reality

Life isn't fair.

An age old truth that we simply grow up hearing. We've all heard it. But then there are the rare moments in time when you see glimpses of it. You actually feel it - the sickening sensation in your heart when it recognizes wrong; that something is not right.

Tim and I have had two of those moments in the last couple weeks.

We are staying in a region where water is scarce. At least twice a week for the last couple weeks, we have no water. The showers may or may not have water. And laundry can be a half day's work... like the last time, when I poured bucket after bucket of water into the machine because the water wasn't flowing from the pipes. And it is such a dry season this year that when we went on our safari, we saw that all the river beds were dry. I don't know what the animals were drinking or how they were even surviving. Lord, bring the rain.

I say all this not to complain or to impose guilt, but to illustrate the reality that so many around the world live in each day. The people around us here struggle with the lack of water every day. As Tim expressed, for the first time in his life he's turned on the faucet and no water came out. Its a little weird. Never have I wondered if water will come out when I turn on the faucet. I just know it will. "No water today," were not words I'd ever heard before. And to know that there are people who struggle with getting water daily; who walk miles just to get clean water.

This is something I take for granted. Each and every day.

Last weekend something happened. I don't know all the details, but our driver was discriminated against because of the color of his skin. It happens in the states, I know. I guess my naive mind didn't expect racial tensions in Africa. I admit ignorance. But apartheid has left deep scars in this country and her people. It made my heart angry and sad to hear his hurt. And he's not the only one. He's certainly not the exception.

Here in South Africa you will see tin houses made of metal scraps right off the road. Look beyond, and in the same neighborhood, your eyes see beautiful homes. The contrast is huge. Yeah, I've seen poverty in West Africa. I've also seen it back home. But in West Africa, its a way of life. Dare I even say the standard of living. Its life, and its accepted. I know this doesn't make it right. But here, because of the drastic difference, the poverty is magnified. It feels more wrong in a way.

Yes, we are privileged. And yet why am I considered "privileged" because I have the bare necessities? Water should not be a luxury. And the color of your skin/ nationality, should not determine your value, worth, or privilege.

But it is, and it does. And its not fair.