Narrow path

A few weeks ago, I got to travel to one of my favorite places on earth—the Kakamega rainforest in Western Kenya. In truth, it is a place where I find rest and peace. One morning, as I walked through the magnificent rain forest, beauty was everywhere. I felt surrounded by life. The sun was shining through the canopy of trees. The sounds of countless birds’ singing filled the air. Butterflies displayed their grace and monkeys were swinging freely in the trees. The moment was surreal.

As I continued through the forest, I began to meet the people of the community. They greeted me warmly as they went about their daily routines. It was quite clear that I was the only one on a walk for leisure. Everyone else was trying to survive. Men and youth were riding their bicycles with large, heavy luggage in tow: bags of charcoal, bunches of grass, containers of vegetables, and crates of livestock. And then I met a group of women who were carrying bundles of tree branches on their heads as they walked up a hill. Each bundle contained branches that were approximately eight to ten feet in length and weighed well over fifty pounds. After traveling several kilometers back to their homes, the branches would be cut and used as firewood for the purpose of cooking. In the same manner that these women carried the wood, they would also fetch water for the day from nearby streams or wells along with dozens of other daily chores.

One lady, while somewhat giggling, asked me in Swahili if I wanted to try and carry her load. Knowing that I would simply fall over and cause her more work, I declined. I then greeted another mama who was seven months pregnant and had her bundle of wood on her head. In that moment, as I walked alongside of this woman, I remembered a conversation I had recently with a lady who believed that Africans are poor because they are lazy. Obviously, she had never walked this path. She had not looked this pregnant woman in the eyes or witnessed her incredible struggle and determination to care for her family. She, like too many of us, had rationalized and accepted the suffering of another by blaming them for their troubles. The poor are poor because they are lazy or ignorant. People living with HIV/AIDS are infected because they are promiscuous. And the list of excuses, to ease our conscience of why we do not care and why it is not our problem, goes on and on. I have heard the words of Jesus, when he said that “the poor will always be with us”, used as a defense for not responding to the needs of the poor. While the truth is, Jesus was quoting a passage of scripture that goes on to say: “therefore, I command you to open your hands to the poor and needy of the land” (Deuteronomy 15:11).

I do not pretend to understand all that contributes to poverty and inequality, but I want to share a few statistics that should both startle and offend us:

• Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day (World Bank, 2008)
• According to UNICEF, 24,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”
• Based on enrolment data, about 72 million children of primary school age in the developing world were not in school in 2005; 57 per cent of them were girls. And these are regarded as optimistic numbers (Millennium Development Goals, 2007).
• Infectious diseases continue to blight the lives of the poor across the world. An estimated 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, with 3 million deaths in 2004. Every year there are 350–500 million cases of malaria, with 1 million fatalities: Africa accounts for 90 percent of malarial deaths and African children account for over 80 percent of malaria victims worldwide (Human Development Report, 2007).
• Water problems affect half of humanity.
• Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
• Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day.
• 1.8 billion people who have access to a water source within 1 kilometer, but not in their house or yard, consume around 20 liters per day. The highest average water use in the world is in the US at 600 liters per day.
• Some 1.8 million child deaths each year as a result of diarrhea.
• The loss of 443 million school days each year from water-related illness.
• Close to half of all people in developing countries suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits.
• Millions of women spending several hours a day collecting water. (United Nations Human Development Report, 2006).

These statistics are overwhelming, and it is easy to forget that they represent the lives of people with names and stories. They represent the pregnant lady I met in the road and the orphans I get to hold in my arms. These numbers remind us that injustice is rampant; and that, for Christ’s sake, it needs to be fought. We have been invited to follow Jesus down a narrow path; and in doing so, we will begin to understand and experience, as Buechner writes, that “their pain is our pain, their need our need. There can be no getting ahead at their expense. There can be no joy for us until there is joy for them.”