Pics from service @ Jonglei Worship Centre

Monday 31st October

I slept for 9 hours last night. And still feel sluggish. It is still and hot.  Maybe it is the heat but just as likely it is the amount of energy used to cope cross culturally. It is hard coping without a common language. Few of the women we have met speak English. Penny has a good ear to pick up Dinka words and phrases. We are not relating to women very much. Their days are spent in home duties – cooking over outdoor charcoal fires; cooking enough for the day as there is no way to keep excess; washing in a tub in the yard if water is brought;  getting the water; overseeing the  children who all contribute in some way. But nobody whinges that we know of. People seem content.

It rained hard on Saturday night – a good tropical storm. The road to town had been graded but again it is a bit of a mess. I’m reluctant to ride the bota-bota. That was reinforced yesterday when a bike with a passenger rode through the water over the road then slipped over in the mud.  No injuries but really muddy down one side. The Hi-Ace we travel in is  dilapidated but gets us places. We only found out yesterday it has no brakes. As we rarely travel over 15kmh it is of small concern. Deng our driver has had to dodge a few goats  that wander across. If you kill a goat it costs the driver 700 Sudanese pounds (~A$230 – a big sum here). Yesterday a tiny kid was sleeping blissfully in the middle of the road.

My first experience preaching with a translator was oaky. It is sure different and you cannot build an emotional content like you can when you speak with a flow. I did the Jonah story- stories work well. I was informed I did not preach. My style is teaching but it was quite acceptable.

Yesterday as we trailed down the muddy track to the hotel for lunch, greetings and handshakes were exchanged with a few men heading the opposite way. We discovered they were on the way home from the Baptist church service – a church plant with Pastor Charles a Kenyan. Sounds pretty recent. Greg hope to talk to him later this week.

Penny, Warwick and I wandered across to Garang Uni this morning. The students are on swot vac. We met the librarian and saw the library. They have received donations of books from overseas. Unfortunately, most of the donations do not address the subjects they are specialising in here. There is one book on agriculture – their primary faculty. Internet searches are well nigh impossible because it is so slow.  It is a long road ahead. Most of the staff though have more than one PhD. The quality of staff is excellent if the infrastructure can be built.

This afternoon our team is meeting with the leaders of Jongeli Worship Centre for a presentation of their dreams I think. Pastor Peter’s work as a counsellor with the Un had him in Juba last week so we have been waiting for him.

How are we getting to town? Hopefully a ride will turn up. We are not comfortable to ask as we are seen as too direct and pushy. We would happily not eat at Freedom every day but that would be extremely rude to say. They have decided that is how we should be honoured. We need to be accepting.

Ruth

Friday 28th October

We are not sure if it is the lack of electricity in the morning and the fact there is no light to read or do much before 6:30am, but we all seem to be sleeping well.  As I write this, it is nearly 10am and we were expecting a mini bus at 9am to collect Greg and Ruth to go to the youth workshop today.  Abraham is not answering his phone, so we are not sure what the plan is, but this is a good example of the difference between our planning and expectations and the South Sudanese way.

The bus came to collect us at 10am and we met with about 15 of the youth leaders.  Warwick stayed home to work on his report to summarise the discussions and lecture he was involved in at the University.  Greg, Ruth and I met the youth leaders at the White Nile Hotel.  We began with sharing a bit of our stories and some photos.  The young people were quite amused by the fact that my younger sister had married before me … this does not happen in South Sudan (the younger sisters must wait for their older sisters to be married before they may marry).  We then invited the young people to share something about themselves.  This proved to be very important ... and many stories were told from when they were born mostly before the war began in 1983, and disbursed when war came.  They ended up in Displaced persons camps in other countries where some of them lived for up to 10 years and did their schooling there.  Then when some peace came, they began to return to their home towns ... such as Bor to help rebuild the country.  All of them became Christians sometime along the way.  A couple of the young men were evangelists and often walk from door to door sharing Jesus with their neighbours.   

We stopped for lunch at 1pm and Ruth and I got our first rides on the Bota Bota … it was a great way to travel.  Though perhaps more dangerous than it feels with people walking all over the roads and vehicles and potholes etc.  It would be very easy to get into trouble I expect.  Nyiel has had a couple of bad accidents and her daughter calls them death bikes J  The Lord looked after us all today.  Apparently there was quite a bit of commotion among the crowds as Ruth went past straddling the bike in her skirt with blond hair flowing. The afternoon finished with us trying to answer some of the questions the young people had about various topics … mostly about our church and leadership.  It was a great day getting to know some more of these inspirational young people.

Thursday 27th October

Penny is not feeling great today so it is decided that Ruth will stay home with her today while Greg and I go to town to get the Malek money from Western Union.  Kwi turns up early and gets straight into cleaning.  She does not seem to like the state of the kitchen and takes all the plates, cooking pots and utensils outside for a good clean.  She grabs a metal cot from next door, which becomes her drying rack.  She has managed to find a range of foods for us and has documented the price of everything she bought.

