The Hometown Treasure April 2012 | Page 45

Heart of by Karen Unternahrer Missi ns A Different Perspective Guest writer, Dan Janzen, with his wife Rachel and their young sons, Andrew and Alex, are serving in Rwanda, Africa, with World Venture. Rwanda is only 100 miles long by 100 miles wide with more than nine million people in that area. There are two main tribes living in Rwanda; the Hutu make up 85% and the Tutsi 15% of the population. Look for Dan and Rachel Janzen at www.worldventure.com or web.me.com/rwandafamily . Recently we found a Rwandan man lying face down, unconscious, in the street; his body rigid, his pulse steady, his breathing regular. Carefully moving him to safety, it became apparent he had experienced a seizure. Others were gathering around. Soon the injured man was moving and shortly thereafter was able to sit up with help That’s when our cultural experience began. Thankfully a young Rwandan professional who could speak English happened by and we were able to ascertain what had occurred, who the man was, and where he lived. Next question: What do we do with him? The police were called, but probably wouldn’t show up. There are only two ambulances in town, and they wouldn’t come for something this “minor”. This left us, a group of ten Rwandans and three Americans, to figure out what to do. Spring Bazaar at Christy Petersheim’s • 1110 N 675 W • Shipshewana April 28 8:30- 3:30 Prizes Every Hour Doughnuts & Coffee 16 Vendors Contact: Lora Lehman 574-2086 x4 Songs Include: This World Is Not My Home Family Reunion • A Beautiful Life Daniel Prayed • and more Plus, 6 brand new Gospel songs! An Old Fashioned, Acapella, Gospel Singin’ CD Available at Yoder’s Shipshewana Hardware or call Joanna at 260.417.0284 P.O. Box 401, Grabill, IN 46741 by Joanna (Nolt) Delagrange In America, one person would take the lead and direct the group, reasoning that it was important to get this man to a hospital quickly. Ah, but this is not America. In the next fifteen minutes, everyone (except the injured man, because he was still too weak) gave their opinion. Just when the group decided the man should be taken to the hospital in his area of town, another man (wearing a Red Cross t-shirt of all things) came up and was convinced the injured man was a conartist. He said people do this all the time so they can get money and help from complete strangers. Another ten minutes elapsed while the group tried to convince him that this seizure was, in fact, real. Finally, thirty minutes after the man was found, it was decided he should indeed be taken to the hospital. The next question was: Who should take him? As Americans with resources, we offered to do it and began walking the injured man to our car. But just as we were about to drive off, the group came to us and said, “With your children in the car and because we don’t really know what his condition is, we’ll take him.” So the man climbed out of our car and into theirs for a ride to the hospital. This incident taught me many things including a lesson on decision-making. As Americans, we make our decisions independently and value people who are “good decision makers.” But in Rwanda, decisions are made by the group. We would never think of making an injured person wait thirty minutes while the group talks over him trying to decide if he is a con, and then decide what to do with him. But that is exactly what happened this afternoon. I received an important lesson today. Decisions in Rwanda take time and group consensus. I can only imagine future occasions when I will need to look back upon this incident and remember what I witnessed. The Hometown Treasure · Apr. ‘12 · pg 43