Side trip

After spending one night in Akot last Monday night, I joined the ongoing flight to Nasir to pick up our director, Peter, and see how our two interns, Blake and Mason were doing. Our pilot Simon checked on the landing strip conditions and got the thumbs up, so we gave it t try. There was a lot of water all over the ground that made us a bit skeptical so Simon went for two low passes overhead before committing to land. I think Peter was praying hard as he watched us circle.

Once we landed, we off loaded some much needed supplies for Blake and Mason and all the radios that we had picked up in Uganda. Transportation is challenging in Nasir. There aren't many vehicles and walking is always first choice but it's very difficult when the temperature hovers around 100, it's a mile walk to the compound and you have heavy supplies. All these things are made worse by very sticky, muddy conditions.

So when in Rome, do as the Romans do , right?
A donkey cart was hired and the bulky stuff was loaded on. I felt sorry for the little donkey as he trudged off with his heavy load.

After giving Blake and Mason some pep talks like every good mother would, we prayed for them and set out on the next leg, over to Aweil.

Notice the mud splattered on the under belly of the plane and the rubber boots (aka gumboots) that Blake and Mason are wearing.

The German U.N. police officer that took the photo unfortunately cut off Martyjn to my right.

Once in Aweil, the men set about attaching the satellite dish to a new stand, since the old one blew over in a recent storm.

I enjoyed a brief visit with the ladies who are with  Cush for Christ, a mission organization that we partner with in Aweil.

I actually went with one of the women to the hut of a very sick little 18 month old. She has problems that most likely happened at birth and are now compounded by life in S. Sudan. We prayed for her and her family.

The men spent the night at the radio compound and I stayed with an American teacher who is spending a month of her vacation helping in a nearby school. We flew out around 9 on Wednesday morning.