LIFE THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS

or - THINGS THAT MAKE YOU THINK AGAIN


Had chicken satay with some of the students at lunchtime from a street vendor outside college. Stan looking for a bin for his stick - "Stan throw it on the floor, you're not in England now!"

When leaving the house Saturday in the sunshine Ibu Martha most anxious that we take an umbrella. Not for rain - "To keep your skin white, otherwise you will become like us and that would be terrible for you"

"Why can't we clear space up river for the new power station, it's only jungle and orang-utans. You have power stations in the West, why can't we?"

Realizing that the answer "Yes" to the question "Will you have some tomorrow" means either Yes, Maybe or Never. An Indonesian will not say No - you lose face!

In Indonesian it is not 'bad manners' to chat to each other in church. Everyone does it, even the clergy, and even during the sermon!

My favourite - we had a lunch with the college staff team and in conversation with one of the lecturers whilst talking about football with our limited English/Indonesian (international language!)he was undecided whether to support Holland or Germany because, as he put it, "You all look alike!"

Finally - went on the river trip Sunday and saw how the people live who live in the hovels overlooking the river. The river is filthy as they throw their rubbish in it and their outside toilets are in little sheds over the river, so empty into it. We saw people, often whole families, covered in soap washing themselves, their clothes and their pots and pans in the river, and also cleaning their teeth. What was amazing was that in every house we passed the whole family came out and waved and shrieked at us, and often the children leapt into the water to swim to the boat. The further up river we went the more news spread and more and more children, and their parents, came out to wave, line up on the rickety bridges that cross the water, and dive in to come and touch us. The boatman said it was likely that the people up river had not seen a white person before. I got an idea of how the Queen must feel!
What was so amazing was how happy and smiling all these people are despite the squalor (as we saw it) they were living in. It was very humbling.

Please pray for these people that they can keep healthy (the infant mortality rate amongst them is very high because of the disease in the water), and that something can be done to improve conditions for them. Please pray that the people who can make a difference will start to take some action to at least make sure they have a clean water supply (all the water they drink comes from the river.)

Love and blessings
Sue and Stan xxxxx