5-star dining and peace-building

Today's adventure saw me flying up to Pibor, a largish village north-east of Juba quite near the Ethiopian border.

Also in the plane was a team with Reconcile, who are leading a three-day peace-building workshop between the Nuer and Murle people groups. Our pilot Stefan dropped us off and then did two flights to Akobo to take two planeloads of people attending the workshops from there.

The sense of community in Africa is far stronger than here in the UK. So when a cattle raid occurs from another people group, it can lead to revenge not just against the individual cattle raiders, but to their whole family and people group. Cattle raiding is someting done as a lot of cattle is required to pay the dowry when it comes to marriage.

So, inter-tribal conflict is sometimes a big problem in Sudan. Just last year, such an incident resulted in a lot of death and displacement, and MAF flew in several tons of food aid for the church who were supporting those who were displaced and had nothing.

Anyway, it turns out that women are key in helping to keep the peace within their respective families. So, most of the people attending the workshop are women, and hopefully this will really equip them to help keep the peace when tensions run high.

It's great that the church and missions are really getting involved in promoting peace, not just between people groups, but also to make rural communities aware about the importance of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan and the upcoming elections in April.

When the plane landed at Pibor, we were treated to a welcoming song by a group of women. That was neat. As the plane took off without me to Akobo, it was a good experience to get away from the airstrip and go into the village (even if I was the only white person there!). The homes are basic, the flies are everywhere, poverty is rife. But the sense of community was strong, the market place was very social, and the people are great.

On the way back from the compound where the Reconcile team were staying, I enjoyed a luxurious bread and bean feast at the local restaurant. It was so good, that you didn't even need cutlery to eat it. After all, cutlery doesn't deserve to be associated with such a brilliant food. And you know what, it even came with its own natural air display too - birds flying inside just overhead so you can almost touch them. And it goes on; it even had air conditioning - after all, air comes in very well between the sticks in the walls, refreshing at a temperature of just 40C.

Back at the plane, the children were very excited to see my camera out and kept asking for their photos to be taken. They were very cute! I noticed one boy on crutches as he lost a leg. Another boy had lost an arm there. Both were smiling away, but it is a reminder of the difficulties that the area has faced. But they get on with their lives, and we must pray for peace and a sense of lasting hope for Pibor in the midst of political uncertainty.

Papayas

You know you're in Africa when you see a Papaya tree growing nearby! The tree must be about 10 feet tall, and has lots of clusters of papayas growing up the tree trunk, which is amazing considering that it is only about a year old.

I enjoyed some fresh papaya for supper last night and it tastes fab.

I wandered down to the market place with pilot Ryan Unger and his visiting father-in-law, and there is a good variety of fruit, veg, eggs and spices for sale. It was then to the "fish supermarket" which is a small shop selling just about everything other than fish. Hmmm! Still, shop names in Juba tend to be far less interesting than down at Kampala, where small stores aka shacks are alongside all the roads. The most memorable name I can remember is the God is Able Unisex Salon!

Good progress is being made here at Juba, the capital of South Sudan. While there are many bumpy dirt tracks, some of the major roads in the city are now wide and paved. Traffic is generally less hectic than in Kampala, and is dominated with 4x4s and small trucks, which I guess are largely owned by the local NGOs and so on.

MAF shares its compound with World Relief. They have done a great job. As the city's elecricity supply is erratic at best, MAF runs a generator for about 9 hours each day, and also utilises solar energy. The city's water supply is now better than the brown parasitic Nile water running through the taps when the compound was build about 3 years ago, but it's only safe to drink it filtered. They have internet connection thanks to a sizable satellite dish near the office, and the whole place, has really come a long way over recent months.

Having said that, it's still a challenging environment. The intense heat, dust, risk of disease, availability of supplies and, to some extent, security issues continue to be a feature of daily living.

Yesterday's flight to Akobo and Malakal was good. We delivered a ton of building materials (corrugated metal sheets and timber) to Akobo for the construction of a new medical building which will replace the unsuitable existing one. Akobo has your classic Sudanese village huts, but flies are everywhere and there is a lot of poverty. It's good to know that this flight will make a positive impact on the community. We then took Presbyterian mission workers from Akobo on to Malakal, where they are staying for a day before being flown back to Juba.

Finally, we're going down to the Nile later this afternoon. Should be great!

From hot to hotter

This afternoon I landed in Juba (well, strictly it was Captain Bryan Pill who landed but you get the gist!), the capital of southern Sudan, where I will be based for a few days. The city is beautiful from the air, with the Nile flowing straight past on its course to the Mediterranean.

Also on my flight was Bishop Anthony Poggo of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, a a guy working with CMS, and a Scottish couple who are just about to start new roles with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church. All going to different locations, all with different roles, yet all playing a role in the advancement to God´s Kingdom in this nation.

The weather here is cooler than recent days, so I´m told, but still just about nudging 100F - all relative I suppose! The heat is quite intense, and I admire the small team based here for being so willing to work and live in such an environment. Am on another flight tomorrow to Akobo and upto Malakal in the north of southern Sudan.

Hangar preps

The diggers and trucks have started to arrive at Kajjansi, as work begins on levelling the ground for a new MAF hangar. The current one is too small and is on its last legs, and encounters many problems, such as floor problems and occasional flood. MAF will be able to better service its planes when the new structure is ready later this year.

Bob the builder, eat your heart out!

First MAF flight

I hopped on my 1st MAF flight yesterday, flying to Pader in northern Uganda - hurrah! On the flight was Joshua Kyallo, country director for AMREF and his colleague Diana. AMREF is a medical organisation which serves and assists at the government hospitals. The hospital/health centre in Pader serves more than half a million people in the area, so the medical care they provide is so valuable.

We then continued in the small Cessna 210 through the heat and haze on the shorter hop to Gulu, where we picked up 3 people who work with Watoto Childcare Ministries. One of the workers, Carl, works in trauma counselling for children. With the area only recently recovering from long-term conflict with rebel groups, the work they do must be again so valuable.