Mapel

It was a hot and sticky night and I didn't sleep well but I was eager to travel today to the village of Mapel. It is only about 18 miles from Tonj but it took us 1 1/2 hours to drive there. Along the way we saw a few monkeys on the side of the road. The people in this area are from the Luwo tribe. We arrived at a small Episcopal church ( the dominant church in Southern Sudan ) and were met by about 16-20 women. After the church sang and played the drum to welcome us, Andrew and Bob met with some local church pastors outside while Sabet and all of us women met inside. We spent a wonderful hour or so discussing women's issues and what life was like for these Sudanese "sisters" of ours. We felt their heartache as they told us about their lives and challenges. We heard about walking an hour to get clean water, no food, abusive husbands, soldiers raiding and taking their daughters, raping them and sometimes capturing them. We heard they can get medical care at the local clinic for free but if they need medicine they cant get it because the clinic has sold the medicine on the black market and the people can't afford the market prices. At one point they asked what a typical day for us was like. We avoided the question. Another awkward moment came when a man entered the church an gave each of our team a bottle of cold water. This was right after the women had said they walk an hour to get water and it's not even clean. I was trying to decide in my mind what to do with the bottle because there was no way I was putting it near my lips no matter how dry my mouth was. After a while, Sabet decided to take a sip from his bottle. One of the women asked if she could have a drink from his bottle. He offered it to her. Immediately we all gave our bottles away for the women to share.
After we had finished asking questions we stood up to leave and the women broke into spontaneous dancing. It got kind of wild. Again another contrast. The women had just told us about their desperate lives and hardships beyond our understanding and now they danced uninhibited, laughing and smiling as if in celebration of life. I need to celebrate life more. Sabet surprised us with the men's version of his own tribal dance.
We prayed together and waved our goodbyes. Our minds had much to reflect on during the drive home. We did see a lonely little gazelle bounding through the brush as we returned.