December 5, 2007 Home from Africa

Jim and I have been home from our preliminary trip to Africa for about two weeks. We had a grand adventure, and the greatest accomplishment was being able to envision living there. To everyone who has concerns for our safety, we assure you that we found the rural part of the country where we will be to be safe and populated by friendly people who are very happy that a secondary school is soon to be opened. To share a few of the highlights from the trip:

* Seeing Hope and Resurrection Secondary School, the secondary school which we will help start and run. It has ten empty classrooms waiting for April and the first students.

* Going to Dinka church under a huge tree known as the Cathedral Tree. Worshipping with songs, drums, and dance with over five hundred people.

* The giving of our Dinka names by Assistant Bishop Isaac during Dinka church. Jim is Mabor which means white bull and I am Amer which is white cow with very little brown spots. There was much cheering and good humor from the crowd over the giving of our names. If you did not know that the Dinka revere their cows for the cows are their wealth then you might think that cow names were not a good thing. Cows play such an important role in their society and economic system, and they have names for every possible kind of coloration the long, lanky, skinny beloved cows could possibly have. Our new Dinka names were the best ice breaker possible, and we were greeted by these names during the following week wherever we would go.

* Meeting many good people and getting acquainted with the Bishop of Rumbek, Bishop Alapayo, for whom we will work.

* Greeting the beautiful children who couldn't wait to get their pictures taken by the kawajas which means white person.

* Ordering desks for the school to be made by a local carpenter. We felt that we had really made progress that day.

* Traveling with Darryl and Jennifer Ernst of Hope for Humanity which is the funding organization that built the secondary school and will continue to fund its operation. Darryl and Jennifer have become dear friends as we plan together for the school.

* Crossing the River Namm on two oil drums which were tied together since floods had washed away the road. It wasn't as dangerous as it sounds--you could have waded across up to about your waist.

* Choosing text books in Nairobi that will be ordered for the opening of Hope and Resurrection Secondary School.

We will be returning in February, 2008 to begin the work of preparing for the opening of the school in April, 2008. We will begin with a freshman class called Form 1 in Southern Sudan with about sixty students. We are expecting the student population to be as old as mid twenties since their life and education had been disrupted by over two decades of war.

We will update this blog before we go with our latest news. Once in Southern Sudan in the village of Atiaba we will be six miles from an Internet connection. We will share news when we can and will look forward to any news from you.