Well here I am, two weeks into my time in Mundri and it feels like it has flown by, but at the same time it feels as if I have been here a while and am starting to find a rhythm. After a short hiatus from internet due to some funky network issues, I have it again and I figure it is a good time to update everyone once again upon what is going on in the life of their favourite South Sudanese adventurer. So far it seems that after my bike incident there haven't been too many wild adventures, but I will do my best to share some stories and pictures if they work (speaking of pictures, guess who forgot their camera charger and chord...)
As I described in my last rant, life here in Mundri is not even remotely fast paced in comparison to what we are well accustomed to in the Western world, so it seems as if everyday if I accomplish one task then that day has been successful. Most of these tasks up to this point have been meeting with various people from various organizations: the director of this, and coordinator of that, surveyor of land, and researcher for so and so, and what what (I believe that this is what people say instead of etcetera... makes me giggle a bit every time and I look forward to opportunities to say it as well). In and among these meetings Paul and I are getting very near to finally having full possession of the land that we aim to build our office and school on in the near future. This brings me to a prayer request. First and foremost that this transfer would finally go through as it has been months in the works, and secondly the fee the government is asking of us is quite substantial. Substantial enough that it blew me away, so please pray that God will provide the funds that are required of us so that we can not only get this land but also continue forward with building.
Everywhere I go there is one phrase that sticks out the most to me "You are most welcome". No matter where my legs take me for the day everyone always greets me, offers me a chair, and begins to talk to me. It is absolutely wonderful as I have made many friends in many of the stalls at the market. Some good looking chaps like this.
Sometimes we will sit for hours discussing life, politics, school, really almost anything. I have drawn many maps in the dirt describing my journey here.
Now in case the dog has bitten or the bee has stung, I feel as if I should share some of my favourite things about Mundri.
First off, most mornings and evenings you will hear loud sounds of cheering from just outside of my compound. That is because there is a football (soccer for you weird Canadians) field just outside of my compound beside the church. For the last week and a bit there has been a tournament between all of the primary schools in Mundri West area. The final game happened just on Monday, and what a great game it was. The final score was 1-0 on a penalty kick, so intense. The fields would be surrounded during these games not just by school children but many people from the community. It was wonderful to see everyone get together and enjoy a sporting event. Anytime a goal was scored or something good would happen there was a section of the crowd that would erupt with ululation. This love for sport is wonderful beyond this tournament. Even when there haven't been scheduled matches people will come out and play soccer and volleyball every night. It has been a great way to get to know people in the community and show off my mad skills (ok... I stunk it up during volleyball and I think some people were heckling me as the soft white man during soccer).
A second thing I love about Mundri is of course the adorable children. I know we are not supposed to choose favourites, but I have one for now. His name is Conda. He is just the cutest little monkey of a boy. When I first met him he wasn't really scared like the other children, I told him to come sit and he did. This was later proceeded by me getting him to do backflips by walking up my legs (bad idea with sweaty palms, and also because he never wanted to stop). When I finally did get him to stop and sat down, he jumped on my shoulders and pretended I was a motorcycle. This was great for learning because I found out a brand name of motorcycle and how to say I am one. Finally he stole my glasses, but again God allowed this to be a teaching opportunity, and I learned how to say give me my glasses. Overall, this kid is the cutest and I run into him many times on the football field, and I usually have to give him at least 10 backflips.
A final thing I love about Mundri is the rain. When it gets super hot here, I can do nothing but count down for the rain to come. And usually when it comes, boy does it come down hard. Thunder, lightning, wind, it is just epic. Not only that, but it brings sweet sweet relief from the heat. There is nothing better than going to sleep with an African rain pouring down outside all around you.
So this brings us to the end for now. I never really mentioned why I labelled this blog the way I did. Well bear with me as I share some prayer requests then I will tell you why I called it this.
