MY NEW CRIB

I finally live in a slum… indefinitely. Quite exhilarating, no doubt. I'm hoping that the MTV's cribs crew will show up for the sake of being fair and balanced.

I’m so thankful for God’s leading and timing in all that has happened in recent months. I’m thankful for the prayer and support from many of you that has encouraged me in this long transition. Thank you. I'm settled, yet this is just the beginning of God knows what.

As my roommate, J, and I, explored our current community, we were forced to acknowledging the living situation of many of the residents. We wanted to take what God was preparing for us, and we wanted to be open to however that would look. Many families of five or more live in small thatched rooms by the ditch along the railroad tracks, and we were open to this option (cringe). Alleys of ten to thirty rooms use this ditch as a toilet, where a plank or ladder provides access to a bamboo structure on stilts over the sewage, with a plastic flap for privacy. This same ditch floods during hard rains and releases all the human waste into the thatched rooms beside it. Not a pretty picture.

But somehow, God showed us a brick-cement room just far enough away from the ditch so as to not be affected by flooding (so we’re told). And we have a porcelain squat toilet that we share with just five other families. And a well, from which we draw all our water, just outside our room.

The room we’re renting is 9 by 11 feet (for those of you who keep asking for measurements) with a ceiling fan, two energy efficient lights, one outlet to charge our cell phones and a window with bars. We unfold our mats to sleep on at night and convert them into a sitting area during the day. We have a little one-burner stove and gas cylinder for cooking and making tea. Although we get our water from outside, we have a drain in our room, which has a cement ridge around it that creates a dish washing spot on the floor. It’s also a good spot for us to shave and brush our teeth. So far the grid on the drain has kept the rats out. I hate rats.

To bathe, we draw water from the well into our plastic bucket and sit cross-legged on the cement outside our room (with shorts on) and scoop water over ourselves with a plastic water-scooper. It’s also the area where we wash our clothes in a bucket. We’re thankful that we can join our neighbors in these daily routines, but that we don’t have to go far or be any more public about it. We have a lot to be thankful for.

And our neighbors… We have wonderful neighbors who have helped us learn the daily routine. Our direct neighbors, a grandma and her family, have been very helpful. The grandma even cooked us an amazing fish dish the other day. I kid you not, it may have been the most savory slice of fish I’ve ever tasted.

And our landlords, who live above us, are also very welcoming and personable. These wonderful direct neighbors have made our adjustment quite comfortable and easy.

Each day, some of the 17 to 22 year-olds along with some younger guys from the community, come to sit in our room, help us practice Bangla, and also practice their English. We’re all learning together, about language and life.

To top it off, our room is a few meters from the “main lane” where there’s a little store with all necessary staples (RICE, eggs, onions, potato, spices etc.), along with a public well for drawing water. Another couple of meters away is a big, open space of dirt/ mud where people play cricket, soccer and fly kites. We’re more centrally located that we could have planned and can easily and naturally involve ourselves with the center of the community. Yet, we look forward to intentionally learning more about the realities of the less centralized areas – the margins of the slum.

So that’s a basic description of our situation in the slum by the ditch by the tracks. There’s a lot to soak up at the moment as we try to kick things off well. Please pray for us as we try to love and learn from our neighbors even as language, culture, and adjustment is a confusing struggle.