More from March 2009

Young Nuer Woman

This young Nuer woman came to all of our teachings in Dajo.  I thought she was very striking looking.  She never smiled or reacted or spoke.  One afternoon I got one of the translators and went over to her and told her I thought she was beautiful and that we were very glad she was coming to hear what we had to say. She showed no reaction to what I was saying, but after that, every time I saw her she gave me a big smile.

Ethiopian traders

We were only a few kilometers from the Ethiopian border and one day when we were out in the area where the school was before it burned down, we came across some Ethiopian traders who had set up to barter with the locals.  Coffee, sandals, and other items were available.

Lewo and Simon bicycle outreach

The young men help the missionaries and the compound clinic by riding bicycles out to the villages to encourage the mothers to bring their children to the clinic when they are ill.  They also take immunizations out to the villages and do health related teaching in addition to evangelizing.

Riding a bicycle in that area is no easy task even though it can be faster than hiking.  There are many areas where the bicycle has to be picked up and carried.  The trails are not smooth and you can hit a rock and fly off — I think I would prefer to walk.

Sudanese woman and child

Compound kitchen and one of the cooks

This is where our meals were prepared.  There are three cooks in the compound.  Our meals were simple — rice or a flat macaroni at each meal.  The toppings would vary a bit — chicken stewed with tomatoes, peas stewed with tomatoes, green beans stewed with tomatoes, sheep or goat stewed with tomatoes.

Local woman

Sudan March 2009 Pt. 2

Church in Tedubi

 The people in Tedubi sat waiting for us to come and teach.  It took us three hours to hike there, so you can imagine how long they sat there waiting for us to arrive. It is not easy terrain to hike — maize fields, dirt trails, up and down through the dry riverbed, etc.  I was fine getting to Tedubi.  Coming back was another story.

Return from Tedubi via the dry riverbed

Village on the hike to/from Tedubi

Woman on the trail to Tedubi

Resting at the riverbed with Michael and Lewo

Michael and Lewo are two of the young Sudanese men that I was privileged to get to know while I was in Dajo.  They both spoke English and had been educated in Khartoum.  Lewo had converted from Islam to Christianity about 2 months before our arrival in Dajo.  They are both extraordinary young men.

Michael was one of the young men who wanted to learn how to play guitar and learn all the songs.  He certainly has a heart for worship and for teaching the local people.  Watches were coveted gifts for the translators and when we left, Michael was one of the only translators who did not get a watch.  My luggage got left in the States and I did not get my suitcase until our return to Nairobi — that is another story in itself — and so I didn’t have my translator gifts with me.  I left other gifts for Michael, but not a watch.  So when the missionaries return to Dajo in September when their furlough is over, Michael will get a watch.  I am sending several things back with the missionaries and a watch for Michael is one of those items. 

Simon on the hike to Tedubi

There were probably a dozen of the young Sudanese men on the hike with us.  They go along to guide, translate, tell their story — they are very caring and very willing.

And now a few pics of the compound, which Eric laughingly refers to as the “Dajo Marriott”

Tukul

We lived in tukuls while we were there.  A tukul is a mud brick building with a bamboo framed grass roof.  Here is a photo of a woman gathering grass to roof a tukul.  Women do most of the work in the area.

Local woman working on tukul

Compound showers and sink

This was heavenly compared to many parts of Africa where you may just be given a bucket of water to use to wash up every 2 or 3 days.  We had showers like Mash 4077 — but it was great.  All cold water –which felt good in the climate — and the local women hauled the water from the well and filled barrels which were hooked up to the shower head.  Water is precious, so we tried very hard not to waste it.

Night time at the Dajo Marriott

The tukuls were like ovens.  We pretty much just kept our stuff in them and spent as little time in them as possible.  Because it was so unbearably hot, we all pulled our beds out under a clothesline, hung our mosquito nets from the line and slept outside every night.

Gutidi

This is Gutidi.  He went everywhere with us.  On the hike to Tedubi, Danny and I noticed that he was wearing men’s black leather shoes and the soles were coming off and his toes had worn through the leather.  He most likely got them from an NGO and who knows how well they fit.  We were told that he was poorer than some of the other young local men, so when we were handing out translator gifts before we left, Danny and I put together a special package for Gutidi. I left him the sandals I bought in Lokichokio, Danny added his tennis shoes, a pair of pants and two tee shirts, and I had a couple of new pairs of men’s white tube socks.  Gutidi walks long distances to get to the compound, so I also gave him an extra water bladder that we had.  We gave him our gift and one of the translators showed him how to use the water bladder.  He was so overwhelmed he didn’t know what to say. 

These are small children in one of the villages we hiked through.  Toddlers and infants are generally naked.  And many are malnourished.

Dajo Presbyterian Church

On the Sunday we were in Dajo, we all split up and went as honored guests to the various churches.  Nancy and I went to the Presbyterian church.  The church was actually a tukul and it was fairly comfortable when we arrived and the service started.  But as the morning went on, it became increasingly hotter and I couldn’t wait to get outside.  The church service actually lasted 3+ hours. 

More in the next post.

Sudan March 2009

After we left Nairobi, we flew to Lokichokio and spent the night at a nice lodge where the NGO pilots stay.  Lokichokio is in the northern part of Kenya — the film The Constant Gardener was filmed there.  The asphalt roads are in such disrepair and full of potholes that the taxis and people with vehicles there just go off road when they come to a spot that is bad.  You would think they would just fix the road, but I guess not.  I have read, however, since our trip, that there are NGOs moving back into the area to feed people due to drought there. Here are a few pics from Lokichokio — before Dajo and after Dajo:

Relaxing in Lokichokio

Trying to email home from Lokichokio

Thumbs up for the strawberry ice cream in Lokichokio

While we were in Dajo surviving the 130+ temps everyday, ice cream was the joke topic of conversation.  Upon arrival back in Lokichokio after our 8 days in Dajo, I saw ice cream listed on the menu board at the lodge.  Everyone thought I was joking because it had not been listed when we were there previously.  So Danny bought everyone ice cream.  And so I was giving a thumbs up for my huge bowl of strawberry ice cream.  It tasted wonderful!

Our Arrival in Dajo

Greeted with singing at the airstrip in Dajo

Nuer and Buldit Women of the Dajo area

Compound training center

Compound medical clinic

Teaching a song to the women

Holding one of the local children

I was sitting and listening during one of the teaching sessions and kept feeling someone touching the back of my hair.  This little boy had walked around behind me and was fascinated with my hair and how different it felt.  So he sat on my lap and followed me around nearly everyday.

Teaching a song with help of translators

I was responsible for leading and teaching worship while we were in Dajo.  I realized when I got there that I needed to take some time and scope out the situation and rethink my approach.  I tried teaching the women a new song through the translators while playing the guitar.  But they had never seen a guitar before and it proved to be too distracting.  So I did everything acapella.  And even though I had about 40 songs with me, I chose to only teach 2 songs so that they could fully learn them.

I did teach some of the young men some guitar basics and three chords at their request.  And during those lessons, I taught them some of the other songs.  They wanted very badly to learn everything I could teach them so that they in turn could teach the people after I was gone.  It was very gratifying to me that they wanted to learn.

More in the next post.