Prayer Requests:
-land transfer
-language learning
-smaller projects(peer tutoring and supplementary teaching)
-communication
Ok here you go. I know that we have all seen our fair share of dancing, whether it is our own in front of a mirror or on tv or wherever it is. But, this last Sunday I got to go to a church called Mili Kilanga and this was what I assume would be a traditional Moru service would be like. There were drums and loud (seemingly repetitive) singing. But these people were free and praising the Lord. As we were worshiping I looked over during the worship time, and there was this somewhat frail old man doing this shuffle dance that my words will fail to describe. He had his arms bent and his hands in fists, but his knees were bouncing and his hips were moving. He was dancing for joy, and the beautiful thing is that there is only one thing that I know that can make a man dance like that, and that is the freedom that comes from knowing the lover of your soul, Jesus Christ.
God Bless,
Thomas
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| James TaTa |
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| Francis Wajo |
Sometimes we will sit for hours discussing life, politics, school, really almost anything. I have drawn many maps in the dirt describing my journey here.
Now in case the dog has bitten or the bee has stung, I feel as if I should share some of my favourite things about Mundri.
First off, most mornings and evenings you will hear loud sounds of cheering from just outside of my compound. That is because there is a football (soccer for you weird Canadians) field just outside of my compound beside the church. For the last week and a bit there has been a tournament between all of the primary schools in Mundri West area. The final game happened just on Monday, and what a great game it was. The final score was 1-0 on a penalty kick, so intense. The fields would be surrounded during these games not just by school children but many people from the community. It was wonderful to see everyone get together and enjoy a sporting event. Anytime a goal was scored or something good would happen there was a section of the crowd that would erupt with ululation. This love for sport is wonderful beyond this tournament. Even when there haven't been scheduled matches people will come out and play soccer and volleyball every night. It has been a great way to get to know people in the community and show off my mad skills (ok... I stunk it up during volleyball and I think some people were heckling me as the soft white man during soccer).A second thing I love about Mundri is of course the adorable children. I know we are not supposed to choose favourites, but I have one for now. His name is Conda. He is just the cutest little monkey of a boy. When I first met him he wasn't really scared like the other children, I told him to come sit and he did. This was later proceeded by me getting him to do backflips by walking up my legs (bad idea with sweaty palms, and also because he never wanted to stop). When I finally did get him to stop and sat down, he jumped on my shoulders and pretended I was a motorcycle. This was great for learning because I found out a brand name of motorcycle and how to say I am one. Finally he stole my glasses, but again God allowed this to be a teaching opportunity, and I learned how to say give me my glasses. Overall, this kid is the cutest and I run into him many times on the football field, and I usually have to give him at least 10 backflips.
A final thing I love about Mundri is the rain. When it gets super hot here, I can do nothing but count down for the rain to come. And usually when it comes, boy does it come down hard. Thunder, lightning, wind, it is just epic. Not only that, but it brings sweet sweet relief from the heat. There is nothing better than going to sleep with an African rain pouring down outside all around you.So this brings us to the end for now. I never really mentioned why I labelled this blog the way I did. Well bear with me as I share some prayer requests then I will tell you why I called it this.
Prayer Requests:
-land transfer
-language learning
-smaller projects(peer tutoring and supplementary teaching)
-communication
Ok here you go. I know that we have all seen our fair share of dancing, whether it is our own in front of a mirror or on tv or wherever it is. But, this last Sunday I got to go to a church called Mili Kilanga and this was what I assume would be a traditional Moru service would be like. There were drums and loud (seemingly repetitive) singing. But these people were free and praising the Lord. As we were worshiping I looked over during the worship time, and there was this somewhat frail old man doing this shuffle dance that my words will fail to describe. He had his arms bent and his hands in fists, but his knees were bouncing and his hips were moving. He was dancing for joy, and the beautiful thing is that there is only one thing that I know that can make a man dance like that, and that is the freedom that comes from knowing the lover of your soul, Jesus Christ.
God Bless,
Thomas
This so so awesome Thomas! we love reading your blogs! we will be praying for you and your time there! Carla and Brad
ReplyDeleteYou totally made a Sound of Music reference there didn`t you? hshs awesome :)
ReplyDelete