Whinny's Adventures in Sudan

The End of an Era...

2010-03-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

We are at the end of our term in Sudan. I leave in two days. Time has flown…some days flew by, I guess. As we finish, I find myself somewhat sentimental but also extremely excited. I suppose good-byes are usually bittersweet.
Saying ‘good-byes’ are important in this culture. If you go and don’t say good-bye, it can be an insult to the person who isn’t informed of the leave. Because of this, I began saying my ‘good-byes’ about a month ago in an effort to make sure I saw all of the people I needed to see.
However, as I was saying good-bye to friends, telling them I will probably never see them again, I was astounded by their reaction. Most people who were informed of our leaving simply responded by saying, “Well, you’ll be back in about a year, so we’ll see you again.” I kept trying to insist, “No, I don’t think you will see me again,” but they would say, “Yeah, that’s what all of you say but then five months, maybe 8 months later, you are here again. We’ll see you again.” It became a big frustration for me. No one seemed to grasp that I really AM NOT coming back (or at least have no plans to return any time soon). While this is a somewhat selfish response, I kept thinking, “Won’t ANYONE miss us when we’re gone? These are some of my best Dinka friends, and they don’t care at all that we are leaving!” While I know the Lord has used our time here to further His kingdom, I’ve often found myself wondering if our time was worth it if the people didn’t care that we were leaving.
Finally, I went to see a Dinka friend of mine who has worked with foreigners a lot and is familiar with western cultures. As I was saying good-bye to him, he said, “I will know that you are not coming back to Sudan, but for my heart, I will try to carry hope in it. So, I will say to myself, ‘I know Ayen is never coming back, but maybe one day she will return when she is needed because we cannot go through this day thinking we will never see her again. We will see her again. We must see her again.’ And that is why Dinka people, we never say ‘good-bye’.”
After his explanation, I understood better what all of the farewells actually meant. Yesterday, Jamie and I were meeting with one of the women’s groups we have been meeting with for the last year and a half. These are incredible ladies who have become great friends, and I will be very sad to leave them. As we said good-bye to them, they continued to do the traditional “see you later” rather than discussing how we aren’t returning. However, as we talked about our departure plans, one of the ladies decided that saying good-bye that day wasn’t good enough. She said, “We will come to the airport to tell you farewell. We will sing songs for you as you fly away in the airplane. We will see you until you leave.” And as we left yesterday afternoon, every single lady said, “I’ll see you Friday at the airport. We’ll sing and pray as you fly away.”
As we were taking one final picture with all of the women, one lady leaned over to Jamie and said, “My eyes are bringing water,” or in other words, she had tears in her eyes. And I realized God had allowed us to see in some small way that we are loved by at least a few here. As I have spent the last two years learning to love the Dinka, it’s so humbling and amazing to realize that we are loved by some of them, too. Having heard the women talk about how their lives have changed since learning more about Jesus, it’s so amazing to realize that not only are WE loved by these Dinka women, but JESUS is loved by them, too. So, even though I still have to sort through every farewell to decipher what it really means, I can leave knowing that the Lord used our time here to further His kingdom after all!

A New Year

2010-01-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

Well, folks, we’ve hit another milestone. Another year has passed, and another has begun. Welcome to 2010.

Like most other years, I decided that I needed to have some kind of New Year’s resolution to uphold for at least the first few weeks of 2010. I never do very well with these, primarily because they are always a half-baked idea...something that I know I SHOULD do but don’t necessarily have any desire or motivation to see myself accomplish. This year, I resolved to put only one scoop of sugar in my tea. After a year and a half of drinking Dinka-style tea, where an inch-thick layer of sugar rests at the bottom of the glass, unable to completely dissolve in the mixture, I find that I put too much sugar in my tea these days. I have decided to cut back.

While in many situations in life, I am an optimist, in this one, I am a realist. I know that in a few weeks, I will probably go back to putting several scoops of sugar in my tea. This won’t be intentional, and I will put up a decent effort to avoid it; however, I just don’t really WANT it. I don’t WANT my tea to taste bitter. I like my tea with lots of sugar now. I have learned that meeting goals all boils down to what I really desire in life...what I really WANT to see happen. What I crave. What I yearn to have. If I don’t desire something with my whole being, I will never see it through.

This year has been a series of ups and downs. It’s been a challenging but exciting year, and we’ve seen God do some amazing things among the Dinka people. We’ve also seen a lot of Dinka people who desperately need God. I’ve learned a lot about what it means to do this kind of work, and I’ve learned a lot about God and myself. And what I’ve learned more than anything else is that for most of my life, I have not fully desired God with my whole being. And then I’m surprised when I find that yet again, I have not followed through on something that God has told me to do.

I have been studying Matthew 5-7 for several weeks now for a variety of reasons. At the end of chapter 6, one verse always seems to stand out to me. After the chapter talks about not worrying about worldly goods, food, clothing, and life, there is this little nugget of a verse that says, “But seek FIRST His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). Seek FIRST God’s kingdom and His righteousness. Above everything else, we should be seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness. Above everything else, we should desire HIM. His kingdom and His righteousness.

As I drank a cup of very bitter tea this evening, I heard the song “All Along” by Remedy Drive (you should listen to it if you get a chance!) and found it to be very appropriate for today...for this new year. In the song, it talks about how the world just never seems to be enough. How all along, we are looking for something more...the so much more that IS Jesus Christ.

Long story short, this year I realized that my resolution for this year and every other year should be to desire God, fully and with my whole being. To desire Christ in my life. To WANT Him more than anything else. To desire His glory in everything I do. To treasure the time I get to spend in His presence...in His kingdom. To cherish His righteousness, through which I am made holy. No matter what the world may put in my path as the most desirable of things, I need to desire Him first. To seek Him first in everything. To want to worship Him and praise Him for what He is doing and has done.

Luke 12:34 says “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” So my prayer for 2010 and the rest of my life is that I would desire and treasure the kingdom of Jesus Christ...and that my heart would reside with Him always.

Giving Thanks

2009-11-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

Another Thanksgiving in Sudan. This year, we celebrated in a more mellow fashion. I think we're all too tired for big celebrations. We were a lot more energetic this time last year, but it was a great day all the same. We've had a great week, and we have a few more busy and exciting weeks planned before another R&R in Kenya. But as I was sitting around the bonfire tonight (one of our Thanksgiving day traditions because we don't have American football games to sit and watch), I realized that I am thankful in particular for three things this year.
1. I am thankful that when I am sitting by the fire, I find myself enjoying the heat because without the fire, I feel cold. I think I am finally accustomed to the heat...to the point that I have frequently found myself wearing long pants and jackets and using TWO blankets at night. I am thankful that I don't notice the heat as much as I used to.
2. I am thankful for means of communication that allow me to speak with family and friends who are thousands of miles away. It makes the miles seem much shorter and reminds me that absence sometimes does indeed make the heart grow fonder.
3. In the same way that I realized this last year, I realized that I don't say often enough how thankful I am for my prayer supporters, friends, and family. I am incredibly thankful that God has blessed me with so many prayer warriors. I know you truly are warriors for us...standing in the gaps and working miracles for us that we may never even know. So thank you.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Exciting Things Happening...

2009-10-29T01:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, a man who stays on our compound saw a leopard crossing the road about a half hour east of where we frequently work in Akot. He said it was massive…like it was on steroids. We’ve heard about a lot of incidents with hyenas recently, as well. It sounds like the wildlife is finally making its reappearance in Southern Sudan! Praise the Lord for how He can make a place that was dead to live again.

