Fire and Fireworks: 11-5

Just another crazy day that started off normally. Julie and I worked all morning on the sex ed project. We finished the abstinence PowerPoint for the girls and whipped up a presentation for the boys too. Around lunchtime we noticed smoke billowing into the air from nearby shanties. We scaled to the top floor in Pangani to get a better view of what was going on. A cluster of shanties were on fire. Men had climbed on top of the sheet metal roofs and were ripping them off. From my view I could see the orange flames dancing on the rooftops and a huge column of black smoke. Occasionally I could hear the sheet metal being twisted by the heat.

It was very frustrating to watch. Feeling totally helpless. As it turns out, there was no water around to put out the fire. A fire truck eventually showed up, but once again, there was a major water shortage. Eventually, I saw some water used. But by that point, many people had lost everything. Some students had their homes burned down.

In the evening Erin, Bethany, and Justine joined us with a visit to the Christmas Bazaar at a mall. It was hilarious and not very Christmas-y.  Afterwards we ate a delicious dinner at a café. I had a guacamole burger and a salad.

Afterwards we went to a Diwali festival. It is a Hindu holiday where they shoot off tons of sweet fireworks. We awkwardly went to a temple and watched some fireworks outside. Eventually we went inside the temple (after taking off our shoes). It was gorgeous. On every side of big open room were their idols. They were kinda creepy. On the ceiling were sweet paintings of things I didn’t understand.

Followers would loudly ring a bell and approach one of the idols. Some would kneel, some bowed, and some fell face first on the ground in prayer. There was an offering box in front of each. The whole room was like a spiritual vacuum of emptiness. Here were people praying to porcelain inanimate unresponsive statues. I wondered what they felt while praying. I would imagine that it felt cold.

I felt guilty that here I was watching people fall face first on the ground for statues and I won’t even do that for the living God.