Four days ago, the Sudan war veterans who lost a limb during the war closed the Ethiopian and Kenyan borders because they have not received their pension for four or five months. No one can drive in or out though they can walk across the borders.
The vets also stop cars and lorrys along the main roads and make the drivers park their cars and walk. Sixteen people have been killed so far because they did not do as they were told. Several groups of folks are staying at our compound because they cannot leave, even to go to the next town or village by car. Hope the food holds out.
Last week the girls showed me the Neem Tree in the courtyard. They pulled off a twig, chewed on it for a minute or two and created a toothbrush that really works. You can use the same twig for almost one week. In class they told me that some of their grandparents would cook an ostrich egg or use ostrich oil for a chest cold. They would also boil the leaves and roots of the neem tree and drink it for a headache or put the leaves on a big cut as a poltice. The tree is large and lovely and if I can smuggle some seeds in I shall but will probably have lost all my teeth by the time it grows big enough to use as a toothbrush.
I spent Friday afternoon until early evening with the girls at their compound. Some of them were practicing net ball (volley ball). One of the girls came up to me and asked me to play. I declined since it was about 98 degress and with the humidity around 110. Then she asked me why I wore funny clothes (blue slacks and a green blouse with gunboats for tennis shoes). I told her I always looked funny and that even my niece, Tara, when she was little, said I dressed "dorky." I explained that many American Sisters had not worn habits for about 30 to 35 years.
The past few evenings, after the 8pm evening supper, I sit outside until almost ten. The sky seems to hang lower here than in th U.S. The Big Dipper is right on top of you and Orion looks so protective. Because there are no town or city lights for miles and miles, you can see all the stars. It is quite beautiful. Then there is a group of birds who talk in their sleep around 2 am. They dont have anything in particular to say but they seem to enjoy the chatter. It is very soft and really lulls you back to sleep.
This coming week is the last week of the term and the girls will have their exams and return home the followig week if the roads are open.
I have met several Toposa children on my stroll through the bush. One boy had a very old bow and ten arrows of museum quality. He uses the arrows to shoot birds and to scare away wild animals from the herds. The other boy had a leather whip of sorts, also very skillfully made. The children are thin and forage for berries and seed pods from trees and bushes. We have plenty of food so I bring bread and split it up with them whenever I meet them.
One more thought. You are NEVER alone here in the bush. There is ALWAYS someone around and as an interloper, I am fair game. Birding turns into Toposaing. Actually, I am the one who is spotted by the Toposa.
Time to go visit the girls at St. Bahkita's.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
SUDAN AT LAST
SUDAN AT LAST
It took 7 weeks to the day but I finally have arrived in the village of Narus, Sudan. No one even looked at my visa when I went through the check point manned by the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA). The weather was hot but not oppressive and the landscape very much like Southern Arizona. It was beautiful.
I have my own room (tukul) with running water - but no water is running so one uses jerry cans filled with water to wash with. I eat all three meals with the two Ugandan sisters who staff the school. Sister Edvine is Headmistress and Sister Susan is the Dormitory Matron. There are 800 students, 200+ of whom live in the dorms. The school has a bevy of goats which are loosed on the school grounds after breakfast and after lunch at which time they eat ANYTHING which hits the ground. The place is close to immaculate. They could replace the seagulls that clean up after school lunches in San Francisco. Besides, you can eat the goats too.
I began teaching by helping the Kindergarten teacher three days after I got there. She has 110 children ages 5-10 not counting the 3 and 4 year old sibs of the students. They come to school so they will get two meals that they may not get at home. Anyway, I had 50 of them for two hours straight. They were delightful. They speak Toposa, Arabic and are learning English and Kiswahili. They learn Kis. because they are tested on that language when they take their tests at the end of the 8th grade. The students take the test given in Kenya and Kis. is mandatory.
Each class has a Head Girl who helps the teacher keep order in the class. They carry a small switch or twig from one of the trees and use it on their classmates if they misbehave. I only saw the head girl hit one person once and that was when I learned of this custom. The other head girl used her composition book to whop two girls on their heads until I asked her to discontinue this. She was dumbfounded. She thought there was some miscommunication. Anyway, that wasn't as bad as watching some of the smaller girls spit on the floor. They know how to count and they know their a, b, c's and they are such eager learners so I guess I can wait on the spitting.
