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