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.

Our Village Well

My friend Alual on her way to the well

Getting water is a daily chore for most women and many girls in our village.

Fortunately they don't have to walk a long distance or haul up a bucket on a rope or scoop dirty water out of a pond, like women in many places in Africa. Our village has a borehole that my colleagues had drilled by a group called Living Water when they began living here six years ago. The borehole provides clean water that literally is a source of life for our neighbours and us.

There are women at the well throughout the day and sometimes at night, too. It's a gathering place where they visit and catch up on news as they wait their turn at the handpump. Sometimes there's quite a line-up and it takes an hour or two before women get their turn.

Parot well, at a "down" time--at peak times there are many more women and jerrycans than this.

The video below gives an idea of the sounds at the well and the action of the handpump.

Blending In

No matter where I am in the world I'm always impressed by the diversity of God's creation. One of the things that fascinates me here is the great variety of insects.  Here's one of my favourites, the stick bug.

Stick bugs belong to the order of insects called Phasmida and you can read more about them here.

          




They're not exactly the most cute and cuddly of creatures, but they are quite exquisitely made to do what they're supposed to do: look like sticks!

New Reader

On my porch one recent afternoon:

Abuk, age 6, with her foot in a tin of water to soak an infected sore,

being read to by

Akuem, age 9, who will soon finish her first year of school and has just learned to read.


What a joy!

One Day

Below are some pictures I took on September 13, when the rainy season green-ness and wet-ness were at their peak. I took the first four pictures while walking to and from the market in nearby Wanyjok, and the next three during a drive to the town of Akuem, about 15 km south of us.