June 17 – Food Distribution at IDO Camp

Last night was surreal. I felt like I was walking around in a movie.. but it was reality. We distributed between 300 and 350 food and hygiene kits. There should have been enough to go around to the small camp, but they didn’t know that. They never know how much will come out of the white truck when it backs up. And because this is literally the food they need to eat, there is competition. Significant competition.

The high risk moments are just before the truck doors open and just as they close. Just before the doors opened the camp ladies were pushing and shoving and yelling.. it was pretty intimidating. And upsetting.

Just as the doors close, the people who haven’t gotten anything realize they might not get anything, so there is scuffling then as well.

It turns out these camps are little communities. There are camp leaders, camp police, a camp pastor, and everyone has a picture ID card.

Last night the camp police disbursed the jostling crowd and told them we would leave if they didn’t shape up and get orderly. Our students then had a (mostly) safe, (mostly) orderly camp in which to distribute food and hygiene kits. We had students buddy up, guy-girl, and take eight kits down the rows and hand one kit to each tent. It was very close quarters.. the people were often sitting right there in the doorway as we walked up. Similar to walking down a dark, thin hallway at night and finding someone in the doorway. A moment would present itself where, bam, a person would be sitting right there.. looking up.. with nothing. And we were standing there.. looking down, holding bags of the ‘something’ that they needed. It was profound.

They would show their ID card to the authorized camp person and we would hand them a kit. The vast majority were gentle, thankful people who literally had their clothes, their tent, and that bag we just gave them. Some middle class had a cot.. or a cooking pot. One upper class family even had a light in their tent.

It was amazing, surreal, scary, stressful when quarrels or yelling broke out, and.. upsetting, wondering how they’ll get out of that situation. We were all glad for the experience. It was unlike any other experience I’ve ever had.

—- At another camp…

This camp was very organized and clean. All the tents were lined up and most had cots. Still, we met a grandmother, about 70, who invited us in her tent to visit. She slept on the floor and had her two grand- children share the one cot she had. It was hot. There was nothing else in the tent. Just the cot.