Porky Pig

(So I wrote this in the Amsterdam airport, but then it didn't post...so here it is)

My time in Africa is finished. I am sitting awaiting my flight to Vancouver in Amsterdam and for the first time in almost 4 months, I am not stared at because I don't look so unique anymore. (In many ways, the feeling of normality is a relief).

This past week I have been hanging with my cousin Liz on the Kenyan coast where we were both able to chill. It was super nice. I was able to try kite surfing! If you don't know what that is, check out the pictures that I have attached. Basically, you have to learn to fly an incredibly intense kite that is attached to your body and then you have to try to surf on a board while flying the kite. I was barely successful but I think multi-tasking is really a girl's sport. But I had lots of fun (and lots of cuts from the kite throwing me into the sand...it's crazy powerful.)

Getting the kite in place

Hard to see but I promise I got up!

I think you should probably refer to Liz's blog also to hear about our fun adventures because I think she will write more about our adventures too http://elizabethkroeker.blogspot.com/

Otherwise, things in Africa have been awesome. I have really been so blessed during my time here and I have learned so much about...well, so much. You know, the thing is that writing about it doesn't really do justice.

But I am so thankful that God has sustained and equipped me so faithfully throughout my journey.

Porky Pig said it best with "That's all for now folks." Also, some random lady from T.V. said it best when she said "We are all Canucks." I say, "let's take the cup baby!"

Okay I'm signing out. Thank guys for being such great support.

A day with Paul

Okay so I am not finished with this blog. I wanted to share with you an average conversation with Paul so you can see why I am thoroughly entertained (and also very confused sometimes). Here is a conversation we had today as we were walking on the roads of Juba which are filled with trenches of water so you have to jump and dodge and all sorts of fun "frogger" moves. (10 points if you even know what I mean by "frogger")

Anyways, here is what happened:
Scene: Paul and Adam walking together jumping around a bit and chatting about life.

Paul: You can't be afraid to jump.

Some more time passes.
Shortly after Adam elects to jump a big ditch while Paul finds his way around.

Adam: I took your advice, I jumped!

Paul: Ah yes, you can't be afraid to jump. Me? I'm not afraid. Although I am an old man and have eaten so many Christmas

End Scene.

So I hope you take this advice friend....young and old, don't be afraid to "jump around, jump around, jump up jump up and get down." (Another 10 points if you can tell me the artist of that song.)

Peace out.

That's all for now.

Yesterday I said goodbye to Mundri--for now. I do hope to be back sometime in the future. The research, assessments, and project proposal developing for the school and a few other ideas that we have started to develop is ongoing so my involvement doesn't stop here. But the field work will be under the very capable hands of Paul. So we are very excited about these things in the future that we are planning. Another program we are slowly developing is HIV people counseling (and other people living with infections). We have brought on a lady to head up this program who is sorta doing this kind of thing for people unofficially. So we want to be able to empower her a bit to develop this. Not completely sure how things will look but God will give her direction. She is totally seeking the Lord in everything so I think it will look sweet. I am going to be fundraising for these things when I get home so if you want to schedule a time to sit down and talk, I would be happy to discuss things. Especially if you want to make donations :) Just kiddin' I wanna just sit and talk too.

Otherwise, now I am Juba. I am mostly excited about the ice cream Paul and I will enjoy again. Then on Friday, I am going to Nairobi where I will meet my cousin Liz and then we will hang out on some beaches of Mombasa for a week and visit some elephants. Or at least be lazy and do nothing. Heck, we deserve a break right? After all of that, I am coming home. And yes I am excited to see you. All of you. It's gonna be rad yo.

I might post more blogs, I might not. Depends, but either way, it's been a splash.

Just want you to know...

I am celebrating with you in Mundri and listening to my first Canucks playoff game since I have been in Africa. 3-0 going into the third. I am happy that the internet has let me listen to such a sweet period. Here we go, let's play hard for another 20 minutes. Woot woot. If all goes well, I will make it home in time to catch the end of the Stanley Cup Finals to see Canucks bring that trophy home baby.

