We had a non eventful trip into Southern Sudan. We made one stop to refuel in a place called Wau. ( pronounced wow) I did say wow when I saw the most unusual control tower. It was run by the U.N. and was mounted on a hydraulic lift, very mobile. An odd sight. We were picked up at the airstrip in Malualkon by Daniel who is one of the team members with the ministry called Cush for Christ. We were taken to the radio tower compound. Once inside I saw 2 young girls just sitting. I was told they were lost. Their mother had died and father was no where to be found. They had apparently wandered there. I had a leftover egg sandwich that I had packed for the trip and after getting permission from some of the radio staff people I offered it to the girls. By the looks on their faces it was the first time they had ever had a sandwich, never mind an egg sandwich!
All of the afternoon was spent around the satellite dish and computers. We were taking advantage of Wayne our satellite expert. Simon our M.A.F pilot was with us and pitched in whenever needed. At 6:30 we were taken to the Cush for Christ compound for dinner with their team. There are several families. What is so amazing is that I knew one of the families. We met 9 years ago at a refugee camp in northern Kenya. It really is a small world. They were all very hospitable and we enjoyed our dinner and conversation. Us ladies sat outside talking under the brilliant and numerous stars for a while. The men went to pour a concrete pad for the satellite dish. They did it by a generator powered light. So much cooler to work at night. The temperature today was somewhere between 110-120. I have a small temperature gauge with me and it was almost out of range!
The staff at the radio compound were so helpful and kind. They set up beds for us with mosquito nets, although there aren't many around now during the hot, dry season.
Because of the success we had in setting up the satellite we were able to fly to Tonj, just 50 minutes away. This is where I will be for the next month. It has been an interesting start here. Only 2 hours after arriving I was asked to help in the clinic. 7 people came with gun shot wounds. They were in a cattle raid which is unfortunately common here. More about that later. I'm hot and tired so off to bed with my fan.
Thought you might like to see the send off we had on the airstrip and the packed plane.
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