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