The Darkness and the Trash

The trashy riverbed near our house

There is much darkness in this world.  Sometimes it is overwhelming.  Sometimes the darkness is terrifying and revolting.  But sometimes it is less apparent.  Sometimes it is ubiquitous, everyday and unseen.  Why it could even take the form of a plastic bag.

On our island we have many things that aren’t right.  There is a lot of darkness.  Corruption is rampant, the rich steal from the poor, those with means and connections take what they want.  Those without suffer.  Sick people have little to no access to quality health care.  Many have no other course of action than to take a boat illegally to the neighboring French island to find better health care.  These boats are often over loaded, expensive, illegal and dangerous.  This is a great wrong.  The darkness is physical, spiritual, and institutional.  It is inescapable, even in the everyday.

Another sign of the darkness is trash.  It is everywhere, and everywhere we add to it.  It doesn’t matter where you live or who you are or how small your footprint may be—wherever humanity goes, we leave behind trash.  Have you ever considered that this could be a sign of the darkness?  Of course, for most of us, trash is something that is put in a receptacle and then carried far away where it won’t be seen, smelled, or in the way.  But when you live on a small, confined, over-populated island, the problem is unavoidable, and a constant reminder of the darkness that follows in our wake.

On our island, the trash problems are many.  There is no education about the dangers of trash.  There is no accountability.  On an island where every inch of land is farmed or used, there is no place to put the trash.  Plus there is no money to dispose of it properly.  There is also the problem of disposable items—the most notorious of which is the thin, wispy, plastic bag.  These are so ubiquitous that they are like dead leaves.  But then many of the clothes, appliances, plastics, etc. that are sold here are so cheap and of such poor quality they break quickly—adding greatly to the amount of trash.

The trashy ocean

Like so much darkness, even on this tiny island, we learn to live with it.  So it was with the trash.  There was a place we took our trash once a week—a stinking heap by the side of the road that would be collected once a week by a truck and taken to the other side of the city where it was unceremoniously dumped onto a beach and burned.  It was not a solution, but at least it concentrated the solution.  And like so many other forms of darkness, the truck succeeded in taking away the problem—out of sight, out of mind.

Then this week the mayor of our city announced that these collection places would no longer be allowed.  Why did he do this?  Apparently the perpetual pile of burning trash got out of control and the fire started to spread.  We’re told rain put it out before it did any real damage.  Is that the only reason? Of course there is plenty of speculation.  Did the garbage truck break down?  Did they run out of money to keep it fueled?  Did someone decide that the gas money would be better spent on themselves than on this public project?  We’ll probably never know.  But suddenly we have no place to take our trash.  The mayor’s solution to the populace: burn it yourself or throw it in the ocean.

Suddenly this seemingly small but very real part of human fallenness and darkness stands on our doorstep.  It will not go away and it will not be hidden.  What do we do with our trash? Throw it in the ocean?  the river?   That is what our neighbors tell us to do, but is is not the solution.  It’s just not right!  What can we do?  So we will separate our biodegradable trash and burn the rest.  But who wants trash burning near their house.  Finding a suitable spot to burn has been something of a challenge.  Maybe we will compost.  But who wants a smelly compost bin near their house?  When people live nearly on top of each other as they do here, there’s a good chance that our neighbors will complain.  Meanwhile, the rivers and beaches fill with trash and there is no solution in sight.  Darkness in the limp form of a plastic bag.

Went for a hike- got away from the trash

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Island women got together and recorded a new song to use in their fellowship together. We are so thankful to hear songs in the local music styles and language. We hope for more and more. The tummy bugs have seemed to pass without anyone else being too sick. We were able to get dental appointments for our time on mainland Africa, now just need to get medical appointments.

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Island school has been dragging their feet but are finally set to start tomorrow (Wednesday). Please pray for positive first days for all of our kids (especially our boys who are very nervous). We hope for friendly, understanding teachers and good friends for all three of them. Pray for an island brother that Tom meets with regularly that is struggling with old habits that could hurt his witness. Pray for islanders studying abroad— we’ve had a few young brothers go abroad and come back years later unsure what they believe.