them were only given a few hours to leave to go back to Rwanda, forcing them to leave most of their belongings behind.
Christian’s and Maria’s plot of land was truly amazing. In a two week period, a tent-like hut reinforced by intricately woven sticks, a fire pit for cooking, a privy and a woven fence were constructed. It was easily the nicest structure there, and together they lived there until Maria arrived at the Esther Home about a year ago. The reunion between the two siblings was really heartwarming, not only for them but for those of us watching as well. They only have each other in this world, and their bond runs very deep.
Today has been one of the hardest, most emotional, humbling and rewarding experiences of my life. Here are people who live in conditions more primitive than any campsite I’ve ever seen, yet they possessed strength and dignity despite their circumstances. The kids laughed and played, and men and women visited with each other during the entire rationing process. As we walked through the camp giving out the shovels, we heard a woman singing. When asked why she was singing, she said she was very happy and that the Lord had blessed her. What a lesson we all could learn!
There’s nothing like having cornmeal in your pores, eyes, hair and shoes to have a 180 degree perspective shift. To a person, we were all affected by today. It was really inspiring to see the Esther Home girls diligently working to help their fellow countrymen. From the youngest ones, Glacier, her new sister Esther, and Glacier’s cousin Taylor, to “Grandma Bunny”, and everyone in between, our hearts were filled with compassion and respect for these people. The next time I want to complain about having to wait a few extra minutes in the doctor’s office, I will remember these people have no doctor. I will remember how many walked long distances for a few cups of cornmeal and then had to turn around and walk that same distance to get home, and I will be thankful that it is so easy to jump in the car for the short drive to the grocery store. I will remember the nursing mothers without clean water to drink and I will be grateful the next time I reach mindlessly in the refrigerator for yet another bottle of water as a half-finished one sits on the counter. I will remember the kids running around in torn, dirty clothes, some without tops, some without pants and I will be thankful for my washer and dryer, and that I have many outfits from which to choose. I will remember that God cares and loves the refugees as much as he loves me, and that it could just as easily be me living in that camp. I will never forget. Ever.
