St. Brigid Roman Catholic Church
Journal Entry - April 2008 - Discovering the true spirit of community while stuck in the mud!
Click here for photos of Tiffany's fishing fun!
Dear friends,Several weeks ago I had quite an interesting experience...I was returning back to the childrens home where I live when I saw a group of our children and a few of our staff members standing knee deep (and most of the kids, waist-deep) in a small pool of very thick, muddy water (almost the consistency of quicksand), outside of the home."What are you doing?" I asked. "We're fishing!" they gleefully replied. As I got a little closer, I could indeed see that they were fishing, but not in the way that you or I might normally fish! There were no fishing rods, or nets...the kids and staff were catching the fish with their bare hands and putting them into buckets! I later learned that they had spent hours beforehand, removing alot of the water from the small pond, using a single bucket, tied on 2 sides with rope, and swung back and forth between 2 people. Quite a long and tedious process.I spoke with some of the staff that evening and asked them if they would be willing to teach me how to "fish". They happily agreed, but I wasn't altogether sure if they were taking me seriously. Two days later however, I accompanied our "fishing crew" out to another nearby pool of muddy water. I took off my flip flops and squished through the mud around the pool, to get to the other side, where the "swinging bucket routine" was about to get started. I watched closely as 2 staff members effortlessly swung the bucket between them, into the water, and then out of the water, emptying it into another nearby pool of water. Looked easy enough.After about 10 minutes of observing the "swinging bucket technique" I mustered up enough courage and said, "Okay, I'm ready to try". I was given one of the ends of the rope, with my friend Smita, holding the other end. We began swinging the bucket into and out of the water...I soon realized that the "swinging bucket technique" was not as easy as it appeared!The first few minutes of my attempt to swing the bucket, were hysterical! I almost lost my balance and fell into the water! Then, I hit the bucket against the mud bank, instead of hurling it over the top of the bank, to dump the water on the other side! After much laughter, I regained my composure, and tried again...this time surrendering to the rhythm of the swinging motion, instead of trying so hard to follow the instructions that were being given to me. After a few minutes, I got into my groove, swinging, filling, and emptying the bucket in one continuous motion (almost) effortlessly.We all took turns swinging the bucket for atleast an hour (or maybe 2, I'm not sure b/c I lost track of time!) until most of the water was removed. Then it was time to get into the mud! I slowly entered the now shallow pool of water, and quickly sank down into the underlying mud, one leg at a time. It really did feel a bit like quicksand, but I tried not to think about that, in addition to trying not to think any thoughts about leeches, worms, parasites or any other crawly creatures, that I imagined I could encounter, while in the mud!Small fish were visible near the surface of the water now, so the kids, staff, and I caught them between the palms of our hands and put them in the bucket. The first few times I shrieked of course, b/c I'm not really used to having wet, slippery fish squirming around in my hands, but after awhile I (kind of) got used to it! Then everyone started sinking their hands and arms deep into the mud and feeling around for bigger fish...I was amazed at how many they caught! Some of the kids were practically diving head first into the mud to go after the bigger fish! I must admit, I was not quite so brave! I was a bit too squeamish to go for the bigger ones. Sinking my hands, an arm's length deep into the mud, and feeling something moving underneath my fingers was enough to have me jumping around and screaming...much to the amusement of the staff and kids!At one point, I realized that I had sunken so deep into the mud, that I literally could not pull out either of my legs....too much suction was holding both of my feet firmly in place. So, I grabbed onto one of the kids who was standing nearby, and somehow, he was able to dislodge me from my spot in the mud!All in all it was a very enjoyable, (and at times, extremely amusing and entertaining) experience! Just being waist deep in the mud with the kids and staff definitely created a special kind of bond between us, in a different way than my usual day to day interactions with them normally would. The fishing experience took me out of my role as "teacher" and allowed me to enter into an experience with the community in which I live, which was both humbling (b/c I had no idea what I was doing!) and loads of fun at the same time...it was an experience in which we all worked (and played) together to achieve the same goal. The "universal" experience of fishing transcended whatever language, cultural or ethnic differences which may have been present between us, and brought us all together as one! I love experiences like that!It also reminded me that sometimes, as lay volunteers doing service in foreign countries, we have to be willing to stretch out of our comfort zones to be able to truly experience a true sense of unity and community with those whom we live and work. Sometimes I guess you just have to be willing to risk getting stuck in the mud!
Blessings and Love,
Tiff
