Yes, we are home five weeks earlier than originally planned. As Paul Harvey used to say, “And now the rest of the story….”
On Sunday, October 11 there was a major incident between two neighboring clans which resulted in four deaths and additional injuries. The location of this was not far from the school, and the two clans involved were the ones from which our students came. Because of the long standing tradition of revenge, everyone in both villages stayed in their homes. Revenge is most often visited on young men of the offending clan, so many of the male students slept several nights in the forest, for fear of being ambushed in their homes in the middle of the night. In the past, an incident of this type has spread to other clans and escalated, so we closed the school for a week, and in addition all market places and five primary schools were closed up and down the road for thirty miles. You can imagine the tension and sadness.
By Wednesday of the following week eighteen students had returned to school out of 60, and that day the students requested a meeting with the headmaster and teachers. The students conducted themselves very well, taking turns speaking, and what was said is that the insecurity situation was far from over and they very much feared coming to and from school. They respectively asked for permission to stay home, but at the same time it mattered to them what we, their teachers, thought and how they would get credit for the year. One student worried out loud what the American donors would think. The decision that needed to be made was clear to us, and we closed the school for the remainder of the school year and said that report cards would be ready for pick up on November 3rd. The students were grateful for our understanding of how torn they were between wanting to come to school and being afraid to come to school. Their relief was tangible.
On November 3 we had a year-end celebration with a meal and ceremony. Community dignitaries came and about thirty students felt safe enough to attend. Indeed, it was a celebration. Closing five weeks early did not diminish the academic accomplishments of 60 students whose world views had been expanded and skills learned that will prove to be a good foundation for further learning and future responsibilities. The sense of unity between staff and students makes the April 1, 2009 school opening promise to be positive and productive.
WHAT IS NEXT FOR HOPE AND RESURRECTION SECONDARY SCHOOL IN SOUTHERN SUDAN?
We are receiving news that there has been progress made in reconciliation between the two clans. The men responsible for inciting the violence have been turned over to the police. This is key, for if justice is practiced through the law then people can abandon the need to seek justice through revenge. This is no little thing, because it represents a change in long standing attitudes and practices of a society. Until this incident occurred, I had not appreciated the friendship and cooperation between our students of different clans. It shows that there are many Sudanese ready to embrace change that will move them forward.
The school year in Southern Sudan is from April to December. The funding NGO, Hope for Humanity, is planning on a 2009 school year. Anthony, our headmaster of last year, is returning and Cleous, a teacher from Uganda, will become assistant headmaster. This year’s freshman will become sophomores and a new class of freshman will be admitted. The set back of this year’s early closing does not discourage us. Hope for Humanity needs your continued partnership of support and donations, for theirs is an important and huge undertaking.
HOME
Jim and I arrived in San Francisco on November 7th. We have spent this last month visiting our sons and Jim’s sister and catching up with friends. We have begun to put our house in order from the fire. We have spent a lot of time remembering the details of these last nine months, the frustrations and challenges, the funny things and joys. People have made our homecoming a celebration and encourage us to talk about our experiences.
We are grateful for the blessings of our life here, but we also left a hunk of our hearts in Atiaba, Southern Sudan. Books on mission emphasize the practice of being present to the people in which you serve, and that is difficult to understand until you are actually in a far away place sharing in the lives of others. The richness of the last nine months is our affection for the students and staff of Hope and Resurrection Secondary School and that we share with them the experiences of the birth of the school.
Thank you, dear readers, for your interest. We heartily recommend being missionaries and are more convinced than ever that our lives are designed to be lived in service to others near or far. There lies our satisfaction and delight.
Jim and Mary
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
Greetings from Southern Sudan
THANK YOU FROM ALL OF US AT HOPE AND RESURRECTION SECONDARY SCHOOL– Many responded with donations for the lunch program. For Jim and me, it was heartwarming to receive word of your support and interest. Lunches are going very well, and I can see a difference in students’ concentration in the afternoon. Nothing that I can say expresses our thanks like some words directly from some of the students.
From Isaac Maker Turic - It was difficult for me when I biked to school everyday and spent nine hours studying and go back home at evening time without getting lunch in the duration. But at this second term I get lunch in school. This makes my studies effective and I don’t think about food at daytime again. So I appreciate you American donors to provide us with lunch. You have done a lot, and I am serious after studies as I am motivated.
From Samuel Dut – About the lunch time, there is a timekeeper in our school. He is very serious for his duties when the minutes are finished at 12:35, he rings the bell and students go out to lunch. There are two ladies cooking for us every day. There is a very big tree in the middle of school where we go under it and find two tables with plates of food for every student. I thank you for giving us this lunch time.
From Mary Athiei Paul – We have a lunch in school here. One day we eat porridge and another day we eat rice and beans. I say this lunch is good because if we don’t have lunch time we become hungry. The food tastes good, also.
From Abraham Magang Machot – In our school cooking began on July 25th. This cooking is going smoothly, correctly and nicely to the present date. Students here are having happiness for their having lunch daily.
A reflection about life here and the progress we believe that is occurring……………..
When I recall what I have shared in this blog, I see Jim’s and my evolution through some stages. We have moved from first impressions of the Dinka culture, past initial frustrations, through day to day coping, and finally to seeing progress. We are now woven into the fabric of the community, and this gives us a new vantage point to understand what we couldn’t comprehend in the beginning. Life here is so achingly difficult, but at the same time these hardships are juxtaposed against people’s striving for the grace to live with dignity.
Reality here can feel like the jagged edge of broken glass. An example of this was last Sunday morning when Jim was summoned to take a very sick boy of about eight years to the clinic six miles away. A boy named Shedit had been bitten by a dog two weeks earlier and now was gravely ill. I did not know this boy specifically, but in my mind’s eye I see one of the many gangly youths with broad grins who enthusiastically greet us when we go to the village. Shedit died that Sunday evening, and you could hear crying in the village when the boy’s body was returned to the family. Children are especially vulnerable to this difficult environment. At the end of this rainy season there is much sickness, especially malaria. Jim and I came down with malaria last month.
There is unrest in this place, and at times the tension can be sorely felt in the students. Violence erupts in cattle camps between clans and tribes, and often results in injury and death and spills over into neighboring villages. Still practiced today is the traditional thinking that involves an eye for an eye. The spirit of revenge leads to much heartbreak in an already challenging place. Recently the government began collecting thousands of automatic weapons left over from the days of war as a way to cut down on the cattle camp violence. Last month in Rumbek, the soldiers abused their authority when searching for guns and the results were looting and injuries. There is a sense of standing on shifting sands. The students of Hope and Resurrection Secondary School will hopefully be part of the transitional generation who will begin to see the world through a wider lens.
What seems to sustain people through loss and unsettled times is that they acknowledge and embrace their interdependence on one another. Indeed, it takes a village to raise a child. In fact, it almost takes a village to get two sick missionaries to the doctor. When we became ill with malaria, our fellow colleagues at school and a friend from a neighboring NGO joined efforts and by 11 AM a medical assistant from the clinic had arrived at school to transport us. At the clinic that afternoon, we awoke to find our beds surrounded by tall, young men in Hope and Resurrection tee shirts. On their way home from school, they had stopped to greet us and see how we were doing. The concern and kindnesses shown to us were ultimately the best medicine we could have received and showed us the power of our informal network of friends here.
It is my nature to most often focus on what can be improved at school. I lean my will and spirit against the problems of absenteeism and attrition. Then I take a moment and step back to see the bigger picture—students solving algebraic equations, understanding force and pressure in physics, learning about the earth’s cycles in geography, and trying to write multi paragraph essays, to name just a few. When Hope and Resurrection Secondary School is viewed as a whole—from the first vision for the school combined with the generosity of donors, the dedication of staff and the efforts of students then I can see that this first year of operation has unfolded like a miracle.
Saying good bye – Jim and I are increasingly thinking in holistic terms with only eight more weeks in Southern Sudan. We arrive in San Francisco on December 16th. As short term missionaries, our term of service was one year with the possibility of renewing for one more year. When we first came I wondered if either Jim or I would want to stay and the other want to go, but mercifully, we both think that it is time for us to come home. The main reason is that we are in the process of accomplishing what we were called to do, and that was to begin the secondary school here. The school is blessed with a competent Dinka educator of thirty years of experience, so he can navigate through both the academic as well as the cultural issues. We are busy passing the torch to Anthony in a myriad of ways, and he is increasingly excited about the opportunity that lay before him. Even though this year has been a once in a life time experience, we realize that our lives are not in Africa but in the US.
