Gbamu

Gbamu: A mud-made storage structure constructed to store and preserve harvested food from previous seasons.

Bishop of Port Sudan, posing next to the Gbmau 

With the rainy season coming to a close the time for harvesting crops from one's garden was upon the people of Nzara. Youth volunteers from the Cathedral all gathered on the morning of November 16^th in anticipation of harvesting rice from Bishop Peni's garden.

Upon their return, they brought with them twelve 150 pound bags of harvested rice, and placed them in the kitchen hut, adjacent to the house.

With half the space of the kitchen hut full with bags of rice, cooking and preparing dinner became a more difficult task for the young lady's staying in the Bishops compound.

With this situation Bishop Samuel Peni had an interesting decision to pounder- whether or not to build a Gbamu.

Bishop Peni decided to have his very own Gbamu, thus the construction began.

The setting-up of the Gbamu was a fascinating scene to watch. The Gbamu is held up by four 6 foot wooden poles to prevent animals and rodents from gaining access to the structure. The assembling of the Gbamu requires 2-3 men gathering mud, mixing it with dried grass in order to form mud bricks, while 3-4 men stand on the actual structure manipulating the mud to correspond with the shape needed in order to continually build the wall up.

Though watching the construction of the Gbamu was interesting, I'd have to say participating in the putting-up of the structure was what I found the most enjoyable.

Nzara's First Secondary School

July 15, 2011 marked the opening of Nzara's first Secondary School. Not only is this school the first secondary school within the town of Nzara, but the first government-funded school in Nzara. To celebrate the success of the finalization and opening of this new school, representatives from the Ministry of Education in Juba, among them- the Minister himself, Mr. Edel Senderai,  made their way to Nzara. A meeting was held in the newly constructed school, with the Ministry of Education leaders, prominent leaders of Nzara County and the secondary students that will soon be filling the classrooms with an appetite to learn.

The meeting opened with a prayer, and was led in English. Then, the Headmaster of the Secondary School spoke, expressing his gratitude for the support and funding the Ministry of Education has provided.

The Headmaster's speech was followed by a young male secondary student, in senior four. He spoke of: the hardships of receiving a quality education without the essentials of proper academic textbooks. The worries the incoming students as they enter a school with no tables and chairs. The universal hopes of he and his peers to be taught by qualified teachers. The future hope of another secondary school across Yabua Bridge, and how currently prospective students would travel from 1 km to 9 km to attend the Nzara Secondary School, and how the further distances challenges a students motivation to attend class with the only transport of footing. And in conclusion thanking the Minister and his colleagues for their support and help thus far in building the Secondary School.

As I listen to the speeches, the echoing mention of one thing was acknowledge by all speakers, that there is a problem. The problem is money and resources.

As the Minister, Mr. Sendrai, spoke, he addressed the challenges presented in the prior speeches. In regards to challenge of tables and chairs for the new school, the Ministers defended the claim that, “It takes a village to raise a child, therefore the villagers need also to provide for their children.” He sighted, that there was no extra money to go towards tables and chairs. The Minister also apologized for the fact that they as a Ministry have not acquired sufficient funds to provides secondary level textbooks for the school.

Mr. Sendrai, The Minister of Education, addressing
the audience.

Later in the Minister's speech he came to the issue of quality teachers. Mr. Senderai revealed that there are a total of 1800 teachers, but only 400 have qualifications. He went on to say, “the remaining 1400 teachers without qualifications will be dismissed.”

Upon hearing that those teachers would be dismissed silent disagreement filled the room.

It was now time to say a final prayer for the event of Opening Day of Nzara's first Secondary School. Leading the prayer was Bishop Peni of Nzara Diocese. As he prayed, he reminisced of the past days when he was a Development Officer in the Diocese of Yambio and was a pioneer of the construction of this new schools in Western Equtoria.

Before the occasion came to a end, Bishop Peni spoke. Speaking directly to the Minister he began by saying, "You are inheriting what i helped to create."

Then addressing the issue of having qualified teachers. Bishop Peni mentioned that in times of war he asked for people to volunteer to become teachers. Teachers, though perhaps not of a particular subject, but rather in the sense of passing on knowledge. That being said, Bishop Peni advised the Minister of Education not to dismiss the voluntary teachers, but rather send the teachers without proper qualifications to a college to be trained.  And in future years to come,  the Ministry of Education will have a greater number of qualified teachers.

The conclusion of Bishop Peni's prayer was followed the Minister cutting the red ribbon, and Nzara Secondary School is now officially open.

Bishop Samuel Peni, Leading us in prayer.

Visitors From Afar

For the last two weeks of August the Zande villagers were feverishly preparing for a week of uninterrupted celebrations, that the first week of September had in store. The Youth Convention, was to be held in the first week of September brought youth from all over Nzara, and other neighboring villages to the Nzara Cathedral to participate in celebrations of greater magnitude then they have ever before experienced. These youth took part in a week long program coordinated by the Flame International Organization from England, and also a personal friend of mine from the USA, Timothy Smith. Flame International was founded by Jan Ransom, and is a Christian ministry with a passion to reach out with God's love to broken and hurting people, particularly those in the poorest countries of the world, and to see nations healed and walking in forgiveness and reconciliation.

However, for all this to happen a surplus of arduous tasks needed to be completed prior to the arrival of our guest such as, general cleaning of the land, and also five new houses needed to be build to accommodate our visitors. It was indeed a time of great anxist, but with the help of all the youth who volunteered their assistance the houses were complete and everything was only uphill from there.

