Long Road to Juba

I spent last night in the extended cab of a Toyota pickup truck in the bush of Gulu with Justin, Moses, a mother and child with malaria and two chickens. About a dozen others were sleeping on tarps under an abandoned truck. It smelled of urine. I was not sure if it was the baby or the chickens. Let me explain.

My flight back to the US leaves Juba on Sunday so I needed to get from Rumbek to Juba. This is a quick 60 minute flight but no planes were flying. Kush Air was out with mechanical problems. Apparently, the flight I caught two weeks ago was their last one to Rumbek for awhile. South Supreme was pulled to run humanitarian aid. So my only alternative was to go by land. Moses and Justin secured a truck and driver. They know how packed these vehicles can be so they purchased all the space inside the extended cab (4 total counting the driver rather than the normal 5-6). This was about the same price as 3 plane tickets. So Thursday morning about 7:30 the truck came to Pan Dor to pick me up.

The first indication of potential issues was the driver looking under the hood. Then we picked up Moses and then about 10 other people who climbed in the back with our luggage. As you are probably aware an extended cab means a shorter bed of the truck. The driver stopped to pick up a tarp and spare tire. We got gas and off we went. (I will try to get a picture or two to Mary to include in this post). The road between Rumbek and Juba is legendary. It is a dirt road traveled by the huge trucks driven by the UN, oil tankers, etc. People at Pan Dor were giving me their "blessings" and that look people give when they feel for you.

We made several stops including the stop at the driver's family to pick up more people, a big trunk, bee hive in a 5 gallon container and two chickens. At this point I think we had 17 total people bounding along in this Toyota truck. We knew there were mechanical problems because we could hear them. The conditions of the road only made it worse. Twice we all got out of the truck and it went through the bush (side fields) rather than the road. After our stop for lunch there were complaints about the back being so crowded. A woman with a toddler who has malaria asked if she could ride in the cab with us - of course. I was already feeling bad about being inside with the rest crowded in the back. When it rained they put the tarp over their heads and we just kept going.

The windows were electric but were out of their tracks so did not work. At first they were all opened - too much when it rained - then only one was open part way. The sweat was running off my chin but I just kept thinking about the men, women, and children in the back and was grateful. After limping along into the dark (it gets dark around 7:00) we finally stopped - could not go any further with whatever was the issue with the right front tire/wheel. We were in the middle of nowhere, a couple thatched roof houses and one 6X6 "shop" that sold water and crackers. We had the spare tire but could not find a jack. Our phones did not work but some people picked up along the way had phone service because they were more local to where we were. I hope I am making sense. Anyway, we got a truck to come with a jack. Every male over 10 was looking at the situation. The decision was that we could not repair this without parts so the guy with the jack left. Now some phone calls were made to try to get us to the hotel where we were to have spent the night. But we could not locate any such possibility so we settled down for the night.

Thus my story of how I spent last night in a Toyota pickup truck with Justin, Moses, mother, child with malaria and 2 chickens. BTW, eventually the mother and child got out and slept on the ground with the others. The urine smell was the chickens.

The Rest of The Story. The next morning we were able to secure boda bodas which first took the local people to their destination which was just the next town. Then they came back to get more of us (I think 6). I got to ride my own which I greatly appreciated. It was about an hour on the boda boda to get to the "Express Bus". I had seen these buses all over South Sudan always packed to the gills with people and items stacked 6-10 feet on the roof. I often thought, "I am glad I do not have to ride in one of those." Well, here I come!

We boarded around 1:00 and spent the next 7 hours on more of those orange rutted roads. I was next to the window which means I had lots of air moving so I did not get hot. It also meant I got my left arm sun burned and orange dust from head to toe. More on that in a bit. Meanwhile, about an hour short of Juba as we traveling as fast as the road conditions allowed (I would guess an average of 20 miles/hour) the right front just collapsed on to the tire. I am guessing it has something to do with tie rods or suspension but car mechanics are not my strong points. Because of the conflict, Juba has a curfew at 9:00. If we did not get past the check point by 9:00 we would have to sleep along the road again. Everyone knew our options including the driver. He just kept inching along. You could hear the wheel well rubbing on the tire. At one point the "express bus" just stopped in a hole. The abrupt stop pushed my shin into the seat in front of me (think sardines). I thought, "that's going to leave a mark". It did. But finally we got past the check point around 8:00 and started our drive into Juba.