I would imagine that we are somewhat changed, but it is hard for us to judge that. My sister Nancy asked me if America looked ugly from Africa, and I answered that American looks beautiful to me. The personal freedom, justice and efficiency that we take for granted are lacking on this great continent, and its people suffer greatly because of it.
During the first month that we were gone, there was a freak electrical fire in the living room of our Cameron Park house. Family, friends, and the insurance company have taken care of the repairs, but most of our things had to be packed into boxes into the garage so painting and installing flooring could be completed. It will be odd to go home to a refurbished house and literally need to unpack and move in again. In one way it sounds overwhelming when I would rather just unlock the door and have it just as I left it, but in another way the circumstances present an unique opportunity for re-examination of a lot of things. Our resettlement into our home seems like a metaphor for the process which Jim and I need to experience as we pick up the dear threads of relationships, as well as chose new things for our interest and energy.
Please pray that we are able to say good and right farewells to the people here.
Blessings to you,
Mary and Jim
From Isaac Maker Turic - It was difficult for me when I biked to school everyday and spent nine hours studying and go back home at evening time without getting lunch in the duration. But at this second term I get lunch in school. This makes my studies effective and I don’t think about food at daytime again. So I appreciate you American donors to provide us with lunch. You have done a lot, and I am serious after studies as I am motivated.
From Samuel Dut – About the lunch time, there is a timekeeper in our school. He is very serious for his duties when the minutes are finished at 12:35, he rings the bell and students go out to lunch. There are two ladies cooking for us every day. There is a very big tree in the middle of school where we go under it and find two tables with plates of food for every student. I thank you for giving us this lunch time.
From Mary Athiei Paul – We have a lunch in school here. One day we eat porridge and another day we eat rice and beans. I say this lunch is good because if we don’t have lunch time we become hungry. The food tastes good, also.
From Abraham Magang Machot – In our school cooking began on July 25th. This cooking is going smoothly, correctly and nicely to the present date. Students here are having happiness for their having lunch daily.
A reflection about life here and the progress we believe that is occurring……………..
When I recall what I have shared in this blog, I see Jim’s and my evolution through some stages. We have moved from first impressions of the Dinka culture, past initial frustrations, through day to day coping, and finally to seeing progress. We are now woven into the fabric of the community, and this gives us a new vantage point to understand what we couldn’t comprehend in the beginning. Life here is so achingly difficult, but at the same time these hardships are juxtaposed against people’s striving for the grace to live with dignity.
Reality here can feel like the jagged edge of broken glass. An example of this was last Sunday morning when Jim was summoned to take a very sick boy of about eight years to the clinic six miles away. A boy named Shedit had been bitten by a dog two weeks earlier and now was gravely ill. I did not know this boy specifically, but in my mind’s eye I see one of the many gangly youths with broad grins who enthusiastically greet us when we go to the village. Shedit died that Sunday evening, and you could hear crying in the village when the boy’s body was returned to the family. Children are especially vulnerable to this difficult environment. At the end of this rainy season there is much sickness, especially malaria. Jim and I came down with malaria last month.
There is unrest in this place, and at times the tension can be sorely felt in the students. Violence erupts in cattle camps between clans and tribes, and often results in injury and death and spills over into neighboring villages. Still practiced today is the traditional thinking that involves an eye for an eye. The spirit of revenge leads to much heartbreak in an already challenging place. Recently the government began collecting thousands of automatic weapons left over from the days of war as a way to cut down on the cattle camp violence. Last month in Rumbek, the soldiers abused their authority when searching for guns and the results were looting and injuries. There is a sense of standing on shifting sands. The students of Hope and Resurrection Secondary School will hopefully be part of the transitional generation who will begin to see the world through a wider lens.
What seems to sustain people through loss and unsettled times is that they acknowledge and embrace their interdependence on one another. Indeed, it takes a village to raise a child. In fact, it almost takes a village to get two sick missionaries to the doctor. When we became ill with malaria, our fellow colleagues at school and a friend from a neighboring NGO joined efforts and by 11 AM a medical assistant from the clinic had arrived at school to transport us. At the clinic that afternoon, we awoke to find our beds surrounded by tall, young men in Hope and Resurrection tee shirts. On their way home from school, they had stopped to greet us and see how we were doing. The concern and kindnesses shown to us were ultimately the best medicine we could have received and showed us the power of our informal network of friends here.
It is my nature to most often focus on what can be improved at school. I lean my will and spirit against the problems of absenteeism and attrition. Then I take a moment and step back to see the bigger picture—students solving algebraic equations, understanding force and pressure in physics, learning about the earth’s cycles in geography, and trying to write multi paragraph essays, to name just a few. When Hope and Resurrection Secondary School is viewed as a whole—from the first vision for the school combined with the generosity of donors, the dedication of staff and the efforts of students then I can see that this first year of operation has unfolded like a miracle.
Saying good bye – Jim and I are increasingly thinking in holistic terms with only eight more weeks in Southern Sudan. We arrive in San Francisco on December 16th. As short term missionaries, our term of service was one year with the possibility of renewing for one more year. When we first came I wondered if either Jim or I would want to stay and the other want to go, but mercifully, we both think that it is time for us to come home. The main reason is that we are in the process of accomplishing what we were called to do, and that was to begin the secondary school here. The school is blessed with a competent Dinka educator of thirty years of experience, so he can navigate through both the academic as well as the cultural issues. We are busy passing the torch to Anthony in a myriad of ways, and he is increasingly excited about the opportunity that lay before him. Even though this year has been a once in a life time experience, we realize that our lives are not in Africa but in the US.
I would imagine that we are somewhat changed, but it is hard for us to judge that. My sister Nancy asked me if America looked ugly from Africa, and I answered that American looks beautiful to me. The personal freedom, justice and efficiency that we take for granted are lacking on this great continent, and its people suffer greatly because of it.
During the first month that we were gone, there was a freak electrical fire in the living room of our Cameron Park house. Family, friends, and the insurance company have taken care of the repairs, but most of our things had to be packed into boxes into the garage so painting and installing flooring could be completed. It will be odd to go home to a refurbished house and literally need to unpack and move in again. In one way it sounds overwhelming when I would rather just unlock the door and have it just as I left it, but in another way the circumstances present an unique opportunity for re-examination of a lot of things. Our resettlement into our home seems like a metaphor for the process which Jim and I need to experience as we pick up the dear threads of relationships, as well as chose new things for our interest and energy.
Please pray that we are able to say good and right farewells to the people here.
Blessings to you,
Mary and Jim
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Atiaba, Southern Sudan in July, 2008
Greetings to our friends and family around the world. The last two months have been busy since our school population has doubled with enrollment now at 64. We were without the Hilux truck for five weeks, and it was wonderful to get it back in good repair. We literally walked a mile is our neighbors’ shoes for the five weeks that we were without it and have a better understanding of what it is like to not have transportation like most folks around here.
SCHOOL RULES SOUTHERN SUDAN STYLE - Of course, we started with the usual rules for the school, but then the reality of life in Sudan caused us to be much more flexible in the administering them. One Monday morning very early a student knocked on our door to tell me that he had to miss school that day because he had bought a bull in Rumbek on Sunday and needed to get it home to food and water. Sure enough there was a young bull tethered in the school compound. That request was a light hearted one and it made us all laugh. Most often though, there are requests for permission to miss school for some very serious reasons. A student named Abraham came to me, “Madam Mary, my brother’s wife just passed a baby girl and there is no food. Please give me permission to go to other relatives to see if they will give us food. She especially wants tea.” Well, you can imagine what I said—“I would want tea, also, if I just had a baby. Go and take care of this.” I managed to slip some tea bags and a packet of beans into his hand before he rode off. Many students get malaria and are off to the clinic in another village for medicine and then home for a few days getting well. A shy boy who is handicapped from polio had his head down one day. When I inquired if he was OK, he told me that he had to go to the hospital. I thought it was for himself, but it turned out that he was not sick but sad and wanted to visit his sister in the hospital who had lost a baby the night before. You can see that this is not the usual situation that I am used to for running a school. The students and their hardships that are teaching us in profound ways how it is to be a Sudanese person living in this place.