Timothy Smith is a recent graduate of Yale University and is a family friend of mine whom I met many years back through my Mother's church, St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in West Des Moines IA, he arrived a few days before the Flame International group and stayed a few days longer as well. While here Timothy will have the opportunity to witness for himself life in Nzara and what that means. Inspired by everything he saw and observed Timothy was determined to contribute. Once he returned to America, Timothy would raise enough money for the medical clinic in Nzara to hire a midwife and give her a salary for three years.

The Youth Convention was a gathering of great magnitude in fellowship fore not only had villagers from far and near come to part take in this event, but never before in Nzara has there been so many foreigners come together at one time to help better life of the Zande's. And for that, the Sudanese were extraordinarily gratified.

As part of the program lead by Flame International each morning began with a teaching from the Gospel. To surpass the language barrier there was a translator to assist in the teachings. Not only was each lesson taught very well, but to insure the audience understood everything that was taught, the Flame International group also had skits that correlated with each teaching. And after each teaching each member of the Flame organization went around the room and prayed with each individual present. Looking around at the unfolding events I could see the self-defense barriers protecting the Sudanese's emotions melt away like butter and they began to open up. The Flame group had succeeded in gaining the trust of the participates and could now address bigger issues and then start the healing process. Each morning a new lesson was taught to the youth followed by a skit and prayers, and leading in to small group time. Within these groups the Flame leaders main target was have the youth share their past traumas to the group, and then each member of the group would say a prayer for the individual sharing. The aim was for the youth to open up to the group, telling them all the horrible things that has happened in their lives, so then as a group, we could help them began their own healing process.

Within the group I choose to be apart of, I realized all my group members were from foreign villages and I was not familiar with any of them. In view of the fact, that as a group we all were not very acquainted with each other, I knew it would take some time to get to the comfortability level we needed with each other to the point of sharing our saddest stories, and time was something we did not have much of, thus I shared my story. I used myself as an example to show the process our group leader, Frank outlined. I shared my story of growing up in a broken home, going through foster care and being adopted into the Cole-Duvall's family. I spoke of the hardships I endured, traumas I experienced and how I found God. With the feeling that we, as leaders, are here to help the youth, pray for them and help them on their healing process, they began to open up.

The magnitude of the stories shared were enough to make even the Tin-Man feel compassion. The horrors these young men have faced thus far in their lives seemed like more trauma than one person would ever experience in the course of their life.

After going around the circle and hearing these stories there was one common denominator, and that was past involvement with a witchdoctor. Whether it was the individual whom had the experience with the witchdoctor or one of their family members, any involvement with a witchdoctor may bring temporary contentment but also brings long-term suffering.

When we had completed our first session in small groups, we as team leaders gathered together to discuss the success of each group. One of the Flame leaders, Frank stated, “I can't imagine what these youth have gone through in their lives, I feel blessed for having the only trauma of my grandfather passing when I was young.”

Each Evening there was a sporting activity set up for the male participants of the Youth Convention as well as arts and crafts for the females. The younger male leaders of Flame Nick, Pete and frank as well as Timothy and myself taught the youth games such as, ultimate frisbee, rounders, rounders, basketball, and participating in relay races. Because ultimate frisbee was a sport I enjoyed through high school and participated in a ultimate frisbee club organized by fellow peers that met every wednesday after school, I was very interested in assisting in teaching the youth how to play this game.

With the intent of teaching these youth how to play ultimate frisbee we, as the sport leaders, knew it would be to difficult explaining the physics of throwing a frisbee, so instead we designed a more demanding method of learning basic throws of the frisbee. This method was a basic drill with two lines of men facing each other roughly 20 yards apart. The idea was for the youth to throw the frisbee to each other and if they failed to catch it or throw it properly then they would have to run a 50 yard suicide. For to early stages of learning the frisbee throws, it seems as if we had began teaching the youth of to how because they all failed to throw properly at first and consequently had to do their 50 yard suicide sprint. However, when they seemed to grasp the concept of throwing to a certain degree, we spread them wider. Because in a game of Ultimate frisbee longer throws occur frequently, and we wanted the youth to become accustom to throwing longer distances. It was very interesting to see how different participants figured out the right angels and the right amount of force, in the Zande language the moment of figuring something of importance out one will boldly say “Iowa.” To see these youth going through trial and error for being fluent in the throws, allowed me to gather that: the Sudanese are very clever people, once one takes time to observe.

One they got the youth got the hand of throwing we were able to put them into a heavily structured game of Ultimate frisbee, with sport leaders coaching the youth on what to do once they have received the frisbee from a fellow teammate. But soon they were on they own and just about playing as if frisbee is second nature to them.

Games such has basketball and grounders are a lot more complicated so teaching the participants this game was a tad challenging, but nonetheless we taught the youth and they very much appreciated it. The other option available for those whom did not want to participant in sports, which seemed to be the majority of the females, enjoyed arts and crafts lead by the remaining Flame International members, Jan, Sarah, Gariff, Charite, and Karenza. Things that were being taught within this group were of the arts. Gary left the crowd in awe as he sketched a draft of a mango tree just in the distance onto a notepad. Among having art lessons available to the participants there was also sculpting lessons happening simultaneously.

That coming Sunday was a very interesting one with the goal of spreading the message of forgiveness and salvation to as many people as possible. For this to happen we, as leaders, split up into paris of two's and traveled to different churches to spread this message. At each church the Flame International member preached these messages to the people along with a skit to ensure understanding.

