This past weekend, my team and I went to Amolitar. We stayed there from Thursday to Sunday, and it was a chance to truly experience African village life. I spent the weekend living in a mud hut with 6 others on my team. It was an adventure! Spending four days in an African village is a little like camping to me. I love camping for a weekend, but after that, I am over it. There was no running water in the village whatsoever, so we had to use a squatty potty for the four days we were there. I was fine with the whole squatty situation until the joint became infested with flies, wasps, and a bat. Yup, that’s right a bat was hanging out in the squatty hole. So after that, I decided I would just cop a squat outside for the rest of the trip, which turned out pretty well, haha.
The next day, we went to a lake. It was a good sized lake, about the Lake of the Ozarks kind of standard. It was a very hot day, and despite the fact that I had to swim in my clothes, and the fact that I was convinced I was going to exit the lake covered in leeches, I decided to go for a swim. It turned out to be a great decision, until we had to exit the lake and I realized that my yellow skirt became see-through when wet. Oy vey. Thankfully, John, one of my teammates, let me borrow a pair of his shorts so I could make a more graceful exit.
After our swim, we were going to a nearby school to lead a short Bible study. To get to the school, we rode botas, which are motorcycles. There were three of us on the bike; our driver, John and myself. On the way there, we almost had a head-on collision with an oncoming bota. Our driver swerved out of the way last minute to avoid him and we went full speed into a pothole causing our driver, John, and I to bounce about two feet off the bike. It was terrifying and I not so kindly asked our driver to slow down. Now mind you, I was still completely soaked, and the school was a good distance away from the lake. Combine that with the fact that the African roads are ridiculously dusty, and our bota driver was a speed demon. Needless to say, once we got to the school I was a hot mess. I was completely covered in dust and was told by the pastor that I needed to clean off before I could talk to the children, haha.
The next morning, I awoke covered in ants. You see, I had taken off my damp lake clothes and laid them on my back pack the night before. I awoke to find that my clothes, my backpack, and my sleeping bag had become a breeding ground for ants. The ants were all over everything in the bag as well, including my toothbrush, lol. It was a very humbling experience. Later that same day, we were going to an introduction for some friends of ours from the church. My hair was a dirty, lake water infested mess, so Marissa and I decided to take a bucket shower. We literally stood on some bricks surrounded by a wall of straw, took a bucket of water and a small bottle of shampoo, and did the best we could…which was not very good, lol. Bucket showers are difficult, especially for two girls with long dirty hair. Luckily, we worked out a good buddy system and we got pretty clean.
Overall, I enjoyed my African village experience! There were some great moments, and there were some not so great moments, but it is something I will never forget. It taught me to appreciate, even more than I already did, simple things like running water and electricity, and so, I am grateful for every moment. Thanks for your faithful reading! I love and miss you all!
Peace and Blessings!
Sarah
