Blogs from Juba, South Sudan, Africa

Do you remember all the stories in the Bible about planting seeds and getting a good harvest? This morning Karen and I saw some of the seeds that were planted on Saturday begin to sprout. While Ellen spent the morning with the 2 and 3 year olds that she cared for this past month, Karen and I observed three teachers teach the baby class (the preschool hours are 9-11, and the teachers rotate to the three groups for 40 minutes each, teaching reading, writing, and numbers). In the first class that we observed, the teacher had a pair of students model a strategy called "rally coach," in which one student has a problem to solve and the other coaches him/her to get the answer. This was done on a very basic level by one student holding ... read more

Do any of you remember the old Bing Crosby and Bob Hope series of movies called "the road to..." Well, settle in for "The Non-Road to Terekeka !" Our flight from Addis Ababa to Juba seemed longer than its two hours because it was a small (about 50passengers) prop plane that was pretty crammed full and quite noisy, at least to those of us over the wings. So we were very glad to land, stretch our legs and have lunch at the Bistro, a restaurant that had fans, flush toilets, and many American items like pizza or burgers. I wanted something cool,so I had a delightful watermelon smoothie and a garden salad packed with fresh veggie. After a few errands, we started the 53 mile trip of torture. The three of us sat on bench seats ... read more

Most people don’t associate Sudan with tourism, or would ever consider going there on holiday. In fact, few people have heard little about the divided nation except stories of tribal violence and the ongoing crisis in Darfur. But since the recent referendum that voted overwhelmingly in favour of secession, the world’s newest country will be created on July 9th, and with it, whole range of opportunities. Travel writer and photojournalist Levison Wood explains his reasons for visiting the soon-to-be Republic of South Sudan, prior to its independence and what it can offer the intrepid traveller. “We couldn’t even drink beer here until 2005” says Charles, a beaming Dinka tribesman from Juba, the dusty capital of this former rebel stronghold. “Sharia law, imposed by Khartoum, meant that we had t... read more

JUBA the capital of southern Sudan is a good 728 km from Kampala, however the buzz around town makes you feel like you at home; with almost every consume-able commodity bearing the label “made in Uganda”. However the only disappointment is the exorbitant price charged by the traders - almost five times the rate of your average shop back home! Research carried out reveals that Southern Sudan is amongst the most expensive regions/countries to live in; (imagine paying 700 Ug shs to photocopy a paged document!, services that cost 100 shs back in Uganda) . Whilst in their defense they claim that S. Sudan being a landlocked region, procures all goods like foods, construction materials, office stationery, electronics etc from Uganda or Kenya, and future more traders have to incur high transportation cost and double taxations ... read more

South Sudan is a very friendly place, but as many of you know this is just a recent development. For many decades Sudan was committing genocide, and in the Darfur region today the genocide continues. We flew into Juba in South Sudan. Because there is so much UN money in Southern Sudan it is very expensive. We stayed in a hotel that costed 180 dollars for one room. It was extremely basic, and the place was not nice. It was located on the Nile which was very cool. We left early in the morning to do some shopping in the market for the village we would be visiting. We bought 15 bicycles, cookware, and lots of other stuff Craig brought along from Seattle. After shopping we took a 4 hour car ride to Bor. The road ... read more