Coming Home

Dear Friends and Family,

We wanted to write everyone to let you know that after two years of working with MCC/CEAS and the people of southern Sudan we will be coming home.

Many of you know that the most challenging aspect of our life and work here has been our inability to settle in some place and build a life. We have been in what seems like perpetual transition, never knowing where we would be living in the next 30 days. We found out in late October that we would be losing our current housing in Juba at the end of the year, just after having lived there for 3 months. At the same time, the structure that MCC is building for permanent housing of its current and future staff will not be ready until March or April of 2008.

Juba is a difficult place and finding housing with access to reliable water and electicity is next to impossible. After examining our options to consider what would be best for our family, we realized that we could not go through another temporary move, knowing that we would have another in just a few short months. With this in mind have decided to resign from our term of service with the Mennonite Central Committee.

While this means that we will be returning a year earlier than we originally planned, we are very thankful for the 2 years we did have here and the opportunities we had to serve. We were honoured to walk along side the people of Sudan for this short distance. The people we met and befriended will always be with us and our experiences are now part of the fabric of our lives.

We are not entirely sure what is next for us. All this happened in a relatively short period of time. Our first stop will be in late December with John’s family in Florida and we will see were God takes us from there.

We want to thank all of you for your thoughts, prayers, and support. Of the enumerable things the past two years have taught us, one of them is the indispensability of feeling like you are connected to loved ones and community. All of you offered that life line to us and we are eternally grateful. Thanks. We will try to keep you posted on what comes next for us.

Salaam,

Julia, John, and Isabella

October 2007

Hello from a rainy Juba, Sudan. A lot has been happening with us in the last few months and we need to update all of you. We spent April to August in Nairobi, Kenya. John was working out of the CEAS Nairobi office and Julia was taking care of Isabella in her first few months of life, and Isabella herself was working quite hard at growing, getting vaccinations and everything else.

We then took a month’s home leave, in Aug/Sept, spending 2 weeks in Chicagoland and 2 weeks in Florida. While it all seemed like a blur we feel much more connected to family and friends and are so glad we took the chance to come home.

Now we are back in Juba. It is still raining here, so it is much cooler than when we left in April. Isabella is good, if sweaty, and seems like she is adjusting just fine. Julia and John are likewise adjusting, if maybe less gracefully than the baby, but we are making life work.

One of the upshots of the growing dominance of the Chinese around the world is that you can get good Chinese food most places in the world. We discovered a passably good Chinese restaurant here in Juba and we plan to make much use of it. Wonderful Chinese Restaurant in housed in a few shipping containers slapped together and even has an air conditioner keeping the place at a lovely 83 degrees or so. If you are in the neighbourhood, we suggest the fried noodles.

The project that John has been working on for months and months in Juba is finally underway. Several latrines have been built, several classrooms are on their way to being finished and the drilling team is out in the community as we write this providing new water points. It has been satisfying to finally see these things come to light.

Salaam,

Julia, John & Isabella

June 2007

WOW, it’s been a long time since we posted an update! We have been busy. Most of you know that we lived in Juba, Sudan for February and March. It was a lot to adjust to, especially for Julia who was 7 and 8 months pregnant in the 100+ degree heat.  We were both working out of the CEAS office in Juba.

We moved back to Nairobi in April so we could be in a place with adequate medical facilities for the delivery of the baby—and Isabella Salome Harris was born on May 11. She was just shy of 7 lbs. and healthy as can be.