A Beautiful Moment

I know I have talked a lot about ice cream in this blog, but it seems that distance has made my heart grow hungrier. So let me devote this one to ice cream completely and a beautiful moment that might my favourite-est memory yet.

One of the Americans named Scott who lives in Mundri has an ice cream maker with their organization. Whoa whoa, a what?! I didn't know you could get that as a commoner. Well mom, that one goes on the birthday wish list. Anyways, so as I explained in a previous post, that I had the opportunity to treat Paul to his first ice cream. He asked me at that time, "Can I be able to make it with this ice cream from Juba to take to my children?" I had to explain how this melts quickly. (The concept of cold food and frozen anything here is far from the average Moru persons' mind). Long story short, I wanted to still give ice cream to his family so Scott took me to his compound today to make a very delicious chocolate flavour. So I took it to his house as fast as I could before it melted making sure that everyone was already prepared to eat it when I arrived so that it would be real ice cream and not soup.

Now as I said, the concept of frozen food is a foreign idea. So the people confidently took a spoon and dug in. I will let the pictures show the expressions of a few faces.

The ice cream in the middle (look at that girl brace herself...haha I love it!)

Not such a tough guy now are you

This one is priceless. She just put it in her mouth. Might be my favourite picture of the trip.

We have a winner! He loves it :) (So does the girl beside her I am guessing)

For the record, the faces of disgust were actually mere surprise because of the cold. But everyone ate quite excitedly once they were prepared for this strange temperatured substance that the white man must eat for his regular subsistence...which if you know me, that is mostly accurate. But I can honestly say, this was a beautiful moment. Just being able to sit back and watch (while also eating) some of the very first children and elders of Mundri to have their first taste of ice cream. Maybe you had to be there, but at least you can appreciate the pictures!

Oh and also, I told Paul I was going to tell the people of Canada about this. He said, "Make sure you know that I greet them." So he greets you and he wants you to know that he is happy to taste this ice cream food of ours. Just so you know...

White man can dance. Just listen to the Africans!

Today there was a party. One of the NGOs called "Nonviolent Peaceforce" has been in Mundri 1 year today so they had an anniversary party. So I got invited to the supper which was a beautiful meal when you are used to eating bread, beans, and some vegetable that would be very appetizing to most rabbits. Then this party was followed by dancing.

First, if I can just interupt the danging story to mention something about party music here in Southern Sudan. You remember when you got your electronic keyboard for $89.99 for a super value price and it had the demo track that repeats itself every 4 bars? When I was little, I loved that track. The local people here are way more authentic than using a demo track. Instead they jam it out themselves. This tune is usually played in church, at funerals, and anywhere else that needs a soundtrack really. Pretty cool, it's like reliving my childhood. (I am trying to sound like it doesn't drive me crazy if you didn't pick that up by the way :)

Anyways, so the dancing began to this all too familiar tune. I figured, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So I started pretty mellow. Then I slowly "busted a move" Canadian Style. Well, maybe just Adam style...not really ever sure. But anyways, long story short, when I was walking home with my friend Ida at the end of the night, she told me, "People were laughing at you."

"Why? I didn't try to do anything funny. I was just dancing," I said laughing back to her.

"No, it was fine!" (there is that fine word again that really means good) "Even me, I was trying to dance like you were dancing Adam."

haha, I laughed. Go figure, the truth is, all my life I have been trying to figure out how to carry beat and dance like African people. Now they are trying to dance like me. And I tell you this story to make you laugh because that is what I did. It DOES NOT mean that next time you see me you will say, "So, let's see some of these moves Adam." (cough cough...mother....cough cough). I love you mom, but that is totally what you would do and you can't deny it :)

As far as the project progress here, in brief we are still targeting the clans of Greater Mundri and aiming to build a school. However, after some discussion with other people and NGOs, we have realized that targeting orphans specifically is actually not strategic according to the culture and the development need. (One day, I can tell you why over coffee but the details don't make a good blog). Instead we are aiming to just target CSNBEs. That is Children Susceptible to No Basic Education, or at least that is the terminology that we have coined for now to include not only orphans, but those who simply are needing education. Anyways, that is the most major update, just so you know. OH! And my new home in Mundri (for next time when I come and for other foreigners) is being built. It is a mud house but it will have iron sheets for roofing. Here, take a look at it so far...

