Keeping Warm??

I had to smile when I opened Esther's Science pack for this new term. This is her current text book, with this term's Science topic as the title:

 Learning about insulators and how to keep warm is not really top priority in Juba; it is not difficult to keep warm here!
Yesterday, our classroom thermometer showed a nice cool 28'C as we began our lessons at 08:15. It felt positively fresh!

By the afternoon, the temperature had risen. Out of interest, I placed out thermometer outside on our front doorstep in the full afternoon sun, sitting on our stone door-step. When we fetched it in, the thermometer registered 56'C!! (see MAX temperature:)

I brought the thermometer inside before it blew up in the heat! It took a while for it to cool down, but it climbed back through the 40s and our classroom registered around 32'C- until I turned on the air-con to get the room to a more comfortable temperature in the mid-20s.

Meanwhile, Esther's prescribed science investigations to find ways to insulate ice-cubes have been hard to manage. If we turn on the air-con and fans, it feels like we are cheating and not doing a fair test, but if we turn off the air-con, the ice melts so fast that it is hard to keep up with recording the results!

Just to add to the general heat in the atmosphere around here, it seems this is the season for burning grass. Everyone appears to be lighting fires! Grass, leaves and rubbish are constantly being burnt. Pollution levels must be at a high rate. Andrew says there is so much smoke in the air as he flies over the country, with fires everywhere.
The result of all this grass-burning is lots of ash. Ash literally rains out of the sky and falls on our skin, on our houses, on our door-steps:

These thin, black lines of soot and ash make black smudges on the washing we hang outside. It gets into the kid's shoes when they leave them on the doorstep, making their feet inky-black when they put them on. It is blown by the breeze into our houses, through the gap between the floor and the outside doors. Ash seems to be just another feature of this hot, dry season!

Reminder

Today I was reminded of the reasons why I do not want to drive in Juba.

1.  I don't want to learn to drive on the right-hand side in a place where road accidents are frequent and where some of the driving I see is a little hair-raising! I am fearful of making mistakes as I learn a new way of driving. No-one wants to end up in an accident- but especially in Juba!
Accidents don't just mean inconvenience, they can also mean aggression from other road users and maybe complications with lengthy court cases (and no guarantee of a fair or just outcome).
In addition, I have seen inside the hospital here;  I want to avoid putting myself in a situation where I might end up needing to go there...

2.  I am a foreigner in a country where we are not always welcome. This means we can be a target for locals to accuse us of traffic faults and then try to extort money from us. This is exactly what happened today!
And it was all rather unpleasant.

This morning, Andrew took me shopping. He was driving along a straight road in the vehicle below:

I sat on the right, in the passenger seat and Joel was between us on the third, small passenger seat.

Suddenly, a motorbike came careering out of a side street on my right and swerved into the traffic, narrowly missing us as he swung into our road. The driver's head and that of his passenger (helmet-less!) were suddenly very close to me! Thankfully, he missed us and we all continued along the road. My heart was pounding at the near-miss, but no harm was done.
Or so we thought.

As we continued along the road to the supermarket, it became apparent that the motorbike driver was following us and seemed rather upset with us. He made several gestures to Andrew to stop. It seemed he had something to say. Wisely, Andrew continued to the supermarket car-park, where we pulled in and parked. No point in stopping on the roadside and risking a large and possibly angry crowd being whipped up into a frenzy of accusation and possible aggression.

As we parked, the driver and his passenger jumped off their motorbike and came over to the window, wanting to discuss the fact that we had hit his motorbike... "what??!" I could not believe it. I was sitting right where he had swerved into his near-miss and there was no way there had been any impact! However, the annoyed motorcyclist called over the car-park security guard (with a rather large gun slung across his shoulder!) and seemed to be telling him an aggrieved tale against us. Since the discussion was in Juba-Arabic, I  was not sure what was said, but I can tell you that it did not look friendly!
Then he roped in anyone else in the car-park who would listen. We remained in the vehicle, with the doors locked (and air-con blasting- sweat levels were rising as stress levels rose!) trying to make light of it all for Joel's sake. Andrew sensibly called the MAF team leader. An arrangement was made that 2 local staff and our manager would come to the scene to try and diffuse what was a rather tense situation.

Eventually, Andrew calmly exited the car to talk with his accusers. I took Joel into the super-market, legs shaking, heart jumping and unable to concentrate on the shopping list! Somehow, I got the shopping into the trolley. After a few minutes, Andrew came inside and made several phone calls. We then waited in the supermarket for our rescuers, whilst the motorcyclists hung about at the door, still throwing out accusations to anyone who would listen.