She is now a bouncing 6 week old and flashing a smile (even if it is just gas) every once and a while.  Isabella is a great baby and is relatively easy on us first time parents.  For the most part she only cries when she needs something (food, entertainment, lulled to sleep).  As far as nighttime issues go, Isabella also seems to share her parents’ deep respect for sleep—wakes up to eat and then immediately goes back into dreamland enabling us to get some sleep.   Her favorite thing to do is to get her diaper changed… yep you read that right… because her changing pad is next to a large mirror.  Isabella made fast friends with “the baby in the mirror” whose life curiously reflects her own ;-).  Isabella seems to be a serious and somewhat sarcastic type baby. When we sing to her she frequently raises one eyebrow (kind of like Pierce Brasnon as James Bond) and gives an unentertained look that seems to say, “So you think you can sing huh.  And you’re my parents?  I want to speak to whoever signed me up for this?”  So yes, she is very funny to have around and we wouldn’t want her any other way.  Many of you have asked so we’ll answer your question here: no her hair has not started to thin or fall out, in fact it is growing!  Her hair is a good source of entertainment—it can be styled into a fax-hawk, 1950s greaser, 1980s Pat Benatar, with or without spit-curls and it’s curly after a bath… the possibilities are endless.  Of course, we will keep you all updated as her personality continues to unfold.        

John is now working out of the Nairobi office of CEAS and Julia is taking some time off to be with the baby. In a few months time she will probably start back up on a part time basis working directly for MCC as a consultant to MCC Sudan partners (including CEAS).

We will be here in Nairobi until late August when we will take a few weeks leave in the US. After that we are scheduled to move back to Juba for the remainder of our term with MCC.

In the mean time we are well. We are getting used to there being now 3 of us instead of 2. It is an adjustment, but a good one.

It is cold in Nairobi now, like a N. American fall, so while most of our readers are enjoying summer we are merely dreaming of backyard bar-b-q’s and beaches.

We miss you all and will see many of you in a few months while we are home.

Julia and John

A New Home February 2007

After a year living in Kenya and working in Sudan (that’s quite a commute eh?), we are finally set up and living full time in Juba, Sudan. Juba is hot and dusty, but thankfully there is more hope than dust in the air and when the generator fires up and the fans come on it is almost like summer in the US... almost.

It will take some significant adjustment before Juba is “normal” for us. But we found a place that serves reasonably authentic pizza and would you believe soft serve ice cream!

In the mean time we are figuring out the local markets and our new lifestyle and daily routine.

If any of our readers knows a good home style remedy for a large family of bats living and lounging in our house, we are all ears.

In general Julia and the pregnancy are doing great, but the heat of Sudan and the overall difficult lifestyle will be a challenge until we return for the birth to Nairobi in April

John is travelling to the Shilluk Kingdom again regularly and has taken over the general oversight of the program.

We appreciate all your prayers.

Peace be upon you,

Julia and John

November 2006

All about Juba

As many of you may remember, John has been going to Juba, (the capital of southern Sudan) on and off to do assessments now for a while. After collecting as much information as possible about what was needed and what could be done he put together a proposal. There have been many delays, but the proposal has finally been accepted and issued as an emergency appeal through the Action by Churches Together network. Follow http://www.act-intl.org/appeals/appeals_2007/AFSD72-sum.html to get a summary and link to the full appeal.

ACT is the emergency response wing of the World Council of Churches. CEAS, is an implementing member of ACT in Sudan, which gives us a connection to many of our readers because many of you are actually members of the ACT alliance through your home churches. Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans (ELCA), several kinds of Baptists, Moravians, Brethrens, Quakers, Presbyterians (USA), Disciples of Christ, and members of the Orthodox Church, Reformed Church, A.M.E. Church, and the United Church of Christ all participate through your donations and prayers to the work of ACT.

By the way…for those of you interested in ecumenical (inter-church, usually between denominations) relations, the ACT response in Darfur has linked up with Caritas Internationalis (the Roman Catholic emergency response organization) for the first truly Christianity-wide collaborative response to a global problem in a thousand years or so.

Most of our readers probably have no idea what we are talking about even if you are a member of one of the above denominations. Here is a chance to become more informed—follow the links below to your (or any other) denomination’s organization for relief and development. If it is not listed below—find it! After you check it out, see what your congregation can do to be a part of the global fight against poverty and oppression. And, if you happen to encourage your denomination’s relief and development wing to support CEAS’ appeal for Juba, so be it!

Christian Church/Week of Compassion (Disciples of Christ) (CC/WoC)
Church World Service (CWS)
Episcopal Relief and Development (ER&D)
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC)
Lutheran World Relief (LWR)
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance PDA-PC(USA)
United Church of Christ - Wider Church Ministries (UCC-WCM)
United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR)

 Also check out: http://www.act-intl.org for the Action by Churches Together site and http://www.oikoumene.org/en/home.html for the World Council of Churches.