Pete Douglas and I traveled to the church of Nakiri, which was only two kilometers from the Nzara Cathedral. Once there we were warmly welcomed with rings of flowers made by the people of the church. Once Pete began preaching the Word-of-God and then the skit caught everyones attention, Pete invited every member of the congregation to come up and receive prayer. With that, Pete invited me to the front of the church where he and I listened to what each person requested prayer for and prayed for more than one hundred church members individually. Praying for the people in the manner in which we did was something I had never before done and I am very glad I had the opportunity to do so. Having each person stand before me recite their problem and ask for prayer was a powerful experience I could never forget. Lines of people flowed outside the church to the outskirts of the streets. For the hours that passed of Pete and I praying for these people, the only thing we thought of was, how we could ask Jesus to help each person. That has been one of the most powerful experiences I have had while in Africa, and I am glad to have had it.

One the day the Flame International missioners departed from Zara was a sad day for the youth of The Youth Convention; but nonetheless they were more then grateful for the time Flame spent here, for not only had they taught the youth many things, they also help heal them. And that above all was the main goal of this organization and they achieved it.

Rumbek

Christian Health Association of Sudan (CHAS) is a private NGO head by Joy Mukaire, a personal friend of my family and me. The goal of this agency is to provide quality health care to all individuals. Within the organization there is a team of highly qualified doctors that visit many different cities/villages to lead workshops and educate people on health awareness.

It was my father, The Rev. Cannon Milton Cole-Duvall, who established a good relationship with Joy, before she and I had ever met. When she heard that I will be in Southern Sudan for 1 year, it was only a matter of time before we would meet. In our first encounter of each other Joy was on her way back to Juba from Nzara, and I met her at the Airport. Being the extremely hospitable person she is, within minutes of our meeting she invited me to stay with her for a couple weeks in Juba.

Once I arrived in Juba, I met the half the team of doctors in the CHAS agency, the other half was in Rumbek leading workshops on HIV aids. I quickly learned that the doctors still in the office were heading out to Juba and I was going with them. The few days I spent in Juba before going to Rumbek were filled by talking to political people, asking questions regarding the development of Southern Sudan, politically, economically and culturally.

The plane trip from Juba to Rumbek was 50 minutes and the view of the land was magnificent. Once there we settled in to our hotel, we stayed at Afex, (AfricanExpedition). This hotel was unlike anyother because Afex builds its hotels in a forrest area, each room was a very large tent with a bathroom, sink, shower and toilet in the back section of each tent. The following day workshops started, educating the community about HIV and also preparing to test villagers the next day.

Last year the health leaders of Rumbek only tested 14 people for HIV, and in their defense they stated, “The people here dont want to be tested for HIV.” On the first day of our testing more than 150 people showed up, and this was without broadcasting it. It was evident that there was in fact a desperate need from HIV testing. At first I was very apprehensive to testing villagers but came around in the following days. The next day we broadcasted over the radio that we, (CHAS) would again be testing villagers for HIV. People form all over came to be tested, and there was an estimate of over 300 people. After I worked up the courage, I was able to test more then 20 people, adults and children.

Every night in Rumbek is always celebrated. Each night the villagers gather in the Freedom Square for Traditional dancing. The dance is simple, it looks as if theres a massive mob of people jumping for joy. The objective of this dance is to find a wife, but also to find a mate for the night. In Rumbek as well as in the majority of Africa marriage is viewed as a source of income. 

With the teachings CHAS brought to this village, and the supplies given, the people of Rumbek will be able to lead their own ministry in health.

“The goal of CHAS if for everyone to have access to quality health care, and the vision of a healthy Southern Sudan in the future.

Des Moines Register

A few weeks back I was interviewed via telephone by Kristin, a newspaper reporter for the Des Moines Register. Kristin was interested in doing an article about me and my studies abroad. On August 3^rd 2011, this is what was published in the Des Moines Register.

WDM man sees a country born

A West Des Moines resident is studying and volunteering in the Sudan this summer.

George Cole-Duvall, 19, is getting a first-person view as citizens there celebrate the independence of the Republic of South Sudan. The experience also allows him to jump-start his political science studies at the University of Northern Iowa.

George is studying Arabic and teaches English to adults. He is also visiting local churches with Rt. Rev. Samuel Enosa Peni, a family friend.

"It was amazing to be in the country that on day one was enslaved and the next day free. The desire to be free is a universal feeling - no one wants to be enslaved by other people," George said by phone from South Sudan. "Though the day of freedom did not mark a difference in the quality of life, it did mark a sense of joy for a new beginning."

His parents, Rev. Canon Mary Cole-Duvall, rector of St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in West Des Moines, and Rev. Canon H. Milton Cole-Duvall, assisting priest at St. Timothy's, had met Peni three years ago when Peni was a student at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Waverly.

Peni had interned with Mary, developing a position paper on how the church could be an agent for peace in war-torn Sudan. He invited George to visit him in Sudan.

Milton later attended the consecration of Peni in 2009 at All Saints Cathedral in Nzara, Sudan, and St. Timothy's parish raised more than $6,000 to purchase approximately 50 bicycles for clergy in Sudan. It didn't take long for George to decide to go to Sudan.

George graduated from Valley High School in the spring. He was accepted to the University of Northern Iowa and contemplated studying abroad.

"His mom asked if he wanted to go on to college or take a year off. His initial reaction was not to travel, then said he's interested in public service. He also talked about going to law school, and there's a foreign service school at Georgetown," Milton said.

"He pondered what to do and asked about President Obama performing public service. Then George talked to a woman at Northern Iowa and asked her if she had the option of going to college or going overseas when a new country came into existence, what would she do.

