I overstated the comfort of the guesthouse at Diakonie. It was great in that it was private and virtually bug and spider free. The other critters I was told about was the huge snakes and scorpions in the area. In retrospect, I do doubt a bit that there are that many, because we saw neither the whole trip. We got up and had a nice breakfast of boiled sweet potatoes and instant coffee shipped in from Kenya. We also checked our emails again. As we were doing so, the Commissioner's driver came by to pick us up. So we quickly readied ourselves and off we went. After we picked up the Commissioner from his office, he and his body guards hopped in the Land-cruiser (his personal one this time) and we took off down the road. After touring for a while we came upon a plain that seemed to stretch over the horizon in two different directions - North and South. We crossed a small river and then came back over again. All I could see was the potential for rice fields in the near future. In fact everywhere my friend John looked he saw amazing potential for large scale farming...
About a Kilometer on the road back, we turned to the south and drove into a small hardwood Forrest. Once inside, the Commissioner told us this was the home of the Catholic mission in the area. Soon, we came up to a gate that guarded several compounds that had been sectioned off for different projects. The first thing we came upon was earth moving equipment busy clearing a place for their most recent construction project... Student Housing for a new Polytechnic school. As we drove through an inner gate we stopped in front of the dining hall of the volunteer housing complex.
We were ushered in and given juice and water to drink. Then the father showed us around the complex. As we were touring the facility, he shared his story of how he had established the place in 2005. He had spent his first 6 months sleeping in a tent. He testified to the large population of large snakes and scorpions.
The more I was there, the more I gained an appreciation for the Catholics. They are an amazing organization of people of faith who, by their strength in numbers and unity alone, can go into areas others only dream about going into. After the tour, we all were invited to a lunch of Italian pasta and cheese imported from Italy especially for the Italian volunteers who donate one or more months of their time to this outpost.
I left the place hoping that someday I could build something that even remotely resembles the excellence and goodness of what they are accomplishing in Southern Sudan. I also went away hoping that the Commissioner was not hoping that I could pull off anything of that magnitude... We went back to the guesthouse at about 3pm full and in a good mood.
Once back at the guesthouse, we (John and me) took some time to sit down with Janet find out why her two week trip plan in October 2009 turned into almost four months... Also, what was her desire about Cueibet? Did she want to stay there permanently and give up her career at KKV? She was very quick and clear to state that she wanted to come home to Kenya so badly that God would have to speak to her in a loud voice to get her to go back to Southern Sudan again. Her story was that she had gone up to secure some documentation for the land that we had been offered by the local people. She had gone up with the determination to see the documentation through. After a month, instead of securing the documents, she had run out of money and felt foolish about it. She decided to work her way home by selling some home made jewelry. When that did not sell, she tried to get a job teaching English to make enough money to get back. It was finally in Mid January, she gave up hope of getting back. She had tried on several occasions to email us and even sms us... She never got the opportunity. Each time she would get into town, she would find out that the internet was down. Also, she was not allowed to use the guesthouse computers because of regulations. It was late January that she found out that we were coming in February. I have to admit, the story was hard to believe at first... But then, I realized where we were and it came to me that she was really stuck... So from that time onward, we decided to take Janet with us back to Nairobi.
That out of the way, we spent the rest of the day looking forward to the following day, checking out our new property in Southern Sudan.
About a Kilometer on the road back, we turned to the south and drove into a small hardwood Forrest. Once inside, the Commissioner told us this was the home of the Catholic mission in the area. Soon, we came up to a gate that guarded several compounds that had been sectioned off for different projects. The first thing we came upon was earth moving equipment busy clearing a place for their most recent construction project... Student Housing for a new Polytechnic school. As we drove through an inner gate we stopped in front of the dining hall of the volunteer housing complex.
We were ushered in and given juice and water to drink. Then the father showed us around the complex. As we were touring the facility, he shared his story of how he had established the place in 2005. He had spent his first 6 months sleeping in a tent. He testified to the large population of large snakes and scorpions.
The more I was there, the more I gained an appreciation for the Catholics. They are an amazing organization of people of faith who, by their strength in numbers and unity alone, can go into areas others only dream about going into. After the tour, we all were invited to a lunch of Italian pasta and cheese imported from Italy especially for the Italian volunteers who donate one or more months of their time to this outpost.
I left the place hoping that someday I could build something that even remotely resembles the excellence and goodness of what they are accomplishing in Southern Sudan. I also went away hoping that the Commissioner was not hoping that I could pull off anything of that magnitude... We went back to the guesthouse at about 3pm full and in a good mood.
Once back at the guesthouse, we (John and me) took some time to sit down with Janet find out why her two week trip plan in October 2009 turned into almost four months... Also, what was her desire about Cueibet? Did she want to stay there permanently and give up her career at KKV? She was very quick and clear to state that she wanted to come home to Kenya so badly that God would have to speak to her in a loud voice to get her to go back to Southern Sudan again. Her story was that she had gone up to secure some documentation for the land that we had been offered by the local people. She had gone up with the determination to see the documentation through. After a month, instead of securing the documents, she had run out of money and felt foolish about it. She decided to work her way home by selling some home made jewelry. When that did not sell, she tried to get a job teaching English to make enough money to get back. It was finally in Mid January, she gave up hope of getting back. She had tried on several occasions to email us and even sms us... She never got the opportunity. Each time she would get into town, she would find out that the internet was down. Also, she was not allowed to use the guesthouse computers because of regulations. It was late January that she found out that we were coming in February. I have to admit, the story was hard to believe at first... But then, I realized where we were and it came to me that she was really stuck... So from that time onward, we decided to take Janet with us back to Nairobi.
That out of the way, we spent the rest of the day looking forward to the following day, checking out our new property in Southern Sudan.
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