Saturday, May 29, 2010

It Could Be Worse - It is for Many

I’m sitting in a restaurant where I’m dining alone. It’s another unplanned evening, displaced so to speak – I’m making my way to a temporary place to sleep. Just two more nights like this.

The burn on my forearm reminds me of several ‘wounds’ from the post flood days. I’ve cut myself with a razor blade through my index finger while cleaning old paint off the bathroom tiles. I’ve cracked my toe against the base of a ladder so hard it split the toe nail right down the middle. There are other small damages done, probably some I can’t even remember.

It’s not so much that I’m absent-minded (though, that might be part of it) but sometimes the small moments of being careful seem less necessary when bigger things have been lost.

I wonder if there would be more earthquakes survivors if people weren’t frantic but careful. I suppose it depends on the person, and maybe past experience too.

I have actually suffered very little from my muddy flood. I lost very little. I read in the local paper last week that 93 people in Kenya had died from the flooding in different areas. Some 60,000 are displaced. (I wanted to tell the journalist, “Make that 60,001.”) I imagine though, that all those displaced lost everything.

Some of the areas that have been flooding are normally arid, desert-like. Probably people in those areas are not very familiar with how dangerous a deep flowing river can be when they usually cross a dry riverbed or only wade through at ankle deep. You just put your baby on your back and whatever you are carrying on your head and cross. No one will ever the amount of livestock lost, which is some communities is like losing cash.

I’m grateful for how little I’ve been affected – but it’s taken me some weeks to get there. It would great if I could truly rejoice in all circumstances. Perhaps this experience will help me the next time. My mind has mostly healed, my body will too. I’m still taking it one day at a time.

Post Script: After leaving the shopping center, I got stuck behind a matatu (public mini bus) with the slogan on the back, God knows and He provides.

No comments: