"Eat your dinner, there are starving children in Africa."
Something parents have been telling their children for ages in order to guilt them into eating the dry chicken and mushy peas they have served for dinner. It's a good lesson for children to learn. There are plenty of children all over the world that go to bed hungry each night. It's important to remember to be thankful for what we have. I've had a lot of thankfulness now that I have arrived back home from our trip. I've also felt guilty about what I have and the guilty pleasures of my american life... you know like running water, a washing machine, and owning a vehicle... We chose to take our children with us to Zambia for many reasons. One of the biggest reasons was to teach them to be grateful for what they have. We are by no means very well off, but my children are growing up very differently than their Daddy did in Zambia. Our family has been struggling pretty hard after I lost my job 6 months ago, but we have always had food to eat at each meal. I feel pretty lucky that I have family, friends, and resources to turn to when things get really tough. When we were in Zambia, we rented an apartment to stay in. There simply isn't room at Sylvester's family home for us to stay. We got it at a great price, and it was a wonderful place to stay... except there was rarely any running water. They were having issues with their water tank, and their pump, and who knows what else. Occasionally we would have running water, both hot and cold, but most often we had no water at all. This makes it a bit more difficult to do dishes, or bathe, or do laundry, flush the toilet, or even to insure that the kids wash their hands. Also, we had been boiling and cooling water to use for drinking water... which is difficult when you don't have any water to boil. I don't consider myself much of a spoiled American, but this really got the best of me on several occasions. I mean it takes long enough to get all 4 of us ready and out the door in the morning with out adding the time it takes to boil enough bath water for us all, and gather water from outside in buckets to bring back up to pour in the tank of the toilet just so we could flush. When the water would come on, we would all rush around the house like crazy people trying to fill up all of our buckets and bottles to save for later. I'm ok with washing laundry by hand (i'm not good at it, but I am ok with it). I'm ok with non flushing toilets, with cooking over fire, with eating different foods, washing dishes by hand in a bucket, and walking miles per day to avoid taxi fares... but this princess really appreciates running water. We have always told our children that they need to respect and care for their things. If they mistreat their toys, or leave them all about the floor, we will threaten (and follow through with) giving them to someone else who needs them. They are not allowed to whine for expensive toys or games just because their friends have them. I often realize that I'm channeling my mother as I instruct my 5 and 2 year old to go outdoors and find their own fun. Life is about doing, not owning. I was a bit amused watching my children rediscover their toys in their rooms when we arrived home yesterday. Madison pulled out every toy and wanted to play with them all at once. My children don't have many toys according to American standards, but they have way more than their Zambian cousins for sure. Zambian children play outdoors all day, creating their own toys out of found treasures and just enjoy playing together. Our kids have so many cousins to play with that they generally do pretty well and easily adjust to Zambian life. In fact, they have had a much harder time adjusting back to life here in Texas. After the first few hours of excitement over discovering their toys, both kiddos started to get kind of restless. Today Brandon asked who he was supposed to play with this morning. Still struggling with jet lag and not feeling well myself I lazily tried to steer him toward quiet toys and games. He just couldn't find anything to hold his attention. It occurred to me that he has just spent 2 months surrounded by cousins to keep him amused. They play outside all day and just run after one another. Brandon and Madison both would rather have a handful of playmates than any toys at all. I feel like i'm winning at parenting today... even though both kids have been complaining that they are bored all day. I'll take all the nonsense for an important lesson learned.
1 Comment
Ambuya
7/8/2014 02:52:40 pm
First of all, my beautiful child, you always win at parenting. You have beautiful, sensitive, well-behaved children, except that their grandmother spoils them a little. They are so fortunate to have the experiences of the last two summers in Zambia. They have learned that everybody does not have as much as they do. They learned to play kick ball in the dust barefoot and love it. They learned to eat unusual things without batting an eye, because that's what you taught them to do. I'm glad you're all home, and even though I missed you so much I felt lost, I am SO thankful for the work you have done and continue to do!!
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Have family, will travel...a blog about our family as we continue to follow our hearts and God's will as we work to help the children of Zambia.
PammieI'm a wife of a missionary and a mother of two beautiful Zambian-American children. Archives
June 2015
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Have family, will travel
a blog about our family as we continue to follow our hearts and God's will as we work to help the children of Zambia.