Dear Friends,
Greetings!
Today the power came on for about two hours in the middle of the day. I got to lie in bed reading with a LIGHT! I got to have the fan on sending somewhat cooler air over me and the soothing rhythm of the sound of its whirring was a delight to my ears.
I realized that most of us in the developed world don't realize how special these things that we take for granted are -- electricity at the flick of a switch, rarely failing us.
Today Malakal was: long walks. I walked to one bank and then I walked to another bank. I bought peanuts and sesame cakes from a young boy. He shows his appreciation by giving me five cakes when I have only paid for four. I felt guilty until someone told me he wouldn't do that if he couldn't afford to.
I walked home a different way from the second bank. Dust, dust is everywhere. I saw the back of a grown man in a nice suit as he peed in a ditch. I was stunned, why I don't know, I saw fairly old kids pee and poop in the open in China.
A man asked me why I wasn't in a car. It was hot and dusty and I was walking. He probably thought I was with an NGO (Non Governmental Organization) as they are prolific in most places in South Sudan and other parts of Africa as well. I said I am with the church and I don't have a car.
Wire transfers from banks in the United States apparently take longer here in Africa. The bank in the US said the money would be in my Malakal account today. The bank in Malakal says it will be next Monday. Life is slower here. It just is.
It is slower here. And it involves lots of waiting. I got used to that in Israel/Palestine and in China. In Israel/Palestine people couldn't make specific time commitments because of the amount of unpredictable time involved with going through checkpoints. In China there was always chaos in the hospital, at the pharmacy and the banks. Whoever could shove the most got served first. In Malakal in my own bank it appears chaotic, whole groups of people sitting and no "take a number" system. However I have discovered that under the apparent chaos is actually structure. The workers in the bank go back and forth between people. No one gets upset if they are sitting in the Bank Manager's Office and someone else comes in and sits down too. Even I am learning not to get upset:) Eventually everyone has their request listened to. In the United States one person gets the full attention of the employee until they leave the bank. Here five people at a time might get attention. And somehow the business gets done; gets transacted.
I have also discovered in the banks in Malakal that if I don't have a routine transaction, like taking money out of my account, that I can go directly to the managers. They don't seem to mind. I don't have to wait in line for an hour to get redirected to another person. That is kinda nice.
Blessings,
Debbie
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
A Brief Day...or a Brief on a Day....
Dear Friends,
Greetings from dusty, dusty Malakal! Today I found out that a gas station isn't always a gas station! Sometimes it is a can of gas at a cans of gas store and is poured into the gas tank with a funnel....open for business, it is one way to get fuel.
My houseguest and colleague and I were driven to all sorts of places in Malakal that I had not seen before today by the church driver, Peter. We were trying to locate the place where NGO, church worker types sign up so that if there is an evacuation we can be evacuated by the United Nations. In this respect Malakal is very similar to China. One must expect to spend time looking for places and not have appointments backed up to the adventure.
Directions can be nebulous, meaning that they point to a general direction and not, perhaps, to a specific location. Only by visiting several destinations in a general direction can one find the specific location. It was like that today. One hopes that ultimately one will end up in the correct building. It was the correct the building although it turns out that there are other buildings and NGOs that must be visited BEFORE we can sign up at the United Nations building where we first began. Confusing? It is just Africa....
I should have had breakfast, that might have helped:)
Blessings,
Debbie
Greetings from dusty, dusty Malakal! Today I found out that a gas station isn't always a gas station! Sometimes it is a can of gas at a cans of gas store and is poured into the gas tank with a funnel....open for business, it is one way to get fuel.
My houseguest and colleague and I were driven to all sorts of places in Malakal that I had not seen before today by the church driver, Peter. We were trying to locate the place where NGO, church worker types sign up so that if there is an evacuation we can be evacuated by the United Nations. In this respect Malakal is very similar to China. One must expect to spend time looking for places and not have appointments backed up to the adventure.
Directions can be nebulous, meaning that they point to a general direction and not, perhaps, to a specific location. Only by visiting several destinations in a general direction can one find the specific location. It was like that today. One hopes that ultimately one will end up in the correct building. It was the correct the building although it turns out that there are other buildings and NGOs that must be visited BEFORE we can sign up at the United Nations building where we first began. Confusing? It is just Africa....
