Outside My Southern Comfort Zone: The Nine to Five

Me out in the far edge of the city in the zone of Tangani

So not much has happened in the past week other than work. So I guess that I will talk about work. This was a nice week at work. We started off our week going to visit a family in Tangani. It is a zone in the northern edge of the city. We took a mini bus from near Casa de Paso and started heading up. The mini bus began to wind down a dirt road around the edges of a few cliffs until we finally reached the bus stop. The bus stop is just a dirt place at the end of the road. From there, we had to walk up another dirt road which was pretty steep. After a few breath taking views we finally reached the house of the family we were visiting.

The house of the Family in Tangani

While we were talking to the lady she was telling us that she has no water. Apparently the city has not put water lines to this part of the city. This is the first time we had encountered anything like this. And of course the water companies don't deliver jugs of water out this far either. We asked the lady, "well what do you do? How do you get your water?" She then pointed to the river which is about 50 yards away. This was no gushing river. I didn't really see any water at all. She said that they dig holes in the edges that will fill up with water so they can wash clothes in the river or retrieve water for dishes of what not. I was a little bit taken back. Getting down to this river is no easy feat. It is a good 50 to 100 foot climb down to the bottom. I realized how much can be taken for granted at home. Just being able to do to the sink and get water is a blessing. Also not having to boil your water is another blessing. Until you live somewhere that you have to do this, you never really realize how lucky you have been. You may have heard about it but until you see it first hand it never sinks in. We continued talking with her and asked her how she liked living in this part of the city. She responded that she really loved living there. She said that it was " Muy Tranquillo." (Very Calm and Peaceful). I agreed with her. It was very beautiful and peaceful. If it wasn't for the water issue i think that I would love to live there as well.

The River where she washes clothes and gets her water. Notice the man standing in the upper right corner to get a judge of how deep it is.

The first Wednesday of every month we give out food to the families in our project we have a little more than 150. They all come into pick up there food and it gives us a chance to set up times to go visit their homes. It was alot of work because we had to take big bags of rice and sugar and seperate them into smaller bags to distribute. When the families come to pick up their food the load it into bags and blankets. It totals up to about 50 pounds of food by the time you add in the pineapple and everything. Then the families, many who live over an hour away, head back to their homes. Many ride in mini buses with these bags of food then have to walk the rest of the way to their homes (usually up hill). It is amazing that how much these people do. Again it shows me how much we take for granted back at home. Just the ability to load up everything in our cars and drive to our homes and park right by the door. The only fiscal work we have to do is loading and unloading the car.

Me handing out food to the families on Wednesday

Another thing I have noticed about many of these families is that they are very grateful and thoughtful people. Thursday, Justus and I went to a ladies house first thing in the morning. Again we road this mini bus to the far end of the route where it dropped us off at the bus stop. We then proceeded to walk up the road, up the mountain, to this ladies house. When the road ran out, we continued to walk up a dirt path. I think we may have walked a quarter mile or maybe half a mile up this mountain to this ladies house. Once there, the lady offered us some drink that she made from boiling water and some of the pineapple that we had given her the day before. I was a little scared to drink it but i was very thirsty. It tasted very good and i didn't get sick. Another house the we visited Earlier in the week was the same. When we finally got to her house we sat in a room with 5 of her 7 kids and watched Spongebob in Spanish of course, Next thing you know she was handing us plates of food to eat with her and her friends. I was again shocked. These people have very little but they are compelled to give to you when you are a guest in their house. You feel bad about eating or drinking but i believe it is more disrespectful not to......