Don't forget South Sudan

We received the following Report from our MAF Communications department and , with permission, thought I would pass it along as it is very informative of what is happening in South Sudan.  Thanks for your prayers.

 

Dear all

Many of you may have heard on the news (see BBC news - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27116409) about the renewed fighting in South Sudan over the last couple of weeks including the attack on the UN compound in Bor. Our team in South Sudan provided emergency evacuations to several key partners over the Easter period, including Medair and IMA World Health.

On Good Friday (18^th April), pilot Mike Dupuis flew to Renk to collect Medair aid agency’s workers at risk of being caught in the escalating violence. UN soldiers supervised the boarding of the aircraft and Mike had to contend with stormy weather conditions on both legs of the journey.

Rebekka Meissner, interim country director for Medair South Sudan, said: “I can recall many times when MAF has unflinchingly flown out a staff member who needed medical attention or even a whole team when we had concerns about their safety. I am so grateful for our partnership with MAF as we serve in these isolated places.  “I am often amazed at just how much difference MAF makes for Medair programmes when cargo is off-loaded at remote, hard to reach locations, be it boxes with therapeutic food for small children or spare parts for water installations. These and many other items help us bring lifesaving relief to very vulnerable people.”

The previous day, Mike’s colleague Ryan Unger was diverted to Bor to take staff from a Polish NGO back to Juba because of the troubles. As the passengers were boarding, he was approached by a doctor who asked if he could accommodate four of his patients suffering bullet wounds who desperately needed medical assistance available in the capital. They had been caught in a bloody attack near the UN compound and Ryan learned later through reports that another 60 people had been killed or injured in the same protest.

Ryan then flew to the Paloich oil strip on Tuesday this week to collect staff from IMA World Health, who had sheltered with the UN over the weekend, some of the time in armoured vehicles for safety.

Please continue to pray for the safety of our team in South Sudan and our partners who are working tirelessly to provide such important medical aid and humanitarian relief in such difficult and hostile conditions. Please also pray that the peace negotiations will resume shortly and be successful.

Time for a move....

Joshua and Zara have been attending Rainbow International School here in Kampala ever since they were ready for school.   However, for various reasons we feel it is time to move them on from there and put them in a Christian school that also offers a high quality education.  Acacia International School came on our radar after a "chance" meeting with a friend who is going to be the Principal of the High School.  This started the thought process and after some lengthy conversations and also a meeting with the school Principal Joshua and Zara will start there in August 2014.  Joshua will start Senior School and Zara will go into Grade 4 which would be Primary 6 in Scotland.  It is all a bit confusing.

The school is small by comparison to Rainbow which is definitely a benefit and the Christian side of things is also a huge motivator for the move.  The High School is still under construction but will be finished in time for the term in August.  The answer to prayer from our side is that Joshua and Zara are excited about the move and can`t wait to go.  If they had their way they would be starting tomorrow :)  This is a big change as in the past they would never have considered a move.  If you are interested you can check out the website at http://www.acacia.co.ug/ where you can see photos of the school.

We would value your prayers as we embark on this step of faith.  We pray that Joshua and Zara would transition well and make new friends.  We look forward to what God is going to do in them as they increase in their knowledge both academically and spiritually.

Sewing Machine

Our family has experienced having our home broken into and things stolen.  It is not a nice feeling and shakes any sense of security you might have felt in your home.  Thankfully we have had the opportunity, over time, to replace some of the things taken and put extra security measures in place.

This, however, is not the case for our nightguard, Moses.   We have known Moses for around 12 years and have visited his home on different occasions.  The family lives in one room and the family consists of 7 people.  Not too long ago his home was also broken into.  One of their prized possessions was a sewing machine.  This was given to them when Robinah (Moses' wife) completed seamstress school.  It was a gift from one of our friends and supporters.  This enabled Robinah to stay at home with her children but also to work and gain additional income for her family.

We asked Moses to price out some sewing machines as we would like to replace it with another one.  The cost of sewing machines range from £80 to £400 depending on complexity.  If you would like to be part of this project then please send us an email at pam.wunderli@maf-uganda.org and we will give you further information on how you can contribute.

Thank you for considering.

Ohilang, South Sudan

Simon had a "chance" meeting with a pilot from another organization on a stop he made in Northern Uganda.  Through some logistic somersaults it worked out for Simon to go and survey a potential site for a new airstrip in South Sudan because of this conversation.  This airstrip is available to use as the brush has been cleared.  This will serve missionaries and others in the community.   Below are some photos of this airstrip and Simon in conversation with some of the people involved.  Who says life is boring? :)  Not us!

And where is the airstrip exactly?  It is there and an access road.  What more do you need?

