Terekeka is the location of the next orphanage for Harvesters. The city is 51 miles northeast of Juba, which is the capital of Southern Sudan. Juba, is approximately 100 miles northeast of Yei. Not a bad day of driving, two to three hours worth of interstate back home, with maybe a couple of pit stops for a bathroom break, and perhaps a bit of fast food as well.
Well…this is not the situation in Sudan. Small bladders are not necessarily appreciated, and you would be well advised to bring at-least one roll of toilet paper and a sense of adventure if the toilet paper is needed. Very little water is consumed and even less is eaten to reduce the number of stops.
We did stop three times….once for hot cokes and glucose crackers…next time for a flat tire…and the last time for water, which was not planned and only slightly frustrating for some.
There are two gas stations along the way, and a new one under construction with what looked to be a store front. Otherwise, a gas station consists of a rusty old above ground tank with an analog style fuel pump that gives the prices in Ugandan Shillings (the old currency).
Now….a little insight into life in Sudan; for an up and coming election a census has to be taken. I suppose you really cannot get a good count if everyone is driving around, coming in and out of town, etc. So, no automobile traffic all week….which was partially confirmed by contacts in the government. We found this out Saturday morning; the plan was to leave Monday morning, so we bumped that up to Sunday.
…the plan……leave at 7 am, and by 8 am we did…
Since there is no way to get in touch with Lance (the son of Dennis and Lilly, the founders of Harvesters) in Terekeka we were hoping that they would, by chance, have enough food for eight additional people. They did, but it seems the cook was making extra to sell, or days Lance was not around selling all of the food and the workers went hungry. She was let go the day we left.
Now, here is some insight on how God works. Etia, the longest running local employee of Harvesters came with us. Along the way, we could not figure out why she came. The orphanage is not built; there are no orphans, and the only facilities to manage…5 tents. Well, one of the many hats Etia has worn for Harvesters, a cook. Given the situation with the current cook….it all worked out really well. Praises to you Lord, for providing a glimpse into the ways You work.
...nine hours later we arrived…
If you have ever been camping, you know the moment you get there. You pull off of the nicely paved road onto some form of a dirt road. Everyone in the car often sighs a bit as they are jostled back and forth for a while, a drink or two might spill, perhaps even the CD player will skip….then you know it’s a really bumpy ride. Well, those nine hours were nothing but that. Our heads hit the roof once, and our butts left the chairs often. The fastest speed we ever achieved was 50 km/hr, and that was just for a brief moment.
I felt cramped the whole way. There were six of us in the back of a Toyota Land Cruiser with two benches along the sides and not across the middle. Not too bad, but the diesel generator in the back took up a bit of room and made us all a bit nauseous.
All of that probably paints a…..not so nice picture…..but just wait. It was all worth it.
We pull into the compound or the camp site that will soon be an orphanage……and……..the Nile River is about 100 yards away. Through a narrow path, worn by years of locals going for a swim or fishing, that brings us through the last 20 yards of a forest of tall trees ripe with fresh mangos; we come to a narrow walkway of tree trunks cut along their length. The tree bark covers the brush and mud, while we walk gently along the smoothly cut surfaces and make squishy sounds as we press the wood into the mud. Then we reach a small grassy area where shoes or really anything that is not valuable can be left. The dock, which is an eight or ten logs cut in the same manner as before, (but now we walk across the bark) and is just long enough to jump into four feet of swift moving water and a sandy river bed.
…..oh my…..it is so refreshing…..
The current does move swiftly, and it wasn’t long before I lost my bar of soap. Don’t worry, I had already washed up and was trying to put the bar in the pocket of my shorts. Also with the current, you could swim for miles and still remain in front of the dock. Our favorite past time is to dig our heels into the sand, let our arms drift outward, and lean back into the current like it was a gently flowing reclining chair. I get sleepy and relaxed just thinking about it now.
Even adding to the fun was dinner. Just like Yei, rice and beans….but here they made them just like Mom does….and oh my…they were good. I think the ingredients are water, beans, chopped onions, salt, and a lot of time. After nine hours of driving, a brief swim/bath/recline, two heaping bowls of rice and beans, and the sounds of a torrential downpour I slept for about ten hours. It wasn’t too difficult since there isn’t any electricity. I was surprised by my ability to go to bed at 8:30, and only wake up a couple of times as the wind blew a few drops into the tent and on my forehead.
The next day…I woke up feeling amazing. The rain kept it cool, made everything muddy, and there were tents everywhere….just like camping back home. Then a few differences popped up. We are in a more primitive part of Africa, and yes naked kids started appearing from everywhere to get a glimpse of the new Kawaajas’ and see about gathering up a few of the mangos that fell from the trees in the property we are permitted to build on. Then some of the older boys and younger men show up, some a little tipsy from the local “bar” or tukel that brews a local beer, others with AK-47’s….you know…just because you never know when you might need that kind of fire power. Of course I do not have any idea of what life is like for them, guarding their livelihood which could be anything from a herd of cattle, to their own worries after about twenty-five years of war……hmmm……a good conviction on judgment.
As we drove the 4-ton Lowry truck around that day to collect sand for making cement blocks, we got it stuck once and almost stuck a number of other times. It was clear that another rain like the previous nights would have stranded us there until June or July. That is why we came back Tuesday instead of Thursday.
A few blisters worth of chores later we were back in the Nile…..can you blame us? It was just as refreshing as it was the previous evening….and this was only lunch time….so a few more chores and we were back in the Nile AGAIN before dinner….and yes….just as refreshing. The only downside is when something big brushes up against your leg that is flow either against or perpendicular to the current. I can’t say I screamed like a little girl, but I did provide plenty of ammunition for folks to crack jokes.
Lance did have the misfortune of dealing with, what even the locals complain about….haggling for more money. The hassle here is not that the haggling came from men we brought up from Yei that had been given a raise the previous month, and are getting a daily bonus for being there; but from men hired that day. Apparently there is a very common attitude, to not worry about tomorrow and only focus on what you can get today. It does not allow for a lot of longevity in employment as guys leave a long-term job with Harvesters for a temporary job for just a dollar or two more a day, but will only last one week and leave them out of work for months afterwards.
So, that night we prayed for no rain, and the prayer was answered. There were plenty of opportunities. I suppose it is from the Nile…..you can see half a dozen storms either forming or dumping inches of rain off in the near distance….all around. The same with the previous night, but this night God did not allow it. We were up at 5 am and on the road at 5:45; but because we were taking the Lowry back, the drive took twelve hours. It gave Lance and I time to develop a friendship and pretty much just crack jokes the whole way back.
We weren’t greeted with beans like Mom makes, or the Nile River, but 127 loving orphans, 7 surprised missionaries, and a lot of hugs and blessings. Now…..THAT is worth any drive.
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