Showering at the Pacific Orientation Course (POC)

One interesting thing about POC is the shower situation. If you are an experienced camper, these showers may look luxurious to you, but if you are used to your porcelain bathtub, you may be a little uncomfortable with the showers at POC. Here’s what I mean…

First, clean rain water is stored in this white tank. Because there is not enough rain water for all of us to use for both drinking and showering, we are not allowed to use water from this tank for our showers. Our semi-clean shower water is pumped from a nearby river instead.

Some of the river water flows into this brownish black contraption we affectionately call “Martha.” The water sits in the top portion of Martha, awaiting a fire in the lower portion to be built by a staff member or student of POC. When the fire is lit, it takes about 30 minutes to heat the water to a shower temperature. We call this “stoking Martha” or “lighting Martha.” This chore is done twice a day, 6am and 4:30pm (before peak shower times).

Next, the water flows from Martha to these two faucets. When you are ready for your shower, you can fill a buket with your optimal shower temperature water by using the hot and cold water as you please. One buket will give you a five minute shower if you use water sparingly.

If the water is not hot when you turn on the “hot” tap, Martha has not been lit or she needs to be stoked. If this is the case, your shower will need to be postponed until the fire is going in Martha.

After your white bucket is full of water, you will need to carry it to a shower stall and fill the overhead bucket. This metal bucket is crafted with special holes on the bottom to allow water out in a slow and controlled manner. You can turn the bottom part of this bucket to start or stop the flow of water.

(The small showerhead you see in this picture is cold water only. If you like cold showers, you do not have to worry about stoking Martha or filling a bucket, but be warned, this water often stops unexpectedly. If you are all soaped up inside your cold shower when the water stops flowing, you may wish you had filled a bucket!)

When your bucket is full, you can pull the string and secure it to the hook on the right-hand side of the wall. This can be adjusted to whatever height you would like. 

After you have showered, you may want to brush your teeth at the sinks, using the items you have stored in your personal cubby. (My cubby is the very middle one!)

Now you are clean and ready to go back out into the Madang heat. Don’t worry, you’ll be sweaty again in ten minutes and wanting to do it all over again!

The purpose of the “roughing it” atmosphere at POC is to get us ready to live in a village and to make us grateful for the conveniences we do enjoy here in Papua New Guinea. Many Bible translators use showers even more basic than these (or they wash in the river directly). Showering at POC has given me a better perspective of what my coworkers go through on a regular basis.

NOTE: The bathroom I’ve shown here is from my stay in Madang for the Pacific Orientation Course. This is NOT what my bathroom looks like in my house in Ukarumpa. In case you are curious, my regular bathroom at my house looks like this. 

As you shower in your own house today, remember to pray for those working in remote areas with few conveniences. They have learned to sacrifice comfort in order to bring God’s Word to the nations.

Grateful for His Sacrifice,

Melissa