African Scrabble

You could call it an impulse buy, but then again you could say that about anything you buy (other than food) at an airport shop. We’ll ignore the emergency buy on the way back home such as flowers or souvenirs needed for expectant friends or family that you forgot about when you visited the exotic marketplace. In actuality, this was a sought-after purchase that took two trips to the “Travel Store” at Dulles to finally ask the right salesperson who knew that a new shipment had just arrived. I think Kim actually bought it but it remained in possession of the “Guardian” throughout the trip much like the Ark of the Covenant remained with the Levites. Our Levite was Pete. He was ordained by family heritage since it is rumored that Scrabble was either invented by a Walter or taken to such an ethereal level by their family play that its essence is woven into their DNA. The Walters know Scrabble. So, it was only natural that Pete was entrusted with guarding the Travel Scrabble and, along with Hattie, interpreting rules. Various of us played each night after devotion, but the core group was Pete, Hattie, Kim, Katherine, Cheryl, Will and me. Sometimes we played partners and sometimes solo, but no one really dominated (although I will admit Cheryl spanked me three times in a row on the flight home). I’m in love with the game again but, more importantly, I love my missions family.

In life, as in Scrabble, simple words can be worth a lot especially if they’re used in the appropriate place. They can cut and they can heal; they can illuminate and they can confound; they can make you laugh and they can make you cry. Certain words that were uttered on this African mission will conjure a different meaning to most of us who went—words like “taffy”, "gink", “rude” and “squatty” (you’ll have to ask someone who went on the trip for explanations). I even smile when I type them. Nonetheless, here are some words (and their Scrabble value sans Double/Triple Letter or Word Scores) that now contain African meaning to me:

Water (8 points)
A reliable source of clean water is the first necessity for a healthy community. Just watch “Survivorman”. Wars have been fought over water, the Israelites argued over lack of it during the Exodus and the whole Bible is full of references to water as a source of life. It’s symbolism in baptism speaks to the life that water supports. The children of Zambia suffer for lack of clean water even in the capital city slums called Misisi. Although the city has highly chlorinated tap water, the people in Misisi (a short walk from opulent embassies) must hike to cisterns where water is cached for them. Zoe has provided the pipes and equipment to pipe the water to the Anglican Church in Misisi where we provided medical care, but the morass of underground pipes has made digging a political nightmare. The people in the villages fair even worse since carrying water from a distant borehole well is exhausting. Bathing in the streams can lead to infection with schistosome parasites. It’s no wonder the two boreholes that Zoe provided were celebrated with such pomp and circumstance.

Malaria (9 points)
Despite what our tour guide said, the water buffalo doesn’t kill more people than any other animal—the mosquito does. The Anglican Church helps to provide bed netting and treatment of netting to protect Zambians but the mosquitoes in Zambia are stealth-like ultra light assassins that prey on small children. Even Pete went mano-a-sqito with one inside his netting one night but ended up with 3 wounds. Unlike Pete, the Zambian children don’t take Malarone to prevent infection, they suffer the recurrent high fevers and possible organ damage unless they see a clinic or mission team like ours.

Journey (17 points)
I’ve heard Rick talk about enjoying the journey and, to me, this mission was foremost a psalm to the spirit of God in Africa and in each of our mission members. Of course, we did some good with our medical care for the children of Zambia, but I realize that the parasites and malaria and ringworm may return; nonetheless those illnesses don’t diminish the faith (11 points) that I saw in the church at Choma; those illnesses can’t destroy the hope (9 points) that this mission provided to the children in Misisi or the village schools near Mapanza. Most importantly those illnesses can’t destroy the love (7 points) that I saw in those beautiful, smiling, brown-eyed children or felt emanating from the white skinned missionaries from Hayes Barton. We became a family in Africa. Zoe (12 points) means “life-giving” but to me, it meant “love-giving” to both Zambia, to my mission family and to me.

Oh, and by the way Cheryl, “savvy” has 2 Vs, not 1! Gink?

Robert Littleton