Meanwhile, Moses now had phone service so he made a phone call for a car to pick us up. It came quickly. Our bus stopped and we unloaded our luggage from the top and put it in the Land Rover. Within a few miles we were on the USAID road - real paved road! There were several stops to let people off, visit Jacob, etc. but I finally got to the Amarat Classic Hotel around 9:30. I was covered in orange dust. My hair was sp thick with it I could not put my fingers into my hair. From head to toe I was covered. So I just got into the shower with my clothes on and kept washing. I have a hand brush and soap just kept scrubbing. As we had been approaching Juba limping along on 3 paws, I saw the first star. "Star of wonder, star of might," I thought, "first star I see tonight. I wish I may. I wish I might stay at Amarat tonight." I called Bob after a quick bite to eat, climbed into bed, and thanked God for the journey.

 Tis' grace has brought me safe thus far and grace will bring me home.

Sunday, June 22

I have not been able to blog for several days and Bev is helping me with this one.  Let me explain.  There are 2 internet cafes here but they have been down the whole time I have been here.  They are waiting for a man to come from Juba to repair the problem.  However, the man from Juba cannot get here because the airlines are having trouble.  One of them, Kush Air, is not running at all.  It has something to do with tires and mechanical issues.  South Supreme is the other one and it is running about 1/3 of its normal schedule.  So the man from Juba has not been able to get here.

 

Now, this could create a problem for me getting to Juba so I can fly home next Sunday.  Fortunately, our director Justin has contacts in many places including the airlines.  Instead of trying to fly back on Saturday we are going on Wednesday.  Many people are trying to book tickets for that flight so this afternoon (Sunday) he is at the Supreme office securing seats for us.  Please pray God provides a way for me to get to Juba before my flight home leaves Sunday.

 

Today I went to two worship services, Episcopal in English and Anglican in Dinka.  The worship here is beautiful.  I always get so full.  The universal and eternal nature of our faith is so clear and powerful. We are part of an incredible "body".

 

Last night Justin and I met with our Advisory Council.  They are some of the officials in the community who can advise the US Abukloi Board on many things.  I was nervous about this meeting.  Sometimes I really feel my "foreignness" here.  I don't want anything I do or fail to do to offend or confuse people.  But the meeting could not have been any better, well, maybe if we had had perfect attendance, but I ask too much.

I sat with the lone woman on the Council.  She works for the government in wildlife and fisheries, married with 3 children, about 44 years old.  She had spent most of the day at an organizing event to empower women.  As you can guess, I really liked her!

 

Anyway, her suggestion for the agricultural project in Akuac (where we have a well and are repairing the fence) is to have the women do this as a vegetable garden and then sale their produce at the market.  The men agreed that could work very well.  She said she would help organize them if that were needed.

I am so glad this is a possibility.  My mother gave me $1,000 to take with me to feed the people here.  She will be so happy to think that she has helped women  entrepreneurs as well as fed the people.

For those of you who are giving $35/month to Abukloi, thank you.  It is making a difference in the lives of many people and families.  If you would be able and interested in participating in this easy way to support the projects here just visit the website www.abukloi.org

Rain and Conflict

It rained hard last night much of the night and drizzled into the morning. These are some of the things here that are impacted by rain. Nearly half of the students were absent. Some of them walk 90 minutes or more to get to school. It is not good to do that in the rain. The roads are terrible on a good day but after a rain...so the trip to school and back on a boda boda was challenging. I could exhale when we finally arrived back at Pan Dor.

The landing strip at the airport in Rumbek is dirt so most planes did not fly today. We visited a farm and gardens at a local school this evening so my sandals are a tiny bit muddy! This is the rainy season so this happens often!

