Sunday Nov. 22

Pastor Godfrey Making Bricks

Akeem and His Rat Trap

A Rain Storm Brewing Over the Village of Kiawa

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Boma so Dr. Nandi and I decided to walk to the village of Kiawa. Former Pastor Peter walked with us and it was great, even saw some baboons along the trail. Kiawa is my favorite village as it is built on a crescent shaped plateau under some huge rock cliffs and then a cliff on the other side looking out over the plains. The chief of Kiawa is a very responsible man and does good things looking out for the people of his village. He is the one who at the grand opening of our school last year made a speech and said, "Forget the cows and send your girls to school." This was in reference to the tradition that girls are a source of wealth for getting the dowry in cows when they are married off. Anyway, we met with the chief and then looking up at the cliffs above saw some huge thunder clouds rolling in. We left right away and the hour walk getting there is a little more than that going back as it is all uphill. About ½ way home the rain hit and so the last 40 minutes of our walk was in a driving rain storm. The worst part about it was these two young girls whom we let pass on the trail just before the rain started. They were both carrying big bags on their heads and moving up the hill at quite a brisk pace. When we finally got to the compound they were at the gate and had just a really good laugh at us.

Dr. Nandi is always trying to get us to eat certain things he says are good for us, like the skins of the mangoes which I find bitter. Another of these things is little red chilies. They are about the size of the red dot candies. I happened to notice a bush down by the shower area that I had never seen before. On this bush were little red berries that looked a lot like what Dr. Nandi puts on everything he eats. So just to see I picked one, broke it open and smelled it. I will not have another sinus problem for some time to come. As I walked back to my tukal I was rubbing my beard and suddenly my whole face was on fire; just from touching one of those little things - and he puts 2 or 3 on every meal!

On Saturday Godfrey, Dr. Nandi and I made bricks. Our goal was 300 but we could only manage 225. It takes a lot of time and effort to mix the sifted dirt with cement and then add water, mixing it again. If you get the water content wrong, it becomes very difficult to operate the brick machine. Being the one with the greatest number of kilos in body mass, I was called upon a couple of times to bring the handle down. Anyway, it was good exercise. Some women were clearing some grass near us and one of them yelled and jumped back. Thinking it was a snake we went over only to find a nest of lizard eggs. We broke one open and there was a little black nightmarish lizard inside. The women destroyed the eggs.

One of my favorite things to do is take walks out in the village. There are always new things to see. It is fun because most of the people know who I am now and call me by name. Chief Leno had a cow hide stretched out with pegs drying and said that it would be a sleeping mat. Akeem is a little guy who I have befriended and he showed me an ingenious rat trap - yes they do eat rat meat. It was a square made of woven branches with dirt and two big rocks on top. A stick held up one side and Akeem hides some distance away after setting bait under the trap. When a rat comes underneath, he pulls the string and the rat is crushed. He told me he had captured many rats, but I don't know if he is just telling me a Sudanese fishing story.

Most everyone loves to get their picture taken and then see themselves in the screen. It is impossible to get an unposed picture because at the first sight of a camera they run over each other getting in front of it and the boys all go into their karate poses. Last thing - I know the same stars are above the states, but the stars in Boma are just awesome. I love standing out in the dark and just looking up. The number of stars visible must be similar to what Abraham saw when he looked up after God had told him he would be the father of a nation whose number would be more than the stars. We were going to show the Jesus film again tonight but after the rain it is too muddy. Will try tomorrow evening.

Blessings from Boma;

Micheal