We waited a long time. Lunch time came and went, Joel was fed a healthy (??) lunch of expensive crisps (£2 for a small packet!) and a chocolate biscuit. I sent up a prayer for a peaceful solution, despite the talk of hauling Andrew off to the police station!

Finally, our back-up arrived. I was so pleased to see them! Joel and I stayed in the shop, where the staff had kindly given us chairs to sit on. We watched through the window; there was some animated discussion, a little shoulder-shoving and some raised voices. The motorcyclists, Andrew, 3 MAF staff, the security guard and a few interested onlookers all joined in!

Thankfully, all was soon resolved. Various discussions diffused the tension and the men who had intimidated us had to leave with nothing. We were soon allowed to drive home. What a relief!

In situations like this, I realise again how vulnerable we can be here. I realise how much I value being part of a strong staff team and how vital it is to have local staff who understand the culture and language where we live. I so appreciate the kindness of colleagues who gave up Saturday lunch-time to help us and of our neighbours who took care of Esther and Ben back at the MAF compound and fed them lunch whilst we were otherwise engaged!

And it has firmed my resolve that for now, driving in Juba is not a priority for me!

Inspiration

One of the things I am really enjoying about being in Juba is meeting so many amazing, fascinating people from all over the world, who have come to South Sudan to bring aid.

I have never lived anywhere like Juba before, where UN vehicles, Medicins Sans Frontieres, Red Cross. Tearfund, Oxfam, WaterAid and many other charitable or relief-based organisations have such a visible presence. It is not just the signs around town which indicate various NGO compounds. It is also the vehicles with the names of their organisations emblazoned on the side. I see the names of so many of these relief organisations as their trucks and vans flash past on the busy Juba roads, or when their vehicles park outside the shops and restaurants.
Their staff are the people we meet in connection with MAF, or in cafes in town, at church or in the queues when we go to the airport. Juba is a centre-point for so many aid agencies!

I have had my eyes opened as I have talked to people and learned first hand about their work in this country. I have heard amazing stories from brave people who have gone into risk-filled areas to bring aid or share their medical skills and compassion and faith. It is both interesting and encouraging to know that so many people are out there, working hard to help others in this harsh landscape.  Despite all the horrible things that happen in war-torn places, it is good to know that there are also plenty of people working to combat the after-effects, the poverty, the sickness, the suffering.

Last week, Andrew flew a plane with one such person on board: Baroness Cox was one of his passengers.

With her team from her charity HART, she was travelling between several destinations in South Sudan. I was excited to learn who Andrew had on board his plane that day! I looked up her charity's website: www.hart-uk.org/
I am so inspired. What amazing work they are doing in so many trouble spots around the world. It was so informative to read about it online. If we were not here in South Sudan, I probably would not have discovered so much about this work. I would not have learnt about the plight of people who need to have their voices heard and who receive this help from HART. That would be to my loss, not to know about the incredible work of these inspiring and brave people.

Although I did not meet this particular passenger myself, I did ask Andrew to tell Baroness Cox that I respect her work when he met her on her next MAF flight. And who knows, I might just take up her kind offer to call when we get to London and pop into the House of Lords for a cup of tea...!! :-)

What's Wrong with Woodlee?

The cat has been behaving strangely.
He seemed weak and upset earlier this week and kept licking his chest.

 We called him over to investigate.  Instead of his usual haughty toss of the head and absolute scorn for any command we may deign to address to him, he hobbled sadly towards us, mewing plaintively. This was very out of character for Woodlee!

We laid him down gently - and discovered these terrible gashes on his chest area, oozing with a foul, sticky, white substance. We were both horrified and baffled. What on earth had happened to our cat?? And what was this stuff oozing out of the deep wounds? pus? maggots? worms? some internal body fluid?? You can never be too sure in Africa...there are a lot of bizarre medical things out there that I know nothing about, for people and animals alike!

We are still none the wiser. Poor old Woodlee now has a nasty-looking chest. He has licked away the fur, revealing the gashes with their mysterious, grim contents.

Thankfully, he seems to be improving, caring carefully for himself as he tends his own wounds. I'm happy that the nasty white stuff seems to have gone away after 4 days! Rather than sitting sadly in his basket and limping occasionally to his food bowl, he is up on his feet again. He even caught a lizard today and brought it to the window as a gift! He must be feeling much better...

If I had been in England, I would have taken him to the vet as soon as we realised what horrible injuries he had. But I know no vets in Juba! So Woodlee has had to do a good job of nursing himself, with our sympathy and some extra food treats to tempt him when he was down. Hopefully, he's now over the worst.
We'll probably never know what happened to him: did he fight with another cat? a mongoose (we think we have seen one lurking by the house at night)? a large bird (there are several birds of prey swooping overhead in Juba)? or ...??