We are conducting a health education assessment with the students. It takes time as we are doing this one-on-one. When we ask what are the health concerns of the community nearly everyone lists "conflict, tribal fighting, hostility" as the #1 concern. Violence against girls has been an issue in South Sudan for many years but this violence is against young men. Some of them who live in the villages around town walk to town in the evening and sleep there so no one will come to their home in the village and take them to kill them. We have members of the competing tribes in our school but I do not believe there will be any problems. Not everyone is involved in this, just a few, much like gangs and such in the States.

I know some of you have been hearing about the conflict here so I wanted you to hear more from a very local viewpoint. Please know that I have never felt in danger here - well maybe on the boda boda! I have important meetings this weekend with community leaders. Please be in prayer for those. In case you didn't know, my luggage arrived on Wednesday.

Good Hump Day

Today is Wednesday, Hump Day for the week and for my trip. It has been a good day. My luggage came and everything seemed to be there! This may be the last trip for the larger suitcase as it has holes in the bottom.

Today was spent primarily on agriculture issues. This is one of the few times to be glad I was raised on a farm - something I loathed as a teen. We visited the property Abukloi owns in Akuac. The fence that once protected most of the property has just a few sections still standing. Two men are digging out the former concrete foundations of the posts with nothing but (not sure of the name) metal pole, sharp at one end and their hands. It is hot dirty, work and there are about 150 poles!! Some women and children were cutting down small trees and bushes with a hatchet and slicer. Again, very hard work. We will buy hand tools to work the soil but it is too big, about 5 acres is my estimate, to do by hand so an ox and cow will likely be hired. If we had a bulldozer and chainsaw we could clear this property in a day but that is not to be our story. I also met a successful local farmer and saw one of his farms. It is not like one in the US but it produces food. This is rainy season and planting season so the property is in different stages. There are 2-3 growing seasons depending upon the crop.

I got a little sun burned today riding the boda boda but I have sunblock in my newly arrived luggage. Tomorrow I will definitely apply some. Many of the children in the communities outside of town see white people very seldom so when they see you they shout, "White person!". Of course, in their native Dinka, not English. Because I do not ride the motor bike side saddle as is custom here for women, I also have women shout in Dinka, "why are you riding like a man?" I want to respond, "So I won't fall off!"

Tomorrow I start the health survey with the students. It should likely take more than a day to get to all students, even with help from Moses (one of the Lost Boys related to Angelo currently in Rumbek). The surveys were in the luggage so I could not start them until the luggage came. There was a workshop held here at Pan Dor today so Mariam and her crew fed about 90 people. That is quite a feat with charcoal fire but they just take it all in stride. There topic was empowerment of women. It is interesting reading their newsprint. I have been reading a book about the Virginia Company at James Town. The book describes how the women felt about wearing the same worn out clothes day after day, wash after wash. Not to be too personal, but last night when I was washing out my one pair of undergarments I said out loud, "I am no better than the James Town settlers"! Today I celebrate more clothes!

Tuesday of Week Two

Good morning.
 I have learned that the internet seems to work best in the morning when there are fewer people using it. I also discovered that my sim card needed to be re-registered so I am using Director Justin's sim card - thanks, Justin.

Yesterday I spent time with the students. First I met with the prefects, the elected leaders of the students. They do not have president, vice president, secretary but head boy and head girl, prefect of academics, room monitor, sports prefect, etc. It works well and they are proud of their organization. A people who have been colonized and then run by a military dictator have a strong appreciation for democracy and transparency.

Before the students had met with me they had met with the entire student body. While they had a letter prepared for me to give to the Abukloi Board they were not going to read it to me until we gathered in assembly with everyone. So we all crowded together in one classroom and the letter was read. At the end of the assembly they all stood and sang their national anthem so I could video them - very powerful!