I should have had breakfast, that might have helped:)
Blessings,
Debbie
Monday, January 16, 2012
Sorrow and Joy!
Dear Friends,
Greetings from dusty, dusty Malakal! Today has had many walks in it which would surely thrill my female doctor in the states and the male cardio doctor in Ethiopia....at least none of them were done in intense heat.
My student who is helping me in the renting of the house which I hope to move to at the end of January or early February gave me great encouragement today. We had walked towards the college to meet with another student whose father owns the house. On the way back to my current home we passed many young women. I found myself wondering what their fates would be in life. Were they to marry young and spend their lives cooking on charcoal stoves for the many children which they would begin to bear very quickly after their marriage? Young women who have not been exposed to anything else but what their culture dictates don't even know that there are options for them out there, that we live in a big and international world.
My student began to talk of encouraging girls to sign up for the Diploma Program at the Nile Theological College where I teach and where he is a student. I suggested that they sign up for the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Theology degree programs....I think that he is saying they may be intimidated by a four year program for now. Perhaps the place to start IS with the three year Diploma Program and then encourage them to go on for the BA or BTH and to encourage those that follow on their shoulders to go into the degree programs.
God has sent me a student in this young man who understands that this culture and society is not naturally encouraging of the development of women, young or more mature, into strong and independent people. The culture does not encourage the cultivation of their minds or thought processes. This young student is indeed a great encouragement to me!
I then said that after we have more female students then we must see to it that the church begins to ordain them! Yes. As a speaker at the previous semester's Opening Conference said, "If you give the women a reason to come, they will come!"
Please pray for God to open wide the gates of this Theological College to female students. Please pray that God will open wide the eyes of those in the community whose encouragement for the women will be necessary in order for them to seek an education. This seeking will be an indication that the Kin-dom of God is at hand!
Blessings,
Debbie
Greetings from dusty, dusty Malakal! Today has had many walks in it which would surely thrill my female doctor in the states and the male cardio doctor in Ethiopia....at least none of them were done in intense heat.
My student who is helping me in the renting of the house which I hope to move to at the end of January or early February gave me great encouragement today. We had walked towards the college to meet with another student whose father owns the house. On the way back to my current home we passed many young women. I found myself wondering what their fates would be in life. Were they to marry young and spend their lives cooking on charcoal stoves for the many children which they would begin to bear very quickly after their marriage? Young women who have not been exposed to anything else but what their culture dictates don't even know that there are options for them out there, that we live in a big and international world.
My student began to talk of encouraging girls to sign up for the Diploma Program at the Nile Theological College where I teach and where he is a student. I suggested that they sign up for the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Theology degree programs....I think that he is saying they may be intimidated by a four year program for now. Perhaps the place to start IS with the three year Diploma Program and then encourage them to go on for the BA or BTH and to encourage those that follow on their shoulders to go into the degree programs.
God has sent me a student in this young man who understands that this culture and society is not naturally encouraging of the development of women, young or more mature, into strong and independent people. The culture does not encourage the cultivation of their minds or thought processes. This young student is indeed a great encouragement to me!
I then said that after we have more female students then we must see to it that the church begins to ordain them! Yes. As a speaker at the previous semester's Opening Conference said, "If you give the women a reason to come, they will come!"
Please pray for God to open wide the gates of this Theological College to female students. Please pray that God will open wide the eyes of those in the community whose encouragement for the women will be necessary in order for them to seek an education. This seeking will be an indication that the Kin-dom of God is at hand!
Blessings,
Debbie
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Wow! Half way through January!
Dear Friends,
Greetings from dusty Malakal.....! I am doing well in my little town. I have a houseguest for now, a fellow Presbyterian Co-Worker, Sharon, who is staying with me. She is teaching me things like the art of making charcoal fires and cooking over said fire. I have "suddenly" become a huge advocate of Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Camp Fire Girls! I say, "let them learn these important survival skills before they grow up and need them!"
I worshipped today at the church where I have chosen to be in community. It is a small Nuer church with a woman pastor. I was made to feel very, very welcome. I hope to be moving to a new home by the end of the month and this church is quite close to the new home. For this morning getting there included a 20 minutes walk and then some more after I was met by a friend who showed me the way. When I had gone before to preach we went by taxi and I had not a clue how to get to the building.
