South Sudan Here we come!

Well here it is almost 8 am. Our luggage which is varied includes, trunks, cables, satellite equipment, malaria medicines, fresh fruit for those in far away places that can't otherwise get it and our personal stuff has all been weighed and loaded onto our plane which is called a Caravan. Some of the seats have been taken out to accommodate the load. We'll be taking off soon and headed to Arua where we will clear customs. Our flight then will take us to Rumbek for refueling and then we will fly on to Aweil which is in Bahr All Ghazal state in NW Souther Sudan, its south of Darfur.

The photo features Kerry who is Aid Sudan's Ugandan director and Wayne who is the satellite specialist all the way from St. John New Foundland.!!! Bye for now more from S. Sudan

Getting ready

Preparation is a huge part of any trip into Southern Sudan. This upcoming trip is no exception. In fact this one for me is requiring a little bit more thought and planning as I will be staying a month instead of the usual 10 days. I am writing this Sunday afternoon and I currently have approximately 14hours before I will be taking off. My trunk is packed. It weighs around 40 lbs and my backpack weighs around 10 lbs. Every pound has to be accounted for as the M.A.F pilot has to have correct weight and balance. This means I have to be weighed too. No cheating here :-)

Just in case you are wondering what I have in my trunk I'll review with you. I need personal fans as the current daytime temperature is ranging between 104-110 F. The large one pictured takes 2- D cell batteries. They are heavy since I need replacements. I have a smaller fan just in case and a little fan for really hot times in the day when I feel like passing out ( just joking) I have some nurses scrubs so that I can work in the clinic and then some clothes for the evening and weekend. I have some nursing resource books, snack food for when I get the munchies, some chocolates for the clinic staff since it may be Valentines Day when we arrive. I also have my Bible and B.S.F lessons so I can keep up with my class. Well anyway that's most of it with a few other odds and ends. I will try and post again early morning from the airstrip but if I don't, keep watching for updates as I go on this big adventure.

Bird Stalking

Yes, I could be accused of Facebook stalking on occasion but this morning I was bird stalking. I was sitting on the sofa reading, minding my own business when I heard the loud, distinctive call of the "monkey bird" or it's more official bird name is an Ibis. I tried to find which kind of Ibis but there are so many. I am intrigued with them. Four of them roamed all around my yard and garden. I was running through the house and looking through windows and then sneaking outside to try and take photos. If you were a fly in the wall you would have thought it quite funny. Anyway the results of my actions can be seen in the photos. I don't have a wildlife type camera, but you get the idea. Their feathers are actually very pretty down their side, a deep bluish green. Cute little fellows!

Little children

Oh I about fell out of my seat when I saw this little guy walking on the street, barefoot between the rows of cars waiting at this very busy intersection. He can't have been more than 4 years old. My oldest granddaughter is 4 1/2. She is not allowed to play in the fenced back yard entirely unsupervised. She is never allowed to play in the front yard without someone watching her and being out there with her. All this was running through my mind as I saw this sweet, little boy wandering toward me. His clothes were ragged and filthy. I handed him a bottle of water. It was so hot outside. He seemed thankful and quickly took the top off as he went further down the line. My prayers followed him as he walked away. Would big cars and trucks even see him as he passed by? This really bothers me. I know it saddens God too.

Odd Sight

Do you ever see something and your brain barely registers it, but it just strikes you as funny or odd? On Friday I was at the craft market. It was blazing hot so I tried to hang out in the shady areas. As I walked down the row where the ladies make baskets and goods from tree bark and such there was a lady getting a pedicure! What a pedicure? It just struck me as odd. I backed up and took in the scene again, yep, a pedicure was in progress. The woman probably earns way less than even the minimum wage for a Ugandan and most likely lives hand to mouth but here in East Africa at this time of year you get very dirty feet. It's so very dry and dusty.. The woman was sitting on a black tarp with her goods to sell all around. The guy has a small basket with his supplies and goes around cleaning feet, painting toenails etc. I guess they were both happy in the end, her with clean, pretty feet and he with money in his pocket :-)

Blessed day

Wow, I can hardly contain my joy. Just got back from a visit to Mulago hospital. You have heard me talk of it before. It's a place of terrible suffering. I have mixed feeling when I go, I love it and hate it all at the same time.