In other more exciting news, we had 13 ladies accept Christ last week in a small group I’ve been working with here in Rumbek. The ladies have been involved in one of the other churches in the area for years, and have known most of the basic Bible stories I have been telling (creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall, etc). We got to talk about Jesus for the first time last week, and they just couldn’t hear enough about Christ and what He’s done for us. It was an incredible afternoon—a complete confirmation of our reason for being here! I saw those ladies this afternoon, and they are so joyful now. One of the ladies said to me, “Thank you for coming to tell us the good word of Jesus. It has changed our lives and our hearts—how we think and what we believe. And we are happy to have you come and teach us more so we can know how to live with other people and how to praise God. That word is so good and we are so happy to hear it.” Praise the Lord for new sisters in Christ and for the incredible ways He chooses to work! This was a group who I started teaching somewhat begrudgingly. Praise God that in His wisdom, He knew who was ready to hear His word. And Praise God that He chose to use me, despite my reluctance and flaws.

One of the stories we’ll teach this week deals with the characteristics of God. In teaching Bible stories to people who didn’t grow up in Sunday school, a lot of times we have to begin with the very essence of “who is God?” And we begin with these: God is an eternal spirit who will never change. He is all-knowing and all-powerful. He is the creator who loves His creation. He is holy and without sin and will judge the people for their sin because He hates sin and punishes the sinner. He is the giver of all grace, because we all need it and because He loves His people. And finally, God ALWAYS keeps His promises. What a great reminder this week was for me that God has promised to raise up His followers from EVERY nation…and that He is faithfully keeping that promise.

McDonald's French Fries

2009-10-12T04:08:00.000-07:00

Last night, I walked into my room after a shower and was immediately engulfed by the delicious smell of McDonald’s French fries. No joke, I totally smelled Mickey D’s fries. So I immediately started hopping around and laughing and getting all excited. I yelled at Laura (in the room next to mine) and ran over to her door. She came to greet me, and I yelled, “Do you have MCDONALDS in here? I smell French fries!!!” She laughed at my ridiculous level of excitement and displayed, to my disappointment, a bowl of tomato soup. “This is all I have,” she said. I then made her come smell my room to see if she could smell the McDonald’s. After walking around for a few minutes, she finally said, “Whitney, I sure don’t smell any French fries in here. You must REALLY be missing McDonald’s!”
And the funny thing is…I never really liked McDonald’s French fries when I was in the US. I suppose absence truly does make the heart grow fonder…

2009-08-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

It was a proud day for me today. For the first time in life, I managed to get a Land Cruiser stuck in the mud. It's not everyday that one gets to stick a Land Cruiser, but for me, today was the day. Fortunately, it wasn't TOO overly stuck, so that was nice. Nothing a little 4-wheel drive couldn't handle. But still...I have officially stuck a Land Cruiser. Check that off my "bucket list"!

The Communication Barrier...Still Unbridged

2009-06-30T08:09:00.002-07:00

In the last few days since I’ve returned from Kenya, I have noticed a serious lack of communication skills on my part, mostly as a result of my limited language speaking abilities. Because it tends to be quite entertaining, I thought I would give you a few examples of what it sounds like when I try to communicate here. Some days are worse than others as far as language goes. Today was a particularly rough day for me. I usually figure out after the conversation exactly how stupid I sounded during it.

After handing a woman two bags of maize to take home:

Woman: Is it for eating or for planting?
Me: It’s MAIZE! MAIZE!
Woman: Yes, it’s maize. Is it for eating or planting?
Me: It’s MAIZE! MAIZE!
Woman: I know…but is this maize for eating or planting?
Me: I don’t understand. It’s MAIZE!!!! I don’t know how else to say “maize”… Oh, you can take TWO bags! TWO bags of maize.
Woman: This girl doesn’t understand me. I want to know if I am to eat this maize or plant it.
Jamie (translating for me): Whitney, she wants to know if you are supposed to eat it or plant it.
Whitney: Oh…ummmm…it’s MAIZE!

A woman sees a small bottle of hand-sanitizer on the table:

Woman: What’s this?
Me: Ummm… (random hand gestures and occasional grunts)
Woman: (laughs at my random hand gestures and occasional grunts) I understand. I want some.
Me: Ummm… (more random hand gestures)…give me…hand.
Woman: (gives me her hand) It feels cold.
Me: Ummm…(grunt)

Man tries to ask us for a ride to town:

Man: Can I ride in the vehicle to town?
Me: We are going to town today.
Man: Yes, I know. Can I go with you?
Me: We are going to town right now.
Man: I will just ride in the back. (climbs into the back)
Me: What are you doing?
Man: Going to town.
Me: You can’t go with us. The car is full.
Man: I need to go to town.
Me: Yes, we came from town just this morning.
Man: Okay, I will wait and you tell me if I can go.
Me: …but now we are many people and the car is full.
Man: Okay, I will wait. You tell me if I can go.
Me: Okay. (random hand gesture) I am working here… (walk off to try and find a translator)

And lastly, a woman tries to determine when she will see me again:

Woman: I will see you again on Tuesday in two weeks.
Me: Yes, I will see you on Sunday in…uhhh…
Woman: I will see you Tuesday in two weeks.
Me: Yes, I will see you on Sunday in…uhhh…
Woman: Tuesday in two weeks.
Me: Yes, Sunday. No…Tuesday. In two weeks. Tuesday in two weeks. I will see you… Someday.

All Things Interesting...

2009-06-26T00:36:00.000-07:00

After a long silence, I am finally back. It seems that I am becoming accustomed to many of the things that I would normally notice. As a result, there are fewer times that I think, “This HAS to go on the blog!” Unfortunately, I have not had any of these moments recently, but I thought it was time to update the blog. So, here is a brief update of all things interesting…

We had another termite invasion. For those of you who were not reading the blog at the time of the termite invasion last year, every year all of these termites (which are basically large flying ants) come up out of holes in the ground, fly around in a huge swarm for a night or so, shed their wings, and then crawl around for awhile and eventually die. Every time this happens, I spend an hour or so wielding a can of Doom and a fly swatter, trying to best the few determined termites that manage to squeeze in under the door to flutter around my room.

In other news, we recently returned from a trip to Kenya for meetings, medical appointments, and rest and relaxation. I had a fantastic time buying things, eating ice cream, and visiting with friends. During one of the meetings, we were enjoying some group prayer and worship time from a spectacular mountaintop outside Nairobi. As we discussed Scriptures and what God was teaching us, my supervisor's wife very nonchalantly pointed to the bush behind and said, “Look!” A giraffe was calmly walking right towards us, clearly enjoying the view himself. How cool it is to be joined by some of God’s most interesting creations while spending time to praise Him!

When we returned to Southern Sudan, we found another of God’s interesting creations in our bathroom. The six of us share a long-drop toilet (if you don’t know what this is, don’t worry about it!), and we occasionally share the bathroom with various critters like snakes, lizards, and frogs. Upon our return, we discovered a nice little petrified lizard. He had managed to get himself caught in a door, and in the Sudanese heat, had petrified in quick time. This morning, Jennifer and I were reminiscing about the petrified lizard that we found in the bathroom. As we discussed it, I remembered another petrified lizard I encountered once. The particular petrified lizard I had discovered was about half petrified and was lounging on our porch. Thinking it was dead, as most petrified lizards are, I used my shoe to lightly scoot it towards the edge of the porch, at which point the slightly-petrified lizard quickly scurried off to the bush, clearly very much alive. I mentioned the half-petrified lizard to Jennifer, and asked, “How does a lizard become partially petrified without being dead?” Jennifer responded, “That would have to be one LAZY lizard!”

