A couple weeks ago I traveled to the Terekeka orphanage for a few days and have some pictures to share. Lance (Dennis and Lilly's son) and his wife, Kim, run the orphanage in Terekeka and the purpose of me going was to attend a meeting in Juba with them. The meeting never happened but it was a great trip for many reasons. I got to see the Nile(!) and while I didn't step foot in it (one word - crocodiles) I did spend a serene morning sitting on its banks, we ate at an Indian / Chinese restaurant in Juba and eating something beside rice and beans was a great treat, and I met and loved on the 40ish kids who live at Terekeka. Two of our P.7 girls, Nunas Mambu and Anna Gaba, came with us and it was Mambu's second trip to Terekeka and Anna's first trip out of town. Seeing Sudan through their eyes was truly joyful and gave me a new perspective of this beautiful, war-torn country.
On Monday morning we stopped for a mid-morning snack of Rolex - fried egg and tomato wrapped inside a chappati (greasy tortilla).
tukkuls in the shadow of a rock mountain
a tailor in the Juba market
cucumbers and melons in Juba - where Lance and Kim buy their groceries every two weeks
Nunas Mambu and Anna Gaba enjoy some strawberry-pineapple ice cream. I was excited for ice cream so I know they savored every bite.
Women plant flowers in the road medians in Juba in preparation for South Sudan's upcoming independence day celebration on July 9.
On Wednesday we went back to Juba and took the girls on a tour of the Catholic University of Sudan. Juba is a typical third-world city and is nothing to write home about. Most people live in mud huts, there are few paved roads, there isn't a water system, trash litters the roads, etc. but the girls loved the hustle and bustle, the fancy professional women, and the abundant stores that sell (almost) anything imaginable. As we toured the three-classroom Catholic University they were quietly excited to see first-hand the possibilities for their futures.
gas: 340 Sudanese Pounds (not shillings) for 68 litres (about $120 for 17.9 gallons)
a rainbow over Sudan
Women carry goods through African plains. Where do you come from, where do you go?
huuuge puddles on the "driveway" to the Terekeka orphanage
Terekeka orphans play (and crawl through the dirt) on a lazy, hot afternoon.
cloudy sunrise over the Nile - majestic
a beautiful morning in Terekeka
typical path in Africa
people bathing and fishing in a marsh along the main road
a man herds his cattle south toward Juba
kicking up dust on the way back to Juba
our taxi from Juba back home: 10 adults in a small family van
Mambu and Anna and I took the back seat.
stopped at a roadblock as workers searched for and disabled landmines
We spent about six hours traveling the 150 miles from Terekeka back home because the vast majority of the roads in South Sudan are made of dirt and riddled with bumps and holes. Drivers speed along with little concern for the shocks on their cars or people walking on the side of the road and I spent much of the trip holding onto the seat in front of me and closing my eyes whenever we passed a pedestrian. By the grace of God we made it safely back home and I'd never been more relieved to return to the little oasis that is Harvesters.
