JOYFUL RATIONING RESOURCES

We completed several units of disturbing yet gripping history on WW1, the Holocaust, and WW2 this past school year. One of the lighter and well understood topics that came up in this study was the area of rationing.

Reading the wikipedia definition of rationing (as stated below) reminds us that we have experienced rationing on all levels and in many areas including food, water, and fuel during our years in Ethiopia.

Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.

WATER RATION

Our kids from the youngest to the oldest understand rationing water. We ration water for 8 months of dry season. We use a compost toilet instead of a flush toilet. We shower only when we stink. We wash our feet/legs and sometimes arms the rest of the days. We do laundry once a week and in dry season, we skip the rinse cycle. We ration because we have to and our children never complain for they are acutely aware of the shortage. They watch young Gumuz girls strain under the burden of filled water jugs carried up the steep mountain path behind our house from the valley below where spring water flows. When the wells dry up, life gets harder. When our tanks empty, we are not caught unaware. We understand that water is a gift to be cherished.

(As I am editing this on my back deck in Manitoba, Canada 6 months after this was written, I am ironically observing my children spraying water from two garden hoses just to have fun and cool off.)

FOOD RATION

We ration food supplies. We bring out food for 2-3 months at a time from the city of Addis Ababa which is a 12 hour drive. We ration our meat and milk products, pasta and rice. If we run out of our city supplies, our choices become very limited. If we forget something, we go without. It's no longer a question about what should we eat but what can we eat! In order to ration our 2 month supply of food, we eat as much local food as we can handle (bean or pumpkin stew with sorghum, millet or teff flat bread (injera).

We ration items we have brought with us that aren't found in country (such as bacon bits, chocolate chips, parmesan cheese, taco seasoning and salad dressing mixes). The occasional box of imported cereal, chips or pickles purchased in Addis are savoured! It is no wonder that we are utterly overwhelmed the first time we walk into a local grocery store.  

ENERGY RATION

We ration energy. When the sun shines, we can use more energy. When it is overcast, we use only necessary lights, turn off our freezer for night, and go to bed early. We completed a unit on energy in our Geography class. It asked the question: how can your family conserve non-renewable energy? We had a delightful discussion. (What is better: using our tank of butagas or chopping down trees for cooking fuel? Could we reduce the amount of driving we do? But driving generally primarily includes medical emergencies and driving to the capital city every 2 months.)

FUEL RATION

We use four forms of fuel:  gas for Rolf's motorcycle, diesel for our land cruiser, butane for our gas stove, and firewood (for cooking or fireside).  Gas was not often available in town (10km) away, we filled both tanks of our land cruiser at the gas station 4 hours away, (sometimes it was available 1-2 hours away but there were no guarantees), we brought in 2 bottles of butane gas (double the size of a small BBQ tank of gas) from Addis Ababa (12 hours away).  Firewood was readily available but required physical labor.   For obvious reason, we rationed our fuel.  If too many medical emergencies took place and there was no fuel available in the nearest large town, we could literally get stuck in Gesses.

COFFEE RATION?

We may have to ration sugar but we never have to ration coffee! One of the perks of living in a country that grows export amounts of coffee. And since salt is added instead of cream and sugar, the green coffee is roasted fresh each day .

Although there are days when I am overwhelmed by the physical/mental energy required to ration food, water and energy, overall we have learned to LOVE rationing.

WE LOVE RATIONING and here is why:

1. We are enthusiastic about seemingly small things: a bar of chocolate divided up into 7 pieces, a homemade smoothie on a hot day (despite it being basically the same kind every day)

2. We have learned that a little goes a long way: a handful of bacon bits in soup, one chicken for 4 or more meals, 1/3 the sugar in a recipe, 2 L of water will fully wash your entire body.

3. We have become creative. You want something? You can't buy it so you will have to make it. A bat for your ball? There's wood. A gift for a birthday? Crochet/knit or build. Need shorts? Cut off the pants that never get worn. (It's not actually a waste.) It's not like these are new concepts but my generation didn't have to work very hard to save and adapt what we already had.

4. Our food waste is almost minimal. Leftovers are enjoyed and there are always hungry neighbour kids stopping by. The challenge? It now causes great anxiety to see people dump large portions of food from their plates into the garbage. We no longer have to try and conjure up images of “starving Chinese children”, we know kids by names who eat one meal a day and understand hunger as part of daily life.

5. We are appreciative and aware of God's gifts. The wild fruit trees that bear fruit in different months of the year, wild potatoes and edible greens, pumpkins as a staple food, rain that fills our water tanks and sun that powers our home. We know where the milk, eggs and meat come from. The only way Gumuz eat meat is to slaughter a chicken, goat or entire cow after the guests have arrived.

So back to history....we found it extremely interesting to read of how North Americans and Europeans at times chose to ration basic items so that the soldiers could be sent more. Sometimes they were forced into rationing but other times they chose it.

We wonder if our world might just be a better place if we couldn't have everything at our fingertips all year around and rationing once again was part of our life. When I hear the enthusiasm in North America for freshly picked berries, corn, or peas....I hear the wonder that has become part of our life for so many years. As we contemplate our return to Canada, we ponder how we might intentionally choose to ration, make fewer trips to the grocery store and continue to find pleasure in the small things, to be creative with what we have, waste little and appreciate all that God has provided.

(This blog was written in April and never posted. I have added a few comments now that we have been back in Canada for 6 weeks. I decided to post it anyways. Our hope is to continue being aware of the resources God has given to us and use them wisely. Missionaries are finding it harder than ever to adjust to life in remote places and the reasons are obvious. We are a society of instant gratification and know little of rationing our resources. There are certainly some who due to economy or choice live differently and it is our desire also to be intentional in how we live.)