October 4, 2007

“Kawaja, Kawaja, how are you? how are you?”

Dear Friends,

The small children streamed from their tukuls and ran behind us. To the children, we were kawaja, which means "white person," even though we were both white and black. As we walked the path behind the ACROSS base in Yei to buy bread from the bakery run by young Ugandan men, the called to us relentlessly, their voices rising higher and higher.

They ran to us, their little hands outstretched to shake ours. One boy about 3 came only so far, looking at us with such curiosity, and smiling tentatively, never speaking, his little hand outstretched. I grasped his tiny hand in my own, and smiling at him said, “God bless you.”

Another time, walking back from the Yei Vocational Training Center, across the street from the Samaritan’s Purse base (our nearest neighbor amidst an enclave of NGOs on our block), I had a large, black plastic bag filled with curtains that had just been sewn for the new female dorm of the Yei Teacher Training Center on the ACROSS base (Association of Christian Resource Organizations Serving Sudan). I was hurrying back to hang them (part of my duties while serving as chair of the CUSH, or Accommodation Committee) before the fourth annual CUSH consultation started. I guessed these two little wide-eyed girls were primary one students from their green jumpers and white blouses. They were holding each other’s hands and staring intently at the bag in my hand. One pointed at the bag and asked, “De shunuu?” By then, I knew they were asking, “What is that?” But I didn’t know the Juba Arabic word “citaara” for curtains then, so I replied in English, and they responded in a little English, and lots of smiles and laughter.

Being in Yei in south Sudan means being awash in a wave of languages, children’s smiles and voices and sights, smells and feelings reminiscent of Belize, my original homeland. Most of the south Sudanese speak at least three languages: their mother tongue of Kakwa or Moru, plus Juba Arabic and English. Some also speak Swahili, which was the first language I encountered upon arrival in Nairobi on August 23. Those from Uganda, who fled for safety during the civil war, speak Luganda, Juba Arabic, and English. Everywhere I go in Yei, the children’s greetings, and their shy, tentative approaches and curiosity convey an unexpected sense of joy and expectancy. The unpaved, pot-holed streets of red-clay, the rows of shacks lining the streets, the vendors peddling all kinds of wares, the grounds full of papaya, guava, banana, hibiscus trees—all reminded me of Belizean scenes. Had it not been for the great teak trees and forests, and all the different languages and currency (Kenya and Uganda shillings, the new Sudanese pounds and my few still useable U.S. series 2004 and above dollars), I would have felt for sure that I had traveled so far only to be back “home.”

Given this sense of feeling “at home” in Yei, despite being engulfed in the newness and difference of languages, people, environment, finances, I never cease to marvel at the wisdom and timing of our Father in bringing me to minister Him in this land of CUSH. Words are insufficient to express my thanks to Him for choosing me for His mission. I am also eternally thankful to all of you who enabled me to work here in education with a Christian NGO such as ACROSS. One of the constant cries of the heart here is for education. I am also thankful for your prayers, which continue to keep me in the overwhelming grace and power of our Lord Jesus. I am thankful for the reality of the work of the Holy Spirit within me, for only by Him will any of us last and fulfill our Father’s purpose in south Sudan.

My orientation continues as I leave for Boma in south Sudan this Friday, October 5. I will be away from Nairobi, my base for now, for about one month. I will conclude this trip in Adol, where for approximately two weeks I’ll participate in a teacher training workshop, which we pray will take place if weather permits. There has been major flooding in Adol during this rainy season.

I pray the rich grace of our dear Lord Jesus continue to abound in each of your lives, amen.

All for His utmost glory,

Ingrid