Comfort Level

This post is part of a themed series inspired by theCameraShy challenge. The back story is here.

Week #4: Comfort

Our second week in Malawi, the rains started more regularly. And with it, came a more sobering perspective of Malawian life. We had seen dilapidated rural houses and agonizing poverty, but these take on a whole new magnitude in the rain. Overnight, rickety brick houses turn dangerous and families live a more intense reality than they were living just a day before.

Yet everywhere we went, joyful children stood with their feet in the freezing mud, their toes shrivelled like tiny sausages, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Because it was.

I sat with one family, whose biggest wish was blankets. And I looked down at my new high-tech trail shoes and fleece-lined waterproof jacket, the backpack on my back filled with bottled water and granola bars. And I was pummelled by the irony.

Everywhere we went, I was struck by the comfort of my life in Canada. I sleep not only off the ground, but in a bed with a duvet and pillows. I put on clean clothes and shoes every morning and I have a selection to choose from. I don’t have to light a fire or keep one going, I turn on my crock pot and it simmers safely all day, giving my family a healthy meal. And I don’t have to concern myself with frivolities like keeping warm – my thermostat takes care of that for me. I blend an assortment of fruit together for a nutritious smoothie breakfast from my cupboard without picking a single piece. I get my milk from a carton in the fridge without having to milk any animal for the privilege of drinking it. I don’t have to pump water or carry it long distances, I walk to almost any room in my house and turn a tap. And that water doesn’t look odd or smell foul or make my kids sick. I power lights without a second thought, and when it rains I don’t have to strategize to keep my family warm enough. We ‘rough it’ camping with more luxury than Africans, just for the fun of it.

But because I don’t have to think about these things, I think about them often. In Canada, we have all the necessities of life covered and most of our other desires as well. So we see comforts here as the things that make our world extra cozy: a steaming latte, a warm bubble bath, a good book. We live in a world of such intense comfort every single day, yet it has become so mundane and commonplace, that we don’t often see it for the miracle that it really is.

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26 Jan This entry was published on January 26, 2012 at 10:50 am. It’s filed under CameraShy Challenge, Canada, Malawi, Photography, Poverty, Real Life, Wealth and tagged Canada, comfort, Malawi, mud, Photography, privilege, toes. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.