Well, that’s all for today. Maybe it will be more profound next time! :)

A Banking Update and More Lessons Learned

2009-03-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

So, just in case you were wondering…after two more unsuccessful bank trips, I finally discovered that they STILL don’t have American dollars at the bank and the money transfer will never go through because my bank has been banned from the clearing house. Funny? Yes. Incredibly frustrating? At times. Just another day in Africa? Of course…I would expect nothing less.

On a completely different note, I learned a few more lessons today. It seems I am always learning lessons out here…

Today, after another couple of days of women’s teaching, we finished up and prepared to head home. As we were packing up supplies and cleaning, one of my little friends, Elizabeth, came up to me and grabbed my hand. She has recently learned the English word “freckle” and has made a habit of spending several minutes every time she sees me counting the freckles on my arm.

Anyway, at one point I looked down to realize that Elizabeth had a rather mischievous look on her face. She then slowly began to pull my hand towards her mouth. At the appropriate time, I feigned shock and pulled my hand away, just as she was about to bite down on my hand. She laughed, I laughed, and a new game began in which she pretended to bite my hand and I pretended to be shocked and pull away. It was a fun, if somewhat traditional game of “I’m gonna eat your hand,” and I eventually bored of it. Seeking to spice things up a bit, I, all of a sudden, pulled her hand towards me and pretended to bite it. Oh, to see the look on that little girl’s face. She was absolutely HORRIFIED. Her eyes became round as saucers, and you could see the utter panic written in them. She jerked quickly away, and I saw tears well up in her huge eyes just before she ran quickly away.

I was kind of surprised at Elizabeth’s reaction to all the fun and games until I remembered this little tidbit…Dinka children are often told folktales of how the white people--the “kawajja”--eat the little black children. I should have remembered this, as another girl on our team once terrified a little girl by saying in Dinka “Give me your nose!” in response to the girl’s haughty demand for clothes, money, water, etc. However, I didn’t remember this, thus, terrorizing my little friend Elizabeth and making her think I was trying to eat her hand. Today, I learned that it’s not a good idea to pretend to eat little Dinka children.

Oh, and I also learned today that sometimes people who are not accustomed to riding in motor vehicles often easily become carsick. Just in case you were wondering, it is not usually wise to sit next to them, and if you do, it is rarely pleasant.

A trip to the bank

2009-03-21T01:16:00.000-07:00

Many times, people ask us “So what did you do today?” I love the days when I can give a good answer to that question, saying something to the extent of “Well, let me tell you about all the amazing and helpful things I did today!” Today was not one of those days. Today, I went to the bank.

You might be thinking to yourself, “Wow, we spend all kinds of money to get our people in these foreign countries and all they can manage to accomplish in one day is a trip to the bank. And is that REALLY helping anything?” On some days, I would agree with you. At times, I appear to be amazingly unproductive, but I came to realize today that there is frequently a reason behind my lack of productivity.

I went to the bank this morning with three things to accomplish: to make a withdrawal, to exchange some dollars to pounds, and to check on a money transfer. I left for the bank at 9 am and made the 10-minute bike ride into town.

The exchange went easily and without a hitch, as I knew it would because the exchange was the only part of the trip to the bank that was not my responsibility. I was simply doing it for a teammate while I was there. That is something I have learned since coming to Africa…if you want something to go smoothly, have someone else do it. If you do it, it will inevitably go horribly awry.

Anyway, I have learned something about waiting lines since coming to Africa also. Here, they are more akin to jumbles of mass chaos. Waiting lines are not based on who arrived first. Rather, waiting lines are based on perceived priority…which boils down to the “me first” concept. As I was shuffled from counter to counter in order to get my tasks accomplished, I continually ended up in the waiting line and kept getting instructed by everyone else in line that I should just go ahead and find my way to the end of the line. I was finally able to get everything settled only after everyone else had finished their business and I was the only customer left in the bank.

By the end of the trip to the bank, I was told that unfortunately, the money transfer had not yet gone through. As this has been a tricky process, I knew that was likely. I was then instructed to visit two other neighboring banks, because it’s possible the money ended up there. And for my third task, I was finally told that they didn’t have enough US dollars in the bank for me to make a withdrawal today. I should come back Monday. So, deciding that Monday is going to be another “bank day”, I headed home with one of my three tasks accomplished. After another short bike ride, I made it home shortly before noon—my entire morning gone.

I think the thing I have been learning most in the last few months is the importance of patience, waiting, doing things deliberately, and being content with small successes. Back in the states, I would have considered a trip to the bank a simple errand, one that would be finished in a matter of minutes at a drive-thru…at least less than an hour if I had to walk in. Now, a completely successful trip to the bank is a major feat…a fabulous accomplishment…something to be written down in the record books. Things take longer, and things do not go as we anticipate, but we quickly learn to adapt and roll with it, or we go crazy instead. So, I will be heading back to the banks on Monday. We’ll see how it goes then.

I met a friend at the bank. Maker (our friend who we met first in Virginia last February!) was finally finishing his business at the bank after his third day in a row of coming to get things arranged. He was frustrated and ready to be done, so as he packed up his things and left, he handed me some money and said, “Go get yourself some sodas. If this is your first day here, you’re going to need them!” And then he left, smiling confidently, his task finally accomplished. So maybe irritation makes us more generous when we do finally see those small successes. I will have to remember that if and when I finally succeed with my current tasks.

An Encouraging Day...

2009-02-17T20:57:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to make a quick post about the day of prayer and fasting for leadership for the AIDS project and the local churches! Thank you for those of you who knew about it and participated! I think I may have inadvertently left some people out of the loop…sorry about that!

Anyway, over the last several weeks, I think I have begun realizing that time is short. We will begin giving presentations in schools in the next few months and have volunteers planning to come and work with us. While we are not at the discouraged stage yet about not having national helpers, I hit a point a couple weeks ago where I realized that we have all these plans and no one to help make that happen. Jennifer and I both have really felt God’s leading in the way we have planned this project, and I found myself thinking, “Okay, God…we’ve been obedient this far. Now are you going to do Your part?”

Yesterday was definitely a confirmation that God is indeed, “doing His part.” As part of our day yesterday, we decided to prayer walk through town, walking in a direction we don’t normally walk. At one point, a vehicle stopped in front of us, and a few men got out of the vehicle to stretch their legs. As we passed, they greeted us, and one of them began to ask us a few questions. Eventually, we realized that this man was Maker, one of the two Dinka men we met this time last year in Virginia! He is back in Rumbek visiting and working on a project until April. We were supposed to meet up with him when he was in Rumbek last April, but we ended being out of town and living on a different compound from the one in which we told him we were living. It was a total shock to see him there and to realize that had we not been randomly walking out of town, we never would have seen him.

That situation reminded me of another situation we had recently…speaking of the Dinka men we met last year in Virginia, we have been to visit with Sunday’s (the other one!) dad a few times, and one time were able to take a gift from Sunday for his dad along with a photograph of the six of us, Sunday, and Maker. A few weeks ago, we were meeting with our newly hired driver, Elijah, to discuss the plans for the next week. Out of the blue, Elijah began talking about how now “we are family.” I thought he meant that we are family because we hired him, but he went on to explain that he had gone to visit his brother this week. While telling his brother about his new job with the Baptist Mission, his brother said, “Oh, THIS Baptist Mission?” And he whipped out the photograph of us with Sunday and Maker. Apparently, the ministry of health official is our new driver’s brother, who is Sunday’s (the man we met last year in Virginia) uncle. Small world, isn’t it?