Prayer List
1) First and foremost, please pray for rain. Should have been raining a while ago and people are going to go hungry this year. Drought is not a pretty sight.
2) Pray for the Internally Displaced People that are a couple hours North from here. I have heard from the NGOs that the estimation for food security aid for these people is pushing 1 year because their houses have been burned and their crops have been destroyed in the tribal clashes. War sucks man.
3) Pray that I finish in Mundri well. I am finished here in 10 days when I will be making my way back to Juba and then Kenya.

Sentimental for a moment.

I found a very unique mango today. It was 2 mangos that were conjoined into one mango. I ate it, and naturally I was baffled at how to approach this phenomenon as it was quite a unique shape to tackle. When I finished, I realized that the pits that were attached looked like a heart. I just thought I would share my love with you in this limited, but unique senimental moment I am feeling for my friends and family at home. So here it is...

I love you guys--mango style.


Thanks for the support.

Juba and Yei--then back home.

So I don't have a whole lot of updates, but I know that some of you faithful blog readers are checking everyday. Out of respect for my fans out there, (sorry, I just always wanted to talk like a celebrity...don't take "fans" in a conceited way), I thought I would keep ya posted on a few things.

I went to Juba to spend a bit of time doing some business related things. While I was there, I had the privilege of buying Paul's first ice cream he has ever eaten. Unfortunately for him we were sharing it from the same family-size bowl, and as some of my friends might know, I eat fast and uncontrollably when I eat ice cream. So I think I scored outta the deal. Oh well. He still enjoyed.

Then after being in Juba, I went to hang out with my Uncle Ken in a place called Yei. He is pretty wicked-awesome. I am a big fan (there I can use "fan" for others too). We hung out in Yei--a place where some people describe as the South Africa of Sudan. It is quite nice there for sure. Then we traveled back to Juba together and he bought me a good meal on the edge of the Nile river. And for the record, I like this Uncle not just because he bought me things. Oh and also for the record, if any of you other Uncles are reading this, I am a big fan of all you too. (BUT, off the record, if you wanna buy me nice meals on the edge of the Nile too, I promise to be a very obedient nephew from this day forward.)

As for life now, I am back in Mundri. I am stoked to be back to be honest. I think that is the coolest thing that I have felt in some ways. I felt like I was home when I made it to Mundri. Pretty cool eh? I have a home in Africa. (Even without ice cream. Go figure.)

Prayer List:
1) Praise for my safe travels. and Uncles. (and aunts, you are great too :)
2) Pray for good leadership to step into power on July 9th (the day when Southern Sudan gets its independence). This is a big one because of how fragile things really are here.
3) Pray for wisdom for Paul and I.

P.S. If you are reading this on May 2nd and you are Canadian...Go vote! (Not that I am one to talk because I didn't, but do it for me because I can't, okay?)

Rain, Best Friends, and Monkeys

Hmm, the English language is funny. I thought the plural of monkey would end in an "ies" because I am teaching in my level 6 and 8 English class that the "y" does that sorta thing. But then the little squiggly red line indicating a spelling error came up. Turns out we speak a pretty funky language.

Anyways, the title does apply. Stay with me folks. So I left on Thursday at 3:30 in the morning for a 5 and a half hour drive to Yambio--the capital of the state of Western Equatoria (where I am). The main purpose was to meet with the SSRRC which stands for some stuff (most of which I forget but I know its got the word "rehabilitation" in it somewhere). Basically they take care of the NGO stuff and organize stuff and...ya know, STUFF. Yup that's what they do.

