Thursday, May 23, 2019
My sister Jean Dobay and I are in South Sudan. Here are notes on our trip.
It took us 3 days but we finally arrived on Tuesday in Rumbek, South Sudan. There was a group of about 50 students and teachers to welcome us. Our flight was hours late so they had been waiting in the hot sun for hours. There was singing, flowers, a sign and lots of handshakes. There were even people there from the local radio and tv station. For me, it was returning home after a long departure. Wednesday we went to the school. It is examination time but they changed the schedule to allow an assembly.
My sister, Jean, is traveling with me this time. We both greeted the students and I announced the recipients of the next round of micro loans. We visited four of them. One of the student-graduate run businesses has already paid back her loan. Some are nearly ready to start paying back. All of us are learning. Everyone here is waiting for the rain. It impacts everything. We expected the agriculture to be affected but not the hair salon. Drought drives up the price of food which means there is no money for anything except food. Jean and I took a walk yesterday evening. Several women asked us for money to buy food. Because of the language difference, they used their hands to communicate. Hunger is evident. Please pray for rain in South Sudan.