Today we visited a man with Sickle Cell, he was is crisis. Crying out in pain. No staff came to him and no family to care for him. He was thankful for prayers to comfort him. Then there was a woman foaming at the mouth and seemed dazed, don't know her story The sick and dying everywhere, on the floors, in the halls and in my heart.

Before leaving we were asked to visit a young woman with AIDS. We went far up the hill towards where the old hospital had been many years ago. Here there were tiny rooms, each leading to another. beds jammed into corners, no privacy at all and deep suffering in every bed. Here is where I met Joyeria. A sweet young woman, maybe 20-22 years. She was able to understand english so I told her the story of Jesus's great love for her. She prayed with me to ask Jesus to be her Savior. She now knows for sure when she dies she will have a home in heaven. I can't stop thinking about it. I don't know how much longer she has on earth but she will go to a much better place. Her name is now written in the Book of Life.

Local Produce

Today is such a hot day. I need to see if I can get some freon in my car, the open windows in this ridiculous traffic are a bit much. I was out and about buying some goodies to take to dinner tonight. One of Aid Sudan's Houston team members is in town, so we are having a get together for her. Along with some other things I said I would get some fruit. There are men with wooden wheelbarrows parked randomly along the streets so I decided to give one of them some business instead of the supermarket. You tell them when you want to eat the fruit and they show you which one is best. Mine is so sweet. I also got a water melon. Back at the house I made a pumpkin cake, forgot to put in the melted butter and had to pour it over the top and then gently try to force it down in the partially cooked cake :-( Oh well you can do what you can do, right?

Neighborhood

I just got back from a walk in my neighborhood. It's not anything like my neighborhood in Texas. No zoning laws here. I had a couple of chickens walk in front of me and passed by several goats grazing on the side of the path I was walking on. I usually get lots of stares and children call out Muzungu ( white person) but not so much today. Maybe I am blending in more :-)

It's very warm out, about 96 but I chose to go as the sun is starting its decline in sky so it's a tiny bit more tolerable.

One of my favorite places in the neighborhood is a little chapati stand that is just at the end of my street. As soon as I come out of my house and turn right and go up the street for a couple of hundred years there it is. I love seeing the sign "Jesus is the Alpha and Omega" ( beginning and end) I have been there a few times when I don't feel like cooking. The owner mixes egg, a little chopped cabbage, tomato and red onion together and then cooks it over a griddle on top of hot coals. The filling then is wrapped in a chapati. ( not good for cholesterol but so yummy) It costs about 75 cents. More on the neighborhood later. I think I have an urge for a chapati :-)

Hospital visit

Yesterday was one of my weekly visits to a local hospital. Peace, a Ugandan, Anya, a Dutch woman and I visited the children's ward at Nsambya Hospital. It's a place of much suffering and sadness. As soon as we walked onto the ward we saw a very small child, who was propped on pillows. Her chest and arms were swathed in clean white bandages. Her head and face had obviously been burned also but these areas had been left open to air. The little girl, about 1 year old was tired from the ordeal of just having the bandages changed. I can't even imagine the torture she went through for that. Her mother standing at the bedside was tortured also. She stood there unable to speak with tears running down her face.

In the next bay of beds we came across another little girl who was about 1 yr. also. Her story was especially sad. Apparently her mother came and left her there, never to return. A stranger, visiting another child in the next crib, took on the responsibility of feeding and caring for the little one while she was there. The hospital staff apparently doesn't do more than is absolutely necessary to care for a child such as this. When she is well from her bout with malaria she will go to an orphanage.

We prayed for healing physically, emotionally and spiritually for children and families involved. Thankfully God is a God of great mercy and love for those who are suffering or abandoned.

Experiment

Due to the season we are living in here in Kampala at present, which is hot and dry, everything is covered with dust continually. Since my car is a silver color and the dust is a reddish color it is very noticeable. Today I could stand it no longer so I decided to wash the car. Some things to bear in mind first. There is NO hose, just a bucket,faucet around the BACK of the house and me! I kept thinking about the mop. Finally I picked up the mop and put it into action. It actually worked quite well. I had to make numerous trips around the back to the only outside faucet. There was a lot of old ,dried mud especially around the wheels. This required many buckets of water that got sloshed over the wheels. At last it look reasonable. I felt hot, dusty and tired. I went out later in the day and when I came back I noticed the car looked dusty ( Ugh! )