ACADEMIC PROGRESS AND WRITING IN THE DIRT - I often observe that people write their ideas in the dirt when they are trying to explain something, and that children write their numbers and alphabet in the dirt during church under the tree. The reason is that classrooms are still held outside where the teacher has a blackboard, but the students don’t have paper and pencils and text books. People grow up practicing lessons by writing them in the sandy soil around them. This explains why our students read and write poorly, because the luxury of abundant printed material and the means to write have not been available to them. This has been a challenge for us teachers at Hope and Resurrection Secondary School—offering a secondary curriculum with enough teacher support that they can be successful. In my English classes, we have practiced writing paragraphs for three months and it is just now that everyone can write a topic sentence, a paragraph body and a concluding sentence, and also indent the first word of the first sentence so that the finished product looks like a paragraph. That key lessons are slow going is just a fact of life, and it makes the moment where everyone finally can do it especially good. I have promised the students that we will progress to writing essays when we return from holiday and they are eager to try this. I am grateful to have their desire to do well on my side.
JAMES, THE FIRST YEAR TEACHER - One of the pleasures for me has been watching Jim with the students. He would have been a good teacher, for he is reflective, creative and organized for his physics class. He is at his best one to one after school. Students from the nearby village like to come back and check out text books and read after school. They love to do math and physics problems on the blackboard and this is where Jim comes in, because he coaches them through the problems. Jim is trying some different seeds behind the teacher’s quarters, and this afternoon some students arrived just as he had finished planting some banana squash and pole beans. “Cultivating” as they call it is a way of life here, so they were enthused with his efforts and thrilled when he gave them the left over seed. About four of them just hurried off back to the village with the seeds. Jim said that they were optimistically planning on how they would divide all the harvest.
AN UNUSUAL GIFT – A student gave me a rooster. I have never been given a rooster before, so it was a surprise gift. It is a classic rooster, if there is such a thing, with beautiful rust brown and gold colored feathers. My rooster lives next door with some other chickens and has adjusted nicely. The student told me that he would give me a goat if I wanted it. I declined the offer of a goat because it seemed like too much responsibility for this city girl.
A LUNCH PROGRAM IS UNDER WAY IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOOD SHORTAGE AND RISING PRICES – The World Food Program has denied help to secondary schools, so this last week we have begun our own lunch program. Our students are hungry and this affects their performance. From the story above about the family with the newborn child and no food you can see that food insecurity, as it is called here, is a reality. We began with a trial run of serving porridge and the students were appreciative and pleased. We will continue with the porridge through finals next week and then we will have a holiday. When school resumes in September we would like to have three days of rice and beans and two days of porridge each week. We purchased a large pot and some big stirring paddles. We hired two local women, both widows and the only support for their families so that the blessing of a job goes to those who need it the most. These two women know exactly what to do and gather fire wood and make wonderful porridge and clean up each day so that you would not even know that 50 students just ate bowls of porridge.
The school lunch program is a caring response from the Board of Hope for Humanity in Virginia, and they have taken this expense on even though it was not in the original budget for this year. We think that it will cost about $15 per student per month to feed them lunch, and we have about 50 students who regularly attend--$55 for each student will get us food through the end of the school year in mid December. When Jim and I left home many people said to us “Tell us if you need something.” We do need something, and it is contributions to help fund lunch. If this is something you can do and that touches your heart, the address for Hope for Humanity is on this blog.
VACATION AHEAD – The end of the first term is the end of July. Jim and I will head off to Nairobi to do some school business and then on to Masai Mara which is a wild life park and safari living. We will also be going to Kenya’s eastern coast off the Indian Ocean to a place that is suppose to be pretty and relaxing. We are looking forward to being tourists. Atiaba is small and very quiet and we are ready to kick up our heels a bit. The last five months of beginning the school, have taken concentrated effort and work, and we think that the vacation will refresh us for the second term.
IN CLOSING – As you can imagine, I receive many times over what I give to others in Southern Sudan. The life lesson that keeps reoccurring for me here is that the simple act of being present with others is one of the dearest gifts we have to give—whether in Africa or our own kitchens. I will end with a story which illustrates that lesson. I attended a Saturday ceremony as the representative of our school at a primary school awards function. The ceremony was to honor last year’s eighth graders who are now about 25 of our current students. The primary school headmaster came by and issued an invitation to the entire student body of Hope and Resurrection School. I was pleased to see that almost all of our students attended wearing their Hope and Resurrection School tee shirts and sending the message to all that they now were a part of our school. After many speeches and the program, this is what one of our students said to me. “Madam Mary, many people have asked us who the white woman is, and we say to them that you are our teacher, and we feel so proud that you are here.”
Our love to you all,
Mary and Jim
SCHOOL RULES SOUTHERN SUDAN STYLE - Of course, we started with the usual rules for the school, but then the reality of life in Sudan caused us to be much more flexible in the administering them. One Monday morning very early a student knocked on our door to tell me that he had to miss school that day because he had bought a bull in Rumbek on Sunday and needed to get it home to food and water. Sure enough there was a young bull tethered in the school compound. That request was a light hearted one and it made us all laugh. Most often though, there are requests for permission to miss school for some very serious reasons. A student named Abraham came to me, “Madam Mary, my brother’s wife just passed a baby girl and there is no food. Please give me permission to go to other relatives to see if they will give us food. She especially wants tea.” Well, you can imagine what I said—“I would want tea, also, if I just had a baby. Go and take care of this.” I managed to slip some tea bags and a packet of beans into his hand before he rode off. Many students get malaria and are off to the clinic in another village for medicine and then home for a few days getting well. A shy boy who is handicapped from polio had his head down one day. When I inquired if he was OK, he told me that he had to go to the hospital. I thought it was for himself, but it turned out that he was not sick but sad and wanted to visit his sister in the hospital who had lost a baby the night before. You can see that this is not the usual situation that I am used to for running a school. The students and their hardships that are teaching us in profound ways how it is to be a Sudanese person living in this place.
ACADEMIC PROGRESS AND WRITING IN THE DIRT - I often observe that people write their ideas in the dirt when they are trying to explain something, and that children write their numbers and alphabet in the dirt during church under the tree. The reason is that classrooms are still held outside where the teacher has a blackboard, but the students don’t have paper and pencils and text books. People grow up practicing lessons by writing them in the sandy soil around them. This explains why our students read and write poorly, because the luxury of abundant printed material and the means to write have not been available to them. This has been a challenge for us teachers at Hope and Resurrection Secondary School—offering a secondary curriculum with enough teacher support that they can be successful. In my English classes, we have practiced writing paragraphs for three months and it is just now that everyone can write a topic sentence, a paragraph body and a concluding sentence, and also indent the first word of the first sentence so that the finished product looks like a paragraph. That key lessons are slow going is just a fact of life, and it makes the moment where everyone finally can do it especially good. I have promised the students that we will progress to writing essays when we return from holiday and they are eager to try this. I am grateful to have their desire to do well on my side.
JAMES, THE FIRST YEAR TEACHER - One of the pleasures for me has been watching Jim with the students. He would have been a good teacher, for he is reflective, creative and organized for his physics class. He is at his best one to one after school. Students from the nearby village like to come back and check out text books and read after school. They love to do math and physics problems on the blackboard and this is where Jim comes in, because he coaches them through the problems. Jim is trying some different seeds behind the teacher’s quarters, and this afternoon some students arrived just as he had finished planting some banana squash and pole beans. “Cultivating” as they call it is a way of life here, so they were enthused with his efforts and thrilled when he gave them the left over seed. About four of them just hurried off back to the village with the seeds. Jim said that they were optimistically planning on how they would divide all the harvest.
AN UNUSUAL GIFT – A student gave me a rooster. I have never been given a rooster before, so it was a surprise gift. It is a classic rooster, if there is such a thing, with beautiful rust brown and gold colored feathers. My rooster lives next door with some other chickens and has adjusted nicely. The student told me that he would give me a goat if I wanted it. I declined the offer of a goat because it seemed like too much responsibility for this city girl.
A LUNCH PROGRAM IS UNDER WAY IN THE MIDDLE OF A FOOD SHORTAGE AND RISING PRICES – The World Food Program has denied help to secondary schools, so this last week we have begun our own lunch program. Our students are hungry and this affects their performance. From the story above about the family with the newborn child and no food you can see that food insecurity, as it is called here, is a reality. We began with a trial run of serving porridge and the students were appreciative and pleased. We will continue with the porridge through finals next week and then we will have a holiday. When school resumes in September we would like to have three days of rice and beans and two days of porridge each week. We purchased a large pot and some big stirring paddles. We hired two local women, both widows and the only support for their families so that the blessing of a job goes to those who need it the most. These two women know exactly what to do and gather fire wood and make wonderful porridge and clean up each day so that you would not even know that 50 students just ate bowls of porridge.
