Tonight’s special: Three cheese sauce with goat meat on spaghetti

So I am now in Tonj and have begun to settle in a bit. My partner up here, Ben, is a great guy, just recently graduated from University of Missouri in civil engineering. He has been up here about a month, so he is new but I am learning a lot from him about this place.

What can I say about Tonj? Well it is quite a bit warmer up here as oppose to Yei. Since I have been here the temperature in the day is between 115-120 degrees, dropping to around 85-90 at night (at least it makes the cold showers nice). We are expecting the rains to start in another few weeks; the problem then will be the roads and the mosquitoes. All around Tonj there are places that flood and some houses are even on stilts, thus making many roads impassible or at least very difficult even with a 4x4 (there are no paved roads in southern Sudan). This will make the collecting of building materials a challenge.

Our compound is fairly simple. Ben and I share a room and we have power in the evenings from a small generator but power is an issue and there is no fan at night. There are two others here as we are sharing the compound with another NGO. Joseph (Sudanese) is the compound manager and Kate (Ugandan) is a nurse that is working at a clinic on site here. The clinic is currently overwhelmed with cholera cases and she has been working very long days and nights. She has very little help and is 7 months pregnant – wow she is tough! This area really faces serious issues with water and sanitation. There are very few pit latrines and bore hole wells. Some families have to travel over 1 mile for water. This has been the biggest factor for cholera. A lot of people have to go to the river for water, and everything goes on at the river: bathing, washing vehicles, washing clothes, swimming, bathing animals, etc. Most people really don't have a choice and I know would rather not get their water here as it is very polluted.

A woman and her baby:

Praise the Lord we do have water filters at our camp but one problem or challenge we have had since I have been here is that there is no cook. Now for most of you in the states this might sound strange but over here it is very helpful to have someone to cook for you as we don’t have time to shop, nor do we have time to cook. So Ben, Joseph and I have been taking turns – we don’t want Kate in there after being about cholera patients all day. Hence the title of this message: Three cheese sauce with goat meat on spaghetti – this was Ben’s special dish and actually it wasn’t too bad but it was a little strange. Last night I made macaroni and cheese with some corn (mmm…everything yellow) – I tried to ignore the fact that the date on the boxes was Nov 23, 2004. At any rate I really don’t care to much what I eat as long as I find something cool to drink. Here is photo of a woman cooking in Thiet:

We are currently working with three church sites before moving to Rumbek:

Mapel Church: N 07۫ 17.589’ E028۫ 26.554’ Elevation: 1552 Distance (as the crow flies) from compound 26.16 miles – takes about 1 ½ hours one way (beginning on walls – about 2-3 weeks from competition)

Thiet Church: 07۫ 36.284’ E028۫ 48.745’ Elevation: 1356 Distance from compound 16.54 miles – takes about 45 minutes one way (almost done, finishing work underway)

Tonj Church: 07۫ 16.708’ E028۫ 40.869’ Elevation: 1440 Distance from compound .14 miles – takes about 2 minutes (completed). Here is a photo, this will be the general size and design of most the churches:

Most days I am running supplies to the various sites (diesel, concrete, water, tools, etc) trying to make sure that building crews have everything they need. There is no communication between the sites and us so it takes a physical visit and supplies can be very hard to find here. Like I said before, a lot of things come from Yei and Uganda but as that is a hard two day drive one way, you can’t exactly hop down there. Today I went to Thiet to bring the carpenter out there and get the trap to cover the slab at Mapel, then headed out to Mapel after lunch (last nights mac and cheese with some rice). But, at Mapel I found that the cement mixer was busted and we need to get the one from Thiet to bring over – we don’t drive at night so this will to wait until tomorrow as it was already 5pm but it is a constant back and forth.

Guys playing a card game in Tonj:

Well I guess that is all for now. I am planning to share some of the stories I am hearing and I want to tell you more about some of the staff we have working with us. Most people have been very kind and welcoming. Thank you for your prayers. Please pray that the cholera epidemic would end, that Ben and I would have favor with local pastors and officials and that we would have wisdom in working with our staff.

“Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live. There I will go to the altar of God, to God-the source of all my joy. I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God!”

Psalm 43:3-4