Continental Drift

For a Westerner, this daily hardship is unimaginable. For Utamuriza, in northern Rwanda, it’s inevitable. But it’s not really the hike, or the 1000 extra calories she burns every day that keeps her just slightly malnourished; she could even live with the long lines at the source, or fighting that breaks out when others try to cut to the front, or when scarcity forces disputes between rival villages. The part that brings a sense of despair is that there seems no way out. Her treks for water comprise over 6 hours of labor every day, a task that often make her late for school, even missing classes all together. In this world, education provides the only future and most children miss anywhere from 4 to 10 days of school a month because of household work like hauling water, or the diseases that come from drinking from unclean sources.

Let’s complicate things. Water-borne disease is not just limited to typhoid, cholera, giardia, amoebic dysentery, ascaris, schistosomiasis, hookworm or trachoma - the combined forces of which infect over 50% of the developing world’s population at any one time and claim the lives of over 2 million children every year. Water-borne diseases also include common parasites like roundworm and tapeworm. Bloated abdomens are the usual indicator, and these parasites can consume up to 30% of the nutrients ingested by their host, exacerbating malnutrition, hampering the immune system, and stunting childhood development at an early age. Colds, flu, and respiratory infections all have roots in poor hygiene as do skin diseases such as scabies, and fungal infections. We’d like to think that putting a clean source of water in a community would be enough - if so, our jobs would be quite easy. But to actually reduce disease, the water has to stay clean and be used properly. Contamination between source and point of use is extremely high without proper hygiene education. Practices your mother always harped on when you were a kid, like washing hands, taking baths, and putting the lid back on containers have to be implemented for health improvements to be actualized.

While the idea of hygiene may seem like a no-brainer consider this: it’s not so long ago that western civilization thought that diseases came from lighting and “bad air” and doctors performed open surgery without so much as washing their hands let alone wearing scrubs. It wasn’t until the 1860’s when Louis Pasteur proved that bacteria caused disease that our worldview changed to embrace the impact of the mico-world, and even then the magnitude of that discovery took several decades to become accepted by mainstream society. We have lived with this idea for only the last 150 years; a mere breath of time compared to the millennia spent hiding from “bad air”. So it should come as no surprise that educating rural communities on the practices of good hygiene is difficult. The processes of worldview change and actual behavior change requires relationships, trust, and above all, time.

“Water is Life” is a slogan I’ve heard repeated in most of the communities we have visited. It’s life in more ways than just one - it’s wellbeing, it’s health, it’s time, it’s education, it’s peace, it’s hope. This year our partners will be initiating a spring development project in Utamuriza’s village that will improve flow rates and pipe water to a central location near the village. They’ll begin a comprehensive program to teach hygiene and assist families in implementing it in their homes. This project will impact three communities on the region and they, along with Utamuriza, will experience a whole new life.

The world is full of need. I pass by it on every trip. Every village contains its own stories of the destitute. Every street-corner is a home for a beggar, cripple, or orphan of some kind. There are always hands tugging at my shirt sleeves. There are always voices calling out. Sometimes there are no words; just silent eyes imploring.

But I don’t have time to stop for everyone. I have a mandate to fulfill. Clean Water! Clean Blood! That’s what I’m here for. I don’t have programs and strategies for addressing all the needs of Africa. I don’t have money for investing in every problem I encounter. And I have two, maybe three weeks to be as productive as possible and then I have my own family, desperate to have me back home again. Besides there are other people better equipped to handle these other “sectors” - agriculture, nutrition, medical care, education. We all do our part. Clean Water! Clean Blood! That’s my part. I’ve helped lots of other people…

It’s not easy being a NGO worker. I have performance expectations. Some placed on me by my organization. Some placed by donors who give money. Some by my own intrinsic values. There are goals to achieve, outputs to accomplish, I have funding I have to invest, and reports to write. We have to be accountable! We have to prove we are making a difference! You can’t do that without numbers. Yes… the almighty ‘number’.

So you see - not “of course”.

Maybe you think I’m crazy or callous or even heartless. Let me ask you a question: how many times have you been ‘wowed’ by a number and then walked away to go buy a coffee or check facebook? Those numbers are made up of actual people just like Zinnat. Or do you think poverty is just an issue in Africa? Are needy people just those with financial problems? How many needy people live in your area? The guy you always see hanging out near the highway with a “hungry” sign. The bum that asks you for change while pumping gas. The kid in the raggy clothes shuffling home from school. How about an alcoholic neighbor or a couple caught in a destructive downward spiral in their relationship. But you’re like me right? You’ve got a job, a family; someplace important you need to be… maybe you volunteer at your church or soup kitchen, or your local chapter for Habitat for Humanity. You give money to charities, and that should be enough right? You can’t help everyone you pass by, and there are certainly organizations that are reaching out to the needy in your area; ministries that are better equipped to deal with those types of ‘issues’.