The school lunch program is a caring response from the Board of Hope for Humanity in Virginia, and they have taken this expense on even though it was not in the original budget for this year. We think that it will cost about $15 per student per month to feed them lunch, and we have about 50 students who regularly attend--$55 for each student will get us food through the end of the school year in mid December. When Jim and I left home many people said to us “Tell us if you need something.” We do need something, and it is contributions to help fund lunch. If this is something you can do and that touches your heart, the address for Hope for Humanity is on this blog.
VACATION AHEAD – The end of the first term is the end of July. Jim and I will head off to Nairobi to do some school business and then on to Masai Mara which is a wild life park and safari living. We will also be going to Kenya’s eastern coast off the Indian Ocean to a place that is suppose to be pretty and relaxing. We are looking forward to being tourists. Atiaba is small and very quiet and we are ready to kick up our heels a bit. The last five months of beginning the school, have taken concentrated effort and work, and we think that the vacation will refresh us for the second term.
IN CLOSING – As you can imagine, I receive many times over what I give to others in Southern Sudan. The life lesson that keeps reoccurring for me here is that the simple act of being present with others is one of the dearest gifts we have to give—whether in Africa or our own kitchens. I will end with a story which illustrates that lesson. I attended a Saturday ceremony as the representative of our school at a primary school awards function. The ceremony was to honor last year’s eighth graders who are now about 25 of our current students. The primary school headmaster came by and issued an invitation to the entire student body of Hope and Resurrection School. I was pleased to see that almost all of our students attended wearing their Hope and Resurrection School tee shirts and sending the message to all that they now were a part of our school. After many speeches and the program, this is what one of our students said to me. “Madam Mary, many people have asked us who the white woman is, and we say to them that you are our teacher, and we feel so proud that you are here.”
Our love to you all,
Mary and Jim
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Sending you warm wishes from Atiaba
Hello to all of you: We have not been able to post the blog for a while due to limited email access. June is going fast because we have the school full and we are busy with classes and activities. Here is what we were doing in May with some of our impressions and descriptions of the area and the Dinka people.
May 2 – I will begin this today and see how far I get or how often I will add on until I can post this blog. It is late afternoon on Friday afternoon, and it has been a wonderfully coolish and cloudy day with relief from the heat. This was a big day for us because we had orientation for half of the freshman student body, and it went very well. We admitted students who had documentation of their primary 8 grades because they completed 8th grade before this year. We are still waiting for the scores of the March 2008 8th grade exam to determine the remainder of students who will be admitted. There is now some competition for the sixty spots in this first class, and so their grade on this exam ranks them for admittance.
MEET SOME OF THE STUDENTS - The student body is shaping up to be students with the youngest at age 16 and the oldest at 37. For Jim and me personally, the mission lies with providing this second chance opportunity for these older students who urgently desire an education. Many of the men graduated from primary 8 and because of no opportunity for further schooling or paid employment, became unpaid pastors or primary teachers who teach children under a big tree with a blackboard as their only teaching aid. They are intelligent, mature, polite, and very likeable. There is also a big group of students who are in their twenties and got a late start in primary school. They are eager and of high spirits and greet us with enthusiastic handshakes and big smiles. Then there are our three young women in their late teens. In terms of this culture it is unusual that they are not already married and that their fathers value education enough to allow them to go to secondary school. Most Dinka women are illiterate. There is much work to do each day in the home, and girls are trained to do this work rather than go to school. Our students are named Angelina, Deborah, and Mary. Mary received her primary education in a refugee camp in Kenya. Distance is a problem for most students who live a two or three hour walk from school when they come “by footing” as they explain to me. Only about half have bikes. We are trying to be wise and compassionate in dealing with these challenges and appreciate your prayers as we begin.
BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN – How I enjoyed being in front of students again. We all gave a short lesson, and it was great to be thinking like an educator again and have the interaction with the students. Jim is teaching physics because it was what was left. He doesn’t even want to calculate how many years ago that he had a college physics class, but I think that he will do a good job, and I predict that he will find it satisfying. I had the last lesson of the day and as I said good bye to the students and wished them well, they requested that I close in prayer. As a past public school teacher who always needed to be aware of the separation of church and state, I found this to be an amazing moment and gladly complied with their wish.
MAY 4 – Today is the 34th birthday of Cleous, one of our Ugandan teachers. Jim and I surprised him by arranging a dinner for him. We have a construction crew from Kenya on site, and they are good company and we share in the same pantry. They roasted a goat for the dinner and we did a huge pot of—yes, what else—beans. Friends from Uganda at a nearby NGO joined us and contributed sodas, so it was a feast. We put school tables together in the book room and ate by lantern light. Cleous revealed that this was his first real birthday party, making the occasion truly special.
ABOUT OUR KENYA FRIENDS - Hope for Humanity is building teachers’ quarters on site which will be quite nice and will replace our classrooms as bedrooms. The construction team is from Kenya and they are very congenial guys. When the building is done, it will seem very luxurious. We will have two real showers and will have to abandon Jim’s creation of an orange tarp and a solar shower bag. The building will be able to house about ten to twelve teachers, so that the staff can grow as the classes are added.
MAY 14 – I have had enough lessons with the students to know where instruction needs to begin. Since the students have not had the benefit of an abundance of print they are what we would consider behind in reading and writing. We have been writing paragraphs this week, and already I see a big improvement in expressing themselves.
May 21st – A team of eight arrived from Virginia to spend a week with us and help in any way that they can. We have integrated them into our school day so that the team and students have a chance to get acquainted. Of course, the students love the interruption in the school routine. The team shot lots of video and pictures for Hope for Humanity, and the students liked being the stars. It was a great R and R for us to have Americans here for conversation, encouragement and laughter. Team if you are reading this, thanks so much for coming and sharing so much with us.
DRUM ROLL PLEASE – The P8 exam list of results are out and Jim picked them up today. Wow! We can now determine the second half of the freshman class in a fair, unbiased way. We will need to be creative in catching the second half up with the first. Finally, we are totally launched.
THIS AND THAT - Several of you ask me questions in emails, and so I will try to share some things about life here in Southern Sudan………………………….
THE DINKA WOMEN – The well referred to as a bore hole is just outside the school gate. I love to go to the well because of the interaction with the women and children there. It is men who come into the school compound to greet us and visit, but women rarely come. I have to place myself where they are and the well is the perfect place. They do not know English because that is part of the education they do not get, but I know some things to say in Dinka. They were at first surprised at my fetching water, white skin and all, and my joining them in this task is a bond. When it is my turn to pump water into my jerry can, which by the way the pumping is incredible for underarm flab, they laugh and joke with me. There are many styles to pumping including jumping up and down. I try them all. Going to the well is a social activity and women often go together—a great escape from the tukul, I would imagine. When they have filled their jerry cans, one helps the other to pick up the jerry can and hoist it up on her head where she had placed a coiled rag of fabric to create a flat area for the can. The woman left has to struggle to get her can up to her head, because her partner can’t help here since she now has a jerry can of water balanced on her head. This is where I come in, and I pick up the jerry can and with unbelievable effort hoist it up for her to her head. No matter how often I help, I am amazed at the weight of that big can of water. “Mary, Mary.” they yell and wave good bye and glide gracefully off with perfect posture, the heavy jerry cans on their heads. They remind me of Paris runway models.
FASHION – I am ever fascinated with what women wear. Here I am with my drip-dry-wicking-fabric-beige-go-with-anything-skirt like a drab little bird, while they are decked out like magnificent parrots. There are no color rules for them, except brightness is the best, and no concern with stripes and prints mixed together. The women favor delicate fabric and silky things, which doesn’t seem to go with their environment of dirt floor tukuls, charcoal cooking fires, mud, and dust, and much hard work, but the contrast of the clothes they like to wear and their environments makes them look especially elegant. They also like sleepwear, but do not think of it as sleepwear, so it is not surprising to see women walking around in a nightgown. They also like to tie a length of fabric on one shoulder and draped under the other arm with the fabric falling around them like a one armed jumper. This fabric might be a printed bedsheet or a piece of chiffon. Sometimes they wear big prints styled in traditional African ways. Hot pink, red, royal blue, and bright yellow dazzle the eye. Hair is kept very short because of the heat and often is covered with a scarf of some kind. Footwear is flip flops, often falling apart. In their own family compounds women sometimes do not wear a top. This seems to be such a practical solution to the heat and the challenges of laundry, and people in Africa are wonderfully comfortable with their bodies. The sum of it all is that they look quite wonderful in their own unique way.
