In the shelter of each other, we will live

In Africa, there is a proverb that says, “If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that we are all bound together in an inescapable network of mutuality, and that what affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

There is a Celtic proverb that translates, “It is in the shelter of each other that people live.”

Jesus said that the second greatest commandment, after loving God with all of your heart, soul, strength, and mind, is to love your neighbor as yourself.

I think the Kenyans I have met have a lot to teach Americans about loving our neighbors.  We’re taught in America to look out for number one, to strive to be the best regardless of whose neck gets stepped on in the process, to mind our own business, and to only worry about ourselves.  And, as a culture, we have an alarmingly high rate of anxiety and depression.  It has always pained me to live in a culture that is individualistic to its own spiritual detriment, but I have hope that there is another way after seeing the children here at the Tania Centre truly living out the idea that it takes a village to raise a child.

There is a little boy here named Ian.  Ian is wheelchair-bound and completely dependent on others to get him from place to place, to take him to the bathroom, to get him food at meal times.  There is no adult in charge of taking care of Ian, but he is always taken care of.  When it’s time for class, one of his classmates will push him there.  When it’s meal time, one of the older students will get his food and feed him.  When he needs to use the bathroom, one of the boys will take him and help him.  He is never forgotten, and it’s never the same students helping him every time.  Everyone helps out Ian.

There is a little girl here named Charity.  Charity has many anti-social behaviors and tends to throw things and spit at other students, and she often smells due to lack of hygiene.  But Charity is never left behind or ignored.  At tea time, a student or two will lead her down for tea.  When it’s time for class, someone will lead her back up to the school.  During breaks, when Charity plays with the grass, other students will pick pieces of grass and hand them to her as a sign of friendship.  Everyone helps out Charity.

There are many small children here, some as young as 1 or 2 years.  With over 100 students, there is only one dorm mother for the boys and one dorm mother for the girls, but the small children are always taken care of.  Their clothes are washed, they are dressed in clean outfits every day, and they are always fed at meal times.  When a small child falls and bumps her head, someone will pick her up to comfort her.  When one is wandering around during class time, someone will remind him where he needs to be.  When one has a runny nose, someone will find her a tissue.  Everyone helps out the small children.



I have never seen a child complain while pushing Ian’s wheelchair.  I’ve never seen a child reluctant to lead Charity where she needs to go.  I’ve never seen a small child ignored when in need of help.  I’ve never even seen a child need to be asked to do any of these things.  They just do them.  These children are so much like the Samaritan in Jesus’ parable.  When they see someone in need, they help, even if it’s uncomfortable for them. 

So often, I think I am the priests in Jesus’ parable.  I see someone in need, but I am too busy to help.  I am too comfortable to help.  I am too distracted by my schedule and my technology and my things to even notice.  And this hurts the people I ignore, but it also hurts me.  When one human loses their dignity, my own dignity is lessened if I do nothing.  When one human feels unloved when I have had the chance to love them, it is my heart that is hardened as well as theirs.

God, help me to be more like these children.  Open my eyes to see those around me who need to be shown your love.  Give me the courage to love others as you have loved me, to live in the shelter of those around me, and to work for the good of all instead of just for the good of myself.