The church is in a small neighborhood and I discovered this morning it is very close to a branch of the Nile River! I believe it may be the White Nile that is here in this part of South Sudan. The White Nile and the Blue Nile join in Khartoum, Sudan, I have taken pictures of that joining. But today's sighting was of one of the branches. There were naked people taking baths in the river so I did not go close up.....if someone has no source of water at home and getting water to said home would be a major undertaking, then bathing in a nearby river seems to be a good solution.
In my new home I will have a source of water, however I will have no water inside of the house itself. This is going to take some getting used to. There is an outdoor building with two rooms, one of which has a traditional toilet and the other is simply a big room with a drain, meant to be, I assumed, a bucket bath (aka shower) room. I have asked if the owner would install an actual shower in it and a Western type toilet seat on the traditional toilet. I think that jumping from the frying pan into the fire all at once as far as living more Sudanese might be too much for me.
I will have my solar cooking, electricity at night as I am still in the area of Malakal which receives electric, and I am learning to cook with charcoal on a charcoal burner. It is somewhat similar to a barbecue in the states, it has been suggested to me to stock up on three or four bags of it during the rainy season as it won't be available then. The wood is too wet during rainy season to be able to burn it for charcoal. I have learned that charcoal is a major cause of deforestation because the wood is burned to create it. I am also figuring out that coal is a totally different product as it is dug out of the deep earth. I am not particularly happy about contributing to deforestation, however there have to be alternatives if electricity is not available and the sun is not bright/hot enough.
I think that Malakal is getting more used to myself and Sharon. We are being greeted by more people as we walk to market and walk about the town. It can be nice to be remembered. The children also seem more comfortable in talking with us. It will be strange to be here alone again when Sharon leaves, perhaps it is all the better than I am moving to a new home and will have something to keep me busy for a while, besides teaching too!, making it into a home. I have dreams of cushions on the floor of the veranda, which will be my living room and office, and pictures somehow gotten on the walls. I looked for furniture today. It is very high priced in the market so I am going to have to find another way of obtaining it. In Khartoum I probably could have put the word out and found used furniture to buy from another ex-pat, there was a lot of passing around of homes and furnishings there. There was also a much larger ex-pat community, more like the size that was in Nanjing, China when I was there.
Blessings,
Debbie
Greetings from dusty Malakal.....! I am doing well in my little town. I have a houseguest for now, a fellow Presbyterian Co-Worker, Sharon, who is staying with me. She is teaching me things like the art of making charcoal fires and cooking over said fire. I have "suddenly" become a huge advocate of Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Camp Fire Girls! I say, "let them learn these important survival skills before they grow up and need them!"
I worshipped today at the church where I have chosen to be in community. It is a small Nuer church with a woman pastor. I was made to feel very, very welcome. I hope to be moving to a new home by the end of the month and this church is quite close to the new home. For this morning getting there included a 20 minutes walk and then some more after I was met by a friend who showed me the way. When I had gone before to preach we went by taxi and I had not a clue how to get to the building.
The church is in a small neighborhood and I discovered this morning it is very close to a branch of the Nile River! I believe it may be the White Nile that is here in this part of South Sudan. The White Nile and the Blue Nile join in Khartoum, Sudan, I have taken pictures of that joining. But today's sighting was of one of the branches. There were naked people taking baths in the river so I did not go close up.....if someone has no source of water at home and getting water to said home would be a major undertaking, then bathing in a nearby river seems to be a good solution.
In my new home I will have a source of water, however I will have no water inside of the house itself. This is going to take some getting used to. There is an outdoor building with two rooms, one of which has a traditional toilet and the other is simply a big room with a drain, meant to be, I assumed, a bucket bath (aka shower) room. I have asked if the owner would install an actual shower in it and a Western type toilet seat on the traditional toilet. I think that jumping from the frying pan into the fire all at once as far as living more Sudanese might be too much for me.
I will have my solar cooking, electricity at night as I am still in the area of Malakal which receives electric, and I am learning to cook with charcoal on a charcoal burner. It is somewhat similar to a barbecue in the states, it has been suggested to me to stock up on three or four bags of it during the rainy season as it won't be available then. The wood is too wet during rainy season to be able to burn it for charcoal. I have learned that charcoal is a major cause of deforestation because the wood is burned to create it. I am also figuring out that coal is a totally different product as it is dug out of the deep earth. I am not particularly happy about contributing to deforestation, however there have to be alternatives if electricity is not available and the sun is not bright/hot enough.
