Extreme Africa

In my experience, it seems that things which may be mild in England are much more extreme in Africa.

Take, for example, the weather. In England, a hot day is uncomfortable, with temperatures in the 30s ('C); but this is nothing like the extreme temperatures of a hot African day. Days when the sun beats down relentlessly from a cloudless sky; when my skin feels like it is being fried under the scorching sun and I can do nothing to stem the tiny rivulets of sweat; when my eyes hurt from the bright glare, and my whole self cries out for shade and relief from the unforgiving heat.

When it rained in Dodoma or when we have rain in Juba, we don't get precipitation falling steadily from the skies. Rather, it seems like the skies have been ripped apart by a huge giant, who then pours bucket-load after heavy-handed bucket-load of water directly on top of us. Water crashes down with great speed and volume. The noise was deafening on our tin-roof house in Dodoma as sheets of water thundered down from rain-soaked clouds. In Juba, the rain seems even heavier, gushing down and quickly flooding the garden and pathways outside. Then the rain stops as suddenly as it started and the heat begins to rise again.

In Africa, indigenous wild animals are spectacular and much more thrillingly dangerous than the wild-life of England. Here, we have scorpions and all manner of biting spiders to replace the harmless British spider. There are all kinds of snakes, with all kinds of markings from sandy brown to riotous skin colours and varying degrees of poisonous bites. Our house-lady Grace recently showed me the scars on her leg and foot where she had been bitten by a snake. Thankfully, she recovered, but the marks are there as permanent reminders of what could be lurking in the shadows for the Unsuspecting.

We can also visit wildlife reserves in Africa where we have seen incredible creatures: giraffes, hippos, rhinoceros, lions... This all seems a little more extreme than the tamer deer or ponies that come to mind as I try to picture the animals of Britain...

Even the insect life in Juba is proving to be more extreme! We found these caterpillars yesterday, making their way across the MAF car-park as I walked with Joel to his preschool:

For scale, Esther reached out her fingers close to Mr Caterpillar:

 Joel tells me that they now have a box of these caterpillars in his preschool classroom. They are feeding them leaves in the hopes that the children will be able to look after them until the caterpillars transform into the amazing African Emperor Moth.

I am not so sure that I want spiky, horned creatures like this in our downstairs classroom, even though Esther begged me to allow her to keep one in a plastic bottle, one she had collected and named "Spiky"! But I am not convinced that they would lend themselves to a good night's sleep. I know I would worry about them escaping and making their way upstairs to scare me in the dead of night! So the caterpillars, including Spiky, have been relegated to outdoor living.
However, one should make the most of every opportunity, so our "extreme" caterpillar became Ben's computer and literacy lesson today. We looked them up online and Ben documented our find. I have never seen him enjoy a writing task as much as he enjoyed this one!
Living in Africa definitely has extremely good advantages to take hold of... ;-)

Help!

Since being in South Sudan, I feel as if my life has changed; like I walked through an invisible door into a different world. Being a home-school mum is a whole new experience for me. It is bizarre not needing to go out anywhere, not dropping my older children off at school, or going to meet other mums at the school gate. No more being spoilt with morning coffee dates with friends, or involvement in any ladies groups or Swahili (or Arabic!) lessons or Bible Study groups. Suddenly, I have 2 jobs which are both contained within the 4 walls of our house!

 If I am honest. this new season is a challenge that can feel like a struggle. The task can feel overwhelming. Now I am the only one responsible for the education of  2 of our children, as well as our family-life: the meals, the clean washing and ensuring that our home is almost decent and not a complete mess of toys, muddy boots, wet clothes, biscuit crumbs and anything else which having small children ultimately brings to a home!