The next day I taught a hygiene class to the 7th grade which is called class seven in Kenya, Uganda and Sudan. These girls were anywhere from 12 to 16 or 17 as the girls begin school at different ages. I thought I would get their attention with all the things that can go wrong with your health in Africa if you don't keep yourself clean so I talked about ringworm and foot rot (athlete's foot). They weren't too fazed because they know they won't die from this but I did get their attention with the Guinea Worm or Tape Worm but I did not go into any detail. I can tell I can milk this topic and all the other worms who are lying in wait for the unwary. At the end of class they wanted to know about America and they wanted me to teach them a song so I wrote the words to "I'm being swallowed by a Boa Constrictor" on the board. When they "got" the punch line they laughed and I walked out into the sub Saharan sun.
On Saturday I did some laundry and dug the dust out of my room and they went to toss my trash in the trash pile. I was wearing thongs because I was in the compound but I managed to step on a thorn tree (Acacia) thorn about 2 inches long. It went right through the thong and straight into my foot. It hurt and still hurts, but it wasn't a scorpion sting so it is minor.
Three brothers who teach at the high school and five sisters met last night for prayer and supper. We are going to try to do this every month.
I understand Sr. Marilyn Lacey's book, "This Flowing Toward Me" is in its second printing and is only in it second month of print.
Thank you for reading this blog. Remember
It took 7 weeks to the day but I finally have arrived in the village of Narus, Sudan. No one even looked at my visa when I went through the check point manned by the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA). The weather was hot but not oppressive and the landscape very much like Southern Arizona. It was beautiful.
I have my own room (tukul) with running water - but no water is running so one uses jerry cans filled with water to wash with. I eat all three meals with the two Ugandan sisters who staff the school. Sister Edvine is Headmistress and Sister Susan is the Dormitory Matron. There are 800 students, 200+ of whom live in the dorms. The school has a bevy of goats which are loosed on the school grounds after breakfast and after lunch at which time they eat ANYTHING which hits the ground. The place is close to immaculate. They could replace the seagulls that clean up after school lunches in San Francisco. Besides, you can eat the goats too.
I began teaching by helping the Kindergarten teacher three days after I got there. She has 110 children ages 5-10 not counting the 3 and 4 year old sibs of the students. They come to school so they will get two meals that they may not get at home. Anyway, I had 50 of them for two hours straight. They were delightful. They speak Toposa, Arabic and are learning English and Kiswahili. They learn Kis. because they are tested on that language when they take their tests at the end of the 8th grade. The students take the test given in Kenya and Kis. is mandatory.
Each class has a Head Girl who helps the teacher keep order in the class. They carry a small switch or twig from one of the trees and use it on their classmates if they misbehave. I only saw the head girl hit one person once and that was when I learned of this custom. The other head girl used her composition book to whop two girls on their heads until I asked her to discontinue this. She was dumbfounded. She thought there was some miscommunication. Anyway, that wasn't as bad as watching some of the smaller girls spit on the floor. They know how to count and they know their a, b, c's and they are such eager learners so I guess I can wait on the spitting.
The next day I taught a hygiene class to the 7th grade which is called class seven in Kenya, Uganda and Sudan. These girls were anywhere from 12 to 16 or 17 as the girls begin school at different ages. I thought I would get their attention with all the things that can go wrong with your health in Africa if you don't keep yourself clean so I talked about ringworm and foot rot (athlete's foot). They weren't too fazed because they know they won't die from this but I did get their attention with the Guinea Worm or Tape Worm but I did not go into any detail. I can tell I can milk this topic and all the other worms who are lying in wait for the unwary. At the end of class they wanted to know about America and they wanted me to teach them a song so I wrote the words to "I'm being swallowed by a Boa Constrictor" on the board. When they "got" the punch line they laughed and I walked out into the sub Saharan sun.
On Saturday I did some laundry and dug the dust out of my room and they went to toss my trash in the trash pile. I was wearing thongs because I was in the compound but I managed to step on a thorn tree (Acacia) thorn about 2 inches long. It went right through the thong and straight into my foot. It hurt and still hurts, but it wasn't a scorpion sting so it is minor.
Three brothers who teach at the high school and five sisters met last night for prayer and supper. We are going to try to do this every month.
I understand Sr. Marilyn Lacey's book, "This Flowing Toward Me" is in its second printing and is only in it second month of print.
Thank you for reading this blog. Remember
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