I had told them last week that I needed to know what was going well and what they still needed. These needs were to be prioritized. They followed instructions. The first priority was a boarding school. I learned more about why that is. Providing a boarding school is primarily for the girls. They have trouble excelling at school because of their responsibilities at home. It causes them to miss school and not be able to do their homework. Of course, boarding schools are very expensive. I hope to address the families of the students next week and will talk to them about encouraging their girls (daughters, wives, sisters) by reducing the work required of them so they can learn.

The second priority included computers and science lab equipment. I believe we can achieve that.

Tomorrow marks 1 full week in Rumbek, 1 full week without any luggage. It is amazing how you can survive with just the clothes on your back (plus a little help from Mariam who runs Pan Dor). Today I meet with the teachers to get their priorities and strategic plan. We also hope to visit the agriculture department about getting free seeds and fruit trees for our gardens.

Things are going well. I hear reports of violence among the people, very sad. As the Psalmist wrote, "but it does not come near my door" Thank you for your prayers and keep them coming, especially for the people of South Sudan. The are so grieved by the violence of their own people against each other. It is a very few but it holds back the whole.

lost Luggage and Found School

Thursday 6/12/14
I have been without internet for several days so have a bit to catch up on. I will do it quickly as I don't know how long my internet connection will last.

I was to leave Juba on Tuesday but the flight was canceled so I had to go back to the hotel for another night and then fly on Wednesday. That happened but my luggage ended up in Wau (look at the map, no where near). So it is to arrive Saturday - we shall see.... In the meantime, I am wearing clothes Bev left last year. The woman, Mariam, who operates Pan Dor, the Catholic boarding ministry, had a skirt and top that Bev gave to her. I still need to buy tooth brush and tooth paste and deoderant. This is not a good place to be without it. I was feeling frustrated in that it had taken me 4 days of the 21 just to get to Rumbek but today as I was riding the motor bike to the school, it felt wonderful. And I can't describe how amazing the school is. 

There were nearly 90 students at their desks looking very smart in the new uniforms. The whole place was peaceful and in order. Great teaching and learning was happening. It just thrilled me to see what God is doing! Justin, the Director of Abukloi, and I spent all morning there. We spoke with the Head Teacher about the purpose of my visit so he would be advised of how this will impact the school schedule. The students are having a meeting on Friday after school and they want me to come. There is an assembly on Friday morning and I will attend that as well. Nearly all of the students Bev and I had in the fall are back - it was wonderful to see all of them. Everyone asked about Teacher Beverly. Justin is making plans to meet with many people. 

We will probably rent a boda boda (motor bike) as it will be cheaper than renting one for every trip. The custom here is for women to ride side saddle. After 4 months of PT from shoulder surgery I did not ride that way and Justin advised the drivers to drive VERY slow. Bev and Ellen will be proud! I am feeling energized and grateful (and praying my luggage comes Saturday:)) Thanks for the prayers and keep them coming. Marg

Juba Another Day

Today was definitely a plan B day! I got up at 6:15, showered, dressed, had breakfast, checked out, and was at the airport by 7:30. The ticket said to be there at 7:00 so I was a little nervous about arriving late but everybody at the hotel assured me it was not a problem. That was more correct than even they knew. I had to stay in the outside waiting area because my flight was not scheduled to leave until noon. So I watched people, texted Justin, and read. Around 10:00 I went to the entrance to the terminal and was told my flight had been rescheduled for TOMORROW! As Angelo would say, "Welcome to South Sudan." I was about to text Justin when he texted me to tell me the flight had been cancelled. So I called the hotel to send a driver. He came and I returned to the hotel. Even though they have internet service with a cable hook up in the room there was no internet until now (dark at around 7:15). So I filled my time with other things, including a nice long nap. Having people all around fully engaged in conversation but myself speaking only when necessary, is like being on a silent retreat at Richmond Hill. This wasn't planned but I turned this whole trip over to God many times (you know how we turn it over and then take it back -thus the reason for turning it over many times) so just surrendered this day of silent retreat as well. Tomorrow I try again to get to Rumbek, God willing. I mentioned yesterday that I would share costs so those of you considering a trip here will know what to expect. Amarat Classic Hotel, where I am staying here in Juba, is $120/night and that includes shuttle to and from the airport, breakfast, dinner, and one bottle of water. I tip the driver about 10SSP or around $2.50. I also purchased minutes for the phone as I already had the sim card for Africa. The minutes are cheap. I would suggest a group who comes might want to share phones, sim cards, and minutes. I am not doing this but I believe you can purchase a Zain sim card for your smart phone and use it much like you do at home for phone, text, internet, etc. I would guess the internet part will work best at night, possibly only at night. I have a Zain modum that I use with my netbook. It works only after dark. It is the rainy season here so the ground is always wet, muddy, lots of puddles. Today it did not rain hard like it did yesterday but it did drizzle much of the day with some nice sun mid-afternoon. It got warm but not uncomfortable (of course, I was in my air-conditioned room much of the afternoon!). I skipped lunch today (not included in the package) so I am hungry now and going to dinner. Keep up the prayers!

