Day Four.
The second I entered the small, stale room, I knew that the boy lying before me was only barely clinging to life. With each labored breath, the sound of mucous rattled through his lungs…they call this the death rattle. Looking at his tall, Dinka frame, I was taken aback by how wasted away his body had become. When I laid my hand on his leg, I could feel his bone under the cool, tissue paper skin. He was only just a young man of eighteen, yet here he was dying before our very eyes, because in Southern Sudan, there aren’t fully-functioning hospitals with x-ray, CAT scan, and PET scan machines. There aren’t endless supplies of medicines. There are simple clinics. There are loving missionaries. There is life. There is much death. I could barely pray because I was choking on tears. My heart was broken in a whole new way, and the pain seared through my body as I wept for this young man. Lord, give me your eyes for just one second…break my heart for what breaks yours.
Isaac died that evening, only hours after we had prayed over him. From my safe, comfortable bed just on the other side of the compound wall, I could hear his family wailing over him, and I was instantly reminded of the people in the Bible who cried out in mourning and tore their clothes.
A boy taken too young. Another preventable death.
Snapshop of Day Four:
-Journaled under the sky as the sun rose over Tonj
-Fruit Loops cereal for breakfast
-Kerrie Snow’s toothbrush talk to the patients waiting at the clinic
-Tonj Academic Primary School
-Classroom observations
-Teacher interviews
-Praying over a woman who had just miscarried
-Praying over Isaac
-Walk through Tonj
-Coca Cola in Southern Sudan
-Writing second team update
I awoke early, as I tend to due in Sudan. That Friday, I took the still of the morning as an opportunity for some alone time; I pulled up a chair outside and journaled my heart out as my coffee cooled and the sun rose. It was a beautiful morning that promised to be a glorious [and sweltering] day!
After breakfast and devotional, we gathered with the patients at the clinic so that Kerrie could do her toothbrush talk to the crowd. It was rather entertaining, as she had a little demonstration of germs trying to push through the cracks in dirty teeth…Andrew was the germ!
Following the talk, the team passed out toothbrushes that were donated by Ashley’s husband…
What a look!
Then it was off to Tonj Academic Primary School…the day I had been eagerly anticipating! We walked over to the school under the watch of the hot sun, and when we arrived we were warmly welcomed by the headmaster and teachers. It was definitely a morning that God had prepared, and unlike any of the previous school visits I had experienced in Sudan. The headmaster is originally from Tonj, but he ended up in Kampala where he attended university. He wanted to do something meaningful for his community, and he is passionate about education; therefore, he returned to Tonj and reopened the school, which serves classes Primary One through Primary Eight. It was AH-MAZ-ING to see such passion about education in Sudan!
The first class that I sat in on was Primary Eight, a class of 86 students and one teacher…all in one room! The teacher was giving a lecture on the human reproductive system, which was interesting. The big issue, and one that we observed, in Southern Sudan is that the teachers know only one strategy: copy information directly from the text onto the board, and read aloud to the students. That’s it. Another big issue is that the teachers have absolutely NO idea how to teach, and many of them can do little more than copy out of the book because they don’t even know the content material. That is why I am here in Uganda…though I know the change won’t be radical, my prayers are that through the education programming we can begin planting seeds that will lead to lasting change. Pray with me for lasting and positive change in Sudan!
Several teachers and I…
The P1 class meets under these trees…
The bright khawaja with the big camera was kind of a distraction for this boy…
And this boy…
Termite mound!
This is the school cafeteria…
After our school visit, we went back and had lunch and I talked through several things with Bob about the education there. Then Andrew asked me to write the team update for our families, so I set out to that, as well. Who knew we would have wifi in Southern Sudan!
Later in the afternoon, once the 110 degree heat has eased up some, we took a walk into the market of Tonj. It was interesting, and it had a very different feeling from Nasir…not in a bad way, just a difference! It was fun to be amongst the Dinka in the community, and I had actually journaled that night before that I was feeling pretty cut off from the community in the Tonjmahal. One of my favorite things about going to Sudan is mingling with the Sudanese!
This man is visiting family in Tonj, but he lives in Canada!
Men holding hands in Sudan means only one thing: friendship. It’s a beautiful, unabashed friendship, too.
Coca Cola in Sudan, too…seriously, Tonjmahal!!
Wow! I hope that I didn’t overwhelm you with pictures! I will have Day Five up soon with our visit to Mapel.
Good night!