I think that Malakal is getting more used to myself and Sharon. We are being greeted by more people as we walk to market and walk about the town. It can be nice to be remembered. The children also seem more comfortable in talking with us. It will be strange to be here alone again when Sharon leaves, perhaps it is all the better than I am moving to a new home and will have something to keep me busy for a while, besides teaching too!, making it into a home. I have dreams of cushions on the floor of the veranda, which will be my living room and office, and pictures somehow gotten on the walls. I looked for furniture today. It is very high priced in the market so I am going to have to find another way of obtaining it. In Khartoum I probably could have put the word out and found used furniture to buy from another ex-pat, there was a lot of passing around of homes and furnishings there. There was also a much larger ex-pat community, more like the size that was in Nanjing, China when I was there.
Blessings,
Debbie
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Catching up with December.....
December 24, 2011
Dear Friends,
Greetings from the Big City of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! Big Lights, Big City!
This past week and a half has been a whirlwind and I find it is high time that I take a few minutes to blog about the adventures and other things that I have been involved with!
I set out for Addis Ababa on December 14th. I arrived on December 15th. We had quite the little adventure at the airport in Juba that Wednesday. In the beginning, in Malakal, our plane arrived late and so of course we took off late on our scheduled departure. When we arrived in Juba late the plane apparently was in need of either refueling or topping up, I was never clear about which. We were disembarked from the plane and sent to get an exit stamp on our travel documents. Many people now have visas, I have a travel permit as the visas were not issued until a few weeks after my arrival in September in South Sudan.
No one told me that the luggage procedure had changed. The luggage now stays on the plane during the stop over in Juba, previously it had all been taken off the plane and had to be reclaimed, then people had to take their luggage to the reloading area. So when my luggage did not appear I was rather panic stricken as to where it had been gone. Eventually I was told about the change in procedure.
I am a bit fuzzy on some of the details but apparently some kind of negotiations were going on around the refueling issue. As the negotiations were ongoing and perhaps the refueling was even occurring 5:00 p.m. came and it was time for the airport to shut down. The airport shut down and the air traffic controllers left the tower and there we were -- a plane that was going nowhere, packed with our luggage and a planeful of anxious passengers.
The long and the short of it is that God had blessed me by sending a group of people with whom I had acquaintance on the same flight and I was able to join their group. By the time we figured out that the authorities were all gone and no one was around to help us the skies were dark. As far as we could tell we had been left at an airport outside of an unfamiliar city with no place to go, no place to eat and no idea what time the flight would resume in the morning.
This was a particularly distressful evening as there were many foreigners who had connecting flights out of Addis Ababa ; those flights were missed and when we did at last arrive in Addis the next day the airline was having to cope with rebooking people to many different global destinations including China.
Someone suggested staying put, which was a fine idea as there was no place to go anyhow. Eventually the airline sent a bus to pick up those of us who had no NGO (non government organization such as the United Nations) to come and whisk us away. The bus took us into Juba proper and began searching for enough hotel rooms for everyone. The joke on board was that the bus was having fuel problems and next we’d be jammed into a taxi and then we’d be put in a donkey cart. Fortunately we taken care of before the situation came to that point.
We were put up in decent hotels and fed, thankfully. The next morning we were taken back to the airport in Juba and eventually our flight left and we were on track again. I was one of the most fortunate people because Addis Ababa was my termination point and I didn’t have to rebook anything. This was especially important as I had left Malakal with a bad cold and it was getting worse. By the time I reached my accomodations for Thursday night I had a fever and was both sizzling hot on my skin and freezing cold inside. The friend with whom I stayed the first night is a nurse; she diagnosed a sinus infection and we were able to find antibiotics the next day and get me on the road to recovery. Unfortunately since then stomach ailments have come my way, as for many other people here. However, last night I was able to sleep without struggling for breath! Alleluia!
When I was in Juba overnight I realized for the first time that Malakal has no traffic lights. Juba is HUGE compared to Malakal. Addis Ababa is HUGE compared to Juba. Juba has a lot of hotels, I know this because the airline bus we were on the evening that we were stranded in Juba stopped at quite a few looking for rooms. I believe that Malakal may have three at the most. Addis Ababa has many more than Juba.
