A Day to Celebrate the Youth

Last Friday June 26th many gathered together to celebrate the youth. Speeches were shared to congratulate those youth who have finished their S3 level of education, which is the last year of secondary here in s. Sudan. Other speeches were given to encourage the youth and to increase their hunger to live to their full potential. Children/youth choirs from around the Mundri area took their turn sharing song and dance. The singing and dancing was for me, the most enjoyable part of the celebration.
As words of praise and approval were being given, and hearts and minds being encouraged, I couldn’t keep the thought of school doors still being closed from entering my mind. The school strike has now entered its fourth week. Children and youth may have left the celebration on Friday feeling motivated and excited to succeed in their academics, but these hearts and minds will have to continue waiting. But with all events here in Mundri praise and thanksgiving are always given to God and we will keep praising Him for the doors that do open and trusting Him to guide the discussions going on, and to reveal a helpful solution. Please continue to keep this school strike in prayer.

Simple yet Complicated

One could say that here in Mundri we live the “simple life.” We move around by foot or bike. We have limited electricity and access to modern technology. Clothes are washed by hand and dried in the sun. We wake and sleep with the rising and setting of the sun. Each week we also have cooking assignments. We know that when it is our turn to cook dinner we should be prepared to set half the day aside for the task. To prepare a meal we have 3 cooking options: charcoal oven, propane stove top, or a sun oven. However recently our stove burners ran out of propane and it is going to take us a few days to get some more. This means that our 3rd cooking option has now become a local charcoal stove. We have now successfully cooked rice and beans for dinner last night and pancakes for breakfast this morning over this charcoal stove. So as you can see our life is simple in the sense of basic living, but it is also far from simple. Because everything takes so much time life also feels complicated. But even with this complication of time I really enjoy creating nutritious and delicious food from scratch and closing the cultural gap as much as we can by the way we live. Just as families here share responsibilities of cooking, collecting water, washing, etc. we as a team also function as a family which lightens the load and creates unity.

Ngwa Lofo

Ngwa Lofo is the name of a local tradition where on the 3rd day after a baby is born he or she is brought out of the house and is presented to family and friends for the first time. The newborn is brought out just long enough to give thanks to God and pray over him/her and then taken back inside where he or she will stay until the umbilical cord falls off. I got to experience this local tradition on Wednesday. My language helper Mary was asked to be a part of the small service before the presenting of the baby. She asked if I would like to come along and participate. Before we saw the baby there was a time of singing, prayer, and even a short message was given. Many thanks were given to God for the life of this baby and for all blessings the family has recieved.

Cultural Experiences

These are the local brooms. The one that looks like a bunch of sticks is used to sweep outside. Just like we in the states liked groomed lawns, people here like leaf and weed free compounds. The more bushy looking broom is used inside. I used this broom at least once a week to sweep out the loose dirt from inside from tukul.

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am a coffee drinker. I decided not to bring any coffee into Mundri with me and to drink tea if I really felt the need for caffeine. However, you can find local coffee here and I thought it would be fun to try some out. The only problem is that you can only find the raw dry coffee bean in the market. I decided it would still be worth trying and so I bought some, roasted it myself, and even pounded it using the motar and pestle. I had my first cup the other morning and it actually tasted pretty good.

With each rain also comes these pesty flying insects. We had a heavy rain yesterday and so this morning when I was walking to the school I noticed all of the wings from these insects covering the ground. For some reason they fall off and the insects become walking insects. I also noticed all of my neighbors collecting these insects or cleaning the wings out so that they could prepare them for eating. Not only does the rain provide water for the seeds, but also some extra protein for the next day’s meal :o).

Praise God For Rain!!!

I have now been in Mundri for 5 weeks. I arrived at the beginning of what should have been the rainy season, however in the last 5 weeks we have had only 5 good rains. Today marks the 5th and let me tell you it is some SERIOUS rain. This is the kind of rain that keeps you from moving. People run into their houses and find cover until the rain stops. We just spent the last 30 min. running around putting everything undercover. Running from house to tukul to make sure water wasn’t getting inside. Christine and Larissa have been frantically trying to keep their tent from blowing away. They may be flooring it in the Masso house tonight :o(. I have a lovely stream of water flowing under the door of my tukul and forming a puddle in the middle of the floor. This is when I am thankful I have a dirt floor because then the water just soaks in. Even though we are sopping wet, our feet our covered in mud, and sleeping areas are becoming boggy we are praising God for this much needed rain and laughing at the sight of ourselves. Even as I type this I laugh as I watch Larissa standing in her yellow poncho making a cup of hot cocoa. That’s right it actually feels cold enough to drink hot coco and tea!

Sitting Strike

This week the teachers in Mundri state have gone on a sitting strike. For the last few months the government continues to decrease their salary and has refused to make changes. Today I went to one of the primary schools and saw many of the teachers sitting outside under a tree. I am encouraged by their dedicated hearts to show that they are serious. They truly want to teach and be at school, but they also believe that the government is not being fair. They are not using this time to just sit at home and relax, but instead are taking action and coming together to seek justice. As I was sitting with the teachers, the head teacher received a note informing her that an “extraordinary emergency meeting” would be held at the commissioner’s office today to discuss the problem of the strike. The commissioner is the head honcho of Mundri and I am sure many people have been coming to him, complaining about their kids not being in school. Please pray for this sitting strike. Please pray that the government would be fair to those teachers who are truly dedicated. Pray for like mindedness for all those involved in educational decisions for Mundri state and that they would think about the needs of the children.