I was reading an article today in Relevant Magazine’s other
publication called Reject Apathy. It’s
all about social justice causes and non-profits and government organizations that
tackle those various issues. The article
was an interview with someone at Compassion U.S. and was discussing their child
sponsorship programs. At the end of the
article he gave a quote that he says is well known around the Compassion
organization:
“The opposite of poverty isn’t wealth – the opposite of
poverty is enough.”
I quickly posted the quote as a Facebook status and got a
few “likes”. Usually it would end
there. Later however, as I re-read the
quote I was reminded of a Malawian phrase.
Here, when someone has eaten their share at a meal, they don’t use the
western expression of, “I’m full”. They say
the phrase, “Ndakhuta”. The English
translation of this phrase is, “I am enough.”
At first glance it doesn’t seem all that different: “I’m
full” versus “I am enough”. It got me
thinking though; it’s a very different and perhaps profound statement. Our western culture seems to have the goal of
always getting more, bigger, and better things.
When we eat, we don’t just eat enough, we eat until we’re literally
full. When we consume other goods and
products, we don’t just consume enough-we consume until our closets, garages, houses,
and rented storage spaces are full. Try
to explain that one to a Malawian.
Having so much stuff that your huge house can’t even fit it all; you
have to pay someone to store it for you!
During my time spent living in Malawi I have learned, less
out of choice and more out of necessity, to simply live with a lot less. As I type this blog I’m sitting in the dark
using battery power because of the regular power outages that occur here. If the battery were dead, I would probably be
reading by the light of a book light. That’s
the typical entertainment for me for the evening. If I were an average Malawian living out in a
village I would be finishing dinner and chatting with family and friends by
candlelight until it was time to go to sleep.
Choices at restaurants and in stores are a lot fewer than in the
U.S. Cheese, for example, pretty much
comes in one standard cheddar form and it costs at least 5 times the price it
costs in the U.S. I don’t even know how
many types of cheeses are available at an average supermarket in the States.
While Madalo was visiting me in Seattle, she was amazed and
at times perplexed by all of the choices she was given about everything. We went out to The Cheesecake Factory one
night for her birthday. If you’ve ever
been there you know that their menu is pretty much a book of choices splattered
with random advertisements. It was a bit
overwhelming for her. After you’ve read
though the book and you are finally ready to order you can choose between at
least 5 different side options, whether to have soup or salad or both before
the meal and which salad dressing you prefer, which of an endless list of drink
options you would like, how you would like your meat cooked, and on and on it
goes. Don’t even get me started on the
different number of cheesecakes! Not
only can we consume as much as we want; we have endless choices as to what
exact item, color, flavor, temperature, country of origin, etc. we would like
those items to be.
Malawi is a much more communal culture than the United
States. Almost everything is
shared. Individual ownership doesn’t
have as much meaning as it does in the West.
Food, clothing, tools, land, housing, etc…there’s a lot less of it to go
around so sharing is a must for people to live and for the society to endure; especially for those who live out in villages.
Because of this, people don’t always eat until “full”. They eat until they are “enough”. This leaves room for others to also be “enough”. I can’t count how many times I’ve sat down to
eat with obviously poor Malawians watching them eating less so that they could
offer me more. Out of respect, I know
that I can’t refuse, but I do try to only eat just enough to make them happy so
that there is plenty for everyone else to get a healthy amount.
As I have experienced both ways of living, I am continually
amazed at how much more I enjoy, how much more fulfilling it is for me to live
not with everything I may want, not with everything I can afford or everything
I can fit into my house, but simply living with “enough.” Ndakhuta.
I am enough.
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap
your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after
your harvest. And you shall not strip
your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your
vineyard. You shall leave them for the
poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.” –Leviticus 19:9-10