"She said you could go to college at any time, but you couldn't be in many countries like that. Then we talked to another woman about studying abroad who referred us to two professors who carved an hour out of their full schedules to talk with George and make it possible."

After finishing high school a month early, George traveled to New York to perform with his high school jazz orchestra at Lincoln Center, then hopped on a plane and headed to Uganda and on to Sudan.

"He had never flown by himself, let alone overseas, and there was a terrorist scare on the airplane, which fortunately turned out not to be true," Milton said. "He traveled 20 hours to Uganda, spent five days there and then headed to the Sudan."

George presented Peni with $3,535 he received as high school graduation gifts that would help pay the preschool tuition of 101 local children.

He also donated more than $1,000 he had received for his birthday last August for their tuition.

After making friends there, he decided to ask his parents to skip purchasing his birthday gifts this year - he shares an August birthday with President Obama - and instead pay for the two friends' bus transportation to seminary in Kenya.

"He said, 'Dad, I don't need anything for my birthday. There are kids eating beans and rice. There's a hole in the ground that's the toilet. I don't need anything," Milton related. George Cole-Duvall also told his father that his two best friends had both received scholarships to go to seminary school in Kenya, but they had no money for transportation. His father and mother gave the two friends the $500 they needed. "George said it was the best birthday present ever," added his father. George spends his days enhancing his speaking of the Zandi tribal language, studying Arabic and teaching English. Peni has commissioned him as The Diocese of Nzara Youth Missionary. He teaches keyboard and trumpet to others and is teaching himself the guitar.

For his coursework, George has interviewed newly elected and appointed government leaders for The Western Equatorial State and the Republic of South Sudan. He marched with tens of thousands of locals and played his trumpet in the celebration July 9 when the Republic of South Sudan became its own country.

George will be oversees through May 2012. He will travel to Rwanda and explore the 1990s genocide there, which might open the door to an internship at the United Nations Genocide Investigative Unit in which he's interested.

"I hope to become more aware of our worldwide community and take that knowledge and share it with the people of the U.S. Only when people meet and know each other do they then realize the universality of humanity that binds us all together," he said.

Independence Day

Marching to the County Headquarters

No words can describe the feelings the Sudanese felt this day. Oppressed by the British until 1956, only to be released to the arduous rule of the Arabs. This was called Anglo-Egyptian, the ruling of those who colonized Africa. The reign of the Arabs was a particularly difficult one for the Sudanese. The Arab-led government in Khartoum does not value the lives of the Sudanese, nor do they respect their religious views. Islam is the forced religion in the north, reprimanding those who opposed, and escalating the the point of arresting those who are seen carrying a Christian bible. For those sudanese who still worship despite the consequences results in either death or watching their church burn to the ground. Because the Sudanese are seen as inferior, the government in the north declined all development of the south, thus leaving the south in tremendous poverty. Finally, those who have seen the atrocities committed and the extent of the oppression enforced upon the south spoke out thus voting in favor of a referendum.

Never before had my cheeks been sore from smiling, but today was a glorious day. Thousands of people gathered to start the celebration at 9am all with an enormous grin from ear to ear. The sense of people were that they were for once relieved. Comparable to taking a breath of fresh air after holding your breath to its maximum. These Sudanese were breathing in freedom, for the first time.

Once we all gathered in Freedom Square, we marched in line led by the Commissioner followed by other government members and Bishop Peni than everyone else followed. We reached the old headquarters of Nzara County, said a prayer, and continued until we reached the new headquarters of Nzara County, which happened to be a mile away. The plan was to raise the flag there and head back to Freedom Square for further programs. I was asked to play the National Anthem of South Sudan during the raising of the flag. I was honored to do so and wasted no time learning it. It is custom for the starting u of something special to slaughter a bull, and thats indeed what we did.

Counties were not allowed to raise their flag until the Capital did. We waited three hours for Juba to raise their flag, and in the meantime danced like there was no tomorrow.

The programs in Freedom Square consisted of speeches and entertainment in between. The youth of Nzara Cathedral prepared a dance for the celebration and preformed it, they convinced me to dance with them and it was something I couldn’t resist. The programs at Freedom Square ended around 6pm concluding with Bishop Peni delivering a sermon and a prayer.

Dinner was provided by the Commissioner, in which he had 2 bulls slaughtered and prepared for the feeding of thousands.

Today signify's the birth of a brand new country. Today, the curse of oppression lifted and today the Sudanese breathed in free air. Congratulations South Sudan.  

One Pound

Every city and town has those who are less fortunate than others and also those who have been reduced to begging for money. While in Lui for the Consecration of Bishop Stevan, Ezekiel and I, along with a couple other priests went to go explore the town and see the market. While in the market for the first time, a man came up to me and extended his hand. I was under the impression he was attempting to greet me so I shook his hand. Afterwards, I turned away and continued with roaming the market with the others. I noticed he was still following me, and continued to extend his hand every time he caught up with me. It was then that Ezekiel told me this man was begging for money.

The following day after the rehearsal of the consecration, Ezekiel and I, along with the same group of people, went to see the market again. The man who was begging me for money the previous day was now following us again and asked one of the priest, for one pound. In Southern Sudan the money system goes by pounds, one pound is the equivalent of about $0.25 in America money. When we left the man, one of the priest told us about a man the community nicked-named “One Pound” in Yambio.

He told us that in Yambio there is this man who begs more money, but more specifically he begs for one pound. He goes up the priest there and says, “Father, I need one pound.” When they give him one pound he is just ecstatic- comparable to a young child who just their favorite toy. However, when people give him more than one pound he refuses to take it. He says, “Oh no, no no. My friend I only need one pound.” What is an absolute riot about this fellow is if you give him a 5 pound bill he will reach into his pocket and give you 4 pounds back. This man is serious when he says he wants only one pound.  

