I do apologize for such a long delay in writing. It has been an adventure. I’m safe and healthy (now… after fighting off quite the bacterial infection which put me down with 102+ fever for almost a week).
Rwanda – 1st month in Africa
My month in Rwanda was a learning experience. Most of the teams were in the capital city of Kigali, but our team was up to the northeast just a few kilometers from the Ugandan border. Cow country up here. All the local people drink cups of milk with bread, but not like milk we’re used to. This milk is as thick as a milkshake and comes out in clumps as you pour. Definitely hearty. Definitely Rich. About 30 cents for a cup. Piece of fried bread is 15-20 cents.
I think my favorite part of our day was walking to and from church. It was about a 30 minute walk in each direction down this dirt road. The kids had figured out when we’d pass by and come running down from their houses to the road’s edge. Each one waving saying the words “how are yooooou?” in the cutest voices ever. I don’t think any of them actually know what they are asking… but they know they’ll get a response from the Mzungu (word for white person). They’d all line up with outstretched hands. I couldn’t help but cross over the road and reach out to each one, grabbing a hold of their tiny black hands for a small shake. Each one stares down at your white hand in complete “awe”… Not having a clue what to do with it…I can only imagine what they are thinking as they stare at this white hand clasping theirs. (I was told that the kids see a white person about every 4 months)
They’d giggle, laugh, smile and go running back up the hill to tell mom all about it. Yelling about what they’ve just experienced! We’d kindly wave to mom in the distance, busy doing laundry or preparing the next meal. They always smile and wave back.
And on the return trip from church or the pastor’s house… repeat the same scenario…each and every time. So cute!!! Always there waiting for us… I love it!!
After Rwanda the men traveled north to Southern Sudan and the women went on to Kenya.
Yei, South Sudan
What an incredible opportunity!
To visit Southern Sudan, the true birth of a nation.
21 years of Civil War!!!
21 years of fighting, war, bombing and atrocity. The poor people of South Sudan have been through too much. I remember talking to Samson who is from a village 14 miles from Yei. He remembers not being able to make noise with his friends for fear that the rebels would hear them and come and capture them to enlist them by force. No schools could begin for the same reason; the rebels would hear any church or school and come to capture them.
I met so many families that have lived the last 21 years of their life in refugee camps on the Ugandan border, many kids know no other way of life other than the camps.
We had to stay on the main road for fear of landmines. There are signs everywhere marking the mined areas. Good news is that there are quite a few NGO’s working to clear mines on a daily basis, you see these paths heading out into forest where the de-mining equipment made a path.
We’d pass the Catholic Church that has all but two walls blown apart because it was used as an ammunition dump for years when the Arab soldiers of the north occupied it. The remaining two walls are littered with bullet holes. With no roof and plants growing where a floor used to be, it looks like it was a beautiful building at one point in time.
The country is rebuilding itself slowly but it is a terribly slow process. The NGO’s and UN are there in force but do very very little other than move their money around and buy new land cruisers. The measurable impact of these organizations is painfully low and makes the local people wonder why they even show up.
The orphanages are a true blessing and I wish there wasn’t such a huge need for them but with war and disease for so many years, it is truly a painful sight. The New Generation Orphanage called Dreamland has 114 children. They play games look like any other normal group of kids at first glance. After you spend time on the grounds you start to notice something is different, it’s too quiet. The kids have experienced so much trauma. Some will walk over and just sit next to you… as close as possible. It breaks my heart!!! Into 1000 pieces!!! I WISH there was enough people, resources and time to sit and begin the healing process with each of them. It’s a tragedy to see traumatized children but to be unable to help them heal is even more difficult.
(writing this part of the blog brought me to tears)
I love the South Sudan. It is tough living. Living off the land. Inflation makes things expensive. Most everything has to be trucked north from Uganda. The people here have a beautiful heart. Years of war, trauma and disease has left people with so little. But what remains is HOPE. And a lot of it. I met so many courageous people that moved back to their home country to make it work, to take a stand and say “we will remain an independent South Sudan”. I can use the word courage all I want but it will always pale in comparison to George, Charles, Pastor Augustine, Pastor Stanley, Tom, Israel, Samson, Joseph, and the countless other brave South Sudanese that grind it out each day because someone has to stand the ground and say tomorrow will be better. Here… it will be better. We stand here…. Because we have HOPE!!!
