The Yei Base

Greetings from Yei,

So for the next few days I am getting oriented here, working with a guy to learn what I am suppose to be doing before heading up to Tanj. Basically I will be part of a three man team: a engineer, logististion and I will be the mobilizer.

The steps in building Churches is pretty simple although the process and work is quite difficult.

• Step one is to find the Churches and take an assessment of whether they need to be rebuilt. The main qualification here is that they were destroyed during the war. Currently there are 570 church sites identified.
• Step two is to meet with the church and see if they are willing to partner with SP in rebuilding. If agreed, they sign a contract agreeing to provided/collect the sand, stone, and water for the project. SP then agrees to actually build the building; a team of builders will be brought in for the actual construction.
• Step three is for the church to begin collecting supplies. SP provides the transport but it is up to the church to provide the labor to go and collect the supplies. It also includes breaking stones and clearing the site. This is where I will come in - my responsibilities will to help motivate the church in collecting the supplies, keeping them encouraged and making sure they have all the tools, transport and other materials they need. SP does not just want to give a hand outs but realizes that somethings need to be provided if anything is to be accomplished. This process can take up to a month or more depending on how quickly the church volunteers work. Sometimes they will work very very slowly, in which case we may move to another site until they are more serious.
• The fourth step is to have the building team come in and construct the church. The Yei compound is the main staging area for all materials moving north. Both iron (for trusses) and wood (doors, windows, pews, pulpits) projects are done at workshops here. Most of the wood is mahogany.
• And finally there is a grand church opening (I am going to one on Sunday so I will get to see what that is like.

One issue here is the feeling from the churches that more should be done (i.e. the church should be bigger or there should be better benches, etc). I know this will be a frustration, but in many ways this is part of working in development.

For those of you interested the SP Compound in Yei is at:

N 04 05.560'
E 030 39.905'

Elevation at 2983ft

Everyone I have met as a part of this project is a guy around 25 years old - I am the old guy out here but I guess I am just trying to still be tough like them.

SP Compound in Yei:

Wood working shop at the compound:

until next time -

phil