The Consecration

                 The consecration of Bishop Stevan was a momentous occasion. The consecration was scheduled to take place in Lui on Sunday June 26^th 2011. Bishop Peni and I headed out that Friday along with his driver Ezekiel, who is also his Chaplin, and Gabriel, the Coordinator of the Evangelists. Because the roads in Sudan are very poor the 150 miles we traveled to get there took us roughly 7½ hours.

Along the way we came across a petrol gas truck that had fallen over on its side and barrels of gas were spilling all over the road. The offended truck had completely blocked the road creating a big traffic jam. We were stuck waiting for about 40minutes until a tractor came to flip the truck right side up, meanwhile, others were out by the truck trying to salvage the remaining barrels of gas.

Praying over the New Bishop

When we reached Lui we were greeted by a large number of youth singing welcoming songs, we were then directed to our guest house. It was very interesting to see all the festive decorations being put up and very large amounts of food being prepared. 

When all the Bishops had arrived we gathered in anticipation of the arrival of the ArchBishop Daniel Deng. Bishops are some of the most highly respected people in Sudan, and when addressed, they are referred to as “Your Lordship” and the ArchBishop is addressed as “Your Grace”.

The New Bishop addressing his people

There was a special designated place for all the Bishop's and Government Officials to dine, as well as to converse with one another so they don't have to be among the other visitors. Being Bishop Samuels Guest I was among the Bishops and Government Officials.

On Saturday there was a rehearsal for the consecration the following day. The rehearsal itself took two hours just to briefly go through everything. I quickly realized the service tomorrow will be one unlike any other I have ever attended. The Archbishop wanted to have the service in Lui because he wanted the people of Lui to see how its done. He said “I could have consecrated him in Juba, but I wanted the people to learn and share this experience with him.”

The service was a magnificent one. The non-stop joyful singing, the powerful words being said, the decorations prepared, and the amount of people there to witness this momentous occasion was something to behold. There were over 5,000 people in attendance at the service. Even the Governor of Western Equatorial came to witness this life changing event. The service lasted 5½ hours and things had to be cut short and also removed from the original schedule just to save time.

Afterwards we all gathered for lunch, in our designated places. Because people were in such a rush to get going home we left at 3pm. The trip back to Nzara was longer than the trip up, because we got trapped in a major rain storm that put us back a couple hours later.

Bishop Samuel and Myself along with the other Bishops, in front of us, the ArchBishop

But all in all, the trip was very nice, and it was interesting to meet all those bishops and the ArchBishop, and I was glad to be present at that consecration as

Bishop Stevan is the last Bishop to be consecrated before independence.

Life In Nzara

Ring of Flowers presented to me upon my arrival 

Imagine a place where you are awakened by a rooster at 5:30am, a place where any little breeze that passes by feels like a God send, a place where gathering under a mango tree is where fellowship happens and school is taught. Compile all that and you have a general sense of how life is here in Nzara. Upon my arrival with the Bishop we were greeted by the whole community. They made rings of flowers for us and had a service that was very nice. I stay in a tukol in Father Bob and Karen's compound. 

Emmanuel and I practicing Zandi

Since I arrived in Nzara I have been laying low, observing, and learning. The language is Pazandi, and a very nice gentleman named Emmanuel William is teaching me the language. Emmanuel is one of the more fortunate youth here. He is 21, he has completed school and at the end of August he will be going to seminary in Nairobi. Emmanuel is also my tutor for learning the Zandi language. I have almost gotten the language down, so next month we will start in on Arabic. Interestingly enough there are only 2,000 words in the Zandi language. 

Showing Grace how to form words

In the mornings I act as an assistant teacher for Karen North's English class. Yesterday Karen was not feeling well and was under the impression that she had malaria. She told me of the time that she had malaria previously and said how she is having the same same symptoms now. After testing for it she found that she didn’t have it and was greatly relieved. Because Karen was not feeling well it was up to me to teach the class by myself although i did have some help from Emmanuel. He translates from English to Pazandi. I really enjoyed teaching these people because of there desire to learn.

Teaching English 

 Towards the end of August Father Bob and his wife Karen are going to return to America for a Church Convention and also to visit all their friends and family. Their plan is to return to Africa in January 2012. In Karen's absence I will be teaching the class for the five months they will be away. The English students range from ordinary villagers wanting to learn English, to priests of the Cathedral and also the Arch-Deacon of Yambio.

The youth are not only just interested in me but also the toys I brought with me. They are completely fascinated by my Ipad, Ipod and MacBook Air Laptop. I also brought with me sports equipment such as, frisbees, footballs, baseballs and soccer balls. It is interesting to teach them these games that we Americans play because it all seems so foreign to them. None of them had ever thrown a frisbee before and a few are actually getting the hang of it. American football is a sport they just cant understand, because here they call soccer “football” so it's just very confusing. Although I am still the only one that can throw the football it's still fun to watch them attempt to. 

The Youth blazing an area for the Volleyball Court

Last week the youth all gathered in hopes of making an area ready to build a volleyball court. Volleyball is a very popular game here, and driving through the town I always see people playing volleyball. After much hard work, the volleyball court was finished last night and we hope to have our first game tonight.

My New Home

The Volleyball Court 

The Black Santa

When talking about santa, the average child pictures a man in a big red suit, but in this case, santa was black. I was Santa. Upon my arrive and stay with Bishop I brought with me, many gifts for the children. Everything from, beauty accessories, to sports activity equipment, little children toys, and school supplies. Money is very hard to come for many people here, and once acquired, the priority of food comes before play.

