Hardships...

Some days I sit in my cozy little apartment here in Moz with guards at our front gate to protect us at night, running water (most days) that is safe to drink right from the tap, electricity that keeps my fan running, washing machines, gas stoves, and a refrigerator and think...how unfair. Most people in this country live in small reed huts with dirt floors. Some have no water for miles and certainly no electricity. Today when I got up, I decided to wash my clothes. Mainly because EVERYTHING was dirty. It has been raining since last Thursday NONSTOP! And I needed to do laundry then, but knew it would NEVER dry. So yesterday the rain finally let up about mid afternoon.
So, I walk into the kitchen where the washer I share with 7 other people is and it has a sign on it saying...out of order, please don't use. I got a little annoyed and decided I would try the other washer on base. Full of clothes because of course no one washed during the days of no water or the days of rain that followed!
So I decided for the first time in my life I would attempt to hand wash my clothes. Ok, I take that back. I have been hand washing "dry clean only" clothes for awhile because I"m too cheap to pay to get them washed, but I've never washed more than about 3 things at a given time. Now remember I hadn't done clothes in a LONG time, so I had 3 VERY full loads of clothes to do because of the all the rain and grimy children I work with. About an hour and a half later I am sitting in my yard with 2 loads done and very tired arms and hands. The last load will have to wait for tomorrow because it won't fit on my lines to dry and I'm just too tired.
Point being I have a GREAT appreciation for the "mamas" of this country and many others who do their entire family's laundry with no running water and then lay it out on bushes and other things to dry. What strong, determined people they are. Lord please bless them for all they do to keep this place running!