 

 

"Scotty" making the first stop

 

Simon in conversation and talking it all through with those concerned.  Who needs an office when there is shade under the wing of a plane.

 
 

 
 
 

 

Simon with Brian De Schmidt from AIM (Africa Inland Mission) and some Sudanese men who were involved in clearing the airstrip.

 

 



Flat battery and some treasure

Last week Simon was flying a regular Northern shuttle flight around the north of Uganda.  However, all did not go according to plan.  As Simon was planning to leave he realized that the plane wouldn't start due to the failure of the igniter box.  He was able to radio back to the office and organize for another pilot to fly up with an engineer so that the part could be replaced.  Of course, this took some time and as you will see from the photos below there is not a Starbucks (that comment was for you Ian :) or equivalent that you can relax in while waiting.  However, Simon being a lover of wood was not bored while he waited and took off into the bush in the hunt for some unique pieces.  You will see the pile below that he travelled back with.  Not a wasted day at all. :)  Now we just need to see what appears out the woodshop.

A typical landscape of Kaabong District taken from Wikipedia.

 

 

Above and below, Mark Newnham, MAF Maintenance Engineer.  Thankful for our Maintenance Team who keep our planes in great working order.

 

Behind Mark is the other pilot, Greg Vine, who helped to rescue Simon.  We have a great MAF team!

 

Simon's "treasure" which he found scrounging around in the bush in Kaabong district.  Doesn't look like much now but with a bit of Simon magic we will see what comes of it all.

Eventful Week

Some of you might have read the header of this post and thought "what now?" :)  This time it is all good news.

Joshua and Zara had a busy week between an Athletics meeting at another school.  Zara came first in her race.  Joshua said she was way ahead of everyone else.  Great to have encouragement from your older brother.  Joshua, unfortunately, didn't fair as well due to having to race against kids two years older than him. (I guess there was a bit of confusion going on)  However, we were proud of him for going for it anyway.

Last night (Friday) Zara was selected to be in the talent show at her school.  Her and some friends auditioned for a magic act.  It went great as did all the other kids who sang, acted and played instruments.  They were quite the talented bunch and to have all that confidence to do it in front of such a large crowd.

The weather has also changed here. For some reading this post you will find this to be normal where you live but for us the last few months have been hot, hot, hot.  We have now moved from living in a dust bowl to something quite pleasant after having a couple of days of heavy rain.  On Thursday when I went to do the school run the dirt road I use to get there was more like a gushing river bed.  Thankfully we have a car that can handle that and made it without any incident. 

Another momentous occasion is that our wall is up.  It is not pretty but its functional.  There are still bits to be put right but they will happen in time...hopefully not "African" time.  One downside of getting the wall put up was that all our lovely bougainvillea got hacked so now we are looking at a grey wall rather than an array of colour.  However, our grass has turned this week from being brown to green again so colour is returning.

Our faithful guard dog and family pet "Chewy".  She has sure protected us on a number of occasions.

 

Part of our colourful wall before it disappeared.

 

The next layers of bricks going on top.

 

 

Check out the scaffolding...a couple of poles and a few planks of wood.  Health and safety would have a fit here but it works.

 

 Navigating the river to school

 

 

Unfortunately the photo of Zara didn't come out well.  Might get one from a friend that I can post later.

Sunday and Monday

Yesterday we went off to Church as normal.  We go a bit earlier these days as Joshua and Zara are helping on host team.  They welcome people in at the door and hand out the offering envelopes.  They really enjoy it and Joshua is keen that we are never late :)  Below is a visual of them both with their friends.  Apologies for the quality of the photos...still need to get new camera.  Thank goodness I have one on my phone.

 

 Joshua and Andrew with the offering envelopes.

Zara and Katrina welcoming people into church with their smiley faces

 

 

 

Unfortunately, we learned that whilst we were at church we had an attempted break-in to our house.  Thankfully the three men didn't get in and Chewy, our dog, scared them off.  We are in the midst of putting in new security measures round the house but our landlady has not picked the fastest workers.  For now we will need to have a guard on the compound while we are out.  Thankful that they didn't poison Chewy and she was able to give them the fright of their lives.   Please pray for our protection but we are also thankful they didn't break in while we were at home.

 

 

On a more positive note we had a treat after a trip to the Dentist...an ice-cream from KFC. Joshua and Zara are on half term so we enjoyed the delights of a Western franchise arriving in Kampala.  It feels quite surreal walking in there but I think we will get used to the occasional visit.

 

 

Oreo ice cream....It was a highlight for sure.

 

 

Then we just made it home before a wind storm came through and threw up all the dust into the air.....We couldn't see much beyond our house clearly and had to shut all the doors and windows...we were hoping for rain but only got a few spots.