Whenever my father, the Rev. Canon Milton Cole, goes somewhere, whether it be to someone's house for supper, or just to visit someone, he always brings gifts with him. The gifts that he gives are generally joyful reminders to the person receiving the gift that they are in his thoughts, and/or prayers. Growing up I could never comprehend the joy of giving rather than receiving. But when I walked into the Bishop's front room with arms full of toy truck, soccer balls and more presents, the faces of these children lite up and my heart felt warm. I now understand how my father feels, as he is always giving gifts and this is one of the many great traits I have picked up from him.

                                                    

The Real World

Outside your parents gates and protection the world is different. Here in the big cities in Africa it is important to be very careful when walking around town. The crime rate is very high here in Kampala, where the Bishop and I have been staying this past week. Pick-pocketing is the most common offense. It very easy to get pick-pocketed because when walking around town people are in close proximity with one another

Today the Bishop and I had business to attend too in town. A young gentlemen named Alison accompanied us. Alison is a friend of the Bishop and also a student studying computers. I have been teaching him computer science the past couple days.

While running errands with the Bishop we came across something we could not complete right away. The Bishop wanted some receipts and asked for them to be printed. Unfortunately the printing would not be done and able to be picked up until 7:30pm. So the plan was for Alison to stay behind and pick up the printing, then make his way back to the Bishops house. The three of us were planning on traveling to Arua tomorrow, where we will catch a plane to Sudan.

While reading the newspaper the Bishop saw an article about the con men and woman of Kampala. He pointed it out to me, and told me some rules of thumb. He explained how since there are so many people in town, if you see the same person 3 times, you are in trouble. He further explained the process these con men and woman undergo while attempting to rob you. What they typically do is take a piece of cardboard and fold it in half with a United States $100 dollar bill on the outside. It is usually a fake $100 dollar bill, and the idea is to make it look like a wad of money. Then what they do is throw it at your feet, and scream “God is with us my friend.” Normally when a person unexpectedly sees a wad of money they are stunned. Realizing this, these con men and woman take advantage of that moment of absentmindedness. They tell you to follow them to a place where it is less crowded so they can split the money with you. It makes a matter of seconds to get from the main road to a back alleyway, and once there they will rob you properly. The Bishop also told me about the dangers of riding the motorcycle taxies, also called bodaboda. Bodaboda is made up word in the Swahili language that means motorcycle taxi. Around 10:00pm the van taxies are finished for the night, however the motorcycle taxies continue all night. The problem with the bodaboda is you never know what kind of person the driver is, especially at night.

By the time it was 8:45pm, and we hadn’t heard from Alison, the Bishop and I began to wounder what the situation was. After the trying to call Alison many times without an answer, he called back. Alison told us that there was a situation with the man on the bodaboda. He had taken Alison to the wrong place. Alison should have realized he was being trapped because the man was offering such a low price for transporting him it should have raised suspicion in his mind. We could overhear the argument Alison was having with the man, telling him that he needs to leave, threw the phone. Suddenly the line went dead. The Bishop and I began to worry. He tried calling Alison back several times, but no answer. Without knowing what else we could do, the Bishop had everyone gather in the front room of his house and started praying. Alison had been conned. At that point we didn’t know whether Alison would be robbed of everything on his person, or if he would even survive the night. It was a very intense prayer lasting around 10 minutes. Just after the prayer ended the Bishop's phone rang. It was Alison. The police found him and rescued him from being conned. After being reassured everything was now okay and Alison was safe. The Bishop raised his hands and announced, “The Lord has heard our prayers.”

Alison, Bishop Peni and I

The Son of Iowa

Last year my father, The Rev. Canon Milton Cole, traveled to Sudan, Africa. The occasion was the consecration of Father Peni becoming a Bishop. His stay was 3 weeks long, and in that time he became known as “Iowa." An Arabic expression for approval and a sort of “Ah Ha” moment. Not aware of the meaning, my father was in the car with four other gentlemen on their way to the consecration. While in the car with the other gentlemen they began conversing among each other, but in their native language. One man in the car would say something and the others would approve by saying “Oh, Iowa."

My dad was not paying much attention to the conversation until he heard the word “Iowa” My family currently lives in West Des Moines, Iowa so hearing the word “Iowa” made him pay a little closer attention to the conversation. After about the 5^th time hearing it my father began looking around suspiciously wondering how they all knew he was from Iowa.

Finally fed up with the curiosity he asked them why they kept saying “Iowa." They then explained the meaning to him and he explained to them that he actually lives Iowa and everyone began to laugh.

Villagers all across Nzara all heard about the “Iowa” story because they knew my father. The less educated villagers are very unaware of the world and are under the impression that the only other place in the world is England, because they were taught that that's where the white missionaries came from. Most of them had never heard of a place called Iowa and now associate it with my father, thus he became “Iowa."