Speaking of Juba…

Most of you probably know that we were supposed to have been living and working in Juba since our terms of service began. CEAS has been operating from Nairobi, Kenya and therefore we have been living in Kenya and traveling quite frequently to Sudan. That could be changing in early 2007. We may be moving to Juba as early as February. As you all know our baby is due in May. No matter where we will be living we will return to Nairobi, which has modern medical services, for the delivery. Having said that, we are asking for prayer from all of you as we may be making preparations to move. The past year has been one of many changes and it seems the changes will continue. We live lives in transition and that sometimes takes a stressful toll. So besides your prayers, we also want your communication. We have been sometimes bad at returning emails and such, but every one we receive from back home is a blessing and helps us feel rooted and stable. So keep those emails coming. And by the way, after we posted the pregnancy announcement on the web we received an overwhelming response from many people. Thank you all so much. It made us feel loved and supported.

Other Updates

We were able to secure a Turkey here in Nairobi and had a successful more or less traditional Thanksgiving dinner with some friends. The Turkey came out great and the preparations were completely unsupervised (we had never done it before). It was pretty exciting thanks to internet cooking directions and an emergency trans-continental phone call for Charlotte Roback’s stuffing recipe.

The Update to Trump All Updates: WE’RE PREGNANT!!!                 10.31.06

Can you believe it!  We are so excited!  We don’t even know what to put in this update we are so excited.  First, the baby is due May 17^th.  Second, we had our first ultrasound, the pictures are posted in the photo gallery, and both Baby and Julia are healthy.  (By the way, it’s too early to tell the sex of the child.)  Third, Kenya has many modern medical facilities to support the pregnancy and delivery. 

As if that weren’t exciting enough, we leave for Athens early tomorrow morning.  During our 2 weeks in Greece we will meet up with friends from back home (Dan, Rachel, Bud, & Tim), see some historic sites (Acropolis, Biblical city of Corinth, etc.), and eat Greek food (squid, octopus, olives, etc).  Julia is especially looking forward to the food with her pregnancy cravings.  We will see if we get inspired to give the baby a Greek name ;-)   

In the meantime, please pray for us and the baby.  (For our health and well-being as a family.)  We also have a lot of decisions to make as a family and they all require a lot of prayer.    

Also please pray for Sudan.  The situation all over Sudan (Darfur, the East, the South were we work, and even in Khartoum the central capital) is becoming more complex everyday.  As we read the news reports regarding the governments of Sudan and the international communities dealings in Sudan, we are reminded of Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood (meaning individual people), but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Comment in parentheses mine.)  The problems in Sudan are not simple issues among individuals.  Instead it is the collective effort of the rulers, authorities, and dark powers that oppress the people of Sudan.  Please pray that those of us working for good in Sudan, whether Christian or not, will put on the “Full Armour of God” as Paul describes in Ephesians to battle these forces of evil.  Pray that God’s Will be done in Sudan.     

Assalamu Alaikum,

Julia & John

September 2006

A lot has been happening lately in our lives and in the Sudan. We thought we would share with you all some of what has been going on and include a situation that needs prayer.

A sick friend and a pocket full of antibiotics

In July, I (John) went on a monitoring trip to Shilluk (that area along the Nile where we both were able to go to together). I was there to monitor a distribution of seeds and tools and to check up on a number of programs in the area. It is the rainy season there now so instead of landing on an air strip on the outskirts of the village I had to land in a distant town and take a 5 hour boat ride up the river. The trip was delayed and I found myself having to stand on the bow of the boat with my flashlight to help the driver navigate the river and dodge fishing nets.

Upon arriving at the CEAS compound the local CEAS program manager and I found that a colleague of ours, Bernard, was very sick. He had been diagnosed with malaria by the local community health worker and had been treated. He was not recovering and in fact was beginning to have episodes of lost consciousness. It was decided that we would arrange to have him medically evacuated to a hospital in Kenya.

