shadows

Dumela bo mma. Dumela bo rra. 

O tshogile jang?

O teng?

Ke na le mhikela.

______

Hello everyone.

How are you?

Are you good?

I am sick.

______

I was hit with a difficult reality today.

I walked into the student center, as per usual, to by myself an egg phaphata for breakfast.

The "line" is usually quite long and haphazard.

(I put line in "" because the concept of a line is foreign to Botswana. "Clump" or "Smoosh to the front with no personal space" is much more accurate.)

Today, there was no line.

Oh goody! I get to eat my breakfast and be on time to class today!

How splendid.

_____

Where are all of the people?

_____

Now, it was probably a combination of several factors that caused the line to be shortened today, but regardless it caused me to pause.

I looked around and saw lines of people congregated around tents.

Yes, tents. 

Inside.

_____

I asked some people what was happening.

They responded

"HIV/AIDS testing."

_____

oh.

_____

There are over 360,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Botswana today.

11,000 are children.

That is an extremely high number considering that there are only 2 million people in this country.

(The highest in the world, actually.)

There are 160,000 orphans.

_____

I'm sick. 

But I'll get better.

_____

It's hard to find the beauty in all of this
but I'm trying.

The David Crowder Band produced a stunning song on their "Church Music" album titled "Shadows"

It has been of great comfort as of late.

So much truth.

It goes like this:

"Life is full of light and shadow

O the joy and O the sorrow

O the sorrow

And yet will He bring

Dark to light

And yet will He bring

Day from night

When shadows fall on us

We will not fear

We will remember

When darkness falls on us

We will not fear

We will remember

When all seems lost

When we're thrown and we're tossed

We remember the cost

We rest in Him

Shadow of the cross"

_____

In one of my classes, taught by M. W. Dube, we are studying the Gospels in an HIV/AIDS context.

She calls us to question:

As Christians, are we to be fullheartedly and relentlessly involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS?

God is the creator and lover of life.

"It was good."

_____

So we fight.

In Him

With the power of the cross.

_____

Tsamaya sentle, pule e nele tseleng. 

_____

Go well, have a blessed journey.

Literally: Let it rain on you as you go. 

(Remember, this language comes from the desert)