What will the neighbor's think???? :)

Dear Friends,
Greetings! The last two days have been moving in days....moving into my new home which is much nearer to the college.

Today I had help getting my exercise machine, tall blue bookcase and solar panels there. As the kids in the neighborhood gathered around calling out "haw od ja!" (foreigner) I thought aloud, "this must be the most exciting thing that has happened around here in quite a while!" I also know that I stick out like a sore thumb having so many boxes to move in. Well, maybe not a sore thumb but it certainly sets me apart from the roaring crowd.

I am leaving for Ethiopia in the morning for just over two weeks of rest and relaxation. I’m not sure if I have ever felt so ready for that. Getting this move to happen has not been easy. And it is never a good idea, at least not for me, to be moving up to the day before I leave on a trip.

When I come back I will be living in an entirely new and different neighborhood. This is a Nuer neighborhood, one of the tribes/people groups of South Sudan and also Ethiopia. They are a Nilotic people, meaning that they live in the vicinity of the Nile River. I have learned through the experience of renting this house that there are four primary locations for the Nuer tribe in South Sudan. Nassir (of Emma’s War fame) Akobo (across the Nile River from Gambella, Ethiopia), Bentieu and Ayod, a village in the Jonglei State. I have also learned that while all Nuer are part of the same tribe there are subsets of Nuer which exist in clans. The clans consist of people who are all related to each other whereas different clans which make up the Nuer tribe may not be related to one another and may have different traditions and customs.

So this will be the street that I live on. There are no other foreigners living anywhere near me that I am aware of which will make this experience more like China than it has been so far here in Malakal. It will also be more like Khartoum as my immediate neighbors there were local people, Egyptian and Sudanese.

Today I had help looking for a table and chair for the new house. I have someone staying in the house while I am gone as I have been told it isn’t safe to leave the house without someone to keep it safe from burglary. I experienced firsthand the closure of border between Sudan and South Sudan. Khartoum, in retaliation for both the shut down of South Sudan’s oil fields and thus a large part of Sudan’s revenue, and also because South Sudan chose to separate from Sudan, has closed the border and no goods are coming into the South from Sudan in the north.

Due to two civil wars between the north and the south which lasted about 50 years with a short ten or so year reprieve, the South has no infrastructure to speak of and no industry. The South at this moment is almost totally reliant on goods and food coming in from other countries such as Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya. This means that merchandise and food stuff is very expensive.

I purchased a small and short plastic table and two plastic chairs for 210 South Sudanese Pounds. With the exchange rate at generally about $1.00 U.S. dollar to 3 SSP this means that the table and two chairs cost about $70.00 USD. Unfortunately this means that my new home is not going to have much furniture in it until either prices become more reasonable or if I find that I can bring things in from Ethiopia or the United States more cheaply.
I walked to the college today from my “old” home to have breakfast and to take care of some of the last minute details of moving and also of traveling. I walked back to the old compound with another professor from the college and one of the things we discussed was our mutual concern over how ordinary South Sudanese people are surviving in these very difficult financial times. 210 SSP would be beyond the reach of many, many people in this town, let alone the prices of staple foods like rice and beans. Being a vegetarian is to my advantage because meat and chicken, etc., are very expensive and many people cannot afford to consume them at all. I am lucky that I don’t miss them.

I am planning to bring a solar stove back with me from the states next summer. I will then be able to have an integrated cooking system. I will have my two burner electric stovetop on the nights when there is electricity. On the days that there is sun and no power I will have the solar stove. I already have a charcoal stove and will use that on the days when there is no power and no sun; this is likely to be particularly true during the rainy season. I have learned that I will need to stock up on charcoal before the rainy season because when it comes the charcoal is not available. My desire is to use as little charcoal as possible because its use contributes to the issue of deforestation.

The landlord has put in a shower for me in a small room which is separate from the main house. In the adjoining small room he has put in a Western toilet in place of the original local squat toilet. Originally the shower room was an empty room designed for use with a bucket. In some manner a tank that holds water will have to be affixed to the roof of the shower room. I am sincerely hoping that this takes places before I return in March.

Just as I have had to think more deeply about where electricity comes from I have also begun wondering how flush toilets work. Where does the water come with which to flush them? It is kind of like having the luxury of a washing machine without ever giving though to how in the world the water comes in and goes out.

There is no water during the day on the property, only at night. So I will have to have a bucket of water in the toilet room to use for flushing when there is no water coming into the pipes. I don’t know yet if this will be a no toilet paper in the toilet situation....I hope the paper can flush, but if not I’ve been living in Asia and Africa and the Middle East long enough to know how it works without the paper flush!

The young boy who cleaned the furniture for me today was not happy with his work. I explained to him that he needs to have the furniture clean for his customers. There was a South Sudanese man sitting outside of the shop where the chairs were stacked. He is living in Norway and was back for a visit for two weeks. As I was talking to the young boy he acknowledged that the young people in South Sudan need guidance in how to behave. Someone told me that there are street children who are rude because they don’t know any better. The young people who come out of homes and have families are more respectful of other people.

God help this country. Please continue to pray for South Sudan on many levels. There is the damaged humanity of many people. There is the lack of roads to get things to market thus making air an expensive alternative in the places that have airstrips. Food is not grown locally which means expensive prices in the marketplace. Please pray for the people whose income is from outstripped by basic needs. Please pray that the Lord God will help us all.
Blessings,
Debbie