Tuesday, October 3, 2006
From Jessica -- Our new cook, Chantal, has changed my world. She makes enchiladas, salsa, guacamole, tacos, roast, salad dressings, soups, breads, cookies and more. Todd might just gain back some of the weight he lost these past few weeks!
We have also sealed many of the holes and leaks in our home, and we have replaced our screens, so we aren’t fighting the bugs and geckos so much. We are eating yummy meals free from ants. Life is good!
In addition to enjoying her delicious meals, I have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with this sweet, soft-spoken woman, and I’m constantly bombarding her with questions about her life. Here are some things I have learned...
* Chantal is married to Claude, a carpenter. We have hired him to repair the countless things that are broken in our house. That’s another story...
* They have three children, ages 10, 3 and 1. Her fourth child, a six-year old daughter, died six months ago. She had cerebral palsy or something along those lines.
* Their family took in four orphans a while back, but they could not afford to feed all of them, so the orphans are now staying with Claude’s sister. Claude and Chantal still help take care of the orphans as much as they can.
* She takes a taxi to and from our house each day. It takes her two hours to get here and two hours to get home.
* Chantal has a 16-year old girl who works as her babysitter and lives in their home. Chantal pays her 5,000 francs ($10) a month plus meals.
* When she gets home at around 7 p.m., she cooks and cleans for her family. I asked her if she ever rests, and she said, “Yes! Every night in bed!”
* I asked her what she enjoys to do for a hobby. She said “reading.” I asked her what books she likes to read. She said, “The Bible.”
* Her daughter (also Rebecca!) turns one on Saturday. I asked her what they do to celebrate birthdays in Rwanda. She said she cooks a big meal, she might even prepare some meat, and they might even drink some cokes. But they don’t celebrate birthdays every year because this is too expensive.
* Chantal formerly worked as a cook for the World Relief guest house. They closed the guest house, so I snatched her immediately. She told me she is thankful to God for providing her with this new job, because it is very difficult to feed her family if she does not have a job.
* We pay Chantal a good salary compared to many cooks. She makes less than $1 an hour.
I’m quickly learning that while we came here to help the Rwandans, in many cases, they are the ones helping us. Which is more important? Freeing them from poverty or freeing us from materialism? God is working on both ends of the spectrum.