Unfortunately for our sick friend that meant waiting at least another day for a plane and a grueling boat ride down the Nile to get to the distant town.

After arranging for his air transport we set off in the boat the next morning. It was much faster than the day before, but the river seemed to stretch on without mercy because of our concern for our friend.

By the time we reached the town, called Malakal, Bernard had taken a turn for the worse. He was in a great amount of pain and needed help lumbering into our accommodation for the night. He began finding it difficult to breath and the program manager, Anthony, ran out to find a friend of his with some medical training. They returned with a malaria test kit and found that he did not in fact have malaria. The medical worker thought he had a respiratory infection of some sort and thought he needed antibiotics. Just then I remembered I had brought antibiotics with me as part of the “Quick Run Bag” CEAS always sends with me into Sudan. We started Bernard on the medication and by morning he began to show signs of improvement.

I was elected to accompany Bernard back to Nairobi and we spent the whole next day on planes. Upon arrival back in Nairobi he was checked into a clinic and was up and about in about 10 days.

A plan for the future

If you have been reading the updates and looking at the pictures you know that Julia has been working on the CEAS strategic plan for the next several years. In July and August that all came to a head. Julia was running all over East Africa organizing and facilitating workshops, interviews, and meetings. This was all aimed at putting together a truly participatory plan for the organization. Participation is a very important concept, particularly here in a part of the world that has had most of its recent history imposed on it from the outside. CEAS is a unique organization in that it has many different types of stakeholders who should all have a say in how the organization functions. From international donors and observers in places like Helsinki, Finland, and Geneva, Switzerland, to a local parish priest in a small Sudanese village, to officials in the fledgling government, Julia tried to get them all to have input and as much as possible to sit around the same table.

While the strategic plan is still being finalized, it has produced some interesting results and offers a challenging, but hopeful path for the next few years. In summary, CEAS is going to focus on building up local church-based organizations in Sudan so that they themselves can begin to take on the needs of the community. As it is, large international organization like the UN, Oxfam, Save the Children, and World Vision are working all over the area. They are doing great work and we hope they will continue, but for the long term good of local Sudanese communities, local groups need to take on their own aspirations. Our readers in North America can think what their communities would be like if the government was just getting started and there were no community or faith based organizations—no PTA, no community center, no tax payers associations, no church soup kitchens, no local Habitat for Humanity. These institutions are essential for the good of the country. The Harris’ are very excited to be a part of this idea and its way forward for the next years to come.

More trouble in Shilluk

As mentioned above, John was not able to conduct his monitoring trip in Shilluk because he had to come out with his sick friend. A few weeks later he was going to go again, but the day he was supposed to get on the plane fighting broke out in the area.

Over the past few months tensions had been rising between the SPLA forces stationed in area and the government aligned militias (the same tactics that are being used in Darfur with the Janjaweed have always been used in the South were local ethnic groups and clans are armed by the north to attack southerners). The militia, remnants of the original armed force that attacked the area in 2004, has had strongholds in a local town as well as the rural areas on the east/south bank of the Nile.

The militia had been ordered by the SPLA to stand down or formally integrate into either the SPLA or the Sudan Armed Forces proper. A deadline of July 31 was set for the integration. After the deadline passed a conflict began to escalate as the SPLA attempted to disarm the militia. The fighting swiftly spread to the point where artillery shelling was taking place in the vicinity of the CEAS base in Papwojo. Subsequently the regular government army was drawn into the fight and the region has been unstable since.

CEAS has evacuated its staff from the area and is watching it closely. There are ongoing talks between the local commanders to resolve the situation and keep the peace. The situation is calming and we are hopeful that we will be able to return sometime next month.

Please keep the area and the continued peace throughout southern Sudan in your prayers.