Home again!

Just to say that Susan is home again and doing really well! :-) Good news!

Recovery...

Susan is walking again! :-)

I went to see her with my friend Carolyn (Joel's preschool teacher) on Wednesday this week; this is the photo.

Although still in hospital, Susan is in amazingly good spirits and is recovering well. She has a stunning smile- it was lovely to see her smiling so broadly! Each time people from MAF have visited her, she has had kind friends and family with her, who are doing a fantastic job caring for her. Susan hopes to be allowed out of hospital soon, as long as the healing continues and the paperwork can all be filled out by the appropriate medical staff.

I also went to visit Susan with 2 other MAF ladies on Christmas Eve. We walked into Ward 5 to visit her, which was the place that had so shocked me on my very first experience of the hospital here ("Christmas Angels" blog-post). To our surprise, Susan had gone! Her bed was occupied by another patient. We knew she was still in hospital, but now we did not know where!
I stood in the ward, unsure of what to do next. Opposite her old bed, I could see the man on the floor, still handcuffed to the bed-leg, but he had covered himself with a piece of light "kanga" material. To my shame, I was too scared to look closer. Ward 5 frightens me. The ward was busy, there was a sense of suffering from people with dire wounds and sad tales to relate. There were many visitors crowded around beds, but no staff around to ask where Susan had gone. As we headed out of the ward again, past the overflowing, lid-less bin, stuffed with discarded medical gloves, needles and stained cotton wool, my legs were shaking. Two young men with bleeding head wounds and limp bodies were carried from a motor-bike trailer into the ward and lain by anxious friends on matresses on the floor as we got to the exit.
We got outside into the fresh air, away from the heavy, odorous confines of Ward 5 and then called Susan on her mobile. She had walked, with the help of friends, from Ward 5 at the bottom of the hospital area up to Ward 3, at the top end of the hospital.
Susan had arrived at her new ward tired, but her wound had not bled and the healing process was well under way- horray!! :-)

Ward 3 is a complete contrast. Calmer, more spacious, with high ceilings and open windows, all of which are covered with mosquito netting; as the ceiling fans whirr incessantly overhead, the air is circulated and feels fresh. The whole atmosphere is lighter and more tranquil in this recovery ward.

There are still sad stories, like Rhoda, the older lady we met on Wednesday in the bed beside Susan, who is waiting for her operation on Monday. Her leg will be amputated in an attempt to remove the cancer found there. However, there is not the same tension or fear that I sensed in Ward 5.

Since my first visit to the hospital, I have not been able to forget the suffering I encountered. It felt so wrong just to walk away and try to forget it all. I have been wondering what I can do, rather then just ignoring something that had so distressed me. So on Wednesday, before visiting Susan, Carolyn and I decided to return to Ward 5 to see how the troubled patient was doing- the man with the tragic story.

I was a bit scared.... but the ward was fairly quiet on Wednesday. The patient (he can't speak and there were no staff around to ask, so we do not know his name) was still in a bad way, still locked to a bed leg, but somehow more peaceful, lying on a mattress rather than sliding around the floor in distress on a thin mat.
His facial injuries were much improved, with the skin around his jaw no longer hanging jaggedly off the bone in bloody chunks but knitted together to form a chin and restore the shape of his face.
A medicine vial taped intravenously to his arm was evidence of some sort of medical relief (painkiller or anti-biotics perhaps?).
Since he knows English, we spoke to him, prayed with him and Carolyn helped him drink some water by pouring it into his damaged mouth as he lay down. He still has a gaping hole in his throat where much of the liquid pours out. It must be hard to get any real nutrition.
He indicated an empty stomach- but how can he eat? Carolyn had a great idea- we went to find him some milk and Carolyn found some soup at a cafe on the edge of the hospital which we dispensed (with some difficulty!) into a bottle.

We told him that many people are praying for him in England as well as in-country.
I asked if I could take his photo to show them how he is doing. He agreed; his wave is for you.

As we left, he wrote the note below. If I had any doubts that it was worth while visiting, this shows how much a simple visit from strangers meant to him. (I think "gat" means God)

Please keep praying for him. I am not sure what will happen to him- but prayer is powerful! Look at Susan's amazing recovery and the progress made by this man so far. I believe your prayers can help to bring peace and salvation to this troubled soul. Carolyn has promised him a Bible in Arabic- I hope he finds the peace of forgiveness and great comfort as he reads it.

At the end of the visit, Andrew, Ben and Joel came to fetch us in a 3-seater MAF van. We are lucky. We can drive out of the gates and go home to comfort. I wouldn't be honest if I didn't tell you that I was relieved to be able to leave. But it is with a renewed sense of appreciation for all we have when I come home after being at the hospital...