To sum all this up, both of these situations—realizing that Elijah is Sunday’s uncle, and seeing Maker randomly by the side of the road—have reminded me that God is totally in this. This time last year, he made it possible for us to meet and become friends with two Dinka men who I honestly thought I would never see or hear from again. It’s been encouraging to me to see that God has so perfectly orchestrated the people and the events along the way—in this case, beginning about a year ago when we met these guys in Virginia—to make everything work out in His perfect timing.

So while we did not sign any new leaders to the program yesterday, I was encouraged. I was encouraged to remember that I don’t need to rush the timing of God. Just because I am beginning to feel a time-crunch does not mean that God is feeling it also! He is on the move here, working to make this work, and we will wait patiently for Him to show us who He has planned to be the leaders of our project! Thank you for praying with us yesterday. I hope you all were encouraged as well!

A worthwhile day...

2009-01-29T05:12:00.001-08:00

Yesterday morning, I had one of those days that completely confirmed exactly why it is that we are here. This is probably too long of a post, but I feel like sometimes, it’s okay to write a lot. Some stories just shouldn’t be shortened…

Our Wednesday morning women’s Bible study was yesterday. Unfortunately, the lady who taught the Bible story last week was sick this week and not up for learning a story ahead of time to teach. Our normal translator has been MIA for several weeks. Finally, Laura and Jamie have begun teaching their women’s English class, so Laura had English class to teach on Wednesday morning and could not be at the Bible study. Normally, if we need to speak Dinka with our Bible study ladies, I do my best but they rarely understand me. Laura tends to get a better response from the ladies when speaking Dinka, but I knew that I was going to need a translator if I was to be understood.

We were able to arrange with one of the local pastors to come and translate for me, and I prepared the Noah story to teach this week. We have been working alongside some of the training that has begun in Akot so that the ladies who are learning stories there are hearing and practicing some of the same stories here…and one of them, Mary, has begun stepping up to help lead the teaching. I was nervous about the Bible study though…I had not worked with this particular translator much, the story is a long one, and I was on my own with the ladies this week. However, as I prayed for the right words and for open hearts among the ladies, I felt like God was saying to me, “Just do what I’ve asked you to do…I’ve taken care of all the details for you.”

Only nine ladies showed up Wednesday morning for the Bible study, and initially, I was a little bit disappointed. But as I talked with them before it started, I realized that these are our “core” ladies…the faithful few who come every week…the ones who are hungry for the truth and eager to teach it to their friends and family. And as we began the lesson, it warmed my heart to hear the ladies retelling the story from last week, correcting and encouraging each other when they couldn’t remember what came next. As the Bible study got underway, I really began to enjoy the time with them.

Finally, I told the story of Noah. The ladies listened with rapt attention, and at the end, I asked them some questions about the story. They answered correctly and seemed to understand the concepts I was trying to help them understand. However, at one point, Mary raised her hand to ask a question. Now, Mary has heard this story before…several times in fact. But for some reason, this week she had a question. Mary said, “I like this story. It shows us how God always keeps His promises and punishes the sinful. But I am wondering about the sacrifices. In this story, Noah made a sacrifice to God when he came off the ark. And here in Sudan, many people make sacrifices under the trees and to the witchdoctors. We have always heard that we shouldn’t make sacrifices, but in these stories, you tell us how Abraham and Noah make sacrifices to God. Should we make sacrifices to God, too?” And in that moment, you could see the despair in Mary’s eyes. I wondered if she thought she had been sinning against God and angering Him for years by not making sacrifices to Him, or if she was thinking of the few animals that they have as it is and how hard it is to feed an entire family with those few animals.

Then something amazing happened. I was able to explain to Mary and the other ladies in great detail (because we had a translator) that God demanded sacrifices for our sins, but He knew that we could not always make sacrifices to Him. He sent Jesus to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins…that when Jesus, who was completely blameless, died on the cross, He became the final sacrifice to cover our sins so that God no longer demands the sacrifice of animals from us. God knew that we could not do it on our own, so He took care of it for us, and now we do not sacrifice animals to God anymore. And as we continued to discuss the matter of the sacrifice, I was able to see in each of the women’s eyes the moment that comprehension dawned. The lightbulb went on…for all nine women! The ladies took turns asking more questions, and as I looked around, I was blessed to see the joy that immediately filled their faces as they grappled with what this meant for them—what it meant for Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for them.

It was one of those moments of complete understanding…one of those moments that could only be orchestrated by God. These ladies have HEARD this story before. They KNOW the story. But only yesterday did God choose to reveal Himself to these nine ladies. I don’t know why He chose to do that yesterday, other than to show me that it’s nothing I can do. My level of preparation, my comfort with the situation, my opinions about what is important in the story, etc…none of them are as important as the Holy Spirit’s moving in the lives of the individual ladies.

As the Bible study continued, the ladies were an utter joy to behold. They laughed. They giggled. They talked about God’s promises and the rainbow that will now always remind them of how God keeps his promises. They talked about God’s grace—how God loves people and allowed Noah’s family to live. They talked about how God punishes the sinners—how if they are sinful God will punish them, and how He will punish the witchdoctors and the people who make sacrifices to the spirits. And as I left Bible study yesterday morning, I heard one of the ladies call my name. As I turned to see what she wanted, she said, “Remember that God always keeps His promises!” And the smile that lit up her face made every second—be it challenging, irritating, discouraging, or completely joyful—that we have spent here in Sudan completely worthwhile.

Coping...

2009-01-26T10:14:00.001-08:00

As I write this, I am sitting in my room with my feet scrunched up on my chair…not because it is more comfortable to sit this way, because it is most definitely not. My legs don’t really fit and I’m sure I look ridiculous, but yet, I am doing it anyway. You see, I just found a scorpion in my room. And after an unsuccessful attempt to kill him, I lost him somewhere in my room. That should make for a fun find one of these days!
But until I find him or until I forget that he is somewhere loose in my room, I am keeping my feet off the floor. Illogical? Yes. Necessary? No. Am I doing it anyway? Most definitely. I have come to the conclusion that sometimes the ways we choose to cope with our fears, while not healthy as long-term solutions, are the very things that keep us in uncomfortable situations when we would prefer to run away…or at least run screaming for my roommate to come help me search the room and kill the scorpion for me. Come to think of it, perhaps I’ll go do that now…