A Warm Embrace

In September a near miracle occurred, John’s parents Rick and Kay came for a visit to see our lives here in Kenya and go on safari.  (The pics are slowly being uploaded to the website.)  It was so great for us to have Rick and Kay here that we almost don’t have the words to explain it!  First we showed them around Nairobi.  Nairobi included meeting Gena and Debbie face to face, getting used to driving on the opposite side of the road and also getting used to the Nairobi way of driving, i.e.: “We’re all gonna die! Or no, we’re okay, we’re okay.”  Then we whisked Rick and Kay off to Masai Mara National Park, which is the northern end of the Serengeti Plains – yes you have seen something about that on the National Geographic channel.  After our safari in the Mara we zipped up to Tea Country and sipped some of the local brew (England’s #1 importer of tea).  After that we ran off to Lake Nakuru, a salt lake filled with flamingos and rhinos.  By that time we had photographed all of the infamous ‘Big 5’ (lion, African buffalo, elephant, leopard, and rhino).  As if that wasn’t enough, we also visited Abadare National Park, which contains one of the world’s remaining mountain rainforests!  There we found one beautiful waterfall after another and had lunch with some wildlife.  Finally, we came back to Nairobi to do some shopping at the local Masai Market and show Rick and Kay around CEAS.  All in all, we made memories.  Thanks Rick and Kay!      

Upcoming Plans

We will be doing a lot of traveling, as always, between now and the end of the year.  John will be attending a one-week training on Community Trauma Healing, like do a big group therapy, from September 17-22 in Kampala Uganda.  This type of training will be useful when dealing with communities, like Shilluk, that have experienced a lot of fighting and suffering. Julia will also attend training in Kampala from the September 25- October 6^th on Organizational Development and Strategic Management.  Julia’s training is geared toward building the capacity of medium sized organizations to build the capacity of small organizations, which is exactly what the new CEAS strategic plan aims to do.  In October John will be flying around Sudan conducting monitoring trips while Julia hopes to visit Juba for the first time.  Also planned for October are a few MCC get-togethers both inside and outside of Sudan. 

We will keep you all posted on these events.  (Don’t forget to check the Photo Gallery for updated pictures.  For us right now pictures are much easier to update than actual updates like this one.)

P.S. I, Julia, am uploading this update from beautiful Kampala Uganda on the shores of Lake Victoria! I am here because of the training I mentioned before.  Don't worry I'll take pictures

July 15, 2006: It’s cold in Nairobi!

Since we are on the flip side of the equator relative to our readers in North America, you may all be interested to know that it has grown cold here. We are not talking snow by any means and if we were a little closer to sea level (Nairobi is higher than Denver) it would still be blazing hot. It is more like a wet spring or fall day, depending on if the sun is coming out or going behind a cloud. 

In Sudan, it is in the middle of the rainy season. That means that a land that is a desert from October to April is now a swamp from May to September. Sudan doesn’t do anything half-way.  

Usually, not much goes on in the rainy season in Sudan. Almost nothing moves as air strips and dirt roads are waterlogged. Soldiers stay put, herdsmen graze their cattle and farmers plant their crops. Well, unfortunately this rainy season both of us have a lot to do! Julia has been doing strategic planning work shops with field staff in Sudan and John is gearing up for another couple of project monitoring trips. He will be checking up on how a seeds and tools distribution has gone and how the crops are faring. 

Please pray for safe travels in July and August. Please pray for a lasting peace in Sudan so people can get back to planting and living.

June 4, 2006: Tasks & Opprotunities

Cholera kills 424, infects 14,000 in Southern Sudan

May 23, 2006: It's like midterm tests and The Pumpkin Patch at the same time!

Assalamu Alaikum  "Peace be upon you",

Julia and John Harris

May 23, 2006 Update (2 in one day... my goodness!)

So we realize that its been over a month since we updated everyone on our goings on and we left you hanging with both of us doing a lot of traveling. To make up for our indiscretions we have added a new section to the website, the STORIES section. Check it out to read more interesting things than our day-to-day comings and goings.

Also, keep checking the photo gallery—we have lots of pictures and it takes time for us to get them all up.

Speaking of comings and goings, lets get you up to date, shall we.

