Picture Journal - Traveling and Juba

Photos, finally....

Holly and I boarded a plane at Orlando International Airport.  We flew to Dulles International in Washington, DC and stayed overnight in a hotel.

That is Holly waving from our king-sized bed in the only room available in all of Washington, DC.  It was super-expensive, but we did get a delicious continental breakfast.

The next morning we took the hotel shuttle back to the airport.  We checked in at Ethiopian Air (standing in the longest, slowest line ever) and eventually boarded and began the 14 hour flight to Addis Ababa International Airport in Ethiopia.

This is a photo of a plane very similar to ours after landing at Addis.

Yes, we exited the plane in the open air.  First time for me.  And then we got on a tram/bus/thing that drove us to the terminal.

I learned a fun fact on this short journey that would become very important for the rest of my time in Africa.  Apparently you can drive on whichever side of the road you want.

Here I am sitting in Addis Ababa airport.  I was excited to discover that this part of Ethiopia is at a fairly high altitude.  We were surrounded by beautiful mountains and lush forest, but it was pretty chilly and I did not have a sweater.  So, Holly and I had some traditional Ethiopian coffee to warm ourselves up.

BEST.  COFFEE.  EVER.  No sugar or cream necessary.  It was the most amazing coffee I have ever had the pleasure of drinking.  This really surprised me because everything in this airport looked incredible sketchy and possibly diseased (ask me about the bathroom later).

Addis Ababa Airport has many lounge chairs scattered about so that you can take a nap between flights.  When you have been in the air for 14 hours and now have long layover these chairs look like the most comfortable sleeping surface in the world.  Unfortunately for us, in this part of the world, only stinky men get to use the awesome chair-beds.  We had to make do with regular, everyday seating.

See us trying to be cheerful about it?

After waiting for many hours for 2 chairs to become available, we gave up and headed to our departure gate only to discover upon our arrival that there was nowhere to sit.  Again, stinky men get priority.  Ladies have to stand or sit on the floor.  We opted for the floor.

Finally, we boarded our plane.  It looked a lot like this one.

It isn't this one though, because I took this picture from my seat on our plane.  But I think that you can get the general idea of shock and awe I was feeling at this moment.  (This plane has propellers.  Ack!)

Despite my distrust of this particular aircraft, we had a very pleasant flight to Juba, where we again exited in the open air.  In fact, you should take the open-air exit as a given when traveling in this part of the world.

We landed safely in Juba and were met at the airport by two gentlemen from the IAS office there.  They helped us find our bags and get them to the SUV.  Holly and I were very glad to be arrived in Juba so we relaxed in the backseat and chatted with these new friends.

The road you see out the front window is paved - I think we can call it "Main Street" - and it is the only paved road I saw in Juba. 

There are no traffic lights and no street signs.  On the paved road we stayed on the right.  I was quite relieved.  Soon though we were on deeply rutted dirt roads where everybody just took their half out of whatever side they wanted.

Juba is the capital city of South Sudan.  Just remember that when you read these facts.

• There is no electricity except what privately owned generators provide.
• There is no plumbing.  If people have a toilet or bathing facility at all, it is generally outside.  Toilets are outhouses and baths are buckets.
• Actually, some places do have indoor facilities and plumbing, but the water used comes from a huge tank (like having a personal water tower).  You pay a fee to have this tank filled by a couple dudes (city or government employees?) in a big truck.  This water would not be considered potable by U.S. standards.
• There is no drainage.  There are no gutters.
• There is no road maintenance.
• There is no garbage collection.  The roads are filled with piles and piles of empty plastic water bottles (because you can't drink the city water and there is no garbage pick up).

This is a picture of a street running parallel to the one the IAS compound and our borrowed house are on.  The garbage piles and  ruts you see are not on the shoulder.  They are in the middle of the road.  This road is actually pretty nice because so many foreign agencies and NGOs are located in this neighborhood.

Every home or business has a wall around it and a guard or two stationed on property.  We had a watchman at our house too.  Juba is a dangerous city and it was comforting to have him there.

The next 2 pictures are the view from our front door, first to the left and then to the right.  You can see the entry gate and the watchman's hut in one and in the other you can see the wall around our home and one of the previously mentioned water tanks in the distance.

Well, that is all for now.  This process of posting pictures takes a very long time here in Nyinbuli, so I will have to do another post another day.  I plan to show you more of Juba and tell you about our stay there.  I will also (eventually) post photos of Aweil and Nyinbuli.  And I have been asked to show some of the creatures I have been able to photograph.  I hope this will pacify you for now.

And here are two final pictures for this entry.  This is the yard and the office of the IAS compound in Juba.

  

This office is in the support partner for the mission in Nyinbuli.

Please pray that the IAS office in Juba and the IAS clinic in Nyinbuli would be of one mind, one heart, and one vision.  And that the provider of these ideals would be God alone.  Pray that these two teams, would be united in doing God's good work in South Sudan.

And as you pray, come against the enemy that would interfere in these things.  Pray that God's Spirit would reign here.  That His will would be done here.  And that His people would  not be pulled to the right or to the left but would press on toward the goal.

Thank you for your warfare.  Your prayers are vital to this place.