You want to know something? Mostly I’m just making excuses. But I’m not the only one making them. Sure, I literally can’t help everyone out there. I don’t actually have either the money or time to affect significant long-term change in every person’s life I see. But the funny thing is, some of the most important things you give don’t cost money or even take a lot of time. But it takes something most of us aren’t willing to give… ourselves. The short moment it takes to look someone in the eye and make them feel valued; a brief conversation; a word or a touch that conveys meaning and affirmation - that I can give to everyone I meet.

Intentionality with a little compassion. It doesn’t take much. And most of the time, that’s the best thing you can do for someone. In the word’s of a very wise Rwandan man I know, “you Americans are too concerned about solutions. You need to understand the importance of the ministry of relationships.” And he’s right.

The funny thing is, relationships compel action. Jena and I did do something about Zinnat. I could have walked past but we took a moment to talk to her, pray together, let her sit on our laps and hear her story. And those moments of intentionality affected me perhaps more than Zinnat. We researched clinics and found one in Kenya that specializes in corrective surgery for club foot syndrome and we made sure Zinnat got there. She’s recovering now and this month Jena is visiting her to see how she’s doing.

I wish I could say I always respond to people with that kind of compassion, that kind of relational action. But I don’t. And there’s really no good excuse for it.

How about you? What’s your excuse?

My dad is a fantastic cook, but of all his cuisine, none stands out more than his panache for breakfast; pancakes especially. Particularly living in the bush in Africa or the highlands of Papua New Guinea, nothing quite felt like America as a huge stack of pancakes with homemade syrup, a glass of milk, and if we were really lucky, bacon.

You may wonder what has inspired the reminiscence of so distant a memory as pancake Sunday. While not as regular as a weekly event, my family is developing our own traditions; albeit along the lines of Tara’s innate gourmet leanings. We do crepes; an entire meal event consisting entirely of crepes - and if Tara is inspired (which she usually is) candles, china, and music. The main course usually begins with smoked ham layered with tomatoes and swiss, and seasoned with thyme. Sometimes though, we do breakfast crepes with eggs, cheese and sausage all wrapped up in the crepe. A little green chili and salsa makes them huevos rancheros crepes, and tomatoes and swiss makes them provincial.

The real reason for having crepes though is the desert course - generally fruit compote, or chocolate sauce or ice creme… okay, usually it’s a combination of all three. This last Sunday it was strawberries with a sweetened cream cheese sauce drizzled over top.

Now that I think about it, I think we just might make this a regular tradition.

Crepes may strike you as a posh and intimidating cuisine - I assure you they are not. In fact, they are little more than thin, eggy pancakes with a few simple fillers rolled up inside. The beauty is really in the simplicity of the dish coupled with a very satisfying array of flavors. Below is the basic crepe recipe our family uses and a few of our favorite fillers. If you have your own favorite ways for serving crepes, post them in the comments!

Basic Crepe Recipe (courtesy Alton Brown)
Ingredients
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons melted butter
Butter, for coating the pan

Preparation
In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour [we rarely bother with this]. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.

Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly [should be only a couple millimeters thick). Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to the cutting board. Lay them out flat so they can cool. Continue until all batter is gone. After they have cooled you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months. When using frozen crepes, thaw on a rack before gently peeling apart.

*Savory Variation Add 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, spinach or sun-dried tomatoes to the egg mixture.

*Sweet Variation Add 21/2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of your favorite liqueur to the egg mixture.

Filler 1: Ham & Swiss
Ingredients
1. your favorite ham lunch meat
2. slices of swiss cheese
3. thinly sliced tomatoes
4. ground, dried thyme
5. salt & pepper

Preparation
Throw an already-made crepe in a pan and heat it up, lay down the ham, tomato, salt, pepper, thyme, and finally the swiss cheese. Fold over the edges of the crepe and press down the sides to crease the edges and then flip it over. The swiss cheese will melt and help hold down the folds. Shake it out onto a plate leaving the folded side down

Filler 2: Breakfast Crepes
Ingredients
1. eggs
2. cheese
3. favorite omelet ingredients (tomatoes, green peppers, mushrooms, etc)
4. sausage or bacon
5. salsa and sour cream (optional)

Preparation
Essentially make a “scrambled” omelet, mixing in ingredients and scrambling the eggs. Sausage and bacon can be served in the crepe as part of the omelet or on the side. Heat and cover the crepes and fill each one with the egg mix wrap up like a burrito. For huevos rancheros serve with salsa and sour cream on top

Filler 3: Fruit and cream cheese sauce
Ingredients
1. fruit (mixed berries, peaches, strawberries are the best)
2. cream cheese
3. sweetened condensed milk

Preparation
Chop up the fruit and set aside. Soften cream cheese in the microwave or stove and add 2 parts cream cheese to one part sweetened condensed milk (e.g. one cup of creme cheese to half a cup of sweetened condensed milk). Whip till a smooth and creamy. Should be barely runny and slightly warm. Serve with fruit rolled up in the crepe and the sauce liberally poured over top.

Filler 4: Ice cream and chocolate sauce
Do I really need to say anything more? Make sure you chill the crepes in the fridge before filling them!