A day in Pageri, Southern Sudan (Journal Entry)

Today I went to Pageri with Lino (he drove), Gifti, Michael, Mikelina and her baby Judah (pronounced yoo-dah; he's terribly afraid of me), and one of the armed guards. We loaded up the remainder of the “Love Covers” bags and the t-shirts and left for Pageri at about 9:30 am. We grabbed a few "rolex" in town to eat on the way. No, it's not an edible watch. It's a nickname for a greasy fried egg rolled in a greasy chapati (a chapati is like a thick, somewhat greasy, flour tortilla). It took about an hour or so to reach the school in Pageri. The landscapes were beautiful.

On the Road from Nimule to Pageri

It's the rainy season now so everything is green. There are sharp hills and mountains that rise in different areas that make for a beautiful backdrop. It was smaller in comparison, but reminded me of the scenery of the mountains of western Ethiopia that I saw on the BBC “Planet Earth” videos (which really aren't all that far away). While we distributed the bags and shirts at the

One of the classrooms at the Primary School in Pageri / Loa

There aren't enough structures for every class, so some meet under trees

school Lino shuttled a bunch of the ladies from around the area to the ladies’ Bible study at Maranatha Chapel in Pageri town. Then he came and picked us up and brought us there also. Pastor Tobias met us there. The ladies were already there and began to sing as soon as I arrived. There’s something about that that I really like. It’s so welcoming. Tobias translated for me as I

Maranatha Chapel Pageri

The Ladies of Maranatha Chapel Pageri gathered together for Bible Study

taught the first half of Luke 22, including the Passover meal that Jesus ate and instituted the New Covenant. It was so cool getting to explain about the Passover and the New Covenant in Christ. Afterwards I waited outside of the church with the crew from Nimule as Tobias took care

The flag flying outside the church in Pageri

Foreground: A woman and her baby waiting outside the church. Background: Our armed guard/escort for the trip

of some church business. Lino played shuttle driver for quite a while so Michael and I walked to town and then to the tukul of Tobias. They must have planned this, because when I came into

Some local tukul (homes/huts) in Pageri town

the small round hut he had ugali and fish ready. We sat inside the tukul and washed our hands with the pitcher and bowl and then ate African style with no utensils. They were impressed that I didn’t want or need them. Tobias offered to find a spoon but I refused. The ugali tasted terrible to me. It seemed like it had sand in it. The fish was actually very good. It was smoked and then cooked in the stew/broth. It was a little hard from the smoking but I really liked it that way. It was almost like salmon jerky. I had such a hard time eating the ugali though. The ugali in Kigoma is soooo much better (and I don't really like it that much there!). But, 'when in Rome...' Afterwards I took this picture of Tobias in front of his tukul. Then he left on his motorbike to go

Pastor Tobias in front of his Tukul in Pageri

to Nimule. Michael and I walked back to the main street (Juba road) and I bought a big bottled water for him and I (I wanted a soda to wash away the ugali texture and flavor but he wanted water instead so I had the same). We drank our water as we waited for Lino to come by and get us. Then we drove back to Nimule.