Tok Ku Rou

Back in May I posted about boys playing mancala. I have heard the Dinka here call it "awet," but I have been doing a little research online and found that it is also called "tok ku rou." This literally means "one and two," which conveys the idea of counting. Very appropriate, since this game is based on much counting and calculation.

There's a big tree near our radio compound where there are several awet "boards" dug into the sand and they get good use. One day earlier this month as I approached the tree I saw two men playing. They graciously let me take pictures and video.

Each player owns two rows and only plays in those rows, but tries to capture counters from his opponent's side. The Dinka in our area use four rows of 10 holes, although it seems that 12 or 13 holes are more common.

                                                       

Interestingly, I found a striking picture on the net of a Dinka man playing this game sometime between 1947 and 1951.

Herd 'a Cows

Starting last month, as the grass was drying up and everything getting brown, herdsmen began taking their cattle down south of us to an area where there is more grass. A few weeks ago while driving to the Dokkul church I "ran into" a herd of cows. I saw them ahead of me, stretching across the road and down both sides of it (where there are side roads that we often drive on because they are less bumpy than the actual road).

So, as is often the case here, there was no choice but to drive through the herd. (By the way, the arch-like structure you can see in the distance is a bridge; and yes, they had to close ranks and go over it, which I unfortunately didn't get to see.)

I managed to take some video while driving through the cows, which was a little tricky. I actually tapped one of the cows on the behind with the front of the truck--no harm done, though; he sauntered away as if nothing had happened.

Parot Church

Here are a few photos of a service last month at our local church (courtesy of visitor Dale Ward).

Some of the children's choir as they come in singing

See the "kawajas" (white people)? They're my teammate Daniel and I

Patriotic Moment

Last Sunday I went to our partner church in the village of Dokkul with the two deacons from the Parot church, who are members of the women's health group that I teach. After the service, the deacons did some health teaching with the whole church. One of the two topics they taught about was the importance of handwashing for disease prevention.



I got a kick out of the this t-shirt that one of the Dokkul deacons was wearing. Very appropriate given my nationality and the topic being taught!

It's always heartwarming to see a Canadian flag, particularly out here in the middle of nowhere, when it's completely unexpected!

One of the Parot deacons, Aluel, on the left, helped count the offering with the Dokkul deacon in the pink t-shirt.