Since I'm not much of a photographer, let alone a videographer, it's been tough to share with you the sights and sounds of life in Kapoeta. Today, I turned up this short video from Voice of America that at least starts to capture some of the more festive scenes from our town. The first 30 seconds and the last 15 seconds or so were filmed here during the power plant inauguration. The rest (wherever you see green trees!) is not here--some of it is Juba and the rest is mostly filmed along the main highway running from Uganda to Juba.



In the video, keep an eye out for:
1) in the openning dance scene, the ladies to the right (not dancing) with leaf-green outfits are wearing goat skins covered with beads.
2) a white guy in a tan hat in the scene in the power station; Francis' 2 seconds of web-video fame
3) the ostrich feathers and leopard skins on the heads and backs, respectively, of the Toposa male dancers at the end -- I totally forgot to mention that before. I can't believe that big cats once roamed Toposaland!

In other news, I'm keeping busy doing some consulting jobs for my last two employers while I wait on an answer from the state about starting the town survey/mapping project. This last week has seen us post new record highs and lows on the weather station: daytime high of 107.6 and nighttime low of 63. I love the cold and the fact that it made us put a blanket on the bed for the first time EVER in Sudan! Our friends have graciously arranged for getting us cereal, cheese, and chocolate--the essentials which are, sadly, unavailable in Kapoeta. Our last grocery shopping trip was in early December and we won't be back in the land of supermarkets until late March--yikes!

Alright, I think that's it for now. Back to the grind I go...

As Mother B likes to say, it's hotter than blazes...

Things continue to move along here. This past weekend was a milestone as the power plant was officially inaugurated (google "Kapoeta" and "electricity" for news reports--there's a bunch). We had the US Consul General (like the Ambassador for South Sudan--the #1 State Department guy in the country) and the governor here, along with about 2,000 community members. It went well--everyone seemed happy--but it was exhausting. I'm glad that everyone is gone, and Francis is happy to get back to the work of hooking up new customers.

On the eve of the inauguration, I was summoned to the house of the governor--more than a little intimidating! He asked me if I would be interested in doing a survey of the roads in town, and then creating a town plan so that plots can be demarkated and sold to people since right now no one really owns their land. I'm currently working on a proposal for him, and am thrilled about the opportunity to finally do something that puts my engineering skills to work in Sudan (well, at least for pay)! If it all works out, I know it will be long hours and will undoubtedly put me in the middle of some political quagmires, but it would be a great stepping stone for what I hope will be a change in careeer path following our time here.

The real reason that I sat down to write is to report on the weather. So, I have long written about it being hot and dry, but without proper instrumentation, I haven't been able to explain exactly how hot or dry. Our recent shipment of mail (this is the first mail drop since mid-October!) included a weather station. As I type, the outdoor sensor (placed in the shade) is reading 104.7 degrees F and 2% humidity. I didn't even know that 2% humidity was possible! Inside, we are at a rather balmy 92 degrees with 15% humidity. And the funny thing is, I'm so used to this now, that I'm not even sweating! While I'm sure that it would be extremely detrimental to my health to go directly from this to the frozen winter wonderland that you are all experiencing in the States, I do wish dearly for some snow...

So that is all for now. I'll keep my eye on the weather station and post if any records are broken. Hope you all stay warm...

The Times, They are a Changin’

The last couple of weeks not only have seen the first days of a new decade. They have also brought with them lots of changes our lives here in Kapoeta.

Francis and I threw a New Years party, complete with party hats and horns, for the few foreigners who remained in Kapoeta through the holidays. We decided on a brunch, though, since we were otherwise occupied on New Years Eve, being the first night that the streetlights were turned on in Kapoeta. The county commissioner (head of the local government) switched on the diesel generator, threw the master switch, and then we drove around town in trucks to watch the streetlights come on as the sun set. The commissioner and Francis’ employees threw mini rallies under the lights, shouting out political slogans (“SPLM oye; Referendum oye”). After over a year of living here, it was great to finally see it up and operational, but now the hard part begins—building capacity to maintain the system and operate the utility.

The new year also saw a departure of Peter, the man who had served as my gardener and our nighttime guard since we arrived. When I hired him, Peter had told me that he wanted to go back to Kenya to get his highschool diploma (though Sudanese, nearly everyone with an education here studied in refugee camps in Kenya or Uganda during the war). I did what I could to keep him prepared; I required that he keep detailed records of his gardening activities, made him calculate areas when planting grass, set up a “chemistry lab” for soil testing, and passed on lots of books and magazines for him to read. …and sure enough, he kept to his word, leaving for school just before Christmas. His departure was both happy and sad: he left with some of the kindest words I have ever heard from the Sudanese, planted sunflowers in the garden so that I would think of him when I saw them, but he leaves behind big shoes to fill. I’m certain it was God who sent Peter here when we arrived last year, knowing that I wasn’t prepared to deal with staffing issues that plague nearly every organization here.

And finally, yesterday marked a new day for Southern Sudan. After 6 years of living under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), southerners finally saw the day in which they could go to the polls to decide whether they will stay united with the North, or separate to form their own country. Voting will actually continue all of this week, and it will likely be a couple weeks before all of the ballots are counted, but this is a huge step. Though there were fears that there would be violence preventing a vote, at least in Kapoeta there has been peace (I haven’t been out of the compound today to learn if the same was true throughout the country).

So, those are the major things to report. I continue to look for a job here, Francis continues on with “bringing power to the people”, and together we deal with what life brings us. Among our most recent gifts: a broken washing machine (awaiting parts from the US), a broken AC unit (requiring total replacement from Kenya), but also a Catholic lectionary and song book in Toposa (from a very nice seminarian). We think often of our family and friends, and thank God that we are doing this together.