My Last Months in Sudan

Things in Maridi quieted down, and we finished our operations there in November. Things had slowed down over the previous couple of months, and it was tough to lay off our local staff that we weren’t able to transfer to other sites. For most, they were providing for a large extended family. The road work (that I had posted about previously) came as things were winding down, and thankfully several of our staff were actually able to get jobs with them before we had completely finished. The church and community leaders were grateful for what we had done, and sent us off with God’s blessing and their prayers for our further activities throughout Sudan. The area has suffered from attacks by the LRA in the months since, and it’s difficult to know the people I’ve spent time with are facing problems.

From the end of November, I was fortunate to get to spend time at several of our sites spread across Sudan. I had already known that it is a diverse country, but had only seen it from areas that weren’t so much different from one another in the Southwest of the country. I now witnessed some of the areas closer to the areas controlled by the Northern Government, where the Islamic influence was much more widely accepted. I also ended up on the shores of the Nile and witnessed some of the areas near where the oil fields are and consequently have received a lot more investment. Even in Juba, the capital, there are few cars as the roads require 4x4 traction to move for a large portion of the year, but in the swampland of Malakal on the Nile river, there were hundreds of small Toyota and Kia cars and rickshaws being used as taxis in town during the dry season (apparently during rainy season they are just decorations).

Between this and going back to some of the towns I had spent time in early on, I also was able to witness some of the changes that are taking place over South Sudan. There is electricity in places that hadn’t previously had it, new roads are being made and travel that was previously only seasonally possible is becoming faster and possible longer. There are new buildings being constructed all over and the markets have more and more available. There are still so many in Southern Sudan that are far removed from any of this and haven’t had seen any of this. And, even in the areas where people see the changes, the majority hasn’t had their family’s circumstances improve any but they continue to try to eke out an existence.

Missing

So it's been awhile since I last wrote anything. Yeah, there's a lot I could and should write about.



This will be brief, though.



I'm back in the States, and have been for a little over a week. I don't have plans for what I'm doing tomorrow or the day after that and so on. I'll be reflecting, processing, and seeking some divine guidance for the future.



But I thought right now I'd just update to share a few things I'm missing:

-Peeing outside

-Diversity

-Hot tea all the time

-Freshly picked fruit

-Picking my nose in public without people looking at me funny

-These guys

-Liz's freshly made mandazi

-Stopping and greeting people on the walk into town

-Warmer weather

-Seeing the colorful wraps covering ladies' curves and babies tied to their backs

-Hearing other languages

-Catching up with Edward, Simon, and the other Yei staff on a short stopover

-I'm actually missing asida and beans (and kisera)

-Seeing children playing soccer everywhere

-All my friends I've left

-Various other sights, smells, and feelings

The upside to being in the States:

-NCAA basketball. Yeah, I timed it well to return Championship Week. But March Madness will be all over April 6.

You were right, Mr. G. It won't take 7 or 10 days till I'll want to be back. But, I'm sorry that I won't be back quite that quickly. I guess we'll see how long I can really stay away, though.