CHILDREN – They are very beloved and parenthood is a serious matter. Children run naked until about five or six and babies never wear diapers. They are incredibly beautiful. Big families are the norm here and siblings take care of younger siblings as a matter of course, and it seems like the most natural thing in the world. These big brothers and sisters who are often not more than seven or eight, carry wee ones around on their hips as they go about their day. The little one totally adore and depend on their sibling and are so comfortable that they are often seen napping in arms of their brother or sister. I have never ever seen the older ones tease or neglect their duty, or seem to resent their assignment. In our Western thinking, we would never impose such long term babysitting chores on our older children, but it is clearly survival for the mother, who has much to do for her family every day and needs the help of all her children. There are no toys—not one. The children play in groups with whatever there is—mud puddles, sticks, dirt, rocks—and I don’t think they are ever bored. The little ones like when we kawajas or white people wave at them, and when they spot us there is a chorus of “hellohellohellohello” sang as one continuous, joyful word that never fails to make me smile.
Boys by eight or so wear big shirts and nothing else. They are usually barefoot and the big shirt fall off one shoulder because of the skinny body underneath. The shirts are torn and stained from the vigorous play and work that they do. Boys roam around together seeming to have the best possible guy-type childhood in the bush and herding cattle and swimming in the river. Girls wear dresses and some are quite fancy, especially to church. Judging by the holes and ragged lace, they are handed down through many girls. These too big dresses are never buttoned and sashes ignored to stream by their sides rather than tie in a bow in the back. The girls have their hair very short—almost not there-- which make their features more noticeable. When they greet me in their torn dresses with their big brown eyes, high cheek bones, and wide smiles, I think of them as tattered princesses. Without many mirrors, they are totally unaware how lovely they look.
MEN – Men operate in their own society, but as a white female from the United States I have been allowed to be included in their conversations. While women are at home with their children and in the company of other females, men meet for philosophical discussions in the market place. It appears that they keep no specific hours and come and go as they wish. There is a great problem of under employment here or no jobs at all, and keeping cattle or cultivating garden plots do not take all their time. Tasks for the family welfare are gender specific with men being ridiculed if caught preparing food. Yet in conversations with men, I found them to be very proud of their wives and children, and they feel a responsibility to take care of them. Coming from a Western culture, Jim and I have to be very careful not to project our world values and beliefs about gender onto them. It seems the safest to reserve judgment and just be observers.
LIVING IN A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PICTURE – It often strikes me as I see the sunset filtered through the leaves of huge mahogany trees, watch people thatch the roofs of their tukuls for rainy season, or see teenaged boys herding large humped back bulls down the dirt road that I have stepped into an issue of National Geographic. I feel like I am soaking up sights that I will always remember vividly. Jim and I are also aware that in a few more decades the scenes that we are witnessing will be much different than these. We are watching a society in transition as the agrarian way of life is challenged by the need for jobs, goods, services, and roads. As charming as the simple life is, there are many challenges of clean water, education, infant mortality, and a life expectancy of 47. Jim took some villagers out in the bush so that they could buy grass bundles for their roofs and said that there he witnessed a lifestyle even more primitive than that of the nearby village. Children showed signs of malnutrition and scarcity of food was evident. The longer we are here the more aware we are of how difficult things can be for people.
THE CHALLENGES FOR US HERE IN SOUTHERN SUDAN – Awareness and the beginning of understanding this community’s needs can feel overwhelming sometimes, and it also means we must constantly discern the urgency and necessity of the many requests for help by the local people. Maintaining healthy, functional relationships is what we are striving to develop. We are seen as rich because we are from America, and because we have so many things here at the school including one of the few vehicles in the village. There is a tension to living in a culture so very different from yours—an alertness that is necessary to understand and to react to others appropriately. That process is both exciting and tiring. We look into the faces of the earnest young men who are our students and we listen to them express the hopes they have for getting through Hope and Resurrection Secondary School, and we begin to realize the magnitude of what they dream. We hope and pray that we can provide some of the foundation that they need. Being in Africa is a humbling experience and in truth we offer so little in the face of so much need.
Sending you our love and prayers for a lovely spring. Thank you so much for all the encouraging emails…………………
Mary and Jim
May 2 – I will begin this today and see how far I get or how often I will add on until I can post this blog. It is late afternoon on Friday afternoon, and it has been a wonderfully coolish and cloudy day with relief from the heat. This was a big day for us because we had orientation for half of the freshman student body, and it went very well. We admitted students who had documentation of their primary 8 grades because they completed 8th grade before this year. We are still waiting for the scores of the March 2008 8th grade exam to determine the remainder of students who will be admitted. There is now some competition for the sixty spots in this first class, and so their grade on this exam ranks them for admittance.
MEET SOME OF THE STUDENTS - The student body is shaping up to be students with the youngest at age 16 and the oldest at 37. For Jim and me personally, the mission lies with providing this second chance opportunity for these older students who urgently desire an education. Many of the men graduated from primary 8 and because of no opportunity for further schooling or paid employment, became unpaid pastors or primary teachers who teach children under a big tree with a blackboard as their only teaching aid. They are intelligent, mature, polite, and very likeable. There is also a big group of students who are in their twenties and got a late start in primary school. They are eager and of high spirits and greet us with enthusiastic handshakes and big smiles. Then there are our three young women in their late teens. In terms of this culture it is unusual that they are not already married and that their fathers value education enough to allow them to go to secondary school. Most Dinka women are illiterate. There is much work to do each day in the home, and girls are trained to do this work rather than go to school. Our students are named Angelina, Deborah, and Mary. Mary received her primary education in a refugee camp in Kenya. Distance is a problem for most students who live a two or three hour walk from school when they come “by footing” as they explain to me. Only about half have bikes. We are trying to be wise and compassionate in dealing with these challenges and appreciate your prayers as we begin.
BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN – How I enjoyed being in front of students again. We all gave a short lesson, and it was great to be thinking like an educator again and have the interaction with the students. Jim is teaching physics because it was what was left. He doesn’t even want to calculate how many years ago that he had a college physics class, but I think that he will do a good job, and I predict that he will find it satisfying. I had the last lesson of the day and as I said good bye to the students and wished them well, they requested that I close in prayer. As a past public school teacher who always needed to be aware of the separation of church and state, I found this to be an amazing moment and gladly complied with their wish.
MAY 4 – Today is the 34th birthday of Cleous, one of our Ugandan teachers. Jim and I surprised him by arranging a dinner for him. We have a construction crew from Kenya on site, and they are good company and we share in the same pantry. They roasted a goat for the dinner and we did a huge pot of—yes, what else—beans. Friends from Uganda at a nearby NGO joined us and contributed sodas, so it was a feast. We put school tables together in the book room and ate by lantern light. Cleous revealed that this was his first real birthday party, making the occasion truly special.
ABOUT OUR KENYA FRIENDS - Hope for Humanity is building teachers’ quarters on site which will be quite nice and will replace our classrooms as bedrooms. The construction team is from Kenya and they are very congenial guys. When the building is done, it will seem very luxurious. We will have two real showers and will have to abandon Jim’s creation of an orange tarp and a solar shower bag. The building will be able to house about ten to twelve teachers, so that the staff can grow as the classes are added.
MAY 14 – I have had enough lessons with the students to know where instruction needs to begin. Since the students have not had the benefit of an abundance of print they are what we would consider behind in reading and writing. We have been writing paragraphs this week, and already I see a big improvement in expressing themselves.
May 21st – A team of eight arrived from Virginia to spend a week with us and help in any way that they can. We have integrated them into our school day so that the team and students have a chance to get acquainted. Of course, the students love the interruption in the school routine. The team shot lots of video and pictures for Hope for Humanity, and the students liked being the stars. It was a great R and R for us to have Americans here for conversation, encouragement and laughter. Team if you are reading this, thanks so much for coming and sharing so much with us.
DRUM ROLL PLEASE – The P8 exam list of results are out and Jim picked them up today. Wow! We can now determine the second half of the freshman class in a fair, unbiased way. We will need to be creative in catching the second half up with the first. Finally, we are totally launched.
