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Morning of Day 13.
I wish that I could say Thursday morning went flawlessly…a day of perfection reserved only for last days with beautiful people. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
In my journal, I wrote these phrases as I sat at the breakfast table: My body is growing weary…I have white patches [in my throat] which is an indication of strep…my intestines have finally revolted against the beans and rice…my legs are consumed with bites…my sunburn is badly peeling…my ankle is still swollen. Even through all of this, I still do not want to leave. My heart is definitely here.
As I began the last full day in Sudan, I did so with a heavy heart. I was truly sad about leaving the beautiful people I had quickly come to love, and about leaving such simplicity. However, despite the sadness that was creeping in, I was also determined to make Thursday an awesome day that would leave me with many joyful memories.
Snapshot of Thursday Morning:
-Awoke with really sore throat, but I received a check-up and diagnosis of strep from Mandy, and then a Z-pack from Kerry
-Ate a breakfast of champions
-Journaled and took pictures while waiting for Bible school students to arrive/finish working in the field
-Climbed a ladder for elevated photographic view of compound (women do not climb in Sudan)
-Went to the Bible duel gora, but had to leave soon after we started for fear of losing my breakfast
-Laid in the hut, used my “must have” fan for only the third time (Andrew panicked a little when he found out that Angie and Mandy did not bring fans, and I bought mine at the airport in Indy…we didn’t really care about the fans, but the team leader has to give his up in the event of a suffering team member.)
-Fell asleep to the sounds of the men chatting in Nuer behind our huts while they cultivated
-Awoke in the middle of a dream about dinosaurs coming to get us…but it turned out to just be an MSF plane flying over
-Returned to the Bible duel gora and ate [a teeny, tiny] lunch with the team and students
-Hung out with Mandy under our aun (porch) while listening to my iPod and eating the Teddy Grahams I forgot I had until just then; set a trend when Bil and Kim then sat under their aun.
-Finished at the Bible school, prayed with students one last time, took a group photo, and said good-bye to God’s amazing Sudanese servants
Photographic documentation!
My yummy breakfast each day: strawberry oatmeal, Starbucks’ VIA, and Propel…
Complete with flies each day…
I have no idea what they were discussing that morning, but here’s Kerry, Andrew, and Chris at breakfast…
Mandy brought some yummy TAZO tea for her mornings in Sudan…
Mandy and I. This was after my diagnosis of strep throat, but I learned from the Sudanese to smile no matter what life has handed you (okay, so a sore throat and tired body are nothing in comparison to what they have faced, but in all seriousness, the trip was an immense lesson in never complaining)…
The job of filtering water was never finished…
I had time and a camera, so here’s a shot of the used grass thatching…
This is a chair…
A morning game of yit, anyone? I LOVE this game…well, I love watching the Sudanese play this game…
The men were up early that morning working on digging up weeds amongst the corn. It is really intense labor, as the black cotton soil is extremely hard (think concrete) when it is dry. They used simple hoes to effectively chop up the roots. Very few things about daily life in Sudan are easy. By that time, I had realized that nearly everything took twice, if not three times, longer there than at home. Even brushing your teeth is a process when you don’t have running water. They put a lot of back-breaking work into sustaining life in Sudan…
Okay, so because Mandy and I are both from farming communities, we really took note of how much the corn grew in the short time that we were there. The corn behind our hut (and suspiciously close to the long drop) nearly doubled in size over the course of the week. Here we are demonstrating how amazingly tall the corn is…
These pictures are from the roof of the Bible school. I decided to utilize the ladder that was leaning against it, and I got these shots of our compound. The four huts are our sleeping huts, or duel tocha, the hut nearer to the right is the kitchen hut, or duel sut, and the duel wodora and duel poka are behind our sleeping huts against the back fence…
Duel sut…
Beyond the fence…
I wasn’t feeling fantastic at this point, but it quickly progressed as the morning wore on, and I went back to my hut to lay down. I laid awake for a while, cried about leaving for a bit, and then finally fell asleep. At some point, Kerry popped by to check on me, and then Mandy came in to take care of me. There is nothing like not feeling well so far from home, but there is also nothing like having so many amazing people to make sure you are okay. Mandy prayed over me, and then she cleaned out my Nalgene bottle to get rid of germs (she used mouthwash, and later I couldn’t figure out why my bottle was so minty fresh!). I really love and appreciate my team members!
So, after my nap and bizarre dinosaur dream, I felt a ton better and went back to the Bible school. They were eating lunch, but I still wasn’t really hungry, so I went back to my hut for a small snack. That’s when I unzipped an untouched pocket and discovered my chocolate Teddy Grahams!! I wanted to journal some more, so I sat under our front porch (aun) and snacked. Mandy joined me for some front-porch sitting…Sudanese style!
We totally set a trend…
The inside of our hut after a week and a half…
My bed…
After our snack time, we headed back to the Bible school. There were a few new children on our compound that wanted a sora as I walked back. I was happy to capture their sweetness…
When school was finished for the afternoon, we got a couple of group shots…
Mandy and Mary…
Mary kept trying to take this wrap off while I was taking their picture, and at first we couldn’t figure out why, but then she put it on Mandy…
Morning Highs:
-Spending a relaxed morning with the team before school began. It was nice to eat breakfast, take pictures, and just enjoy each other’s company.
-Getting antibiotics for the ick that had weakened my body
-A prayer from a friend and a nap that healed the stomach and intestinal issues
-Being able to share a final lunch with our students
-Photographs!!!
-Finding the Teddy Grahams…unexpected highlight that day!
-Relaxing under the “porch” of our hut, and then having Bil and Kim totally copy us!
Morning Lows:
-Being puny
Lesson God Taught Me:
-Small acts of compassion go a really long way. I was thousands of miles away from home and not feeling well, and I was really struggling with leaving on top of that. Just having my team members pop in and check on me…and especially having Mandy come in and pray over me…meant a lot! In the U.S., we are so usually so self-involved that we forget that others around us might be facing their own struggles. It takes less than a second to smile at someone, and even if it takes a few minutes longer to let someone in front of you in line or help someone carry something, those little acts of kindness may be all that someone needed.