I have had a hair trim and my teeth cleaned. I have stocked up on imported food. I finally realized as I was shopping in the imported food store, Novis, here in Addis, that it is the imported foods that really increase the grocery bill. This was true in China as well. The local food was/is somewhat less expensive. So now I need to find a routine with which I am comfortable of how often I will be indulge in, say, basil pesto for my pasta. Using the local tomato paste that comes in little plastic packages is going to be less expensive, even though in Malakal it is expensive simply because everything in South Sudan is expensive. It is still cheaper though than imported basil pesto. I don’t have a blender so making my own pesto isn’t realistic in Malakal. And....a blender isn’t realistic with so few hours of electricity. The simpler the cooking the better.
Today is the Augustinian calendar Christmas Eve. It is a bit odd to be in a country that follows the Julian calendar for religious celebrations. Odder still, Christmas is still considered a religious celebration here and not another secular holiday. At any rate, we Western Christians are offbeat here with our December 24 and 25 Christmas Eve and Christmas. As with China, I think that some of the stores here may keep their Christmas decorations up all year round. It might be a bit odd for the locals to have a bunch of people showing up who do not celebrate Christmas at the same time as the local culture.
Blessings,
Debbie
Dear Friends,
Greetings from the Big City of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! Big Lights, Big City!
This past week and a half has been a whirlwind and I find it is high time that I take a few minutes to blog about the adventures and other things that I have been involved with!
I set out for Addis Ababa on December 14th. I arrived on December 15th. We had quite the little adventure at the airport in Juba that Wednesday. In the beginning, in Malakal, our plane arrived late and so of course we took off late on our scheduled departure. When we arrived in Juba late the plane apparently was in need of either refueling or topping up, I was never clear about which. We were disembarked from the plane and sent to get an exit stamp on our travel documents. Many people now have visas, I have a travel permit as the visas were not issued until a few weeks after my arrival in September in South Sudan.
No one told me that the luggage procedure had changed. The luggage now stays on the plane during the stop over in Juba, previously it had all been taken off the plane and had to be reclaimed, then people had to take their luggage to the reloading area. So when my luggage did not appear I was rather panic stricken as to where it had been gone. Eventually I was told about the change in procedure.
I am a bit fuzzy on some of the details but apparently some kind of negotiations were going on around the refueling issue. As the negotiations were ongoing and perhaps the refueling was even occurring 5:00 p.m. came and it was time for the airport to shut down. The airport shut down and the air traffic controllers left the tower and there we were -- a plane that was going nowhere, packed with our luggage and a planeful of anxious passengers.
The long and the short of it is that God had blessed me by sending a group of people with whom I had acquaintance on the same flight and I was able to join their group. By the time we figured out that the authorities were all gone and no one was around to help us the skies were dark. As far as we could tell we had been left at an airport outside of an unfamiliar city with no place to go, no place to eat and no idea what time the flight would resume in the morning.
This was a particularly distressful evening as there were many foreigners who had connecting flights out of Addis Ababa ; those flights were missed and when we did at last arrive in Addis the next day the airline was having to cope with rebooking people to many different global destinations including China.
Someone suggested staying put, which was a fine idea as there was no place to go anyhow. Eventually the airline sent a bus to pick up those of us who had no NGO (non government organization such as the United Nations) to come and whisk us away. The bus took us into Juba proper and began searching for enough hotel rooms for everyone. The joke on board was that the bus was having fuel problems and next we’d be jammed into a taxi and then we’d be put in a donkey cart. Fortunately we taken care of before the situation came to that point.
We were put up in decent hotels and fed, thankfully. The next morning we were taken back to the airport in Juba and eventually our flight left and we were on track again. I was one of the most fortunate people because Addis Ababa was my termination point and I didn’t have to rebook anything. This was especially important as I had left Malakal with a bad cold and it was getting worse. By the time I reached my accomodations for Thursday night I had a fever and was both sizzling hot on my skin and freezing cold inside. The friend with whom I stayed the first night is a nurse; she diagnosed a sinus infection and we were able to find antibiotics the next day and get me on the road to recovery. Unfortunately since then stomach ailments have come my way, as for many other people here. However, last night I was able to sleep without struggling for breath! Alleluia!
When I was in Juba overnight I realized for the first time that Malakal has no traffic lights. Juba is HUGE compared to Malakal. Addis Ababa is HUGE compared to Juba. Juba has a lot of hotels, I know this because the airline bus we were on the evening that we were stranded in Juba stopped at quite a few looking for rooms. I believe that Malakal may have three at the most. Addis Ababa has many more than Juba.