As time goes by, we are starting to get into more of a pattern. The enormity of the task at hand diminishes as I get more used to the school curriculum and more used to what family life looks like for us in Juba. The sense of drowning in this huge responsibility is starting to wear off. This feeling of relief is due in part to some HELP which has come my way- for which I am very grateful! :-)

First, there is Grace, seen here with Esther and Ben during one of Esther's Science experiments:

 

Grace is a South Sudanese lady who is coming 2 or 3 mornings a week to help me with washing up, hanging out the washing, ironing clothes, cleaning the bathroom, dusting the Juba dust off the furniture and mopping the floors. What a massive help that is to me! I honestly don't know how I'd be coping here if Grace was not able to come and work for us.

  Then there is Ronnie, a Ugandan man who sells fresh produce at the large market in Juba and delivers fresh fruit and vegetables to our compound, for a small fee. I can text him a shopping list in the morning and he will bring the produce later that afternoon:

 With the market being on the other side of town and with me not having easy access to transport, getting to the market would be a time-consuming and arduous task. Having someone willing to bring these healthy goods right to our door is another big help which saves me alot of time and effort!

I am also incredibly grateful for our new bread-maker- a gift from the Tanzanian MAF team when we left Dodoma. I had never used a bread-maker before and I have to say, it has won me over! I just pop in the ingredients and a couple of hours later, we have fresh bread!

 It is such a brilliant machine! The bread is delicious. There is one thing I would change though; I would love to have a bread-maker as efficient as Jane, the lady who baked our bread in Dodoma, making 4 loaves AND a tray of bread rolls in the same morning! However, in the sad absence of Jane, a bread-maker is a big bonus for us in Juba!

And finally, it is the little things which can make a difference, like these packet-mix sauces from England which came either in my suitcase or via parcels from my Mum. They make meal preparation that little bit easier when most of the meals must be prepared from scratch, but time is short. I am glad I discovered what a help they can be, given how easy it is to pack them into a suitcase and transport them across the world! 

Help comes in different guises, but it all makes a positive difference. As I look to the tasks ahead, it makes them seem smaller and less intimidating. It makes settling in to South Sudan much easier all round.

Peace?

Each day, I can open my email inbox and find a daily security update, warning us of recent fighting and trouble spots or incidents which may have occurred across the country. If I read every update, every day, I think I would feel weighed down with despair and maybe fear, so I pick and choose my days to read these updates in detail. It is good to be informed; but it is not good to be overwhelmed. I try to have a balanced approach to how much information I need to know.
Despite the reality of trouble. there are strong visual reminders nearby to show me that peace is the goal of many. I don't need to go far to see this poster, at the end of our short, dusty street:

The slogan may be simple but the message it emits is powerful. It speaks more than a thousand words:

On the back of the poster, another hard-hitting message, to ensure that it is received by pedestrians or motorists coming from either direction:

When I am out and about at the shops here, I am struck by the military presence. This was not something I was used to in Dodoma, so it is all the more noticeable to me as a new-comer. I try not to stare. I expect I will get used to it one day. Maybe I will accept it as a normal part of life here, rather than seeing it with the eyes of a Juba novice, peeping timidly out of the corner of my eye! It is unsettling. I feel vulnerable as I head down the street to the shops. The shops are not far, but I am still getting used to this new environment. I can definitely say that I am out of my comfort zone!

For Andrew, seeing and meeting military personnel is all part of a day's work. The reminder that this is a country with a volatile security situation is a very present reality:

However, we have been struck by the work of the South Sudanese pastor at the local church we attend. He is the Secretary General of a specially created organisation, headed by the Anglican Archbishop: The Committee for National Healing, Peace and Reconciliation. This is their symbol:

You may have remarked that they are the group responsible for the street posters featured above. This October, they have a month-long conference in Yei to train peace mobilisers, who will then go out to train people in their local communities in peace and reconciliation skills. So much rests in the balance for a conference like this. There could be so much hope. Many want peace. We pray for it too.  

We admire people like Rev. Bernard Oliya Suwa and those who travelled to be part of this key conference. Andrew was part of a team of MAF pilots who were ferrying the delegates to the conference:

It is good to know that there are so many behind the goal for peace, aiming for hope for this next generation, offering an alternative to fighting: