Frustrations of Mission Work...

Although my hut was nice and tidy, the other SMs weren't as lucky. Josh's hut is about a 10 minute walk from my hut and the compound. The first night I had the privilege of seeing where he will live for the next 8 months. His compound was larger then mine because it held two other families. Each family had a minimum of 6 kids and animals.  

I was also lucky enough to see where Daniel is living.  His hut is the opposite direction of Josh and I.  He is on the other side of the compound, maybe 20 feet from the wall.  If the wall wasn't there Daniel would be closer to the compound than me, but he has to walk around the wall each day.  Daniel's place shouldn't even be called a compound. There's no fence...or anything to enclose it. There's only a cluster of houses and their animals. There were about 7 children in his host family and they all were adorable.  

Many of you are probably wondering why I am writing about this.  Let's just say each of us had a unique story the next morning. I have already written about my host family, so I will only give highlights about my first night. 

We all met in the SM hut bright and early. Because it was our first day there wasn't to much planned; everyone was allowed to sleep in. Let's be real, everyone knows if I was told I could sleep in they wouldn't see me until 1pm at the earliest.  Tell me why I arrived at 8:30am to find everyone already there. Everyone had bloodshot eyes and some sort of compliant. 

Yes, of course the heat and new surroundings were part of the problem, but there was more to it.  For me, my host family woke up with the sun (5:30 am). I have learned that no one really cares if you are sleeping or not.  As long as you don't interrupt the person by going into the room, you can be as loud as you want. With that mindset, all 9 children were playing, laughing, screaming, and crying right outside my window.  No matter how many times I rolled over the noise wouldn't stop!

The guys wished that was all they could complain about.  Josh's family and hut weren't a problem; it was something much more surprising.  Everyone sleeps with the door open or outside because it is so hot at night.  While Josh was sleeping, a goat walked into his room.  Of course, like any normal person he freaked out.  No one wants to wake up with a goat in his or her face.  

Josh scared the goat out of his hut and blocked the door (He couldn't lock the hut from the inside like I could).  Let's just say the goat was very determined.  For the rest of the night the goat rammed the door with it's head. The door was metal. So not only was there an annoying thump, but it was loud.  Josh was boiling in his oven-like hut and was periodically scared by the goat all night.

Daniel had it the worst.  His hut was falling apart; it didn't even have a floor! (Most huts have cement or termite mud floors. His was just dirt....) To make things worse his house was infested with bugs. There was a colony of cockroaches living in his floor. Daniel hates bugs with a passion, so he definely didn't get sleep.  Thank God he had a tent though. He was able to doze off once and a while because he was quarantined in his tent.  To make things worse a rooster came into his hut and crowed really loud right outside his tent. He had just barely fallen asleep too.

Around midday we bought some Rambo, insect killer, and sprayed the whole bottle into his hut.  We shut the door really tight and waited 10 minutes.  When we opened the hut again to clean all the dead bugs.....OMGness!! They were everywhere!! Daniel was screaming his head off and running in circles. All of the children were laughing at us. The roosters and hens ran into Daniel's room and dined like royalty. Every cockroach was about the size of a Samsung Galaxy in length. DISGUSTING!! 

It didn't stop there. Everyone tried to encourage Daniel to give it another night. All of the bugs were dead now, there shouldn't be anymore complications. He decided to give his hut another try.  The next morning there was another type of insect that replaced the cockroaches.  Everyday there were increasingly exotic insects welcoming Daniel home or saying goodmorning. Needless to say Daniel only goes to his house to sleep now. He rather be anywhere but his hut.  

After hearing the guys story I couldn't even complain anymore.  I felt so bad for them.  They went to talk with the hospital staff praying they could be moved into SM housing. They tried their huts for about a week and things only got worse. That is what the hospital staff like to see. They want to know that we tried to make it work, and both Josh and Daniel did. Things should have changed.

Apparently, the SM housing are only allowed for people who are staying for short term, or have a masters. (Then why call it SM housing?!). They wouldn't allow the guys to move into those houses (although all but two were empty). Next, the guys tried to room together in Josh's hut. A goat is better than bugs. The hospital staff made a big deal about that too!!

It seemed like everyone was so caught up in the politics, and were too afraid to do anything. Maybe the stressors of the previous day were getting to us, but we all started questioning why we came. We came to make a difference, but it seemed like we were purposeless. Everyone seemed to be annoyed with us, but we didn't deserve their cold shoulder.

Marci and Bronwin (a SM who has been in Tchad for almost 2 years) were the only ones who understood our pain. Out of all the hospital staff, they were the only ones who lived in the village.  They tried to explain how everyone jumps to conclusions because of past SMs. It was almost like we had no chance. 

The two grad students, Zach and Charis, had all the perks. They were paid to come, while we were paying to come.  They had the nice SM housing, while we lived in the village. They were close with everyone in the hospital, while we had to face the cold shoulder. (Everyone arrived on the same day, the only differene was our level of education and we haven't seen them use it yet).

Like I said before, this probably seems insignificant and not worth the time, however, everything seems to be piling on.  I feel like I may be able to hang in there a little longer than the guys. However, if they were to leave I would probably follow soon after.  The three of us (Josh, Daniel, and I) have gotten very close in these past couple of day. They became the support system I lacked. If they were to leave I would be left with nothing. I would probably cry for the first time during this trip if they leave.... (Of course not in public and I would never admit to crying)

Pray for us please. Pray that we don't get too discouraged and hang in there.