Yesterday, Bishop Peter of Yambio came and visited Bishop Peni and I. Upon his arrive he greeted me has the “Son of Iowa” He told me everyone in Nzara knows my father as “Iowa,"and also that everyone knows about me coming and knows me not as George, but as the "Son of Iowa." And I am proud to be the "Son of “Iowa”

"Iowa" saying goodbye to Me at the JFK Airport

Sounds Of The Night

Sounds of the Night
As darkness consumes the night, the jungle calls

The moon illuminates the night sky,

Coyotes lurk catching goats and chickens who lost their way home,

Balancing the Social Theory, the jungle calls

Howling erupts without warning, the jungle calls

A unison pitch set by the alpha and the others join in,

They stop, all at the same time and start again,

Rain begins pouring and the howling ceases, the jungle calls

The pounding and thundering of the rain fills the night, the jungle calls

Frogs croak their majestic song, bathing in the rain,

Leaping from puddle to puddle and splashing around joyfully,

The rain brings a cooling breeze through the air, the jungle calls

A whimpering dog begins to whine, the jungle calls

Targeted as the weakest, it becomes the next meal,

Cries and shrills of pain echo in the stale dark night and suddenly all is silent,

The weaker has been slain and the stronger prevailed, the jungle calls

First Day In Africa

Awaken by the call of the coyotes, buzzing of mosquitoes, and the ever so soft chirping of birds. Today was the first day of school for the children. School started at 7:30am and the younger kids return at 4:30 but the older students are not out until 6:30pm. Once the children were off the Bishop and I had business to attend to in the town. When someone says the word taxi, most people think of a 4 seat, yellow car, and crazy driver. Well, crazy driver is the the only description of the list that fits. On our way to town the Bishop suggested we take a taxi. A taxi here is a big 14 person van driving crazy fast and picking random people up until it is full. However, just because there are 14 seats doesn’t mean the taxi driver was satisfied with the number. There were a total of 20 people crammed into the van with the Bishop and I as we made our way to town. The roads are unpaved and very bumpy so people were sort of flying all over the place. Prior to my arrive in Africa I was under the impression that most people were poor, which is the case, but of course they still have cars and the traffic was seemingly worse than New York City traffic.

Our first item on the agenda was to get my visa for Sudan. We made our way to the bank, dodging other natives in a hurry, and motorcycles and taxi vans. Once we reached the bank there was a armed army solider with a metal detector making sure that the bank stays safe. After talking to the bank clerk and learning that I can receive my visa tomorrow the Bishop and I made our way to some music stores to purchase a keyboard. We went to multiple stores to compare prices and finally decided on one. For lunch the Bishop took me to a restaurant and I tried casaba and linen bread.Casaba is a root that is frequently used in many meals,

Dodging motorcycles didn’t seem hard enough to the Bishop so he thought we should ride one. The newest form of taxi service in Entebbe is with the uses of motorcycles. It seemed like the only things on the roads were either taxi vans or taxi motorcycles. There are very few street lights so when people feel they want to go there is no hesitation. I noticed how close the cars, vans, and motorcycles came to hitting people and asked the Bishop how people can be comfortable with that. He explained how the Africans don’t worry about getting hit because it is the drivers job to dodge the on coming person. Each time we crossed the street was nerve wracking for me, and the Bishop noticed that and from then on took my hand each time we crossed.

We got back to the house just as the students were returning from school, and supper was being prepared. Fish and rice was what was served and it was delicious, also the Bishop and I picked up some mangos on the way back home and had those as well.

Life here seems very simple for most, and very challenging for others. It was very depressing to see street children laying on the ground begging for money. In contrast to that it was very interesting to see business man dressed up in their fancy suits, and then there are those who fall in-between. American brand clothes was for the most part what people wore here, brands such as Hollister, Abercrombie, and American Eagle.

The Bishop and I plan to travel to Sudan on either wednesday or thursday. We are going to travel by road, due to weight limits of only 20 pound luggage for the plane and also there is a lot of stuff to transport. I have two 50 pound suitcases, a keyboard and a bookbag, so the plane isn’t really a option, however the journey to sudan by plane was favored because it is only 2 hours verses the 3 day journey by car. Sudan had two planes that flew in weekly, but as of late one of the planes has been shut down making it very difficult to book a flight because they are all taken.

View of the Mountain sized Hill from the Bishop's House

In the Suburbs, where the Bishop's house is, there is a sense of calmness and peacefulness and relaxation verses the tension and sense of hurry in town. The air is calm and there are several banana trees that blow smoothly with the wind. The house is surrounded by a 6 foot fence and 10 foot gate. Looking out a distance from the house there is a magnificent view of a mountain sized hill with houses built on it all the way to the top. Since we are close to the equator the day and night are divided equally. The sun rises around 6:00 and sets by 6:00, that makes for a 12 hour day as well as a 12 hour night. As the sun was setting Bishop Peni and I went on a walk to a close store to pick up some things. He explained to me how he enjoys being here because there are few who know who he actually is. We began joking about how he is a man in disguise.

Later in the evening before we all went to bed the Bishop and his many house guest gathered in the front room and we sang prayers and hymns. Unfortunately they sang in Arabic so I could only hum along, but it was very interesting to listen to.

Life here is nice and something I can get use to quick.  

Making My Way to Africa

Accompanying me on my flight to Amsterdam, in the left aisle seat, was a gentleman named Alistair. He had been in New York to see the Mets play and is on his way back home to Scotland. The flight from Scotland to Amsterdam, then to the the USA was a total of 10 hours of flying for him. Interestingly enough the flight back from USA to Amsterdam, then to Scotland is a total of 8 hours of flying. This is due to the North Atlantic Drift. The North Atlantic Drift is a widespread and variable wind-driven surface movement of warm water that covers a large part of the eastern sub-polar North Atlantic and then flows into the Nordic Seas. Conversing further with Alistair I learned he is from a Northern part of Scotland that speaks a Celtic language called Gaelic. A very uncommon language that most Scotia's do not understand and was brought over to Scotland by Irish invaders in about the 5th century. Gaelic replaced an older Brythonic Celtic language. By the 15th century the Scottish branch differed so significantly enough that they were able to create as enforce their own language.