Lessons Learned

2008-12-30T06:21:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone. It was a flurry of activity as we attempted to create some new holiday traditions here on this side of the world. We baked gingerbread cookies (kind of…), we played frisbee golf (not overly Christmas-y!), we hung snowflakes and lights, we had a feast on Christmas day, and we hung stockings for everyone early Christmas morning. Friendships were cemented, fun was had, and it was a good alternative to spending the holidays with my family at home. I definitely still missed them, but my first Christmas away from home was actually nice. We were also blessed to be able to share Christmas gifts with several children and women here in the Rumbek area because of the generosity of some of our supporters in the states. And most importantly, we were able to share the Christmas story with hundreds of people through the women’s Bible study and through a drama that Jamie and Laura helped organize with the youth from one of the local churches.
As we come to the end of 2008, though, I have found myself thinking through all of the changes that this year has brought. There were good times and bad times, happy and sad. Jobs changed and locations changed. Many miles were covered. Goals were made…some were accomplished, some were not. I’ve grown a lot, and I’ve learned a lot. So rather than recap this whole year and go through where I’ve been and what I’ve done…and more importantly, what I’ve failed to do…I thought I would share a little of what I’ve learned this year. So, in no particular order, here goes:
1. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. I have learned since leaving home that this is true. To my family and friends back home, I am fonder of you than ever before. This also holds true with the Dinka occasionally. When I’ve had a rough day with the Dinka, if I leave them for an evening, by morning, I typically love them again…typically.
2. Some days it’s hard to love people. Some days it’s easy. The hard days are harder …obviously…but they are also much more rewarding.
3. Wasps don’t sting unless provoked. I think my parents tried to teach me this in childhood, but I never really believed it. Mom and Dad, I now know that “if you don’t bother it, it won’t bother you.”
4. I really like chocolate. Some might call it an addiction.
5. When an African says he will be somewhere at 8 am, you will be lucky if he shows up by 10am. However, if you say that “maybe” you will come visit tomorrow, he will sit at home for the better part of the day and wait for you to come...and be upset when you never show up.
6. The people come when the drums start playing. If the drums haven’t been played, how will they know that the event is starting? And as long as they arrive before the END of the event, they are on time.
7. Sometimes potholes just can’t be avoided.
8. Clothes that stretch are not ideal for places where clothes are washed by hand and hung on a line to dry. I now have many long shirts.
9. In Sudan, it doesn’t really matter if your clothes match. In fact, it’s even okay to wear socks with sandals.
10. If you leave a package of cookies sitting out and a mouse comes and eats them one night, you should always remove the package of cookies or the mouse will continue to come back night after night and eat through all of your things. He will start expecting milk, and then he’s gonna want some gum. And if you give a mouse gum, then he’s gonna start wanting peanut butter crackers and birthday candles, etc…
11. Just because you think you are saying something correctly does not mean that you are.
12. You should always avoid hitting cows whenever possible.
13. If you see someone who you don’t know taking clothes off of your clothesline, chances are they are not just trying to be nice.
14. Just because it looks like pasta noodles does not mean that it is indeed pasta noodles.
15. You should always open the door when DOOMing an enclosed space…unless you want to get high.
16. Not all snakes are bad. But most are just plain evil.
17. Here’s another “Dad-ism” that I’ve found to be most helpful this year: “Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do.” (i.e. Sometimes you just have to eat that termite, even though you don’t want to. Sometimes you just have to use the long-drop toilet, even though you don’t want to. Sometimes you just have to be nice to people, even though you don’t want to.)
18. Trips to the market…or anywhere for that matter…during bouts of explosive diarrhea are not wise. And when you live in Africa, you might as well become comfortable talking about it because it’s just a fact of life here.
19. Never put off until tomorrow what could be done today. Because tomorrow, it will pour rain from sunup to sundown, or tomorrow you will discover that it is yet another “explosive day”, or tomorrow the big man has gone to Juba and won’t return for a month…
20. And last, but definitely not least, I have learned that I am incredibly blessed. Beyond words. I am blessed by my wonderfully loving and supportive family. Blessed by my incredible friends and church family. Blessed by my terrific colleagues and supervisors. And blessed by the Savior who calls me His child. I am blessed.
Happy New Year everyone! Be safe, and enjoy the start of 2009! My prayer is that it is a blessed year for you all as well!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T11:29:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Sudan today. This is the first of the major holidays that I have spent away from home, and while it was sad to be away from family, we found ways to celebrate and remain thankful. Over the course of the day, we made pilgrim hats and Native American headdresses to wear at lunch. We crafted hand turkeys to give away to people here on our compound. We hosted an American football game and spent a couple hours teaching Englishmen and South Africans how to play. And we made a campfire and roasted marshmallows (not traditionally Thanksgiving-esque, but we do what we can to make ourselves feel at home).

But most importantly, today I took some time to reassess all the things in life for which I am incredibly thankful. This year, my list is much longer than usual. So, here are just a few of the things that top my list:

1. I am incredibly thankful for my family. I have never fully appreciated them until now when I am away from home and realize what incredible support, love, and encouragement I get from them every day.
2. I am incredibly thankful for my friends. Many of my good friends have stepped up to help with projects, to send packages, to call and send emails. Many friends have become good friends, and many acquaintances have been friends. I am blessed beyond words by the friendships that have developed over the last several months and the friendships that remind me anew every day of the love that ties brothers and sisters in Christ.
3. I am incredibly thankful for my supporting churches in the US. I could not do what I am doing without so many dedicated prayer supporters and churches devoted to seeing the glory of the Lord displayed in this place. What an encouragement it is to know that there are hundreds of people praying for me and this project!
4. I am incredibly thankful for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering which provides the majority of the support for me and many others like me. I am so thankful that I do not have to raise my own funds but that dedicated churches and individuals across the US step up each year, even when it hurts financially, and give to the offering that places and keeps workers on the field!
5. I am incredibly thankful for my teammates here in Sudan. For my colleagues and supervisors here on the field who challenge me and encourage me daily—who keep me sane when I’m going a little crazy…and who help make me crazy when I’m going a little sane.
6. I am incredibly thankful for the ways I see God moving in this place already. I am so blessed to be able to witness firsthand the miraculous ways that God is changing this place and drawing these people to Himself little by little.
7. I am incredibly thankful for the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross. Every day, I deserve death, but every day I am given Grace. How incredible!

My prayer for you today is that you have been blessed to think of the things for which you are thankful. Happy Thanksgiving!

Yet Another Plague...

2008-11-25T07:09:00.000-08:00

The more I read of the Bible and the more I see of Sudan, the more I see very clear comparisons between some of the ancient civilizations and this one…namely in the matter of curses and judgments. Disease, violence, famine, floods, and starvation are all common in the Bible. You might remember reading about a termite plague earlier this year. Well, over the last few weeks, we have been experiencing another kind of plague—frogs.

There are literally frogs everywhere. With almost every step you take, some poor little frog jumps out of the way of your foot…and sometimes they accidentally jump INTO the way of your foot. Every day, we go into our shower and squeegee out the frogs before showering…only to find the remnant hanging out in the corner, ready to jump at you the first time they get splashed. Most of these frogs are small (none really big enough for frog legs! :)). They are just little guys, and they really won’t hurt anything. But they are just plain annoying at times. For instance…

The other night, Jennifer and I were hanging out in the room before bed. I was sitting at the computer and she was reading a book. All of a sudden, I saw something fall and then Jennifer jumped up in a panic, throwing the book and her bedding in her haste to get away from the attacking creature. Fearing the attack of a scorpion (a man on our compound was stung by a scorpion four times last weekend!), I jumped up to help her. She finally said, “A frog just dive-bombed me!”

We searched the room for the frog to no avail, so we went back to reading and working on the computer. About thirty minutes later, I saw the poor frog jumping up in the corner near Jennifer’s bed, shooting straight up into the air behind her head. Again, we got up and searched for the frog. Jennifer eventually found him hanging out on the wall behind her bed. She pushed the bed back against the wall so he couldn’t attack her from the air anymore, and again, we went about our business.

Later that evening, I intentionally put my mosquito net down thinking, ‘If I go ahead and put the net down NOW, then the frog won’t be able to get to my bed during the night.’ After turning out the lights and preparing for bed awhile later, I began to get under my mosquito net. Just as I was tucking my head under the net, I felt something fall squarely on my neck. In a panic, I immediately flung the poor creature off of me and hurried out from under the net. In my panic, though, I had accidentally flung the frog underneath the net and onto the mattress. So, for the next several minutes I chased the frog around my bed, trying to catch it in a plastic cup, until I finally caught it and was able to toss it outside.