Yambio: Both of us went to the Yambio Interstate Peace and Reconciliation Conference in Yambio (see map below or geographic info). It was attended by government officials, church leaders, and all types of dignitaries from the two regions affected by a recent outbreak of inter-tribal conflict. In many ways it is just the most recent problem arising from the age old clash between those who plant and those who keep livestock. If you remember you Sunday School lessons we are talking Cain and Able stuff here.

A Peace Charter was signed by the attendees and now much work has to be done bringing the culture of peace to the village level. It will be a long, but worthwhile process.

Juba: John represented the Harris’ in a pilgrimage to Juba, a place we have been hearing all about for a long time now. He was there to do an assessment for a possible project CEAS will do there later in the year. He met with church leaders and officials about what the community needs the most. There have already been over 80 deaths this year to cholera in Juba, so of course, water and sanitation are a major concern. Also, the people in Juba as in all of Southern Sudan identify education as their number one priority. People who are literally starving would prefer good schools to food if they have to choose. Everyone seems to instinctively understand that the future of their people depends on raising up an educated generation.

Sudan Capacity Building Forum: Although Julia was supposed to meet John in Bor, she could not go because of other important business. Julia joined the steering committee of the Sudan Capacity Building Forum, a group dedicated to building potential and effectiveness in local Sudanese NGOs (what we call nonprofits or charities). It is an exiting and challenging opportunity.

Bor: John went to Bor to help manage a distribution of seeds and tools to vulnerable returnees (people who are returning to their traditional homeland after the war, but lack the means to support themselves). Unfortunately the seeds and tools had not arrived while he was there. The logistics of getting something from point A to point B in this part of the world are mind blowing. So, he spent time visiting other projects that CEAS and its partner, the Episcopal Diocese of Bor are involved in, including a visit to a brand new, the only one in the region, High School. There he met the 4 bravest people he has ever met (please check the STORIES section in the near future to hear more about Rhoda, Marsa, Rebecca, and Elizabeth).

Now we are both in Nairobi. We will likely be here for a while as the rains have begun in full force in Sudan, which can easily turn a 3-day trip into a 3-week trip while you wait for your landing strip to dry out.

Peace be upon you,

Julia and John

April 17, 2006: Yambio, Juba, Bor

We are bound Tomorrow morning for Yambio, Sudan. (Yambio is the purple dot on the map below.) We are going to attend a peace conference. There have been a number of disputes between the different tribes as groups begin the long trek to their traditional lands after having had to flee during the war. Some people are grazing their cattle on other lands and this has heightened old tribal rivalries. While this conference is for a particular local dispute, it has ramifications for all of South Sudan and therefore is getting a lot of publicity. There are church leaders and politicians from all over coming.

After the conference Julia will be going home to Nairobi while John goes on to Juba, Sudan.  (The red dot on the map below.) He will be there as a part of an assessment to figure out what kind of projects CEAS will undertake there in the coming year. Juba has been experiencing cholera outbreaks because the increasing population is out pacing the sanitary facilities.  Juba is especially important to us because when we move to Sudan we will live in Juba.  Juba has been our focus for the past several months.  So John’s trip to Juba is like a pilgrimage for us.

After the assessment John will (for the third time now) try to get to Bor and meet Julia there. (The familiar green dot on the map below.)

I am sure after we get back we will have many things to pass on to you all.

In the mean time. Please pray for the peace conference. Even before the war, most of the tribes found it hard to live together peacefully. Now, with the war against the government over, the southerners themselves need to find a way to live peacefully for the sake of their children.

Assalamu Alaikum

Julia and John Harris

Back from Shilluk, April 5, 2006

Hello everyone. We got back from the beautiful Shilluk Kingdom in the evening of April 3^rd. Shilluk is an area on the western banks of the White Nile that united under a king several centuries ago. The royalty function kind of like the governor and county commissioners of a State. The color of nobility in Shilluk is pink, so you will have to check out the pictures in our gallery to see the officials walking around draped in pink bed sheets. Keep checking the gallery because we put pictures and captions up regularly—right now there are only like 5 up and we (Julia) took something like 250 pictures.