I have had a hair trim and my teeth cleaned. I have stocked up on imported food. I finally realized as I was shopping in the imported food store, Novis, here in Addis, that it is the imported foods that really increase the grocery bill. This was true in China as well. The local food was/is somewhat less expensive. So now I need to find a routine with which I am comfortable of how often I will be indulge in, say, basil pesto for my pasta. Using the local tomato paste that comes in little plastic packages is going to be less expensive, even though in Malakal it is expensive simply because everything in South Sudan is expensive. It is still cheaper though than imported basil pesto. I don’t have a blender so making my own pesto isn’t realistic in Malakal. And....a blender isn’t realistic with so few hours of electricity. The simpler the cooking the better.
Today is the Augustinian calendar Christmas Eve. It is a bit odd to be in a country that follows the Julian calendar for religious celebrations. Odder still, Christmas is still considered a religious celebration here and not another secular holiday. At any rate, we Western Christians are offbeat here with our December 24 and 25 Christmas Eve and Christmas. As with China, I think that some of the stores here may keep their Christmas decorations up all year round. It might be a bit odd for the locals to have a bunch of people showing up who do not celebrate Christmas at the same time as the local culture.
Blessings,
Debbie
Friday, December 2, 2011
First Bat Sighting!
Dear Friends,
Greetings! Well, I've found and seen my first bat here in Malakal! There was a big creature that looked like it had flappers on the veranda. It was black and very, very fast. I think I was afraid to stomp it with my Birks! It looked like a big beetle.
I went to my neighbor's for movie night, we watched Little Women, and found out that the creature is a BAT. I suppose even bats have to start out as babies. Gross!
I've had to crush (hard for the vegetarian here!) two baby snakes in the house as well....I just hope I haven't missed any of the little creatures!
Blessings,
Debbie
Greetings! Well, I've found and seen my first bat here in Malakal! There was a big creature that looked like it had flappers on the veranda. It was black and very, very fast. I think I was afraid to stomp it with my Birks! It looked like a big beetle.
I went to my neighbor's for movie night, we watched Little Women, and found out that the creature is a BAT. I suppose even bats have to start out as babies. Gross!
I've had to crush (hard for the vegetarian here!) two baby snakes in the house as well....I just hope I haven't missed any of the little creatures!
Blessings,
Debbie
International Differences and other observations....
Dear Friends,
Greetings! I attended a Security Meeting at the United Nations this morning here in
Malakal. It never fails to strike me as odd that walking into a building and then a
room that has lights and is a just-right temperature during the day feels so normal. When
it's not.
It isn't normal here in Malakal to have lights during the day or air conditioning. In Malakal
these are artificial conditions created by using a generator. And yet when I encounter these
conditions it just does seem so normal. I hardly question it until I remember. I'm in Malakal.
Walking into the UN Compound and the meeting room was, then, entering another world.
Kind of like the movie Avatar except not quite so exceptional or beautiful as the Avatar
world on the alternative planet.
We were not offered coffee and that lack did not fit in with my expectations of this alternative world, this different planet. Other than that it reminded me of buildings I was in when I lived in Jerusalem. NGO buildings that seemed so clean. So technology oriented. So normal in the midst of the craziness that was Jerusalem.
Malakal is not crazy in the way that Jerusalem was. Malakal also does not have narrow windy streets with vehicles careening along threatening to annihilate pedestrians. The little store across the street from where I live here in Malakal is closed today. Perhaps the shop keeper is Muslim and observing the Muslim day of Friday prayers. That is like Jerusalem. But Khartoum was like that too. Anyhow, Jerusalem is a mix of ancient/modern and is HUGE. Malakal is not huge and is more like a recovering war zone. Because it IS a recovering war zone.
So I learned today what the difference is between American Red Cross shelters in the United States and the gathering points for foreigners in Malakal if we should ever need to gather. The American Red Cross FEEDS people. If the foreigners in Malakal ever need to gather we will be at MEETING points and NOT feeding points.
This does not particularly phase me as I grew up in the Seattle area and consider Seattle home. In Seattle of course we try to dismiss the fact from our everyday existences that we live in an earthquake prone area of the world. AND at the same time we are have emergency (particularly earthquake) preparedness drilled into us from the crib on. We are supposed to have three to four days of food, water and medicine handily available in case of an emergency because public servants will not be able to serve us and aid us for at least that long. Maybe they will trying to serve and aid their own families.