I’m not afraid of frogs, which is a definite plus. The Dinka are often afraid of them. Perhaps we should be afraid of them. If the frogs here are all of the dive-bombing, attack-from-the-top-of-the-mosquito-net type, then maybe we should be more afraid of them. Can you imagine a plague where the frogs are constantly committing aerial attacks? Anyway, I just reread Exodus chapter 8, and I found verses 2-4 to be most applicable. :)

Beautiful Things...

2008-09-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

In light of all the comments I received in emails and elsewhere about the gross nature of the last post, I thought it was time for me to post something more uplifting.
There are days here when I become intensely irritated with life in Southern Sudan. Sometimes, the people are difficult, insulting us or glaring at us. Sometimes they drive recklessly down the middle of the road on their motorcycles, nearly causing a head-on-collision that would be deemed our fault. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that there are beautiful things here. But sometimes, the beautiful things are just so obvious.
Friday night, we went to language school. Our professor was not feeling well, and eventually we ended class because he too sick to continue. We had been picking him up before class throughout the week, and so we decided to give him a ride home that night. As we dropped him off at his house, Moses, who is a very big man, carefully climbed out of the car. He was immediately greeted by several children, one of whom was a little boy of about three. Then, we witnessed my favorite sight from Southern Sudan to date. The little boy reached up and grasped Moses’ hand. As we were driving away, I watched as big Moses walked slowly across his yard holding the hand of this tiny child. And it reminded me all over again of just what we must look like as we walk with God. It was simply precious. I praised God in that moment for beautiful things—those ordinary things in life that make life just so sweet.

Blue Bulb Snot Suckers

2008-09-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

I have decided that the things that Southern Sudan needs more than anything else are the big blue bulb snot suckers used by mothers to remove the crud from their children’s noses.

Last week at church, we were singing songs in Dinka and enjoying a good time of praise when out of the blue, I noticed that the song leader suddenly stopped singing. She leaned down to her baby, covered his nose with her mouth, and heartily sucked the snot out of his nose. Then she calmly turned around and spit the snot out onto the ground. I think I must have looked somewhat disgusted, because our supervisor's wife, who was sitting opposite of me and Laura, saw our faces and said it was priceless. This was not the first time I have seen this interesting practice, but it never fails to shock and appall me just a little bit.

And I thought American mothers were devoted to their children…

A Great Day!

2008-08-30T03:51:00.000-07:00

Tough days are common here. In this line of work, it seems like there is ALWAYS something that can and will go wrong. However, every once in awhile, a day comes along that makes every hard day seem completely worth every second of struggle. Last Thursday was just such a day.
After several days of feeling sick (we had been passing around a bug), we were mostly all feeling better. Jamie and I walked to class that morning, and more than any other day, I was awake and alert the whole class period! We read and learned and actually retained information! It was amazing!

At the end of class, we walked home, passing the house of a lady we visit with nearly every day. Her name is Rose, and her family is just precious. Rose is a widow with several children and grandchildren under her care. She is crippled and uses a hand-pedaled bicycle to move around. She helps out at the Catholic women’s development group next door to her home, but Rose doesn’t have a job. In recent weeks, she has been stuck at home because her bike is broken and the closest route to the market, church, or women’s group is flooded and too muddy to pass. Rose has patiently and sweetly encouraged us and taught us little tidbits of language over the last months, and we have enjoyed every second of our time with her!

A few weeks ago, Rose mentioned that it was very cold, and she doesn’t have a blanket. When we saw Rose on Thursday, she mentioned that there is no more food in their house, she has no money to fix her bicycle, and one of her friends at the women’s group needs money for malaria treatment. She concluded that conversation with, “I don’t have a job, and I can’t go anywhere to get one.” It was then that the light bulb went on in our minds. We had been praying for a female language tutor for months, and Rose, who had been teaching us all along and who speaks slowly and in beautiful English when necessary, needed a job.

Later that afternoon, we asked Rose if she would be interested in helping us learn the language, and she was THRILLED! She immediately began to talk about how great it is for us to learn the language and how she would be so pleased to be our teacher.

At one point during the whole conversation, it hit me that this is something we have been praying about for months. I have been requesting prayer for a female language tutor who speaks English, and we as a team have been looking for just such a person for so long! And here is one…right under our noses, who was just waiting for us to ask!

At one point, I know I saw tears in Roses’ eyes, and I began to think about how many prayers this may answer for her as well. I was so encouraged to think about how God uses different events to meet the needs of all of His children. Not only did He answer our prayer, but He is using us to meet this family’s needs. How awesome that we have such a caring God who hears all of our requests and answers them so perfectly!

So, now we have a language tutor! We will be meeting with her for a few hours a week while we are still in language school, and we will adjust that as soon as our schedules are a bit more flexible! But thank you for your prayers! They work wonders!

A Day in the Life...

2008-08-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

This is what one hour of my life looked like today…
4:01 pm Take computer to the banda (little hut) to try and get internet to work. Try for several minutes...nope, still no.
4:11 pm Begin biking to language school.
4:12 pm Hit massive pothole, bump leg on bike frame, and realize you have just given yourself a huge knot on your knee.
4:17 pm Get skirt caught in bike chain. Yank free and wave to the Dinka women who are laughing at you. Assume you have accidentally displayed more than is culturally appropriate to all in sight.
4:22 pm Maneuver around the pack of children trying to chase you and throw things at you…yell to them in Dinka as you pass, “That is rude! Don’t do that!”
4:25 pm Arrive at language school to find out it has been canceled for the night. Professor Moses is suffering from “la ror apei”…don’t ask.
4:32 pm Watch as supervisor attempts to reconnect the battery on his vehicle. The potholes have shaken it loose again.
4:34 pm Hear teammate ask you, “Is that blood on your leg or just mud again?” Investigate and reply calmly that it is indeed blood. When she asks what it is from, admit that you have absolutely no idea. Realize that neither one of you is particularly worried about the fact that you are bleeding.
4:35 pm Begin biking home.
4:36 pm Stop and talk to Dinka ladies. Greet them, practice a few sentences, and leave quickly because it has begun to rain.
4:45 pm Get stung by a wasp that gets stuck in your shirt. Grimace in pain…
4:47 pm Maneuver around the motorcycle accident on the main road and the crowd of people that has gathered to debate what happened.
4:49 pm Get stopped by military personnel to allow an important person to pass uninhibited in his vehicle. Wait by the side of the road for two minutes before continuing.
4:52 pm Arrive home soaking wet.
4:54 pm Watch as a teammate fixes his bike…the seat fell off on the ride home.
4:55 pm Discover that someone has cut a large hole in your fence sometime during the 45 minutes that you were away from home.
4:56 pm Notice for the first time that the tree in your front yard has the word “MINE” written on the side in bold, red spray paint and there are nails stuck in the tree where the “Danger: Mine” sign used to be located.
4:58 pm Feed glucose biscuits to the impala that sleeps on your verandah.
4:59 pm Discover that there is a large pile of cooked rice resting beside the termite mound in your front yard…and wonder why it is there.
5:00 pm Thank God for yet another exciting day in Southern Sudan.

