I can remember when our four kids were little and I did grocery shopping, it would be a one day event, stocking up on: bread (freezing several loaves), milk, (pouring a bit from each gallon into a container and freezing the rest), canned veggies and soup, cheese by the pound (also freezing a couple of pounds). Saturday would be the day to pick up anything “fresh” since dad was home and could watch the kids while I had some time to rush into the store for bananas, apples, oranges etc.
Shopping in Tala is totally different. There is no stable electricity so nothing can be frozen and kept for later. Beans, rice and flour don’t have to be refrigerated and milk is bought in cartons off the shelf (I haven’t tried this milk on it’s own only boiled for tea). Everything else would be bought on a daily basis.
After arriving at Nice View Academy in the morning we would get things settled then make plans to go into town for items needed that day – cabbage and tomatoes to be cooked for lunch (for the kids at school) and dinner (for the kids who live at the Academy). Then every night after leaving the Academy we would stop at one kiosk for milk, one store for bread, another kiosk for eggs, a vegetable stand for cabbage/tomatoes etc. and then the butchers, most used for dinner and tea that night and breakfast the next morning.
Saturdays though we were able to go to the market for our produce, plastic basins, salt and many other items. Because many people do not have the funds to purchase large quantities of salt, band-aids or soap, you can buy one tablespoon of salt, one band-aid, one dixie cup size container of soap. Not only were we able to buy produce in one area (instead of going to different kiosks) but we got caught up on local news too! It was not only a grocery shopping day, but a social event.
I loved (and will love again) walking around the market, seeing how people stack their produce (see the tomatoes in the above photo), telling you their avocado’s are best, their mangoes are the sweetest. Shopping may not be a one day event in Tala, more like a once a day event, but each and every day we pick up our necessities we thank God for His providence, not only for us but the three orphanages!
As it says in 1 Timothy, “For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” Thank you for your continued support.