Candle Suicides

After 5 weeks of living here, I've come into contact with a disturbing phenomenon.  The mother of someone we know had to bear some terrible insults from a neighbour.  The next morning, she pours oil over herself at 4:30 and sets herself on fire.  When she was rushed to the hospital, the doctor said that she only had 10% chance of survival.  She passed away the next day.

6 days later, we arrive at the school site at 7am when one of our skilled workers comes up to me and says that he has some serious family business and he needs to leave right away.  He jumped on the auto to travel for another 45min to get home.  The next day I heard that his whole family rushed to the hospital at a nearby city.  Another case of 3^rd degree burns, but this time the 19-year-old had 5% chance of survival.  The worker’s wife’s niece was caught in a kitchen “accident” and whole house burned down.  Her 3-month-old baby boy was rescued out of the fire in time, so he just suffered from breathing in smoke.  This young mother was conscious at the hospital and apparently she kept saying, “I don’t know why I did it.”  Her death was filed as an accidental death, but she most likely committed suicide.  I can’t help but wonder what prompted her to take such drastic measures.  In-law issues?  Abusive husband?  Postpartum depression?  I don’t even know if most people in the countryside know what postpartum depression is.

How do we go about addressing such issues?  Why do people commit suicide so easily?  Is it because they believe in rebirth?  Is it because they lack a strong understanding support network?  Once again, I have questions, but no answers.  All I know is that we need to educate children from a young age the value of life and share with them the hope that is in Christ.  The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly.  

Incredible

          I'm sitting on a concrete veranda surrounded by 2 stray puppies that have taken refuge with us.  As I look up from my notebook, I see a 4-acre field fenced in by palm trees and bushes.  Workers are bustling all around me, carrying concrete to the maistrees (skilled construction workers) who will first build walls to make dormitory rooms using mortar and brick before plastering it the next day using a mixture of water, fine sand, and cement powder.
           I glance down at my notebook and furrow my eyebrows as I try to imagine my elementary classroom.  What furniture did we have?  What supplies did the teacher always keep in her cupboard?  What lined the shelves under the wall-to-wall window?  This is incredible.  I’m making a shopping list for a boarding school.  A boarding school!  I’ve always made lists for myself.  The biggest shopping list I made was for a 5-day camping trip my friends and I went on.  I’ve never even furnished a house before.  But here I am, trying to figure out all the equipment, furniture, utensils, and supplies we need for classrooms, offices, a kitchen, a cafeteria, and dormitory rooms.  You’ve got to be kidding me.   Who am I?

            A day later, I stay at home to spend more time on the computer.  This time, I’m making orientation stuff for teachers and house parents.  I’m drawing up a list of rules and regulations for students & staff.  I’m designing a daily schedule for the boarding students.  You’ve got to be kidding me.  Who am I?

Nobody.  A newbie teacher with only 3 years of experience and absolutely no administrative experience.  God truly doesn’t choose to always use the experienced, strong, and equipped.  He uses the available, the weak, those who will depend on Him for everything.  This reminds me of the verse Rachel gave me in which Jeremiah said, “I am only a child.”  Yes, I am a child and I am weak, but when I am weak, I am strong because of Christ who lives within me.

A day in the life of Anita

Ok, I am involved in many different activities, but this is what a typical day in my life might look like.

5:10 5:45 7:00 7:30 9:30 10:00-1:30 2:30 3:30 4:30 5:30 7:00 9:30 10:00 10:30

Wake up & get ready for work Jump into the car to drive for an hour through the countryside to get to the remote area where we’re building the school Arrive at school & feed the stray puppies that showed up a few months ago “Water” the concrete.  This needs to happen when you lay concrete beams, build concrete pillars, & use bricks and mortar to construct walls to strengthen your construction. (Meanwhile, there is a regular power cut from 7:30-9:30 happening at home to help everyone conserve electricity) Finish watering the concrete & break time Carry concrete to pillars to fill the metal supporting structures (usually this is done by one of those concrete trucks that turn constantly, but without the budget to fund such fancy equipment, everything is done by manpower & womanpower) Water break Work.  This time I gather all the concrete bags and roll them in 20’s.  Later on, we can take the bags to a mat stitcher and they will stitch all the bags into a giant mat for us to place on the church floor for people to sit on. Water break Feed the dogs Soak towels & any available large pieces of cloth in water & hang across open windows so there can be free AC when we drive (I love how utilitarian Indians are!) Arrive home & have lunch.  Darn, during lunch suddenly the lights go out, the fan stops turning, and the fridge starts whirling.  We’re in for another 2-3h power cut.  Do laundry.  Easy, right?  Wrong!  This involves bringing my clothes downstairs in my bucket to our water tank and soaking them in soapy water.  Then I hand wash all the items (outdoors, of course), dump out the murky water, use a pail to refill my bucket with water from the water tank.  Slosh clothes around the bucket, pour out water, refill water.  Repeat 2 more times.  Carry the bucket of cleanish clothes (since I only started hand washing clothes 8 months ago, I’m not that expert at it yet) 4m away to the clothesline to discover that it already has clothes drying on it.  Carry clothes for another 4m to hang.  Return the stool to the kitchen, rinse out the buckets, fill my bucket water to bring back upstairs to store in my attached bathroom—or shall I say, toilet.  Peel mangoes to make a lassi.  Actually, many lassis.  I have to get the pulp out of at least 6 mangoes and use at least 1L of curd to make lassis for all the people that live in this courtyard-style house (the pastor and his family). Chillax, read, turn on the modem to check if the internet is working (I probably have internet working 1 day/week or so if I’m lucky) Leave to attend a cottage meeting, which is usually at least 30min away in another village and at a believer’s house.  This means we sit on a mat stitched out of rice or concrete bags under the starry night.  Sometimes we have a tarp over our heads and sometimes not.  Usually we have a light bulb to illuminate Bibles. The prayer meeting ends & the believer provides dinner to the pastor & other VIP individuals.  This happens when the cottage meeting occurs to celebrate an occasion like a birthday, one’s coming-of-age (which is determined by when girls 1st have their periods), etc.  After dinner, we pray for the family and their household. Leave for home. Arrive home, get ready for bed, hit the sack.