Dancing Lessons and a Clothing Exchange

2008-08-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

This morning at church, I learned to Dinka dance. I know, I know...Baptists dancing at church? But I assure you, it does happen.
Anyway, towards the end of the service, Jamie, Jennifer and I were greeting several of the ladies and children from the congregation. We were practicing our limited language and introducing ourselves when the ladies suddenly came rushing over to us. They lined us up on one side and immediately formed a semi-circle in front of us, cheering and clapping excitedly. A young boy began beating a drum and two of the ladies stepped into the center of the circle and began to dance around each other. The Dinka dance is a rhythmic jump up and down while the arms are held down by the stomach. Occasionally, the ladies throw an elbow up towards the sky while they jump, just to make things interesting. When they get fancy, they do a leap, leap, hop kind of step. It's really interesting. But after the first two ladies danced, they grabbed Jennifer and another Dinka lady and had them dance in the center. Everyone laughed uproariously at Jennifer's dancing. After a few seconds, they made her leave. I was next. They pushed me into the center, and I danced next to another lady. Unfortunately, I smiled too much while I danced. Rather than laughing at my dancing, they scowled at me and instructed me firmly to "be serious." They take their dancing very seriously, apparently. Then I was booted from the center of the circle, and it was Jamie's turn to dance. She did okay, but only lasted a few seconds, too. Finally, the ladies began to say good-bye to us and shake our hands for us to leave. But as we were leaving, many of the ladies began offering us consolatory apologies and saying things like, "It's okay. So sorry." It was then that we realized we had just competed in a dance competition, and we all totally lost. We realized that the ladies were trying to make sure we weren't upset about losing! They actually do this frequently. They have dance competitions between the ladies to see who is most graceful. So, I found out today that Dinka women find me completely ungraceful.
Also, one of the women who made us dance also wanted to swap clothing with me. She kept motioning to my clothes and grabbing my skirt. I thought she simply wanted my clothes (which is a fairly frequent problem), but then she began grabbing her own clothes and pointing at me! Finally, she grabbed my hand, said something about going to her house, and started grabbing both of our clothes at the same time and pointing furiously between the two of us. I finally realized what she meant to happen. She wanted to swap outfits...I would take her dress and she wanted my shirt and skirt. This is actually something that the Dinka ladies do among themselves sometimes, especially between friends. It was a sweet gesture, but I am pretty certain that her clothes would not have fit me and mine probably would not have fit her. Eventually, after much maneuvering, I was able to leave with my own clothes and she kept her dress. It's a tricky thing, this culture. By the time I leave, I will probably have all sorts of African dresses and absolutely none of my original clothing.

Language Learning

2008-07-22T10:32:00.000-07:00

Language school is always an interesting experience...
Today, I was reprimanded for reading a sentence too cheerfully. Upon further inspection, I realized that the sentence I had just read translates to say, "A person has been killed." My teacher spent the next five minutes of our class time explaining to all of us exactly why this is actually NOT a good thing...just in case any of us were confused about that.
The same teacher, Moses, also went on to tell us about hunting hippos...how more often than not, the hippo kills the person rather than the other way around. He explained that when he was fifteen, he witnessed this very thing. Then, he went on to tell us that actually, after a person has been cut in half by a hippo, as long as the person is still in the water, he or she can still talk! However, when the person has been removed from the water, he or she immediately dies. Of course, we were all skeptical and questioned the validity of this statement. Moses was unmoved and firmly told us that, while the talking rarely makes sense, this is actually true. He kept repeating, "I have witnessed the very thing!" So, by the end of the class, Moses had taught us how to say "Why do you talk like the person who has been cut in half by a hippo?" which is actually a common phrase in Dinka to indicate a person who is not making sense.
We also learned several key phrases like, "Don't talk in the way snakes move. Speak clearly!" and "You must take a bath!" And we also learned the meaning of the name of our town...Rumbek. In fact, Rumbek means "the thick forest (bush) where Bek was." Bek was actually a person. Who knew?
Anyway, language school is good. I have learned so much more than the little language I now possess. Learning a language is such a great way to learn a culture. For instance, the Dinka language uses the same word for the colors blue and green, it does not really have a word for yellow, purple, or pink, and the word for orange is nearly identical to the word for red. However, there are probably twenty different words for the colors of cows. There is ayen, amer, yar, akur, majok, makol, mabor...and the list goes on. Learning the language not only helps us communicate, but it helps us understand. So while I joke about the language and my teachers sometimes, I am so thankful that we get to learn this! It's amazing!

Whitney, the snake slayer

2008-07-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

I killed a snake this morning. It was my first kill in Africa…actually, it was my first kill ever. It was a black mamba. It was small so it wasn’t a big deal, but still…I killed a snake in Sudan. It was cool—and a little bit scary.

The School of Hard Knocks…or at least Interesting Knocks…

2008-07-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

Since coming to Africa, I have felt as if I am in a perpetual state of learning new things. Some things are enjoyable to learn, and other things are not so enjoyable. I have decided that, in order to be a good steward of my newfound knowledge, I should pass along some of my information to you all. Here are some very important life lessons from one living in Africa:
1. Timeliness is NOT, in reality, next to Godliness. If it was, the whole continent of Africa would be doomed. Speaking of doomed…
2. DOOM, the bug-killing spray, does not kill lizards. Nor does it kill wasps. Frequently, termites survive DOOM, as do many mosquitoes. Basically, the bugs here are hardy and determined. They are troopers and will not go down without a fight. DOOM will, however, temporarily render a person unconscious when inhaled (just joking…this hasn’t really happened! But it’s probably true…this stuff is lethal.)
3. Anything that can be solved with words in the States is solved with a gun out here. Our supervisor's wife told us that shortly before we returned in May, a man escaped from the “frison” (prison). The prison guard told her, “We caught him by shooting.” That is the way of things here. Shoot first, ask questions later.
4. After weeks of turning down marriage proposals, we finally asked our friend Rebecca if this was appropriate. She was surprised, and responded… “Yes, of course it’s appropriate! They just want to interact! They don’t REALLY want to marry you!” Upon further investigation, we have found this to be true. When you stop to talk, actually carry on a conversation, and move quickly to other topics, it is much less awkward and tends to result in a new friendship. If we had only thought to ask earlier!
5. Airports are not run the same here as they are in the States. There is a Brian Regan skit that talks about compliance to the tower…how no one ever questions the authority of the tower. Well, that does not hold true here. Laura had a very interesting experience that resulted in the pilot announcing over the intercom, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry for the delay. We have not been given clearance to land, but this is ridiculous and I have decided to land at my own discretion. We will be in Juba shortly. Enjoy your flight.” Oh, Africa…
6. No matter how superior your language skills are, the nationals will still laugh at you. Always. It is apparently very, VERY funny to hear a kawajja speaking the native tongue.
7. Bicycle tires never last as long as you think they should. I had two flats in one day. And beds take four times as long to build as you anticipate. And when you think they should be completed because you saw them nearly completed yesterday, you will inevitably arrive to find that the beds have been sent away for “fainting”(painting)…meaning, they were sold to someone else yesterday as soon as they were finished. It will then be another week before your beds are actually completed.
8. If you are not careful, the goat will eat your food right off your plate.
9. Never say “maybe.” In Africa, maybe means yes, yes means yes, I don’t know means yes, and no often means yes. I told one guy that I would see him tomorrow…MAYBE…thinking to myself, “nope, not gonna happen.” Three days later when I saw him, he was spitting mad at me for not coming to see him the following day. And then he demanded the watch that I “promised” him…I guess I said maybe to that request, too.
10. This is a fun but challenging place. I am learning frequently that things are rarely what they seem, that what I learned yesterday will inevitably be different today, and that more than anything, I have to be flexible. It is certainly an adventure!

