I'm a fan of laughter........

Sorry I’ve been away from the blog world for so long. I realize I haven’t posted anything since just before I went to the U.S. It’s partly because I haven’t had much internet connection here, things have been pretty busy, and I’m kind of lazy. So after coming back to East Africa from my home leave, I began back in Yei again. I was just in transition on my way to Kajo Keji. I spent about two weeks there writing stories for the church dedications that were going on. I was able to get out into the bush and see the country side there. Kajo Keji is about 15 miles from the border to Uganda. It is a very peaceful and a comfortable place to be. However, during the war it was one of the worst areas for fighting. There was a heavy presence of GOS troops there during the 90’s. Since it was on the border to Uganda and Uganda was one of its allies, the government troops kept a large amount of infantry in that area. One day as I was traveling out to a site, my translator showed me the area of one of the larger ambushes in that area. The SPLA had set up to pounce on a convoy of government troops that were making their way back to Wudu from Uganda. There were approximately 160 government troops traveling together. The group of SPLA rebels only numbered about 50. The SPLA set up on top of a ridge just by a river bed that the road crossed. As the convoy came through the SPLA shot missiles and RPGs at the convoy completely defeating them. All of the frames from the burned vehicles were still there, and still in a single file line. My translator, Chaplain, informed me that the skeletons of those GOS soldiers remained there until the late nineties when the government of the South instructed the villagers to clean them up. It was an eerie reminder of just how soon ago the war here had ended. A few days later I received instructions to head up to another area for research.

I left Kajo and headed to Terekeka.I made the 8 hour drive to Juba, the capital and spent a few days there preparing to go to Terekeka. I headed up to Terekeka to begin assessing. Mundari is the prominent tribe in Terekeka. On the drive in one of the first things I noticed was a girl whose body was painted completely red. The Mundari women, upon getting married, paint themselves completely red to show the community around that she has now been wed to her husband. It’s partly so the other men will know she is no longer available, and a way for her to brag without speaking. As we reached Terekeka I had arranged ahead of time to stay with another American at his compound. Harvesters is a faith based NGO that builds orphanages in South Sudan. Once I reached the town I didn’t know where the Harvesters compound was so I had to go in and ask someone to tell me. My translator found two young guys and they agreed to help us out. They showed us how to get to Harvesters and we returned them to town as we were in need of lunch. We dropped them back off and found a “nice” little Ugandan restaurant to eat at. About half way through our meal those two young guys showed up. Now, you should understand that being white here can be horrible sometimes. The Sudanese, especially the ones in the bush, automatically think you have tons of money. They have actually been taught as children that the government in America just gives us money and we don’t have to work. We have all the money we won’t and it’s just given to us. So it sounds funny to hear that, but to live in a place where that is the people’s reality of us can be scary. These young boys proceeded to tell my translator that we needed to give them 50 Sudanese pounds (about 20 dollars) for taking us to Harvesters. I told them that I had never paid for directions and I wasn’t starting today. I told them that I was here to do work for the Bishop. The Bishop is one of, if not the most respected individual in the community. I told them if they wanted money they would have to ask the Bishop for it. I was thinking that they would just leave then, fearing the Bishop. Well they called my bluff. They said, “You need to go and get our money or we are coming after you tonight. We know where you are staying because we just took you there.” So I called their bluff and went and got the Bishop. When we came back they were gone. I explained to the Bishop what had happened and he told us we’d be fine. A few days later he gave a speech at a funeral about how Samaritan’s Purse had come to help the community and those boys had tried to rip us off. The boys were actually there and later turned themselves in to the police and issued an official apology to us. So after all that madness for one day we went to Harvesters and spent the next few days doing our assessments with the Bishop. The Mundari are a very different tribe. Their scaring is similar to the Dinka, but way more elaborate. Terekeka is right on the Nile River, and I slept only a couple hundred feet from the bank to the Nile there every night, in a tent. That is where I came down with malaria for the second time. I’ve always heard that the second time you contract it the symptoms aren’t as bad. That’s all lies! It was the sickest I’ve ever been in my life. First I had a fever of 105 for about three hours. The nurse at Harvesters wrapped me in wet sheets to cool me down. I passed out once my fever broke. When I woke up around midnight, my body was so cold my teeth were chattering and I looked like I had convulsions. Once that stopped I felt about 40% normal. Then all over again. I’d get a horrible headache and fever. Then the fever would break and I sweat and be freezing. Round and round I went for about three days. I was taking a medication to cure the malaria and eventually I was well enough to stand up. Once I could stand, I left and went back to Juba for about an hour, then on to Yei. I just wanted a comfortable bed to finish recovering in. I’m sure you’ve never had malaria, but to make a 6 hour drive on these roads with malaria is not a treat. It makes a good story, but there’s not a lick of fun involved in that let me tell you.So once I got back to Yei I was instructed to stay in the bed and just get well, and that’s what I did. The symptoms come and go for about a week. One minute you feel like a million dollars, the next minute you’re wondering if you’ll wake up in the morning. Not fun at all.

So after all of that, I left Yei and drove up to Rumbek. That’s about a two day drive. We drive all day, overnight in Mundri and then drive all day the next day. So I’ve been back here among the Dinka. Things are okay, but there’s lots of fighting. Cattle raiding is at it’s peak for this area right now. The Dinka value their cows above all else. I moved our carpenters to a church today to work and we had to supply them with an armed guard. It’s pretty funny to see a pastor with and automatic assault rifle staying at the church. But it will be necessary for our guys, especially once the community learns they are there. The chance that they will be robbed is very high. But anyway, he’s there now to help protect them.

I’m also with my best Sudanese friend, Moses. I came here to manage this base while the regular manager was out for his R&R. It’s been good to spend time with Moses and all of our Dinka staff again. I only know a small amount of Dinka, but we can still communicate enough to laugh, a lot. I’m a fan of laughter. With all the stress that comes along with this job, you have to laugh. To find common ground in humor on the other side of the planet, with people that are so different from me is a life saver. I’ve been back in the field for 9 weeks and I’ll go out for my R&R in about 10 days. I’ll be going to Zanzibar for my third time. Yeah it’s that good. And I’m sure this trip will be even better than the first two. Best regards to all of you.