So we went there, and then we didn't know which documents we needed. Turns out we didn't have a couple of them printed off. After a series of technological implosions, we didn't get them. Lucky us though, the head of the office is a guy that calls Paul "his best friend." He was pretty excited about our coming so it was all good, he hooked us up to still register. Then he continued to feed us 3 meals over the 20 hours and told me that the house is now MY home whenever I come back. Pretty sweet...but why exactly? Well, it also poured rain that night. Unlike us in the West, it seems that rain is a real blessing in Sudan. This guy told me that anytime it rains when there is a guest, then the guest is very special. Well lucky me! That's pretty sweet of you God, to hook us up like that. (Okay, the guy might have been a little tongue and cheek but he seemed flattered that I came on a night of some good African rain so I am gonna embrace it alright?).

Then after enjoying laughs with him and having his support to the "enth" degree for our project, we drove back. On the way back, we saw monkeys. They were running into the bush. Away from the car in front of us. I think this had to do with the fact that the car in front of us contained a minister of finance from Yambio who had a police man with him for security. The police man was really excited about having monkey for supper. So he used his rifle....

Now that you all have GASPED, you will be happy to know that he missed. So the monkeys lived happily ever after to eat the vegetables from the locals' gardens (another reason why they are less of a fan of monkeys than me). But nonetheless, I finally saw legit, exotic wildlife. Pretty fun.

That's all.
Prayer List
1) Praise we got hooked up by the best friend
2) Pray for our upcoming trip to Juba which includes conversations with possible donors and partnerships.

Takin' Dad's Advice...mostly

Do you remember my April Fool's blog I made a couple weeks ago? I pretended that I saw a snake and scorpion and that I tried to beat them with my shoe. When my dad talked to me later about my hypothetical defense tactics, he informed me I had it wrong. I was not supposed to use a shoe, but I was supposed to use a long stick or something that could keep my distance from the dangerous creature in case it made a lunge at me.

So this morning I went to go use my shower and there was a scorpion in the shower. (For realz this time...promise!) Once I had recovered from my initial, superhero, manly reaction (because men like me don't get scared at all; we just flex our muscles), I thought quickly of the advice given to me.

But wait, I need a picture!

Once I had the picture taken, I looked for what stick could effectively kill a scorpion. Nothing really that great.

What would Dad do in this case? Hmm, okay something to keep my distance he says. Got it.

I went with Mundri's best resource--a mango. So long story short, it worked. But it was dad's advice that kept me focused during this moment. I know it wasn't a stick, but I hope you are proud.

Here is a picture of the scorpion next to the drain plug in its last moments. Some of you might be saying, "Adam, this is small. Why would you write a whole blog post about that measly thing?"
Well, to you I say, "Go watch the most recent Indiana Jones." In that movie, Harrison Ford informs us that "when it comes to scorpions, the bigger the better." Therefore, small = not good. So there.

I am teaching at school now. Here are some things to pray for with that:
1) Patience and cultural understanding for me.
2) Teachers for the school. They are way too few. I am teaching up to 3 separate classes at the same time. I get sweaty walking from class to class all the time.
3) An overall revival of the education system here.

Mundri meets Canada

Today, Mundri encountered Canadian culture in a new way. This morning, four of the neighbourhood kids poked their head into my door. So I went to sit outside with them. As we sat there, talking was minimal. Communication is usually done in form of them touching my skin and then we smile and sometimes laugh too. But after a few minutes, I looked and found a stick. It had a slight hook on the bottom that reminded me of the stupid grass hockey sticks from elementary that I thought were so bizarre (I mean why do they only have a tiny blade anyways?)

So I got an idea. I told the kids that I wanted them to find sticks that looked like the one I had. So we went and found 4 more sticks for each of the kids. Then we found another couple short sticks to push into the dirt to stand upright to make goals. Then we found a mango. Yup, you got it, we played hockey in the yard of a church in the dirt. It was awesome. It also drew a small crowd of other children. I tried to tell them that this is called hockey. I don’t think they really cared about a name.