A four hour layover can create many opportunities to meet new people. During my layover I met a very nice young lady named Jacquelyn Pavilon. She was headed to Rwanda to meet up with a friend of hers that was running a marathon there, and also do some serious backpacking. She told me stories of her and her friend going on a 4 day backpacking trip to Switzerland and about her organization called Invisible Conflicts. The Invisible Conflicts organization is dedicated to helping rebuild communities that were destroyed by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Since the Invisible Conflicts values education above all they created the Dawn Madiki Partnership, a program stationed in Gulu that raises money to educate, clothe, provide healthcare, and give individual attention to the children and their needs.

Ingram Kampe and I, after our landing in Entebbe

I also met a gentleman name Ingram Kampe who currently lives in Canada. He was born in Uganda and was headed to Entebbe on holiday and to visit his relatives. I asked Ingram how his previous flight from Canada to Amsterdam was and he said it was not very enjoyable. On the flight there was a Chinese man who went into the plane's restroom and decided to smoke a cigarette. The smoke alarms went off and reeked havoc throughout the plane. He told me how frenetically the flight attendants were running up and down the aisle to see what was going on. After finding the man they were able to silence the alarms and return the plane to order.

When we landed in Rwanda there were people who got off and those who got on. Sitting in the row in front of me was Ingram and siting next to him on his left was an Indian man. The flight was about 8-9 hours long. This man said nothing to entire time to Ingram, except when we landed in Rwanda he said, "excuse me I am going to the washroom." We were stationed in Rwanda for about 50 minutes waiting for everyone to get on so we can take off. When it was time to take off I invited Ingram to sit with me, because the seat next to me was empty and I enjoyed his company. But this Indian man was no where to be found. His passport and all his travel documents were sitting out on his plane seat. As we were about to take off I noticed that the guy hadn't returned. I asked Ingram where he went, and that he should tell the flight attendants this. So he did, the flight attendants became very worried but more suspicious than worried. The plane was about to take off, but we told them just in time and than went back to the airport because they are not allowed to fly with unaccompanied luggage. The Captain called this man over the intercom multiple times, no response. Than the Captain came on the intercom and explained the situation to the rest of the passengers, they began to worry. Most people seemed to be under the impression that this man was a terrorist. The entire plane was searched by security back at the airport and we waited there. About 20minutes later they found the man. He was seated in a different seat toward the front of the plane. They asked him about his suspicious behavior and he replied, “I don't know.” Many of the passengers wanted the flight attendants to throw him and all this luggage off the plane. But they didn’t. Had we been on a American plane that man would have been kicked off and placed on the “No Fly List.” The plane took off and the whole time I was holding my breath hoping nothing would happen. We arrived in Entebbe 30 minutes later. Once there we had to get our visa's for Entebbe. I am very glad i met and befriended Ingram, without whom I would have been lost when it came to filling out the paper work for my transit in Entebbe. After filling out the paper work Ingram and I went to retrieve our luggage and the Bishop was there to greet me.

Last Day in the United States

The much anticipated day has arrived. I am in New York City. Though I walk around and people here have placards indicating that the rapture will take place today at 6pm. The significance of this day for me is my travel today, from JFK Airport to Amsterdam and then my travels from the Netherlands to Entebee, Uganda I will be spending a couple of days in Kampala with Bishop Peni as he has business to conduct at the All Saints Cathedral. This Church is the sight where a number of people were buried that were executed by Idiamin. During Idiamin's dictatorship Uganda was the most troubled country of Africa. While Uganda has a troublesome attitude towards homosexuals, it is relatively civil and comparison with most other African countries. My stay in Kampala will be followed by a United Nations flight from Kampala, Uganda to Yambio, Sudan and then to be picked up to travel the last 20 miles by an overland Jeep. All of this will take place within a 4day period. I wonder what the story will be of people that I met in New York's JFK, Amsterdam, Entebee, Kampala, and beyond. More to follow.

Government of Southern Sudan Embassy Visit

Today I found myself at the Government Mission in Washington. The Mission is likened to a country's embassy, my father suggested that we visit this Southern Sudan Government Agency, not knowing what we would find. We initially spoke to a senior official. My father asked this gentleman if there was a Sudanese man in the Mission that had made his way to Washington from Arizona. My father recalled that prior to his February-March 2010 trip to the Sudan he had spoken with a man that fits this description. The senior official said that my father was referring to Enoch Daniel Awejok, the Protocol and Public Relations Officer. The senior official excused himself, only to quickly return to tell us that Enoch was in a meeting, but would like to speak with us. We waited for about 30minutes only to realize that the time on the parking meter was about to expire. I exited the building and ran down 6 long Washington blocks, pumped $3 into a parking meter for 2 extra hours and made my way back, to have Enoch walk in the room 5minutes after my return and invited us into his office. My father thanked him for his advice and help from a year ago. He inquired about my fathers trip, and they shared tid-bits about the Sudan. Enoch than turned to me and asked how he might be of help. I told him of my pending plans to study and work in the Sudan. His face lite up and he said this was amazing. Enoch showed me a copy of the proposed Constitution of the Southern Sudan. He was not able to give me a hard copy, however he was able to email me a copy. We talked about issues to be resolved prior to the July 9^th 2011 birthdate of the new country. He asked about Bishop Peni and the Diocese of Nzara. Upon my questioning he indicated that he is a Presbyterian. He said he soon looks forward to traveling back to the Sudan. His closing statement to me was one that I will always remember. He said “George you are going to be apart of history” I look forward to living into Enoch's pronouncement.