Doro life thus far

Ekke Buornje from Doro this Tuesday afternoon! Once again there is not a cloud in the South Sudanese sky and it’s really quite hard for us to believe that Christmas is just around the corner.

It does feel that we are starting to adjust to our camping style life at this end. I am learning about flexibility and that ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ are not mutually exclusive terms. Our utilization of the Jiko (charcoal stove), is working out well although it does take a bit more planning than meal making at home. I think that is probably the major difference in life here, things just take more time, truly back to basics. Each day brings many small victories - we rejoice in these a lot. today's included stomaching my lunch after witnessing the 'meat man' at the market, butchering (the word has never seemed more appropriate!) the cow's head with an axe. 3 hours later we sat down to lunch hungry after a morning lifting boxes and happily munched on the beef from said cow.

We have been excited to find some fresh treats in the market: Oranges, Lemons and Guavas. In the heat these make a welcome break from pasta, rice and Paul’s new nemesis - lentils! We are realizing how much we took for granted the access we have to wonderful varieties of fresh fruit and veg at home. 

Yesterday was our first ‘clinical day’ and we have been given the task of clearing and readying the maternity building for opening (planned for January), along with a few other bits and pieces in what remains of December.

I thought pictures could illustrate better than I can explain. Basically, the building is currently full of boxes (mainly medical supplies which were sent in on a 40ft container and are of varying usefulness) which need to be moved to another store building.

Here are some pictures…

This is what the clinic looks like as we approach, the building on the far left is the Maternity building, the middle building is the General Clinic and on the right is a storage building which is currently being built. There is also another storage building behind the General clinic (which is where we are moving the boxes to).

A glimpse inside the Maternity building first thing monday:

And of our progress after 2 days:

It’s a glamorous task we are undertaking, dust, dirt, and creepy crawlies galore – the perfect job for me! We have managed to stay in good spirits, it’s satisfying to be doing something measurable and practical and working together is fun. My spider stamping reaction time has also definitely improved.

Here’s a wee snap I took from the clinic so that you can see a bit more of what surrounds us.

People here are friendly as we greet them in our broken Mabaan, and we’re amazed by the generosity of those who have so little, often we are asked to sit down and share chai or coffee with. 

It’s a real privilege to be here on this adventure!

Do email us we’d love to hear from you with news of home!

*S*