These are some pics of hockey. They aren't that good because I was in a hurry to get back and play but just so you can imagine a bit better. The last pic is just a cute kid name Wala that is always hanging around is quite jolly. I like him.

Prayer List:

1) Continue for the land and that all will go well.

2) Paul who is sick with something like Giardia and maybe Malaria.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Here are the good, the bad, and the ugly things about being here:


The Good – The stars.

The Bad – Stubbing your toe when you are walking at night and staring at them.

The Ugly – The bruise on my toe.

The Good – Mangos

The Bad – The ridiculous stickiness that you acquire when eating them.

The Ugly – Results of too many mangos.

The Good – Breathing

The Bad – Breathing Dust

The Ugly – Everyone pickin’ their nose to get the dust out (especially me!)

The Good – I have a real toilet.

The Bad – No seat and it only sorta flushes

The Ugly – I will spare you the details given the theme is toilets.

The Good – Eating Chicken

The Bad – Watching them lose their heads.

The Ugly – All of the chickens are funny-lookin’ to me.

The Good – Goats

The Bad – They make the freakiest sounds (similar to a child crying)

The Ugly – Their facial hair looks like mine ;)

The Good – I have a bicylce

The Bad – The brakes are hit and miss.

The Ugly – You have to have a bell on it....wait, that isn’t ugly, that is SO COOL!

The Good – Visitors (like me) are treated super awesome-ly.

The Bad – Apparently it is an honour as a visitor to be fed the liver and intestines as opposed to a nice T-bone steak or something. Ha, TIA.

The Ugly – I think I would go with the intestines again on this one...not super excited to look at it. Eating it is another battle.

The Good – Toyota Landcruisers

The Bad – The roads

The Ugly – Getting vomited on (refer to previous blog post if confused).

Prayer List:

1) We are on the brink of being given two and a half acres. That this will go through successfully.

2) For the children with "Nodding Disease" here. It can be super tough for some children.

3) For continued and further support by other NGOs, agencies, and local leaders here.

You know it's a bad day when...

A snake slithers to the foot of your bed and as you slowly get up and get ready to attack the poisonous creature, there is a scorpion just in the way of your shoe that you were going to use to attack the snake. Crazy I know!

But it gets worse when in the background, you can hear a hyena just laughing in the background at your dilemma.

Sigh...

Don't worry, I survived with my ninja capabilities.

Oh the Irony.

Okay so I just posted a blog. If you haven't read the one underneath, you need to scroll down and read it first before you read this one........

....done?

Alright. Now, I just re-read my blog after I posted it. I realized that I wrote something super ironic to the story I was telling. Something Africans do is put the world "really" at the end of sentences. Sometimes it means they are asking a question, sometimes, it adds expression, sometimes it is just in a weird part of the sentence and it would make more sense to me if it was in a different part of the sentence. Well this paragraph, I did just that and here it is....

"So my warning to you Canadians back home is this: If you ask me how I am when I get home and I say, "I'm FINE!" in sort of surprisingly abrupt sounding tone...I am not angry really. I am just speaking African-Canadian-English.

I laughed when I read it. Maybe you had to be there. ha, I dunno.

Takin' a Break

So I am feeling like I am tired of giving the regular ol' update blog and how things are going. But first...I know many are wondering...preaching was good. I wasn't even really nervous.

Okay story time. This story is devoted to all you people who have been to Africa.

Since coming to Canada, I have heard Swahili, Arabic, and Moru on a consistent basis and then when you mix that with a few other tribal languages, I have been confused more than most of the time. I have also learned that English is a different dialect here than I am used to. I have learned to speak more of what Paul is always urging me to speak. (You remember Paul...he is my favourite person...the retired pastor I am working with. Also Africa's biggest jokster and class clown. I love it.) Anyways, Paul says I need to speak African English. You people who have been to Africa know what I am speaking of.