I am now in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. The only way to Rumbek, my final destination, in this rainy season is by air and even it can be a little difficult because the runway is mud/clay. There are only two of those flights from Juba to Rumbek each week - Tuesday and Saturday. So leaving Dulles on Sunday morning brings me to Juba on Monday allowing the early morning flight to Rumbek on Tuesday. Because some of you reading this are considering making this trip yourself I will share a little bit about the costs along the way and some of the travel details (like I just did). The flight from Dulles (Washington, DC) to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia is 12.5 hours. The flight from Addis Ababa was 2 hours. But the holdover between those two flights was 8 hours! Basically it take 2-3 days to get to Rumbek (Sunday to Tuesday or Thursday to Saturday). I flew Ethiopian Air but there are other airlines that also fly to Juba, South Sudan. I just prefer Ethiopian Air because it does not require an overnight stop in Nirobi. It also is a pretty good international airline. I believe some of the other airlines are a bit less expensive. My flight from Dulles to Juba was a little over $1900 round trip. The flight from Juba to Rumbek can only be purchased at one of those two airports. I had our Director arrange for that as the flights are generally full so need to be purchased several days out. He had his brother bring my ticket to me at the hotel tonight here in Juba. If you were to come, we would make similar arrangements. That's it for now. I will try to write more tomorrow once I am actually in Rumbek. But I have heard from our Director (Justin) that the internet in Rumbek has been very poor. So we will see. Thanks for all your prayers - they got me this far!

Well, here I go again - back to South Sudan!
This time Bev is not going due to health issues of her own and in her family. So I am going solo this time. But going solo is not the only difference. I will be going for just three weeks, not 2-3 months. Also, I will not be starting a school, but checking on the school and hopefully starting several other initiatives. Much has happened since my last post, November, 2013.

Let me bring you up to date quickly: The teachers who were hired last fall completed the pre-session in early December. They are the same teachers who started the school officially in February, 2014. That school is going strong with nearly 100 "9th grade" students. They have completed their first term and will be back in session next week, just in time for my arrival. School uniforms have been purchased and the students will be wearing them proudly. Pictures will follow in a later blog.

Conflict within South Sudan started in December 2013 and continues to a lesser degree in some areas of the nation. Many of the IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) have been resettled in the Rumbek area. The conflict and the displacement of nearly a million people has led to food shortages. That situation is predicted to become a crisis within 6-10 months.

One of my goals this trip is to help the Community Committee develop a small farm on the 2 acres around our bore hole (well). We will need to finish the fence, secure hand tools and seeds, prepared the land, and plant the seeds. June is a good time to plant because of the rain. With the pending food shortage, the community is very excited about this experiment in agriculture. Once we work out the details on this smaller plot we hope to develop a much larger piece of property. Agriculture is one of the subjects in the national syllabus so this farm will be worked by both the community and our students.

I fly out of Dulles Sunday morning, June 8. Please keep me in your prayers. I will write more once I am in Rumbke, internet service allowing.

Marg Kutz