We have found out the mini van we have been using costs 150 pounds, which is only covering fuel as it is provided by a church member.  Most people travel on the “bota bota” motorbike taxis, at 5 pounds a trip, so Greg and I decide to give them a go today. 

The trip in goes smoothly, the bikes are quicker and more comfortable as they can weave in between the potholes.  Greg goes to Western Union while I wander around the market looking for food options.  I find some pasta, beef stock, tomato paste and chili sauce, so we have a backup if needed.  Lunch at the Freedom and emails sorted, and we are on the bikes heading home again.

Pastor John and Abraham came around at 5pm and had a good talk under the tree in the front yard.  When an outline of the program was requested, John announced that a youth workshop would be held tomorrow.  This has put a bit of pressure on Greg and Ruth to prepare, but they are feeling up to the challenge as God is gracious.

Robert and Nyiel have both flown to Juba today, so we have the house to ourselves for the next few days.  We had a good talk to Nyiel this afternoon, and continue to find out more good work she is doing.  She has left her family in Limerick in Ireland to lecture over here.  She has four children, aged 24 to 16.  She has a company in Bor that makes concrete block for building.  She has a regular session on the local radio and she has set up an NGO to help girls and young women in Bor. 

Wednesday 26 October

Yesterday afternoon I was given an education  by Chol Mike, the secretary of the church and a senior education official, in world history from an African perspective. He asked me what I thought of the death of Gaddafi . After I had communicated that the world was better off without him, Chol informed me that Gaddafi, a Muslim, had provided great help to the Southern Sudanese in their struggles with the Muslim north. Fortunately I didn’t fall into the next trap about the colonisation of Africa by European countries.

Today started quietly. Warwick took a lecture at the Garang University about agricultural extension. I’ll let him fill out the details. We had an extended discussion with Tor a third year student about marriage and wives.  According to Tor, in times of great uncertainty there is need for large families. Traditionally men married at about 30 and their wife would be 16-20. It was expected that wives would provide children until their mid forties. Additional wives make more children possible. Tor has two wives and three children who live together.

After lunch at the Freedom restaurant where lunch costs 15 Sudanese pounds (AUD$5), with fans and free internet, we headed off to see the land owned by the church. The land (100m by 100m) is ideally located for future residential development. It is a shame that the walls of the new building are not structurally sound. There is no doubt the Jonglei worship centre have a building problem.  The current building is grossly inadequate. On Sunday it was packed with 300 worshippers. It was very hot, very dark with a very low ceiling. According to the church leaders many people do not stay because of the building’s limitations.  It’s an important issue for prayer.

The adventure continues.

Tuesday 25th October

Another day is half over. We walked into town this morning – took about 40 minutes to the edge of town. We stopped at the motel where Abraham and Sarah are staying. We sat in the lovely shade of a broad verandah. A number of people came by to visit Abraham and we received a lovely welcome from them all. One was an elder from Abraham’s village. He is like a judge. He gave a special  Dinka handshake signifying he was pleased we had come.

Abraham passed on to another man called Phillip Chol some photos sent by his brother Daniel Buol who lives in Toowoomba  of his graduation at USQ.  Philip has returned to Bor but has yet to find any work.

Monday 24th October

We are grateful to be staying somewhere with western toilets. Power supply is limited to 7.00pm to 9.30pm at night. Using the computer and recharging phones is a bit hard. There is no refrigerator.There is no hot water. A cold shower feels  cold with our hot bodies.  You don’t drink the water. Internet connection is fairly pathetic.  But the people are wonderful! We are enjoying everybody we meet. A local lady did the washing for all four us today.  It dried on the barb wire atop the 6 foot fence around the house.

Abraham tried to get us a meeting with governor. We sat in his room waiting but he was meeting the national defence minister. Lots of police and soldiers around but quiet and calm. Then we went to Bor Complex Secondary School. Headmaster Achuol was very gracious. This school gives instruction in Arabic to accommodate families who are moving back to the south after having resided in the north. Arabic will be phased out over the next few years. We all visited a 2nd form class and each had a chance to say a few words.

While this was going on Warwick had asked for some American dollars to be changed to Sudanese Pounds.  A young man pulls up on a motorbike and Abraham says to give him the money and he will sort it out.  He takes off and over the next two hours we get calls about the rates he has tracked down.  The official rate is three to one, but we had heard that four to one is possible.  The quotes came back at 3.30, 3.60 and finally a deal was done at 3.80.  As we walked back to the bus the young man appears again and hands over the $760 SP for $200US.