The problem with adapting to this English, is that it is ungrammatical according to the rules that I am told are correct. In fact, they are rather confusing if you are not used to the speech. I talked to my sister and brother-in-law yesterday on the phone, and it was actually an incredibly difficult thing to speak in the Canadian English that I grew to love once upon a time. I was trying in vain to not use the African accent that I have acquired.

So my warning to you Canadians back home is this: If you ask me how I am when I get home and I say, "I'm FINE!" in sort of surprisingly abrupt sounding tone...I am not angry really. I am just speaking African-Canadian-English.

Okay, that is all I have to say.
Pray for:
1) Actually just praise God. I have been really encouraged for the past 2 days. Life is good here.
2) Discernment. People all want help. I want to help, but I don't know the best way sometimes.
3) Better ability/motivation to learn the languages. It can be overwhelming but I genuinely want to learn.

Okay, I will update you more on the situation of what is going down with our work here next time. As for now, I have to go look at the gazillion stars that I can't see at home which is the coolest thing ever!

Finding My Role

Warning: Long blog post. Sorry about that.

So first of all, I have a new number in Mundri. Forgot to say that before but you can now reach me at 011-249-925-608-779

Anyways....many people before I left were asking me what my specific goals are while I am here in Mundri. They understood that the eventual goal is to develop an orphanage centre but obviously in just a few months of being in a village in the outskirts of Southern Sudan, this process takes its sweet time. At the time, I would feel bad that I couldn’t really give people a concrete answer and I tried to avoid the conversation sometimes. But alas, I have begun to figure out what exactly my role will be here in Mundri. So this is to all you people who are confused what I came here to do...

First of all, meet Paul. Paul is a retired pastor who used to walk 3 days (each way) to do evangelism in some of the neighbouring communities. Wow. Anyways, he has a vision to develop a school that includes all clans of Greater Mundri (approximately 13). This school would teach children in the local language so that children would re-learn to be literate in the local dialect. This skill has been greatly decreased because the Northern Sudan influence brought mostly Arabic into the schools. Paul has had this vision since 1995, but no real means of being able to begin to see it take shape.

Afro-Canadian Evangelical Mission’s vision all along was to have our projects and our goals be the same as those of the community. After hearing about Paul’s vision, we wondered how we could combine the visions. Could we make the school targeted towards orphans then? So we met with several various local leaders and chiefs in our immediate area of Mundri to see how they felt about this. The idea was met with great excitement because it seems that although other NGO’s are here and doing great work, no one has really been able to approach the issue of orphans.

Orphan in this side of the world means someone who has lost a parent. As poverty is so severe in Southern Sudan, when one parent is lost, the means to survive under only one parent’s care is extremely difficult; especially if he/she is expected to provided education for his/her child.

All that to say, people really want to see development in the area of orphans. Our visions are merging. Now what will I be doing...

I will be working to document and survey the various regions of Greater Mundri and gather statistics and document stories through video and pictures in order to develop a project proposal to take to donors in Sudan and Canada to see this project take shape.

So this will take time but on the less busy days, I have found a primary school to volunteer in. Now I don’t really know, but I might actually be teaching my own class. Class sizes are huge here in Sudan. They range from 60-150 kids! So I am a little overwhelmed at that but hey, what’s life without it’s challenges right?

Oh and I think we have found a motorcycle that we are able to borrow for some of our transportation! Sweet deal.

Prayer List:

1) There is a NGO base with excellent facilities that is going to be unoccupied at the end of the month. The government will then have control who this is given to. Pray that if God wills it, we can somehow obtain this. It is a shot in the dark, but God is a great God. Never know.

2) Continued support from the community as they begin to adopt and take ownership of the project.

3a) That ice cream will fall from heaven just like manna.

3b) Just kidding. Okay that when I preach on Sunday, I won’t pee myself from nervousness. Yup, I am preaching. I was informed this last Sunday that I would be preaching in the English service of a church nearby. Hmm, okay sure...why not?

“So what am I preaching on?”

“Oh, I will give you the readings on Friday or Saturday.”

Good, at least it’s one day to prepare right? Gulp.