...even when travelling home in this sweaty, squashed ride, 4 people on 2 seats in the African heat!

The Ebola Tent

The Ebola crisis is a very real threat in Africa. And it is, rightly, being taken seriously.

On our arrival in Kenya on December 27th and again this Monday at Juba airport, we had to first proceed through the Ebola Checking Points before heading through the immigration queues.

When we landed at Nairobi, we were instructed to line up in roped-off corridors, then one by one we were guided to stand and pause on a long white line of sticky tape secured to the floor at the head of each queue. At this specific point, a machine scanned our body temperature. Above us, an overhead TV screen flashed a thermal image of each person, with their body temperature noted on the top left of the screen. As long as we were shown to have a normal body temperature, we were allowed to continue into the airport.
It was a sobering reminder of this horrible health threat posed by Ebola. Our children were intrigued; they asked many questions and needed some reassurance.

When we touched down at Juba, we were again checked for any indication of fever, which might be a symptom of the dreaded outbreak.
This time, two large, beige-coloured tents stood outside the entrance of the Arrivals Hall. We gathered that we were supposed to pass through them on our way to immigration control. As we stepped into the body of the first tent, the immense heat of Juba bore down on us. We had forgotten how hot Juba is after spending a few days away in the cool highland air of Turi! The hot air was condensed under the canvas canopy; with no air-flow, the heat seemed to sit on us.

We were given 5 forms to fill in with our travel information. A plastic table was indicated where we could sit down to complete the forms. Because we had just had a 4-hour flight with no toilet facilities, I had limited how much water the children and I had to drink, so we were feeling a little dehydrated! Gradually, our cheeks turned pinker and pinker...I felt like I might explode with heat - I could not get those forms filled in fast enough!
I started to wonder if perhaps we would all end up with fevers by the time we could move forward to have our temperatures read!

Thankfully, when it came to having the thermometer pointed at our fore-heads,we all had normal temperature readings and could pass through to the immigration queue and on to Arrivals.
It is reassuring that there are checks in place for Ebola, but we hope that the deadly disease will soon be stamped out and the threat one less danger lurking within Africa's continent.

(To read about MAF's response to the Ebola Crisis, see page 8 of the current MAF UK's "Flying for Life" magazine -dated Winter 2015).

Happy New Year!

A couple of days ago, we returned from Kenya, where we went for the annual Brackenhurst New Year Conference for overseas Christian workers in East Africa.

Travelling to Brackenhurst from Juba was much easier this year than the previous two years when we had a 2-day drive up from Dodoma. This year, we flew out from Juba to Nairobi and the conference centre is just over an hour from the centre of Nairobi. It felt so easy to get there this time!

As ever, the 4-day conference was well worth going. Beautiful venue, fantastic kid's programme to keep our 3 entertained, great teaching and useful seminars for us grown-ups and wonderful food!

We joined in the walk to a nearby tea-farm and enjoyed the gorgeous green of the tea-farms- a world away from dusty, urban Juba!

We enjoyed hearing again about the process of how a tasty brew of tea starts out, seeing first hand the tea in its original form as bushes of bright green leaves.
From hearing how tea is harvested...

 ...to seeing the samples of different stages of tea production, hearing from the tea estate owner how it ends up in a tea-bag for my cuppa!

At the farm, the children were entertained by the monkeys in the tree-tops. Esther joined in the fun as she reached up with banana pieces, grabbed greedily from children's hands by the cheeky monkeys!

Following on with the theme of rural Kenya, we spent the 4 days after Brackenhurst at 8,000 feet above sea-level, at the stunning campus of St. Andrew's School in Turi. We went there to visit Andrew's sister and brother-in-law, as they teach and live at this boarding school in the highlands of Kenya. It was still the school holidays, with only a few pupils about at the school, so it felt very peaceful! The weather was perfect, the company was wonderful, the location beautiful...

On Sunday, we attended the 9:30am chapel service at the school with staff and their families and had time for morning tea on the front lawn...

 Then we climbed into a taxi for our 4-hour drive back to Nairobi, where we had one overnight stay, before heading back home to Juba on Monday morning.

Our MAF plane was loaded up with medicines to be brought from Nairobi to South Sudan- and with the Parker family, all aboard for Juba!

With Captain Parker and his co-pilot at the controls, complete with the appropriate aviation maps, we jetted off into the blue African skies, for our 4-hour non-stop flight to Juba.

So here we are back in South Sudan for 2015, getting ready for the busyness of whatever this new year will bring. And wherever you find yourselves for this year, we wish you all a wonderful year ahead: Happy New Year!