By this time we are in need of food, so walk to the Freedom for lunch.  Greg is not feeling 100% so he gets a $1 motorbike ride to lunch.  After lunch we try to buy some food but although there are market stalls everywhere, we only succeed in getting rice, milk powder, drinking chocolate and toilet paper.  We could find nothing to go with the rice.  We discovered Dinka men have nothing to do with food preparation, and despite their best efforts they could not help us find anything like a tin of tomatoes or any tinned food.  It may not exist here.

The rest went back to the house and I went to the University to meet Professor Robert and have a look around.  I (Warwick) met the Dean of Agriculture and he has arranged for me to lecture the Ag students on Wednesday.   I also got to speak with the guest extension lecturer, so that really helped direct my thinking for the presentation.

Off home now to a third night of no food provided by us, but with the heat we have only eaten a little “walla walla” each night, which is very nice. 

Greg spent the afternoon with Chol Mike, a former head master, who works in administration of the Bor County education system. He is the secretary of the Jonglei Worship Centre.  They talked about all sorts things and Greg was energised.

Sunday 23rd October

We have all slept well. Abraham, Sarah and Esther in town. Greg and Warwick are in Prof Deng’s house. Robert used to lecture at Sturt Uni  in Adelaide  (PhD in Chemistry) and has opted to come back to help rebuild South Sudan. His children remain in Adelaide. Penny and I are next door at another uni house with Roberts’ neice Amel and her family.

Years ago when the civil war began the north bulldozed the 99% of the city of Bor. The hospital has brick buildings but they have so much building needed.

Today we go to Jonglei Worship Centre and Greg is preaching. He and Warwick are wearing suits as instructed.  We are sweating inside already.  The structure they use is sticks lashed together for walls with tarps for a roof. The door is very low. I don’t think I saw windows.

Saturday 22nd October

We got our tickets to Bor yesterday and they had two times written on them, 7am and 8am.  Being organized westerners we wanted to be at the airport at 6:30 am at the latest.  Abraham was not convinced and tried to talk us into getting there at 6:50am.  He did agree to be ready by 6am, but our driver did not turn up til 6:45, and we needed two trips to get everyone to the airport.  After frantic packing the men set off with the luggage to get it checked in.

Any worry was wasted, as the airport had not opened, and did not open til about 7:30.  We found the right check in desk and got stuck behind a couple of police doing long negotiations to get the commissioner (a big man, more about that later) onto the fully booked flight.  This went on for over half an hour as we listen to the final call for Bor come over the PA and all our luggage still not checked in.  We had some concerns about luggage as the tickets specified 15kg per person, about half of our actual weight.  The plane departed as someone came around to ask why our baggage was not check in.  He asked how many there were of us, and felt sure that it would be enough of us to be less than 15kg per person.  We readily agreed.  He then weighed it all but did not mention that we were double the limit.  We then find out we will go on the second flight, so into the domestic/ international departure lounge.  Two hours later, we get the call and have to push through a packed lounge and walk about 500meters to the waiting plane. 

“You and you guy’s (Greg and me), up the front!”  Greg thought it was great to be given this privilege, not realizing that the needed the heavy guys up the front of the narrow plane.  I went up first, quickly assessed the situation and grabbed the single seat on the left, leaving Greg the honor of sharing the double seat with the before mentioned Police Commissioner.  He was a very friendly man, but took up a good 1.5 seats, leaving Greg with a little edge to perch on.  No chance of him delving for his seatbelt, he was not going there.  Then we were put in line to await our turn to take off.  There was no air and it was like being in a little oven.  After the first five minutes we all were soaking.  Ruth was stuck in the sun with her back pack wedged on her lap, not a nice way to be.  For me this was the longest 20 minutes of the day, praying to get down that runway and get some ventilation. 

Eventually we were off, and got our first view of the Sud.  A good flight, and views of the cattle camps.  On landing, there was an official delegation for the police commissioner, but once their formalities were over, a line of singing children weaved out for our official welcome.  You will see it on video.  Our welcome was much louder and more energetic than the police one, and drew a much bigger crowd.  Speeches and prayers on the tarmac, and we were then packed into three vans and we were off.  The singing group did not stop for the next 45 minutes, at each stop out they would get under the nearest tree and keep singing.  We met our host Professor Robert Deng, and then set of to pray at the church.  More speeches, prayers, singing and dancing (Ruth proving to be a repressed groover) and it was off to pastor Peter’s traditional home for lunch.  Rice, chips and four varieties of goat and we were all well fed.  It was our first hot day.  After avoiding the toilets at the airport (Ruth did not like the man in the Ladies who just stayed in there), I don’t think we actually needed a toilet for the rest of the day, despite regularly downing 600ml water bottles.  We will have to work harder at drinking a lot.

After lunch it was back to Professor Robert’s, who is proving to be a great host.  He is very relaxed and friendly, making us feel very much at home and taking us for a walk at dusk.  We only have power from 6pm til 9:30pm, so I will have to stop this section now to take a shower while I still have a light.  Our first day in Bor, and we have been made very welcome in an environment that is quite different from our experience.