THIS AND THAT - Several of you ask me questions in emails, and so I will try to share some things about life here in Southern Sudan………………………….
THE DINKA WOMEN – The well referred to as a bore hole is just outside the school gate. I love to go to the well because of the interaction with the women and children there. It is men who come into the school compound to greet us and visit, but women rarely come. I have to place myself where they are and the well is the perfect place. They do not know English because that is part of the education they do not get, but I know some things to say in Dinka. They were at first surprised at my fetching water, white skin and all, and my joining them in this task is a bond. When it is my turn to pump water into my jerry can, which by the way the pumping is incredible for underarm flab, they laugh and joke with me. There are many styles to pumping including jumping up and down. I try them all. Going to the well is a social activity and women often go together—a great escape from the tukul, I would imagine. When they have filled their jerry cans, one helps the other to pick up the jerry can and hoist it up on her head where she had placed a coiled rag of fabric to create a flat area for the can. The woman left has to struggle to get her can up to her head, because her partner can’t help here since she now has a jerry can of water balanced on her head. This is where I come in, and I pick up the jerry can and with unbelievable effort hoist it up for her to her head. No matter how often I help, I am amazed at the weight of that big can of water. “Mary, Mary.” they yell and wave good bye and glide gracefully off with perfect posture, the heavy jerry cans on their heads. They remind me of Paris runway models.
FASHION – I am ever fascinated with what women wear. Here I am with my drip-dry-wicking-fabric-beige-go-with-anything-skirt like a drab little bird, while they are decked out like magnificent parrots. There are no color rules for them, except brightness is the best, and no concern with stripes and prints mixed together. The women favor delicate fabric and silky things, which doesn’t seem to go with their environment of dirt floor tukuls, charcoal cooking fires, mud, and dust, and much hard work, but the contrast of the clothes they like to wear and their environments makes them look especially elegant. They also like sleepwear, but do not think of it as sleepwear, so it is not surprising to see women walking around in a nightgown. They also like to tie a length of fabric on one shoulder and draped under the other arm with the fabric falling around them like a one armed jumper. This fabric might be a printed bedsheet or a piece of chiffon. Sometimes they wear big prints styled in traditional African ways. Hot pink, red, royal blue, and bright yellow dazzle the eye. Hair is kept very short because of the heat and often is covered with a scarf of some kind. Footwear is flip flops, often falling apart. In their own family compounds women sometimes do not wear a top. This seems to be such a practical solution to the heat and the challenges of laundry, and people in Africa are wonderfully comfortable with their bodies. The sum of it all is that they look quite wonderful in their own unique way.
CHILDREN – They are very beloved and parenthood is a serious matter. Children run naked until about five or six and babies never wear diapers. They are incredibly beautiful. Big families are the norm here and siblings take care of younger siblings as a matter of course, and it seems like the most natural thing in the world. These big brothers and sisters who are often not more than seven or eight, carry wee ones around on their hips as they go about their day. The little one totally adore and depend on their sibling and are so comfortable that they are often seen napping in arms of their brother or sister. I have never ever seen the older ones tease or neglect their duty, or seem to resent their assignment. In our Western thinking, we would never impose such long term babysitting chores on our older children, but it is clearly survival for the mother, who has much to do for her family every day and needs the help of all her children. There are no toys—not one. The children play in groups with whatever there is—mud puddles, sticks, dirt, rocks—and I don’t think they are ever bored. The little ones like when we kawajas or white people wave at them, and when they spot us there is a chorus of “hellohellohellohello” sang as one continuous, joyful word that never fails to make me smile.
Boys by eight or so wear big shirts and nothing else. They are usually barefoot and the big shirt fall off one shoulder because of the skinny body underneath. The shirts are torn and stained from the vigorous play and work that they do. Boys roam around together seeming to have the best possible guy-type childhood in the bush and herding cattle and swimming in the river. Girls wear dresses and some are quite fancy, especially to church. Judging by the holes and ragged lace, they are handed down through many girls. These too big dresses are never buttoned and sashes ignored to stream by their sides rather than tie in a bow in the back. The girls have their hair very short—almost not there-- which make their features more noticeable. When they greet me in their torn dresses with their big brown eyes, high cheek bones, and wide smiles, I think of them as tattered princesses. Without many mirrors, they are totally unaware how lovely they look.
MEN – Men operate in their own society, but as a white female from the United States I have been allowed to be included in their conversations. While women are at home with their children and in the company of other females, men meet for philosophical discussions in the market place. It appears that they keep no specific hours and come and go as they wish. There is a great problem of under employment here or no jobs at all, and keeping cattle or cultivating garden plots do not take all their time. Tasks for the family welfare are gender specific with men being ridiculed if caught preparing food. Yet in conversations with men, I found them to be very proud of their wives and children, and they feel a responsibility to take care of them. Coming from a Western culture, Jim and I have to be very careful not to project our world values and beliefs about gender onto them. It seems the safest to reserve judgment and just be observers.
LIVING IN A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PICTURE – It often strikes me as I see the sunset filtered through the leaves of huge mahogany trees, watch people thatch the roofs of their tukuls for rainy season, or see teenaged boys herding large humped back bulls down the dirt road that I have stepped into an issue of National Geographic. I feel like I am soaking up sights that I will always remember vividly. Jim and I are also aware that in a few more decades the scenes that we are witnessing will be much different than these. We are watching a society in transition as the agrarian way of life is challenged by the need for jobs, goods, services, and roads. As charming as the simple life is, there are many challenges of clean water, education, infant mortality, and a life expectancy of 47. Jim took some villagers out in the bush so that they could buy grass bundles for their roofs and said that there he witnessed a lifestyle even more primitive than that of the nearby village. Children showed signs of malnutrition and scarcity of food was evident. The longer we are here the more aware we are of how difficult things can be for people.
THE CHALLENGES FOR US HERE IN SOUTHERN SUDAN – Awareness and the beginning of understanding this community’s needs can feel overwhelming sometimes, and it also means we must constantly discern the urgency and necessity of the many requests for help by the local people. Maintaining healthy, functional relationships is what we are striving to develop. We are seen as rich because we are from America, and because we have so many things here at the school including one of the few vehicles in the village. There is a tension to living in a culture so very different from yours—an alertness that is necessary to understand and to react to others appropriately. That process is both exciting and tiring. We look into the faces of the earnest young men who are our students and we listen to them express the hopes they have for getting through Hope and Resurrection Secondary School, and we begin to realize the magnitude of what they dream. We hope and pray that we can provide some of the foundation that they need. Being in Africa is a humbling experience and in truth we offer so little in the face of so much need.
Sending you our love and prayers for a lovely spring. Thank you so much for all the encouraging emails…………………
Mary and Jim
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Aprol 5th to April 15th GREETINGS FROM ATIABA
APRIL 5TH to the 15th - GREETINGS FROM ATIABA
So much to share and so little Internet time......
I am writing this on Saturday morning. It is very hot. Cleous, the Ugandan teacher, is doing laundry, Jim is trying to handle an insect problem (he has all the fun), and I have just reviewed some paperwork on potential students to the school.
I am moved by the paperwork of a 22 year old named Daniel. He has returned to Southern Sudan and received his primary schooling in Kenya at Kakuma Refugee Camp. I wonder about what kinds of experiences Daniel has had as a refugee, and think that he may have more to teach me than I have to teach him. Most days we are visited by potential students who are eager to begin. We have three girls interested in attending, and we will encourage them with our whole hearts, since girls at secondary level are rare.
So when are we actually beginning classes? The condensed version is as soon as the Ministry of Education marks the 8th grade exit exams and provides a list of so that we have an objective measure to admit 60 students. I can gauge our missionary-minded progress in the last seven weeks in Africa by saying that this delay would have absolutely frustrated us beyond measure early in the trip, and although I wish the efficiency of the marking of exams was much better, we have learned that being critical and frustrated is not helpful. We managed to negotiate and have the promise from the officials that the exams in our area will be given priority for marking, and that we may have the results as soon as April 11th. If that happens we would officially register students on April 14 and 15 and have orientation on the 17th or 18th.