While we were there we were able to meet with the local officials and discuss plans for future CEAS programs. The Paramount Chief, check the gallery at some point to see a picture of him and John arm and arm, is the representative of the king in the area. He referred to both of us simply as “America”. You see, in Sudan as in most of Africa, family and community is often the source of power. So the Paramount Chief assumed that we were very prominent Americans to be so far from home and that certainly meant that we were very close relatives of George Bush. He would not believe that we were not kin to the ruling family.

The kingdom was a little on the warm side. We left the digital thermometer in the sun one day to see what would happen—it blacked out at 131 degrees, no joke, we have a picture. Despite that, it is a beautiful area where most people earn a living from the fish and other resources of the river and its tributaries. It is a seasonal marsh that reminded us a lot of the everglades.  Our readers from South Florida would feel at home—at least in the evenings when the temperature is civilized and you can faintly smell the river.

The Kingdom was the location of serious militia attacks in 2004. At least half the population fled and the other half was left without the resources it needed to sustain itself. CEAS was part of the emergency response. Today we are in the process of distributing seeds, tools, and fishing kits to the people and shelter kits to those who fled and are now returning. It is a difficult process because most people still live in fear that the militias will return, so long term planning for the future is a little off the radar.

Even so, the people we met were full of life. When we were climbing into our mosquito nets preparing for bed every evening we could hear drums and song off in the distance well into the night. Except for the hours of noon to 4pm, when nothing happens because of the heat, laughter seemed to be the main activity of the day.

We hope to get back to Shilluk soon. In the mean time please pray with us for the people of Shilluk. Pray that their community will continue to heal from the wounds of war and that they will look to the future with hope. Pray that their leaders will govern justly and that peace will remain a reality.

As always, peace be with you.

John and Julia 

Harrises will Travel into Sudan… Together!                               March 24, 2006

That’s right were takin’ over the place!  Hardly.  We are going into Sudan March 27^th or 28 and will be coming back to Kenya around 3^rd or 4^th of April.  Obviously these plans are not booked ahead of time or set in stone.  We are talking about “Africa Time” which is full of maybes and oh-wells.  We hope to see two places while in Sudan; Shilluk Kingdom and Bor. (You may remember that John was supposed to go to Bor in his last trip.  Well, that didn’t work out so he is going to try again.) 

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: We are no longer traveling to Bor. (That’s right John’s second failed attempt at traveling to the beautiful tourist destination Bor.)  Currently, the plan is to leave Nairobi the 27^th for the northern Kenyan town Lokichokio, Loki for short, which borders Sudan.  Loki is a town created so that humanitarian aid could reach Southern Sudan during the war.  It continues to be a place where people pick up flights into Sudan, like a hub.  However, Loki is quickly becoming abandoned now that there is peace is S. Sudan and operations move to the Southern capital Juba.  (Many of you may remember that Loki was one of the areas featured in the movie/book The Constant Gardener.)  After a night in Loki we will be off to Shilluk Kingdom.  We are told that we will be returning to Kenya on either the 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd of April.  Aah…“Africa time”.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE ABOUT THE UPDATE: We are no longer staying the night in Loki.  It seems that UNICEF needed our seats for medical supplies so the airlines kicked us off.  Instead we will be travel on March 28^th with a quick stopover in Loki then on to Shilluk.  Oh what’s that phrase again?  Oh yeah, “Africa Time”!

We will be in Shilluk Kingdom for about 4 days in an area called Tonga. (See red region on map. Tonga is the maroon section.)  And yes you did read that right, it’s a kingdom. Shilluk is in Upper Nile state it has one of the few remaining monarchies in Sudan.  It is an interesting situation in that the king and local politicians govern the area together.  Aside from the airport in London this is the closest Julia has ever been to a monarchy and is reminded of Mo. Meredith’s sermon about the classmate she had in Japan who was in line to be king.  Interestingly, Shilluk is very close to Renk Chicago’s companion diocese for the Episcopal Church.  It is on the White Nile and its major town is Malakal, which was recently visited by the Archbishop of Canterbury! 

