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Sharing a Crowded Pond
6/26/09
Klong Toey is an exciting place.
On our first evening we strolled to each of our four houses, struggling with all our luggage through the chaotic streets and then through the tiny alleys between homes. School had just gotten out and the kids in their uniforms were walking home buying food at the vendors'.
All the street restaurants opened up for the night and more vendors came out. I felt a little like I was in the coral reef in the opening scenes of Finding Nemo; people and traffic were flowing by and colors, activity, and noise were everywhere.
My worksite is in an area called Papadaeng. The site is a government owned and sponsored hospital compound with special services for leprosy. The compound has flats for patients, but many patients and patients’ families live in slums that have sprung up in most available space left on the property.
The ministry we’re working with was founded by a fascinating woman who worked as a doctor for many years with the hospital and used that connection to begin a Christian ministry on government property – surprising in a Buddhist country. They have a beautiful building that houses a school/nursery for the community’s children (aged three to five), a little church in the middle of the slum, and they do visitations and serve where they can.
Many people have signs of leprosy, which settles in the cooler parts of the body, so amputated fingers and limbs are common. Many people are elderly. The density and pace of this community compared to Kong Toey makes it more peaceful, green, and charming. Some of my book learning about density in informal communities has become very real.
The first two times we visited Papadaeng, I felt more relaxed partly because of that density difference. The tadpole-filled wastewater ponds underneath some homes we visited reminded me this is not an idyllic community, but human density clearly makes a huge difference in comfort.
Perhaps I’m too used to my individualistic and privacy-loving existence, but I think there’s something to be said for fewer people per square mile. During orientation, the Kolkata director gave us horrific stats on one of the densest slums in Kolkata at five people per 9x9 square foot.
Right now, I’m so confused about what is good and bad. I have no answers and no concrete ideas about the situation these people are in and the differences between my world and theirs. These are just things I’m thinking about and trying to listen to God about. I hope God brings clarity and rest to all of my team and to the people we’re living with in these communities to whom I confess my ignorance as I’ve rested in comfortable wealth.
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