A New Year

         

View from Salesian Mission in Nzaikoni, Machakos County, Kenya

   Happy End of February everyone! It has been over a month since my last blog post and a lot has happened in that time to say the least! So I thought I would finally give you all an update. In my last post I talked about how I was about to head to the Salesian mission in Nzaikoni (a small village a few hours outside of Nairobi), for a while until the conflict died down in South Sudan. I will pick up from where I left off and work my way back to the present day. When Mike and I arrived in Nzaikoni in mid January we were blown away. Nzaikoni is basically one of the most ideal locations you could ever imagine. It is on a mountaintop out in the Kenyan countryside, is quiet and peaceful, green and beautiful, and has perfect weather all the time. 

          After relaxing for a week Mike and I were finally put to work in the local public high school, General Mulinge High, where we taught during the rest of our stay. I was teaching computer classes and Mike was teaching biology and English. I loved teaching there and the students and teachers were incredibly welcoming to us but it just didn’t feel like home. During our entire stay in Nzaikoni I just wanted to be back in Gumbo at Don Bosco. My time in Kenya really showed me how much I have come to love my home in Juba and all the people there.  Luckily, I didn’t have to wait long because after two weeks in Nzaikoni we received an email from Fr. Ferrington (the Salesian delegate for Sudan) telling us we were expected back in Juba on the 2^nd of February. Earlier that week the rebels and the government signed a “ceasefire” agreement” so the community decided it was time for us to come home and get back to work in Gumbo.

            After arriving back in Gumbo Mike and I were immediately put to work, which I couldn’t have been happier about. A few hours after getting off the plane we were in the office at the secondary school making the class schedule for the new school year. The next day I was back in the classroom teaching at DBSSS, but a lot had changed since December. The biggest of those changes is that the majority of our students from last year have not returned because of the ongoing conflict. Many of them are still displaced in refugee camps in South Sudan and the neighboring countries and some have even joined the rebel army. Unfortunately, ever since the ceasefire agreement was signed both sides have repeatedly broken the agreement and it still doesn’t look like South Sudan has found peace just yet. Almost 900,000 people have been displaced due to the fighting at this point and even here in our compound in Gumbo we have a camp that is home to over 100 families.

Salesian refugee camp in our compound in Gumbo.

            I will elaborate on that because that is actually a big piece of news. The night before Mike and I left for Kenya hundreds of women and children from the northern town of Bor arrived in our compound in search of refuge. When we returned we found that the Salesians here in Juba had built a camp behind the vocational training center on our compound, which is now the home of those who had come from Bor. Fr. David the secondary school principal, has been running the camp since its creation and some NGOs in the area have been aiding the camp as well. Since Fr. David has been tied up with the camp he does not have much time to be at the secondary school which has changed Mike and I’s role at the school a bit as well. When I first arrived I was teaching business and English but as of last week I have shifted into a more administrative role. Mike and I have been helping with the registration of new students and getting everything organized with the school as we have already begun the new school year alongside.

            Earlier this week we actually took our students to the refugee camp to help clean up and distribute donated items such as food and sanitary items to the people staying there. It was beautiful to see the students serving their fellow South Sudanese whose lives have been turned upside down by the civil conflict. I hope South Sudan’s future is full of love and service between people rather than South Sudanese fighting South Sudanese. In the past day or two the rebels have reclaimed the key oil town of Malakal in the northern part of South Sudan, which marks the biggest clashes since the “ceasefire agreement” was signed. So please continue to pray for peace here as we enter into the month of March. God bless!

                                                                    MORE PICS!

Another picture from the camp here in Gumbo.

St. Francis of Assisi Parish run by the Salesians in Nzaikoni, Kenya.

General Mulinge High School

Me and James a student at General Mulinge.

Me and some of our teachers at Don Bosco Senior Secondary School. From left to right: Mr. Pio, Me, Ms. Florence, Mr. Benon