While in Shilluk we will have the opportunity of seeing what our organization, CEAS, and our partner PRDA, relief wing of the local Presbyterian Church, have been doing in the area.  Their activities include health, water, agricultural, women and youth empowerment, education, and income-generating activities.  Oh, and one last thing about Shilluk, the weather reports for next week indicate clear skies with highs of 113 degrees F and lows of 85 degrees F. TOASTY! 

[We decided to leave this section about Bor in this update because we thought it so funny that we just couldn’t delete it.]  In case you haven’t already read about Bor I’ll reiterate from our last update.   Bor is on the White Nile south of Shilluk and north of Juba. (See green area on map)  We will be there for a few days.  While there he will be able to see what Church and Development, the humanitarian wing of the Episcopal diocese of Bor, has been working on in the areas of education, water/sanitation, health & HIV/AIDS, agriculture, and gender advancement for women.  For those interested, the weather is nearly the same as in Shilluk except Bor’s outlook includes humidity.  And, as if it couldn’t sound any worse, we’ve been told that the bugs in Bor are frighteningly large and numerous.  It appears that the marshlands of the Nile in Bor should put Julia’s experience in Florida’s Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge to shame!  For those that don’t know, millions of gigantic grasshoppers (i.e. the Biblical plague of locusts) descended upon Julia during her first and only trip, to Florida’s everglades.

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PRAYER REQUESTS (very similar to last time):
    •Pray that our travels in Sudan will be blessed
    •Pray for peace in Sudan
        o The problems in Sudan are a complex mix of race, money, power, religion, intolerance, tribalism, ethnocentrism, slavery, affiliation and on and on.  Even in Southern Sudan tensions are high with regard to these factors and the oil recently found in the land does not help the situation.  Pray that the South will become unified and begin to see the benefits of peace.  (Here in the post-war development world we call this “peace dividends”. We like this term.)  [If you’re interested in knowing more about oil in S. Sudan and the problems it brings check out the National Geographic photo essay Shattered Sudan: Drilling for Oil Hoping for Peace. http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0302/sights_n_sounds/media2.html  And if you’re very alert you can actually see Tonga on the eastern edge of the oil reserves and near the pipeline.]     
         o The situation in Darfur is becoming more and more violent as each day passes.  (You may have heard this in the news.)  Pray that God’s will be done in Darfur and that peace come in that area.

Julia and John Harris          

Feb. 27, 2006: John goes to Sudan

Julia (and John) Harris           
                                         

February 10, 2006: Hello from Nairobi, Kenya!

Hello everyone.

We made it here to Nairobi and have been here about a week. Today we are here in our new apartment waiting while a plumber bangs away on our leaky water heater. Other than this small problem things seem to be going well.

Rob and Mary Haarsager, the MCC Country Representatives for the Sudan Program, have been giving us (and Gena Sheller, another new International Service Worker for Sudan) an orientation to life and work here.

Life in Nairobi will be an adjustment. It is a bustling city with a population the size of Chicago. It is a city of polar extremes with great wealth and poverty constantly on display. Right now we are unsure of how long we will be here. It seems the goal is to have us in place in Juba, Sudan by June of this year.

We live along a main artery of the city coming from the central district. The office for CEAS or Church Ecumenical Action in Sudan, is down the road a little more than a mile (we probably need to start thinking in terms of kilometers). We both start work at that office on Monday Feb. 13.

We live above a restaurant. It keeps us company and makes us feel like we are always at a cocktail party. Plus, they have a small TV and when we want to we can sit on our balcony and look down at it just like our neighbors do. For those of you in Chicago, it’s like the buildings around Wrigley Field getting to watch the game for free.

We will try to get pictures of everything up soon. If you have not already checked, take a look at the gallery for the pictures of Nairobi National Park. It’s a big game reserve that comes right up to the city edge. We explored it Sunday and hung out with the zebras, giraffes, buffalo, ostriches, and even rhinos.

Please pray for our adjustment and for work starting on Monday. Also pray for Gena, our new compatriot who is at an orientation right now in Sudan (she is moving to Sudan almost immediately).

Much love.

Assalamu Alaikum “Peace be upon you”, 

Julia and John Harris