We are as anxious as the young people who visit us that school begins. We are ready with everything in place, both the living quarters and the classrooms. The biggest readiness for school to open came in the form of a big celebration on March 31st. A team led by Darryl and Jennifer Ernst of Hope for Humanity, Bishop Lee of the Virginia Diocese, and Rev. David Copely from Mission Personnel Office, to name a few made up the team of nine. Their presence for the event made it a celebration and affirmation of the partnership shared by those in the U.S. with the people of Southern Sudan. Many distinguished guests came from the Sudanese government, church and community. Two bulls were given and prepared by the community and a legion of women cooked good food. The speeches and presentations went on for about four hours because there is no such thing as a short speech in Southern Sudan. The excitement and pride of the community is tangible. All and all it was an extraordinary day.
Jim and I are settling down and learning how to manage. Jim is my all purpose hero by building and repairing whatever we need around here. Most important is that we are finding our place in the community. The word community in the U.S. often designates a physical locale, but here it means a complex structure of relationships and collective decision making. We are learning how things are done and taking a role in participating. The paramount chief visited today and invited us to go to church nearby tomorrow which is under a tree in the village. We could go seven miles further and worship in an Episcopal Church in another village, but the chief made it clear that he hoped we would be a part of the Atiaba tree church. After he left, I wondered if the invitation was more than just for church, but is an invitation about belonging in a larger sense. So it seems that the biggest challenges have also been our dearest gains, and that has been to increasingly relax and enjoy the people in this community. We are making our way through situations without the cultural clues that we take for granted when we are at home in the U.S., and it seems to be working well for us.
Sunday, April 6 - I preached the sermon under the tree on Sunday morning. It was based on James 4:8 - Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. For me the verse sums up why Jim and I find ourselves in Southern Sudan and I thought that my audience might be interested in how we came to be here. After each sentence or so, someone translates my English into Dinka, and the benefit of this is that it gives you a lot of time to think of what you want to say next. I was overwhelmed with handshakes and greetings at the end of the service, so I think that the sermon passed.
April 10th - I got the flu on Tuesday, and I felt so very vulnerable. It was my plan to not get sick in Africa, but I guess it was not under my control. Today is Thursday and I am better. My first food was a meal made by a chief’s wife which included homemade bread–good medicine. This week has been difficult because we are so ready to go forward, but have been a waiting mode and time has gone slowly. We can’t help but count on the exam results being ready tomorrow......
April 12th - We learned yesterday that the exam results which we are waiting for had not even begun to be marked or processed. It is a good example of a round American peg who is used to things being accomplished in a timely way, trying to fit in the square hole of a government agency in a foreign country who has not had very much experience in bringing things to completion. Last night Jim, Cleous, and I processed our disappointment and what would be the next positive thing that we could do. Since we have said for the last week to all who asked that we would begin registration on Monday and Tuesday, the 14th and 15th, we decided to call it pre-registration instead. We will interview and fill out applications and go over any paperwork that the students bring us. We will make it very clear that this step does not mean that you are admitted, but instead shows that you are interested in coming to Hope and Resurrection Secondary School.. Through this process we can at least begin to collect our own data on possible numbers. Every time we begin making plans we hit the wall of not having any idea if we will have a low or big number of students, and lacking that information many ideas don’t go anywhere. It also serves the purpose of lessening the disappointment of those who so eagerly and faithfully keep stopping by and expressing their desire to be students. It helps all parties including us feel that perhaps there is some forward movement instead of marching in place.
April 14th - Pre-registered 22 potential students today!
Next time I will not attempt to start my own version of a great American novel and write more often than write so much. I am sure that you can read the ups and downs of life here. We have these ups and downs at home, too, but we don’t notice them so much because we have more buffers. I would love a salad and pedicure, but other than that we are OK. Do keep praying though...............
Jim and Mary
So much to share and so little Internet time......
I am writing this on Saturday morning. It is very hot. Cleous, the Ugandan teacher, is doing laundry, Jim is trying to handle an insect problem (he has all the fun), and I have just reviewed some paperwork on potential students to the school.
I am moved by the paperwork of a 22 year old named Daniel. He has returned to Southern Sudan and received his primary schooling in Kenya at Kakuma Refugee Camp. I wonder about what kinds of experiences Daniel has had as a refugee, and think that he may have more to teach me than I have to teach him. Most days we are visited by potential students who are eager to begin. We have three girls interested in attending, and we will encourage them with our whole hearts, since girls at secondary level are rare.
So when are we actually beginning classes? The condensed version is as soon as the Ministry of Education marks the 8th grade exit exams and provides a list of so that we have an objective measure to admit 60 students. I can gauge our missionary-minded progress in the last seven weeks in Africa by saying that this delay would have absolutely frustrated us beyond measure early in the trip, and although I wish the efficiency of the marking of exams was much better, we have learned that being critical and frustrated is not helpful. We managed to negotiate and have the promise from the officials that the exams in our area will be given priority for marking, and that we may have the results as soon as April 11th. If that happens we would officially register students on April 14 and 15 and have orientation on the 17th or 18th.
We are as anxious as the young people who visit us that school begins. We are ready with everything in place, both the living quarters and the classrooms. The biggest readiness for school to open came in the form of a big celebration on March 31st. A team led by Darryl and Jennifer Ernst of Hope for Humanity, Bishop Lee of the Virginia Diocese, and Rev. David Copely from Mission Personnel Office, to name a few made up the team of nine. Their presence for the event made it a celebration and affirmation of the partnership shared by those in the U.S. with the people of Southern Sudan. Many distinguished guests came from the Sudanese government, church and community. Two bulls were given and prepared by the community and a legion of women cooked good food. The speeches and presentations went on for about four hours because there is no such thing as a short speech in Southern Sudan. The excitement and pride of the community is tangible. All and all it was an extraordinary day.
Jim and I are settling down and learning how to manage. Jim is my all purpose hero by building and repairing whatever we need around here. Most important is that we are finding our place in the community. The word community in the U.S. often designates a physical locale, but here it means a complex structure of relationships and collective decision making. We are learning how things are done and taking a role in participating. The paramount chief visited today and invited us to go to church nearby tomorrow which is under a tree in the village. We could go seven miles further and worship in an Episcopal Church in another village, but the chief made it clear that he hoped we would be a part of the Atiaba tree church. After he left, I wondered if the invitation was more than just for church, but is an invitation about belonging in a larger sense. So it seems that the biggest challenges have also been our dearest gains, and that has been to increasingly relax and enjoy the people in this community. We are making our way through situations without the cultural clues that we take for granted when we are at home in the U.S., and it seems to be working well for us.
Sunday, April 6 - I preached the sermon under the tree on Sunday morning. It was based on James 4:8 - Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. For me the verse sums up why Jim and I find ourselves in Southern Sudan and I thought that my audience might be interested in how we came to be here. After each sentence or so, someone translates my English into Dinka, and the benefit of this is that it gives you a lot of time to think of what you want to say next. I was overwhelmed with handshakes and greetings at the end of the service, so I think that the sermon passed.
April 10th - I got the flu on Tuesday, and I felt so very vulnerable. It was my plan to not get sick in Africa, but I guess it was not under my control. Today is Thursday and I am better. My first food was a meal made by a chief’s wife which included homemade bread–good medicine. This week has been difficult because we are so ready to go forward, but have been a waiting mode and time has gone slowly. We can’t help but count on the exam results being ready tomorrow......
April 12th - We learned yesterday that the exam results which we are waiting for had not even begun to be marked or processed. It is a good example of a round American peg who is used to things being accomplished in a timely way, trying to fit in the square hole of a government agency in a foreign country who has not had very much experience in bringing things to completion. Last night Jim, Cleous, and I processed our disappointment and what would be the next positive thing that we could do. Since we have said for the last week to all who asked that we would begin registration on Monday and Tuesday, the 14th and 15th, we decided to call it pre-registration instead. We will interview and fill out applications and go over any paperwork that the students bring us. We will make it very clear that this step does not mean that you are admitted, but instead shows that you are interested in coming to Hope and Resurrection Secondary School.. Through this process we can at least begin to collect our own data on possible numbers. Every time we begin making plans we hit the wall of not having any idea if we will have a low or big number of students, and lacking that information many ideas don’t go anywhere. It also serves the purpose of lessening the disappointment of those who so eagerly and faithfully keep stopping by and expressing their desire to be students. It helps all parties including us feel that perhaps there is some forward movement instead of marching in place.
April 14th - Pre-registered 22 potential students today!
Next time I will not attempt to start my own version of a great American novel and write more often than write so much. I am sure that you can read the ups and downs of life here. We have these ups and downs at home, too, but we don’t notice them so much because we have more buffers. I would love a salad and pedicure, but other than that we are OK. Do keep praying though...............
