Some pics

These are pics of my tukol (right side of the tukol is mine). I think the table and desk are self explanitory...oh, except that the cloth on the table is to keep the dust and dirt from the roof off all my stuff.

Nika in the pharmacy with the new shelves we have been putting in.

The road...and not even in a bad spot!!

Our Vehicles

Peoples' Tukols

3rd Grade Math

I have been learning many things during my few weeks here. Every day brings some new adventure or revelation about this place. I have spent the last two weeks balancing my time between the hospital and our compound, building shelves, tank stands and various other little projects.
I really enjoy working with the Sudanese and through them I am continually reminded of the many blessings I have enjoyed in my life, most especially my education. One of the bigger projects I have worked on in the past few weeks has been putting in shelving for the drug store at the hospital. The man who is in charge of getting the medicines for patients and keeping things organized is a guy named Nika. He is an incredibly cheerful and helpful man who is probably in his mid 20s. Last week I was looking at all the medicine and started to ask him what the different drugs were used for and he would explain to me what each one. Nika was a refugee in Ethiopia for many years and it was there that he learned English, so I asked him if he'd learned about medicine there. He said no and that he had learned it from a small nurses training program at the hospital. He then proceeded to tell me how he had heard of a secondary school opening south of here and how he really wanted to go to it so that he could complete his high school education. His enthusiasm and dedication to education really humbled me - I often take my college education for granted, let alone my high school.
Then this week I was in for a real shocker. That same nurses program that Nika had gone through is now working on educating about 15 new students to work at the hospital. The Kenyan nurse who is teaching the students has been going over shots and vaccines and stuff like that so I agreed to let her give me one of my remaining vaccines in front of the class as a demonstration. I got there a little bit early and sat outside listening to the lesson she was working on...and what I heard astonished me. It turns out that as she was teaching them she realized that most of the students did not know how to multiply or divide and so she was having to take time to explain multiplication to them. As I sat outside listening to her teach some basic multiplication my mind flashed back to last year when I volunteered at an underprivileged elementary school in Winston-Salem. There I helped 3rd and 4th graders with multiplication and many of those students where considered to be very far behind in their learning. When I listened to these future nurses learning multiplication I realized how blessed America is - even in its most impoverished state the kids are learning what adults in Sudan wish they could have learned. The people here are smart and want to learn - the unfortunate thing is that there is hardly any education around. We help with a small community center that offers classes and I am told that in the mornings they are swamped with over 400 students. I realize how blessed I have been to have received the education I have and that I should certainly not take it for granted especially when those I am surrouned by would give anything to have it. Pray that I will use my blessing in a way that is pleasing to my King in this place.

I thought you might also be interested in one of the unfriendly critters I found just outside my hut!

Bathing in the Mud

I have seen a lot of mud since I've been here. The roads are always an adventure no matter where you go. The other day I went to our farm project which is about 25 km away. It took us over two hours to get there and we had to travel by tractor because the roads are impassable for our four-wheel drive vehicles. The rainy season certainly takes some adjusting to!! I am told that the heaviest rains will be in July and August and that it won't really finish raining until October.

The rains do have some great advantages. First of all, driving can be a lot of fun....at least until you get stuck. Secondly, the heat isn't so bad because of the rain - I am particularly thankful for this fact because as it is I don't think the temperature has really gone below 80, except maybe at night. When the clouds are gone it doesn't take long for the temp to rise above 90. The other advantage is that it is good for peoples' crops, but my favorite use of the rain - bathwater! The other day as I drove along, sliding and sloshing in and out of mud puddles, I came across three small children having their evening bath in one of the road's puddles. I wish I had had my camera to catch that moment...not every day is the road used for such hygienic purposes!

For now though you'll just have to settle for picture of a recent sunset here.

Not in Kansas anymore...

Outside the night is alive with sounds of frogs and crickets and a number of other little creatures. It is what I’d like to call the “outhouse orchestra”. You might ask why and the answer is quite simple – these little creatures orchestrate the enjoyable nightly music that accompanies any late night expeditions to the outhouse(pictured below). Yes, life has changed a little bit in the last week… “I’m not in Kansas anymore”.
I arrived here last Thursday and have spent the last few days adjusting to life in the middle of nowhere Africa… during rainy season. I’m not sure where to even begin describing this place for those who have never been to rural Africa. I live in a mud hut called a tukol. (the one in the picture) I have a small amount of electricity that I power some small lights and use to recharge my computer. There is a room, about 15ft by 15ft and a small little porch area in this tukol. My bed is normal except that it is super squeaky and I have mosquito net over it. The net is as much for all the other bugs as it is for the mosquitoes. In some later postings I might show you some of friendly and not-so-friendly house mates. There are five other team members living here at the compound. One American, one Canadian, and three Kenyans. There are all great people who I look forward to working with more. One of the Kenyans, a mechanic, is a guy I have met before in Kenya and has worked on my parents vehicle in the past. We all eat together in a common kitchen building and share the responsibility of cooking evening meals. We also meet MWF for a devotional time together.
The town I live in is mix of several different cultures and people groups. One of the most interesting things I have found so far is the number of donkeys that are used to pull small carts. I have spent several of my days so far working at the local hospital doing some small repairs that were needed.
The weather since I arrived has been VERY wet. Today is the only day on which it hasn’t rained since I arrived last week. When it rains it really rains. The whole land turns into a river washing away downhill. It is quite amazing to watch at the torrential downpour arrives and soon little rivers appear everywhere. The rains also mean that the roads are…well basically it means that the roads aren’t. The vehicles we drive are four-wheel drive but even so they get stuck often. The “roads” that we drive on are very slippery when muddy and it makes for some very interesting trips around town.
I think I will end this for now. The internet here is quite slow and so I may not post too many pictures because of the length of time it requires to download them. Even so, I do hope to put some up from time to time. Please continue to pray that I will adjust life here. I love this land and the people and I am excited about being here but pray that I will quickly adapt to the language and culture of this place.
Oh, one last thing… when I make my expedition to the outhouse the orchestra has an added bonus on nights like tonight when there aren’t any clouds. The stars! There is basically no light pollution here and the stars are absolutely fabulous.