I took a walk around the compound from 5:00 - 5:30 this morning, enjoying the breeze and early cool - and disturbing a couple of guards asleep in tucked away places on the grounds. Let's see - "guard" denotes protective presence. Hummmmm....
Angelo arrived promptly at 6:00 a.m. We were in line - some semblance of a line anyway - at the airport by 6:30. The crowd began to gather, and it was difficult to hold my place with all the pushing and shoving. Some crowd control measures would be so helpful.
Bags weighted and checked, Angelo and I, thankfully, headed to VIP. The most adorable little girl - all dolled up in a frilly white dress, lacy socks, and white patent leather shoes with rhinestones on the bows, was sitting with her mother across from me. I tried to be friendly with the child, but she took one loo at me and screamed - screamed bloody murder, as we used to say - and hid her face against her mother. Obviously I was the first kawaja she had ever seen. I've had this experience before in the Bush. Some children are terrified of people with white skin; others are fascinated and can't stop staring - like Tomba's students earlier in the week.
The UN Humanitarian Air Support/World Food Program flight was on time - amazing! This must be on-time day - and it's about time, no pun intended. It's hard to tell where UMHAS ends and WFP begins. UMHAS provides critical transportation for humanitarian workers and light cargo, in addition to facilitating medical and security evacuations and relocations. WFP operates UNHAS on behalf of the humanitarian community, using contracted services to support and enable emergency interventions in countries where safe and reliable services are not available for UN agencies and international and local NGOs.
The last two words of this paragraph, admittedly copied from a flyer in the seat back in front of me, explain how I qualify for these flights. I support a local NGO - non-governmental organization - as well as provide other humanitarian support services. That's why I'm here for the next two weeks.
For the past three years, I have served as president of "Abukloi," an NGO, which, in the local Dinka dialect means "We Can!" Abukloi sponsors a secondary school that currently has 176 students and 6 teachers. We have just started an agriculture project, and it should be about time to harvest the first money crop - peanuts or g-nuts (ground nuts).
I am settled in at Pan Door, the Catholic Compound, and have had lunch - posho, rice, beans, greens, and beef liver. Having had breakfast, anything would have tasted good and this was fine.
Justin, the Abukloi in-country director came at 2:00 and we met for an hour. There is a schedule for a week, at least. One of the things he mentioned was that the g-nuts had not been harvested, because the ground is so hard - we need rain. It hadn't rained in two weeks. Clouds were gathering while we talked, and providentially, by 3:30 the rain came. Wind gusts blew dirt and dust. From all over the compound I heard Bam! Bam! as debris came down on metal roof tops. I sat at my open door, watched, and smiled. As badly as I wanted to check e-mail, we needed this rain to get the g-nuts out of the ground - and there's nothing like the sound of rain on a metal roof.
For five hours the rain came down - slow and gentle. I believe the g-nut harvest will begin tomorrow!
Blessings!
Ellen
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