Jim and Mary
Sunday, March 9, 2008
March 9th KAMPALA, UGANDA
We have been in Kampala for eighteen days and it is difficult to know where to begin sharing. We will share a little bit of some of our impressions and experiences.
We are staying in a guesthouse on a hill overlooking the city. At first glance the city below has a San Francisco look. The accommodations are simple, but the view and the graciousness of the staff make this a peaceful and pretty place to be. The city itself is one of many contrasts. There are skyscrapers, but on the sidewalks below women with small children sit and beg. The effect of AIDS is apparent in the number of orphanages around the city. We talked to two earnest young men who had been street preachers and saw first hand the homeless children on the street, and as a result, they began an orphanage and now take care of thirty children. They were inspiring in their servant hood and willingness to be part of a solution for thirty orphans . Many people live in appalling conditions and even those considered middle class struggle to make ends meet. There are not enough jobs and for those with a job, wages are low and hours long. The streets are in poor condition and there are no lanes marked and very few traffic lights. This makes for incredible grid lock and close quarters. Motor cycles abound and the young, daring men who offer rides about the city for hire dart in out of traffic with passengers hanging on for dear life.
This was the back drop for days of shopping in the city. We have tried to buy everything that will be needed for the students and teachers of Hope and Resurrection Secondary School. Conducting business in Africa is not according to the Western multi tasking that we are used to, so buying textbooks or lab supplies often took most of the day rather than being a quick purchase. There are a few big stores but most purchases were made in dusty little shops that at first did not look promising. We bought a used four wheel drive Hilux truck for the school, and that experience was a complicated one. We have everything possible–large bags of rice and maize, clothes pins, generators, and beds and mattresses to furnish the teachers’ rooms–you name it.
We have made a good friend here in Kampala, and that has made all the difference in our success. His name is Apollo and he is the person who is consolidating and transporting all our goods and the Hilux to Southern Sudan. Apollo has guided us through the many purchases, especially the vehicle. He is a great negotiator and has taught us how to bargain. Last Sunday Apollo came for us and took us to a museum and then to his home for lunch. His hospitality in sharing his home and family with us meant a lot. He has a dear four month old son who was at first afraid of us and our white skin, but finally allowed us to hold him.
One of the biggest challenges has been to hire qualified teachers. We found an excellent man for the business, geography, and biology classes, but a math/ physics teacher is difficult to find. Not only does the candidate need to be qualified, but also an adventurer who would like to come to Southern Sudan. We have one more interview and we hope that this will be the teacher whom we are looking for.
We have worshiped every Sunday in a 1800's brick cathedral on the hill above the guesthouse. Over 1,000 people are in attendance each Sunday and the joining with all those voices in singing is uplifting and restorative. African Christianity is dynamic and positive, and we have enjoyed sharing in it.
Monday we fly to Southern Sudan and begin a very different part of this mission. We have visited the Office of the Government of Southern Sudan, and we were assured that Rumbek and surrounding area is very peaceful and safe.
We like opening email and finding a message from you. Keep them coming, please.
Jim and Mary
We are staying in a guesthouse on a hill overlooking the city. At first glance the city below has a San Francisco look. The accommodations are simple, but the view and the graciousness of the staff make this a peaceful and pretty place to be. The city itself is one of many contrasts. There are skyscrapers, but on the sidewalks below women with small children sit and beg. The effect of AIDS is apparent in the number of orphanages around the city. We talked to two earnest young men who had been street preachers and saw first hand the homeless children on the street, and as a result, they began an orphanage and now take care of thirty children. They were inspiring in their servant hood and willingness to be part of a solution for thirty orphans . Many people live in appalling conditions and even those considered middle class struggle to make ends meet. There are not enough jobs and for those with a job, wages are low and hours long. The streets are in poor condition and there are no lanes marked and very few traffic lights. This makes for incredible grid lock and close quarters. Motor cycles abound and the young, daring men who offer rides about the city for hire dart in out of traffic with passengers hanging on for dear life.
This was the back drop for days of shopping in the city. We have tried to buy everything that will be needed for the students and teachers of Hope and Resurrection Secondary School. Conducting business in Africa is not according to the Western multi tasking that we are used to, so buying textbooks or lab supplies often took most of the day rather than being a quick purchase. There are a few big stores but most purchases were made in dusty little shops that at first did not look promising. We bought a used four wheel drive Hilux truck for the school, and that experience was a complicated one. We have everything possible–large bags of rice and maize, clothes pins, generators, and beds and mattresses to furnish the teachers’ rooms–you name it.
We have made a good friend here in Kampala, and that has made all the difference in our success. His name is Apollo and he is the person who is consolidating and transporting all our goods and the Hilux to Southern Sudan. Apollo has guided us through the many purchases, especially the vehicle. He is a great negotiator and has taught us how to bargain. Last Sunday Apollo came for us and took us to a museum and then to his home for lunch. His hospitality in sharing his home and family with us meant a lot. He has a dear four month old son who was at first afraid of us and our white skin, but finally allowed us to hold him.
One of the biggest challenges has been to hire qualified teachers. We found an excellent man for the business, geography, and biology classes, but a math/ physics teacher is difficult to find. Not only does the candidate need to be qualified, but also an adventurer who would like to come to Southern Sudan. We have one more interview and we hope that this will be the teacher whom we are looking for.
We have worshiped every Sunday in a 1800's brick cathedral on the hill above the guesthouse. Over 1,000 people are in attendance each Sunday and the joining with all those voices in singing is uplifting and restorative. African Christianity is dynamic and positive, and we have enjoyed sharing in it.
Monday we fly to Southern Sudan and begin a very different part of this mission. We have visited the Office of the Government of Southern Sudan, and we were assured that Rumbek and surrounding area is very peaceful and safe.
We like opening email and finding a message from you. Keep them coming, please.
Jim and Mary
Monday, February 11, 2008
February 12th-Getting ready to leave for Africa
February 12, 2008
We are happy to report that we are FINALLY leaving for Africa on Monday, February 18th. The violence and instability in Kenya has posed a problem, since we had a week in Nairobi planned for business and counted on goods and materials purchased there being transported to Southern Sudan. As it has turned out some of the worst things have occurred along the route that the truck with our goods would drive. As a result, now we are flying to Uganda, purchasing things in Kampala and arranging transport of those things to Southern Sudan. Above all, a missionary must be flexible seems to be a major theme of this mission, and we are doing our best to be adaptable. Ernest Hemmingway is credited with saying, “Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.” Amen.
Since arriving home from the preliminary trip in November we have been speaking all over Northern California at churches, as well as my former middle school. The discovery of people’s interest, prayer support and generosity to financially support the school has been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging. We began this not thinking of ourselves as fundraisers, but we have found that it is easy to enthusiastically talk about the new school in Southern Sudan.
Suitcases are bulging with both practical and fun things, and of course teaching books. We will update this blog as regularly as we can, probably first from Uganda if there is a way. We have a new email address which is jim.higbee@yahoo.com.
Thank you for all the notes, calls, lunches, dinners, hugs and good wishes that you have all bestowed on us this last month. We take the love of family and friends with us to Africa.
We are happy to report that we are FINALLY leaving for Africa on Monday, February 18th. The violence and instability in Kenya has posed a problem, since we had a week in Nairobi planned for business and counted on goods and materials purchased there being transported to Southern Sudan. As it has turned out some of the worst things have occurred along the route that the truck with our goods would drive. As a result, now we are flying to Uganda, purchasing things in Kampala and arranging transport of those things to Southern Sudan. Above all, a missionary must be flexible seems to be a major theme of this mission, and we are doing our best to be adaptable. Ernest Hemmingway is credited with saying, “Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.” Amen.
Since arriving home from the preliminary trip in November we have been speaking all over Northern California at churches, as well as my former middle school. The discovery of people’s interest, prayer support and generosity to financially support the school has been overwhelmingly positive and encouraging. We began this not thinking of ourselves as fundraisers, but we have found that it is easy to enthusiastically talk about the new school in Southern Sudan.
Suitcases are bulging with both practical and fun things, and of course teaching books. We will update this blog as regularly as we can, probably first from Uganda if there is a way. We have a new email address which is jim.higbee@yahoo.com.
Thank you for all the notes, calls, lunches, dinners, hugs and good wishes that you have all bestowed on us this last month. We take the love of family and friends with us to Africa.
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