From Geoffrey to You! Calloused HANDS and Calloused HEARTS

Saturday May 9, 2009

Calloused hands and calloused hearts

Corruption, manipulation, and taking advantage of others make up the life mantra of some of the business owners and employers of Masii that have bought into the idea of doing whatever it takes to get ahead. The taxi drivers here break the laws by cramming two or three times the legal limit of people into a small van and increasing the price at their discretion. I have numerous friends that are forced to work sixty-hour weeks with remunerations that don’t even meet their basic needs. I have a friend who has a beautiful four-month-old baby named David, I just found out that while his wife gave birth to David he had to work, he gets no sick leave or vacation time, he works everyday but Sundays. From what I understand, laws have been put into place but there is a severe lack of follow through. In America we have corrupt politicians, sometimes it seems to be a requirement to get the job, we have employers that take advantage of employees, we have people that are overworked and underpaid, but it seems as though we are given incentives and aid from the government in exponential rates in comparison to here in Masii.

One of the most overwhelming realities of this place is that these people have the most extreme work ethic I have ever witnessed, whether delivering water, building furniture, teaching, preaching, or running a store the people of Masii work, work and then work some more; their rough calloused hands open your eyes to the extremity of the work ethic that most of these seem to have built into their DNA. Sometimes you shake a hand and its like a rock. Our work is nothing in comparison to theirs. Because of this driving force, I think quite a few people have been able to climb up the social later and define the idea of “rags to riches.” The majority don’t seem to know what it means to be lazy, though there are the few that do.

The story of one friend really exhibits the severity of some of the mistreatment some employers inflict on their employees in some desperate attempt to gain more wealth. Her name is Cara and she is easily one of the most kind, benevolent and compassionate people you will ever be fortunate enough to cross paths with. She leads our worship and praise team, her voice sends goose bumps down my spine each week. She is one of the few that is willing to show up to church at 6 AM every Sunday morning to pray. She is on our leadership team and is a faithful in her tithing. The small group that she is involved with takes up offerings to help meet the specific needs of people in bad situations, and like clockwork, she always gives to those who have less than her. On Sundays and other days when William and I have been working all day, she comes to our home, after work ten or more hours herself, and spends an hour or two making us dinner. Cara has such a great heart and is such a wonderful person, which makes her job situation even more difficult to know about.

She works in a small gift shop over sixty hours a week for two thousands shillings a month, which is equal to twenty-five dollars. After her tithe and rent she is left with less than five dollars each week to buy food and water and basic needs, oh but don’t forget that she is always giving to other people who have less than her. Cara doesn’t eat every day. Cara doesn’t get any days off. Cara can’t afford her basic needs. I just found out that Cara now has to work Sundays as well, ten hours ever day of the week, seventy-hours a week, for a measly twenty-five dollars a month. If she continues with this job she wont be able to lead worship, serve in the church, or have a day to herself to enjoy life.

She the eldest of her siblings, meaning that the her whole family is looking to her to help support and cover their school fees and basic needs, but how can she do that when she can’t even afford to feed herself? She has no money saved up. Job opportunities are far and few between. She has an elaborate idea of starting her own business but she has no access to a loan to start this business. How much longer will Cara’s body allow her to work these many hours with so little rest and nourishment?

The pastor I work under was talking to me just the other day about a ministry that he was dreaming about starting. He wants to start a ministry to help different members of the church start small businesses and to get out of working environments that mistreat them and take advantage of them. I told myself that I wasn’t going to help anyone else financially until right before I left, but I am thinking of making an exception. A few people have given me money and told me to use it as I felt God lead me to. I have used this money to buy food and meet the basic needs of a few individuals and I am going to use part of it to stock up the food bank at the church, but I think Cara’s situation is another perfect opportunity to use the money. I seem to have problems every time I give a gift or buy food for someone, but you don’t have to worry this will be done anonymously so my safety wont be jeopardized. My idea was to give her the money as a loan, ask her to make payments back to the church and that money can then be used to help another person start a small business (I know of quite a few people that want to start their own business but lack the funds). It is something that I am going to need to work out the details with the pastor but if things work out it could really help a lot of people out in this community. This could also be the start of an incredible ministry.

Asante Sana

Mwendwa

Prayer Requests:
Cara and her job situation
My safety
Dr. Stanley’s travels
Funds for a generator
The work of the medical center Tumaini just completed
My family we had a death in the family and my aunt had a stroke

RANDOMS:
Masii isn’t very big. My old house is literally a quarter mile from the hotel I am staying at. All of my friends have started to tell me how much they miss me and how sad they are that I wont be seeing them anymore… what? Huh? Literally I see all of them everyday still and if they want to come see me it takes them three minutes to walk to my hotel. I think it’s REALLY funny.
I LOVE peanut butter and jelly. Even though the peanut butter taste and looks different, even though the jelly is WAY different then what I am used to, and even though the bread is sometimes REALLY stale… I now eat PB and J a few times a day… oh how I love it!!! This is going to get me through the next four months… I’m also buying a stove and going to be eating at the hotel whenever PB and J can’t satisfy me… ha ha ha I don’t think PB and J could ever not satisfy my hunger…
I just bought a DVD with all of Eddie Murffy’s stuff and The Gods Must Be Crazy! I am stoked… and it was only like two bucks! And has about twenty movies on it… SWEET!
I think I get more visitors now then I did at Williams… ever twenty minutes someone comes by lol…
Most of my friends keep on coming by because they think I am bored when I am here by myself. He has no one to talk to and nothing to do… poor Geoffrey lol. I funny thing is that I ALWAYS have stuff to do, watching movies, reading books, typing emails, writing letters, editing pictures, making houses out of cards… lol. I try to tell them that I am fine and am completely okay, but they everyone is still so worried.
A few friends told me how much they miss me… even though I had seen them the previous few days ha ha
The people here definitely have a way of making you feel special and loved. It is nice to know that they are so concerned and worried about me. My friends treat me good : )
In my shower, YES I SAID SHOWER I HAVE ONE NOW, there is a knob that kind of sticks out and I keep on bumping my head into it… it really hurts
Someone is playing “cry me a river” by Justin Timberlake… of all the songs to make it out here it had to be that one huh?

WORD OF THE DAY
Tafhathali kucheza inje
Taa – faa – dolly coo-chez – uh in-jay
PLEASE play outside… I use this one when I am swarmed with little kids

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