Footing

II can't believe how fast time goes. It was just 4 weeks ago today that I was able to go "footing" on the airstrip in Akot, South Sudan.  I just love the term "footing", it makes a whole lot more sense than walking. I first heard it when I was accompanied by the only female student nurse, Kucha, when we were out for a walk on the airstrip. I enjoyed lots of footing activities. I usually went out about 5pm as I was told the hyenas were active after dusk so that gave me time for about an hours walk. Many days there was a thunderstorm threatening, but at least that made the temperature cooler.

So before you start picturing a nice paved runway, here's an aerial view.

Some days I had to skip a few puddles, but overall it was a great place to think, pray, do some flat footing and enjoy the local people and critters.

The airstrip is not a busy one, at least where planes are concerned. As you can see by the photo, planes aren't the only thing moving here. Actually if you were to see the 3 planes closeup you would know that these aircraft owned by the Norwegians I think, are not going anywhere. I heard that all had some kind of crash landing or a type of accident. As is often typical in parts of Africa, repairs never happen.
The cows were almost always grazing somewhere along my route.

As well as cows there were tons of goats.  I really like little lambs so the baby goats were a big hit with me. The children quickly figured out that this strange white lady had a soft spot for those they were entrusted to care  for.  Occasionally, I had to stop footing so I could make sure bleating, lost, baby goats found their mothers.

There were lots of opportunities to practice the few limited words of greeting that I knew.
Children were always somewhere close by and would call out to me. They were particularly interested if I had my camera with me.

Little boys as young as 6 or 7 are given the responsibility of caring for a small herd of goats. This means they stay out all day without food and just wander around making sure the goats stay out of trouble. You'll notice none of these children have shoes on and the main herder carries a big stick.

Those that take care of herds of cattle or goats do not attend school.

I caught up with this lady one day as I was coming down the home stretch , near the compound. She was very focused with her huge load, but there is a smile behind that log. The log itself was very heavy, never mind the other stuff. It's just all in a days work.

It was fun stopping to share a few moments with these beautiful women. I so wished that I could have had a conversation with them.

Lots of times they would laugh when they saw me jogging or they would come alongside and imitate me. I guess from their perspective, why would you want to go "footing" for no reason? Many hours of their day is spent walking to get water, firewood for cooking or just working outside.

Speaking of firewood, maybe this is what the children in the next photo have collected or it could be for another use. They have also gotten some water.

Hopefully you have enjoyed "footing" with me on the Akot airstrip. If I remember correctly the pilot told me the distance from one end to the other is 1250 meters. If I have gotten this wrong, anyone please feel free to correct me. It gets confusing sometimes with feet, inches and yards as well as centimeters and meters.