Termite Invasion!

2008-06-11T11:46:00.000-07:00

The other night, Jennifer and I were sitting in our room having a good discussion at about 10pm when this large flying bug suddenly appeared fluttering around our light bulb. We immediately sprayed it with DOOM and proceeded to chase it around the room until we finally killed it. A few minutes later, however, we noticed that there was another of these large, winged creatures buzzing sporadically around the room. We chased it down and killed it, only to realize that there was now ANOTHER one to kill! We realized that these bugs were coming in from the crack under the door, and as we were looking at the door, probably ten of the bugs began to crawl in under the door, one right after the other! We began our valiant effort to kill all of the bugs, running crazily around the room swatting at bugs and spraying DOOM at all of them. Finally, we had killed all of the strange bugs and Jennifer said, “What is this? A PLAGUE?” We laughed about it and finished our conversation in peace.
A little bit later, Jennifer went outside and I could hear her gasp from inside the room. I went out to see what had happened, and I saw one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen! Three of the others were sitting under a mosquito net at one end of the verandah, and at the other end of the verandah—right next to our doorway—there was a massive swarm of bugs! Thousands of these bugs were swarming all over the porch, the wall, the doorframe, a desk sitting next to the door, and the light at that end of the porch. There were thousands more swarming all over the ground right beyond the porch. Jennifer said, “I was just joking when I said this was a plague, but I think it really is a plague!” The other three were watching the whole spectacle from the comfort of the mosquito net, and apparently they had just turned the porch light off, enticing all of the bugs to attack our window and door. This is when we experienced the onslaught of bugs coming in under the doorframe.
The following morning, we found out that every year, thousands of these bugs, which are actually African termites, come up out of their holes in the ground. They fly around in huge swarms when the weather gets cooler, then they shed their wings and crawl back to their holes. Unfortunately, not all of the termites did this during the first day of cool weather, but instead, we had a second termite invasion about a week later. The most interesting part of this whole escapade is that the Dinka eat the termites. After the wings fall off, the Dinka collect the termites and fry them. We ate termite at a house the day after the second invasion, and they are not too bad…kind of crunchy, and they taste a bit like corn nuts!
Through this whole experience, I have gained a newfound appreciation for what a plague of locusts might have been like. Not a pleasant experience, for sure!

So what shall I do?

2008-06-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

I learned two things from my supervisors shortly before we left to go to Zambia. Both pieces of advice have come in so handy during my short time in Africa.
First, my supervisor's wife told us to always make your luggage appear light, regardless of what it weighs. This is so true. Frequently, we have arrived at the airport knowing that our luggage was a pound or two over the weight limit. If you look as though you are struggling with it, they will make you weigh it. If you look as though you could run a mile with the pack on your back, they will smile and let you pass without weighing the bag. This, of course, would never work in the United States, but in Africa, anything goes.
Secondly, she told us to always remember the phrase, “What shall I do?” This is an incredibly helpful phrase as it gives the African the ability to decide how THEY want to solve the problem…rather than having an American tell them what they want to see happen. It is really quite effective. For instance, the first night that we were at the resort at the end of 40/40, I left my room at about five in the evening and didn’t return until after dinner at about 8. When I came back, I found my room completely flooded with about an inch of standing water flowing from under the door. My toilet was leaking. I immediately went to the manager of the hotel and told him the problem. His response to the situation was, “Well…the man who fixes those kinds of things is gone for the night, so we will fix it in the morning.” And that was all he was going to do about it. After informing him politely but firmly that I would not stay in a room that was flooded that badly, he realized that he was going to have to do something about it. He followed me to the room and was shocked to find the room in the exact state that I had told him he would find it. He then said, “Well, I do not know what to do. We have no rooms available to put you.” At this point, I remembered my supervisor's wife's advice and pulled out the “well, what shall I do?” phrase. It worked like a charm. After I asked him what I should do, he immediately said, “Well, now that I think about it, we may have one room…come with me.” Within five minutes, I had a new room and the water problem was solved. Amazing!

Clash of the Cultures!

2008-06-01T07:28:00.000-07:00

During our village homestay, our hostess, Agness, provided us with a loaf of bread to eat for breakfast. This loaf had been partially eaten by a rat, and the remaining portion was feeding several cockroaches. We decided to swap out the nasty, unopened loaf in favor of a clean loaf we had opened earlier in the weekend. We finished off that loaf and threw away the wrapper. Unfortunately, Agness came back in, saw that the first loaf had not been touched, and left in a huff, thinking we had not eaten anything! We finally realized that she was upset with us because she thought we didn’t want to eat her food, so we apologized profusely and told her numerous times how we thought she fed us so well! Then we gave her a cultural lesson from America as one of the girls told her, “In America, my mother always told me to finish the loaf and THEN open the second loaf…never open two loaves at once!” It eased the problem, but we all decided that if we were served the rat and cockroach loaf again, we would simply have to eat it!

Marriage Proposals

2008-04-27T05:40:00.000-07:00

As single, white females, the other journeygirls and I tend to get a lot of marriage proposals. Most of these proposals are made out of a desperate attempt to get rich quick...because most Africans believe that all Americans are made of money, which unfortunately, is not true.
We have had some very interesting encounters so far. One man offered me American money instead of cows (the preferred dowry in Dinkaland), to which I replied that I would rather have the cows. This was not a good response. I think some of the other team members have thought seriously about selling me for the beef.
But in all seriousness, we do get a lot of proposals. Just yesterday, we were sitting in a mini-bus in downtown Lusaka when a man approached Jennifer's window. He greeted her first, as is customary, and then immediately said "I would like to apply to marriage you." She, of course, turned him down gently.
My supervisor says I am worth at least 100 cows, and that he would not let me get married for any less than that. Others in Rumbek say that a white wife could get at least 250 cattle. That's a lot of beef...so let's just pray that the team doesn't become too desperate for meat.

Names, names, names

2008-04-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

The Dinka people really struggle to pronounce some of the sounds we use in English. For instance, Dinka often mix up the 'f' and the 'p' sounds, as well as the 'r' and 'l' sounds. You might hear a Dinka man say, "Let us crap for Jesus!" from the pulpit of his church. Or you might hear a Dinka woman talk about the great "farty" that she attended the other night. Basically, any time a Dinka tries to speak English, you will frobably know immediately that they are not a native English speaker.
When introducing myself, I ran into a number of difficulties with my name. The Dinka have few words where a consonant is placed right next to an 'n' where the consonant has to be sounded. Thus, many of the Dinka struggle to pronounce my name correctly. If I am not very careful to introduce myself as "Whi-ta-ney," they will always call me "Whinny." And then most of them giggle, laugh, and point at me because I have such a funny sounding name.
I was able to receive a Dinka name as well. So many of my new friends were struggling with my real name that they thought it best that I receive a whole new name. They named me Mary Ayen, because I favor the gray milk cow...obviously.
However, I much prefer these names to the one I hear most often..."Kwashja!" This means person with the white skin. And of course, it is accompanied by much pointing and laughing.
Perhaps by the end of my term here, I will have found at least one Dinka who knows my real name!

Stories Galore

2008-04-21T07:30:00.000-07:00

I decided that I will just have far too many stories over these next two years to write them all in newsletters or to wait until I get home to share. So...the third option! I have decided to start a blog. Basically, this will contain all the fun and quirky stories that don't make it to the newsletters but are still noteworthy. Of course, reading the blog does not exempt you from reading my updates! :) However, if you ever want to know more about life in Southern Sudan, feel free to check out the new blog!