Ikotos

First, Happy Thanksgiving!!

After being in Torit for only a shorttime, Linda, Matthew and I traveled to the little town of Ikotos. Ikotos is only a short 20 minute flight southeast of Torit. Meghan

Baird is a short-termer there teaching in the secondary school. She lives on the AIC compound with Jordan and Andrea Scotland (AIM leaders in Ikotos), but they are home in Canada for the Christmas holiday. Since Meghan was by herself we went up to encourage her and to get a feel for Ikotos.

Meghan and Wanii

Ikotos is a beautiful little town located near the Imotong Mountains (highest point in Sudan). It’s a little less civilized than Torit, meaning that there are more people who live in the “bush”. (The bush is basically people living in tucles, or mud huts, away from the actual town. There is not much running water, so water must be carried by bike, wheelbarrow, or atop heads from the bore-holes.) The people in Ikotos are very friendly; even friendlier than in Torit. It was hard to walk through the market and not shake at least 50 peoples’ hands.

Imotong Mountains

When we got to Ikotos, Meghan greeted us and immediately took us to the catholic diocese for a workshop she was attending. She was attending a peace-building worship along with several representatives from towns all over South Sudan. There was actually a gentleman there from EMU who was helping with the workshop (small world!). We hung out there and we got the chance to meet with Tobiolo (the pastor of the AIC church in Ikotos). That night we had fun just hanging out at the Scotland’s compound getting to know Meghan. And actually Meghan and I had to share a bed and ended up talking until almost 2am that night. I forgot how much I missed girly time! Meghan is from a little town in Maryland and she attended WVU for her second undergrad. When she finishes her year in Ikotos (September), she’ll return to WVU for her masters in counseling.

Saturday we had to go to the SPLA office to basically sign in with the local government and verify that we were legal to be in Sudan. After a little interrogation (nothing major), Tobiolo took us back to his compound and we just sat and talked for several hours. Toby told us about the LRA attacks on Ikotos and showed us pictures as well. The LRA attacked Ikotos in 2005, killing hundreds of people and leaving even more homeless or without families. It was really sad to listen to these stories and even scarier to know that these awful things took place only two years ago.

Sunday, Meghan and I got up really early and hiked up to the top of this little hill where the Catholic Church was located to watch the sun rise. It was beautiful! When we got back we attended the AIC church and it was so small! There were so many children in the church and they all love to sing! We had the chance to listen to the youth, children, and the Women of Good News all sing. It was so wonderful! After church, Linda, Meghan and I spent some time baking. The Scotlands have a charcoal oven and we don’t have one in Torit, so we took advantage of this! We made bread, peach cobbler (Meghan actually had canned peaches!), chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and granola. It was so much fun to be in the kitchen baking! The woman that Meghan did her home-stay with, Agness, was celebrating her birthday that Monday, but since Meghan had to be at school Monday, we visited her that afternoon with the peace cobbler. Agness is just a young girl, perhaps 20, but she already has two children. She was so sweet! When we got there she served chipatis (a cross between a pancake and a flour tortilla, but more bread-like…ok that probably doesn’t make sense but that’s the only way for me to describe it!) and we served her the peach cobbler.

Meghan's Tukul

Monday was kind of a rough day for me. I was fighting a cold and it just got worse throughout the morning, so I stayed behind while everyone else went to the school. I was feeling a little better when they got back and had to help Meghan and Linda to type up some exams for the teachers at school. Since Meghan is American they have come to her with a lot of their typing needs. She was really thankful that Linda and I were there to help her. Later that afternoon Meghan, Matthew, and I went into the market to do some shopping. The market isn’t as big has Torit but things are a little cheaper in Ikotos.

Tuesday, Meghan and I spent a lot of time copying exams and then went to the school. It’s actually a pretty big school and the primary school is close by. Since primary is bigger, they use some of the secondary classrooms. After introducing me to the teachers, Meghan introduced me to some of her students. Since they were in the middle of their exams we didn’t stay much longer. Later that evening Linda and I hiked up to the same little hill to watch the sun set over the Imotong Mountains. It was so beautiful!

Wednesday, was so busy because we were preparing for Phil to come to Ikotos with a group from Open Doors (this is a Christian organization but I’m not entirely clear about what they do). Meghan, Matthew and I went down to the school to wait for the plane to come in while Linda stayed behind with the Women of Good News to help fix lunch. The group from Open Doors was suppose to come to both of the schools to see how they were doing (I guess they have been supporting these schools) and then we were to have lunch at the AIC compound. Well the plane showed up 2 hours late so when they finally got there, they had to rush to the SPLA office to “check in”, stopped by the primary school, and then finally got to the secondary school. After a few songs and introduction of teachers we traveled back to the AIC compound for lunch. We ate a rushed lunch because we had to meet the plane leaving for Torit. Meghan came back to Torit with us so she could celebrate Thanksgiving with Americans. The Open Doors group was only able to stay in Torit for 45 minutes before they had to board the plane again for Loki. We had such a full day but it was so good to be back in Torit. I think I could definitely stay in Ikotos but God has plans for me in Torit.

I will have to post another blog entry after we celebrate Thanksgiving this weekend to let you know how Americans in Africa celebrate this holiday!