The Relativity of Poverty

Poverty is so relative.take for example our first friends we met in Mekelle and our closest neighbors. They were renting our "servants quarters" in back of our house on our compound. We opted to let them stay and keep renting from the landlord, as we didn't need the space. They "live" in one room, sleep in another, share a common bathroom and share a kitchen and bathroom with the two other single tenants living in the 4 room quarters. But they are very well-off by local standards, we later discovered, since they have their own servant, who occupies one of the other vacant rooms. They also enjoy satellite television, own a vehicle which they park on our compound, and the wife is able to stay home while the husband works, as they await the arrival of their first baby, who they intend to deliver at the hospital. They live quite comfortably. This is not the case for another family we are getting to know quite well, that of our guard his elder sister who works as our cook. They are 2 of 10 children, all orphaned 8 years ago when their mother passed away. Their father had died two years earlier. Their oldest brother and sister, now 28 and 30, have taken over the responsibilities for the family of 10 and have no intention of marrying and having families of their own.that would be a luxury they simply can't manage with the pressing needs of caring for younger siblings. They have 3 younger sisters who still need to get through school. They all live together in a compound gifted to them after the death of their mother by a distant relative. All 10 of them sleep in two rooms, either on mattresses on the floor or on simple bed frame. They have a typical "Ethiopian Style" bathroom, that is, a hole in the ground next to a small sink. Our guard wears shoes he says a friend gave him 3 years ago when he felt sorry for him. The oldest brother makes no complaints as we talk over coffee."God has gifted some with a wife or children, but me.I have wonderful siblings." He says that though it is difficult, God gives him the strength. He has a faith that puts us to shame. Perhaps real poverty, then, is experienced by our other guard, the one who "watches" our house at night He and his 4 siblings were also orphaned about 3 years ago. He is single and lives in a metal shack outside our house about 8 foot by 8 feet. He showers from an outdoor water spicket off our house. He does his laundry in a basin using collected rain water. His younger brother is just 12, but he lives in town with his big brother helping him run a small shack-shop just outside our compound. They sell soap, sugar and simple market items.the typical things sold at these shops. His brother sometimes sleeps in the shop on the floor, and sometimes sleeps on a makeshift hammock bed in the guard shack with his big brother. He only recently started school, sponsored by our generous landlord, so he has some catching up to do.he will start third grade next week. Our guard just asked permission to be absent for two hours each evening to attend school.he will be in the 4th grade, at the age of 30. Surely this is poverty, we decide.after all, what can these two find to look forward to in the future or strive to achieve other than this daily routine? But then today I passed by a young mother with her two children. She looked ragged and simply exhausted. She was wrapped in a blanket shawl and sat limply by her two children. One was a little girl about 5 years old who was bouncing a pathetic-looking toddler on her back. The toddler had on only a skimpy torn t-shirt, no pants at all to cover his nakedness. They all looked sad and hungry, and in need of a good bath. "At least our guard and his baby brother have a roof over their heads," I found myself thinking, "and the means to eat at least one meal a day." I motioned to Steve to make sure he had seen the family we just passed. "Hurts my heart" I said quietly to him, as we kept walking. So many needs.and so many people whose lives intersect with ours in a way that enables us to see the needs up close and personal. That is what life is like for us in Mekelle right now, as we just celebrated one month in our new town. We aren't saving the world or developing a program to stamp out poverty.we are just living our lives alongside these gracious people and doing our best to learn how to be as gracious as they seem to be. We are carrying out some of the same routines many of you are embracing in the states.our setting is just different. Thank you for your prayers and your financial support that allow us the freedom to be here, living among our new friends.