So this is not unfamiliar to me and I realize that I can fill a carry-on (plane) rolling suitcase with non-perishable food that does not require cooking and keep it nearby me at all times in the house. I also realized this morning that it is a good idea to have more than I can eat in this suitcase as there will be people who did not grow up with emergency preparedness drilled into them from the crib and they will not have done this for themselves. I can share.
So, life meanders on. I stopped in at the Ethiopian Airlines office which has a tiny office in the South Sudan Hotel, on the way home, and made sure that my e-ticket was on the manifest for my flight to Addis Ababa this month. I'm very excited -- I was the very first name on the list!
Next week finals to grade and final grades to assess. I need to begin packing for Addis Ababa. I need to continue updating the lists for shopping for food that I can't get here in Malakal that I plan to bring back with me. Need to decide what to take with me for working on the dissertation proposal for the University of South Africa (UNISA) that is due early next year.
I think that the internet connection here in my home is threatening to cut off so I will stop now and publish this blog and share it with you on Facebook.
Blessings,
Debbie
Greetings! I attended a Security Meeting at the United Nations this morning here in
Malakal. It never fails to strike me as odd that walking into a building and then a
room that has lights and is a just-right temperature during the day feels so normal. When
it's not.
It isn't normal here in Malakal to have lights during the day or air conditioning. In Malakal
these are artificial conditions created by using a generator. And yet when I encounter these
conditions it just does seem so normal. I hardly question it until I remember. I'm in Malakal.
Walking into the UN Compound and the meeting room was, then, entering another world.
Kind of like the movie Avatar except not quite so exceptional or beautiful as the Avatar
world on the alternative planet.
We were not offered coffee and that lack did not fit in with my expectations of this alternative world, this different planet. Other than that it reminded me of buildings I was in when I lived in Jerusalem. NGO buildings that seemed so clean. So technology oriented. So normal in the midst of the craziness that was Jerusalem.
Malakal is not crazy in the way that Jerusalem was. Malakal also does not have narrow windy streets with vehicles careening along threatening to annihilate pedestrians. The little store across the street from where I live here in Malakal is closed today. Perhaps the shop keeper is Muslim and observing the Muslim day of Friday prayers. That is like Jerusalem. But Khartoum was like that too. Anyhow, Jerusalem is a mix of ancient/modern and is HUGE. Malakal is not huge and is more like a recovering war zone. Because it IS a recovering war zone.
So I learned today what the difference is between American Red Cross shelters in the United States and the gathering points for foreigners in Malakal if we should ever need to gather. The American Red Cross FEEDS people. If the foreigners in Malakal ever need to gather we will be at MEETING points and NOT feeding points.
This does not particularly phase me as I grew up in the Seattle area and consider Seattle home. In Seattle of course we try to dismiss the fact from our everyday existences that we live in an earthquake prone area of the world. AND at the same time we are have emergency (particularly earthquake) preparedness drilled into us from the crib on. We are supposed to have three to four days of food, water and medicine handily available in case of an emergency because public servants will not be able to serve us and aid us for at least that long. Maybe they will trying to serve and aid their own families.
So this is not unfamiliar to me and I realize that I can fill a carry-on (plane) rolling suitcase with non-perishable food that does not require cooking and keep it nearby me at all times in the house. I also realized this morning that it is a good idea to have more than I can eat in this suitcase as there will be people who did not grow up with emergency preparedness drilled into them from the crib and they will not have done this for themselves. I can share.
So, life meanders on. I stopped in at the Ethiopian Airlines office which has a tiny office in the South Sudan Hotel, on the way home, and made sure that my e-ticket was on the manifest for my flight to Addis Ababa this month. I'm very excited -- I was the very first name on the list!
Next week finals to grade and final grades to assess. I need to begin packing for Addis Ababa. I need to continue updating the lists for shopping for food that I can't get here in Malakal that I plan to bring back with me. Need to decide what to take with me for working on the dissertation proposal for the University of South Africa (UNISA) that is due early next year.
I think that the internet connection here in my home is threatening to cut off so I will stop now and publish this blog and share it with you on Facebook.
Blessings,
Debbie
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