In Africa: Enjoying life without electricity

		Notes from  The Gambia  Tom Brodd

On a recent trek upcountry for business planning workshops, I had several occasions to stay overnight in villages.

We were fortunate that the moon was entering its full phase as this gave us plenty of light for getting around at night. One does not appreciate the amount of light the moon gives until you are away from all sources of electric lighting. Also, as we say around here, the moon is free electricity.

Other sources of light

The other sources of light, aside from the moon, are candles and kerosene lamps. Each gives off a different hue of light. The moon give a soft grayish blue, almost a ghostly light; candles give a rather yellow white light; and kerosene lamps give off a dark pumpkin orange light.

When you carry a candle or kerosene lamp, the movement makes the shadows jump and dance. It's as if the objects reflecting the light have come to life. This can make walking to your neighbor's house an adventure.

One can see how our ancestors could have imagined that they saw ghosts and goblins at night.

Living family style

Unlike how we live with each family in its own house or apartment, compound houses have more than one family living in them. Think of living with your aunts, uncles, and their families. The houses can either be a couple of buildings with individual rooms or small single room buildings.

Because the weather here is always warm, people do most of their socializing, cooking, eating, etc., outside and only go inside to sleep or get out of the rain.

Living this way also allows people to visit with their friends and neighbors easily, just as we used to do when people sat outside on their porches and did not hide inside watching television or looking at the Internet.

Evening meal

The main activity at night is the evening meal. Visitors are always invited to someone's compound house for dinner. The main foods are cooked in one large pot over a wood fire. Everyone has supper at the same time.

Food is served in what we would call oversized mixing bowls and four to six people eat out of the same bowl. This communal eating lets people interact and discuss the days events in a leisurely way which often continues long after the meal is finished.

Later on, people sit back and enjoy the relative coolness of the night breeze, watch the stars, and listen to the sounds of the crickets and other creatures of the night.

Tom Brodd of Madison is living in The Gambia, West Africa, as part of Catholic Relief Services Volunteer Program.

Obedience: Brings blessings

		A Culture  of Life  Kimberly Hahn

Some have experienced the joy of living this truth from the beginning of their marriage [the blessings that flow from obedience to church teaching on contraception].

One mother gave this testimony: "I grew up when it was 'normal' not to contracept. We needed to take joint responsibility for when to abstain - not just my saying no. It has helped us come to greater trust of God in all areas of our life."

Nancy, from Evergreen, Colo., shared about the blessing that comes from beginning marriage without contraception: "We totally left the timing of our children in God's heart. Starting our marriage that way enabled us to trust in his will for us. It certainly helped us to focus on our love for each other by sacrifice and self-denial."

'Generosity and love'

A couple from Greeley, Colo., agrees: "Being open to life has taught us lessons in generosity and love. It has proven that God is better at planning our family than we could ever be."

A mother in Steubenville, Ohio, summed up the benefits of living the Church's teaching: "No guilt and many beautiful children."

Perhaps this joy seems elusive in the context of anxiety about how many children might be conceived. One mother reported the following:

"[We used artificial contraception] because of our fear of our fertility. In hindsight I see that using artificial contraception caused many burdens in our marriage. [In switching to Natural Family Planning] I learned about sacrificial love. It was pivotal in my reconversion to my faith and led eventually to my husband's joining the Church."

Unfounded fears

Laurie, from Louisville, Ky., echoed the same concern:

"My big fear was that if we didn't use contraception we'd have a baby every year. Then I read Breastfeeding and Natural Child Spacing by Sheila Kippley. I realized that God had everything worked out if we will just follow his plan. I was vaguely aware of Church teaching on contraception (but I 'knew' no one followed this teaching anymore).

"Then I practiced ecological breastfeeding and experienced first-hand delayed menstruation and return to fertility. (My cycles returned when my baby was about fifteen months old.) We threw away all contraceptives, and our marriage has been completely open to new life ever since. This has added a sacredness to our marital relations that wasn't there when we were contracepting."

One Protestant couple understood contraception as an act of stewardship, as Scott and I had:

"We were influenced by the idea that contraception, limiting family size, timing of children, etc., was good Christian stewardship. My husband and I did not come to agreement on Church teaching at the same time. It was one of the first things that made sense to me, one of the last for him. He has really changed, though. He is 100 percent in agreement with the Church."

Strong commitment

In fact, one man's strong commitment to the Church's teaching impressed rather than scared off his soon-to-be wife:

"My husband influenced our decision. I've been blessed with a husband who has a very strong faith. He made it clear to me before we were married that he put God and his Catholic faith first and he would not waiver on this. His faith made the Catholic Church (and him) even more attractive to me before my conversion."

Some people do not realize that their contraceptive use makes a difference until after they have reexamined their use. Brenda from Houston, Texas, wrote:

"While we contracepted, I don't think we felt a difference. It was in hindsight that we could see what we had missed. When we switched, we felt a stronger bond with each other and a happiness and joy because of our openness to life."

Kimberly Hahn, mother of six, is co-author of Roman, Sweet Home, Our Journey to Catholicism, with her husband Scott. This column is syndicated by www.OneMoreSoul.com and reprinted from Hahn's book, Life-Giving Love (St. Anthony Messenger Press).