We Came, We Saw, We Grew!

We think, all too often, that we know everything. We think we know what is wrong with others. We think we know how other people should live their lives, after all, our way is the "right" way. When we take the time to know others, however, we quickly learn that there are many "right" ways. We have seen these past weeks that that the pictures we had of the people of Sudan are sorrowfully wrong in many, many ways. Khartoum is a very safe and engaging city. Citizens of Sudan will help you when you need help...they will not walk away and leave you in need. They are very upset that there is a very good chance that their country will be broken in half following the referendum to separate the south from the north on January 9th. They do not sit by and watch as foreigners come and do things to help...they join in and work with you. They hate war. They love their families. They love their communities. They will fight for what they believe is right. You see them smile a lot. Despite an income that would have most Canadians turn up their noses and say "no thanks, I would rather go on employment insurance", most Sudanese will make it work and still maintain their dignity.
At the YMCA schools we visited, both adults and children alike, Sudanese would so anything to get an education in conditions that we would probably walk away from back home. Children sit under modest sun shade on benches in spaces called rooms only because they have 3 walls of mud and bricks. and are excited they have a chance to learn. Teachers of good quality but earning only a modest incentive respond to the enthusiasm of these children and help give them a chance to become providors and leaders in their communities. And they do just that.
At the adult school, young adults and teens will travel for hours each day to reach the YMCA school located on the fourth floor of a downtown office building that turns its elevator off in the middle of the afternoon to conserve electricity. No one complains. Everyone climbs those stairs without railings and in the dark because on the fourth floor is an opportunity. They get there and they are smiling. They work hard. They too are becoming providors and leaders in their communities - some of those communities are over 20 kilometers away.
As all this happens, the YMCA choir sings of joy and thanks. And they share their music with all who might be interested. In all of this thre is no concern whether one is a Christian or a Muslim, a male or a female, a wealthy or poor person. They are all part of the Sudanese community and who can say that this is not right. There are many "right" ways to live our lives.
So at the end of the day, who learns from who? Who enlightens the lives of others? Who changes the lives of others? We learned. We were enlightened. We were changed. We are the benefactors of this partnership.
And thus ends the visit of the four westerners who travelled afar. But it is only the visit that has ended. The learnings, enlightenments and changes in our lives will continue. We came, we saw, we grew.

To Them It Is Home And They Are Happy

Today was another exception visit to the Khartoum YMCA school for children in Gabarona, on the ourskirts of Omdurman across the Nile from Khartoum. Joining us today was Bruce Steen, Program Manager for the Sudan Program of CIDA. Hundreds of children from the school were anxiously awaiting the metal door of

the school to open and when it did, loud cheers went up from the boys and girls from about 3 years of age to 12. They were excited and after a few short welcoming words from Bruce, Dr. Wageeh and myself, they broke into song and were obviously anxious to sing for us. We noticed many of the new clothes that we had handed out to students last week were being worn by the children

although some of the clothes had already gotten a bit soiled. An amazing thing we noticed was on one occasion the three of us visitors were talking to each other and the children started getting a bit restless on their benches. All of a sudden a young boy of about 10 years jumped up on his bench in the middle of the group
and started singing a song in Arabic. Within seconds the whole group were following him in the song with more excitement than any of the other songs they had sung.

We did not stay long, not wanting to overdo our unscheduled visit to the school - especially on a hot afternoon when they would ordinarily be on their way home. The school was buzzing with excitement both inside and outside as it was obviously a community centre in the middle of an

otherwise desolate area of the Sahara. No matter how it appeared to us, it
was home to them and they were happy.
Photos: (top to bottom)

- student decides to lead the group in a favorite song

- happy students

- part of the group

- Girl and younger sibling

- Bruce Steen from CIDA in Canada with a group of students

Booking a Seat Today on Yesterday's Flight

Our visit to Port Sudan was one of the most interesting excursions a person could make. Not only did we experience another exciting and impressive YMCA school, meet with a committed and dedicated YMCA Board of Directors and experience some great Red Sea culture, but we had an interesting experience with Sudan Airways. We had only one choice to fly to Port Sudan as one of the two airlines flying there was booked solid. Sudan Airways had seats to we were relieved to know tht seats were still available. The 4:00 pm flight out of Khartoum was unexpectedly delayed, but we finally flew and managed to arrive in the port city late in the evening. To return, however, was more of a task. We had travelled with 3 Germans from the YMCA in Germany who support a YMCA school in Port Sudan. They were to leave Monday on the afternoon flight. Call after call to the airline resulted in delay after delay and the plane never did arrive in Port Sudan and so it could neve leave Port Sudan. Dr. Wageeh and I were scheduled to leave the next afternoon, but as there was no flight the day before we were to leave there were seveal passengers anxious to get on a plane. The next morning, call after call to the airport and delay after delay to our flight and the flight that never made it from the day before. Figuring that Air Sudan would not consider two flights to Port Sudan in the same day, we cancelled our tickets for today's flight and booked two seats on yesterday's flight, thinking that would give us a better chance on actually getting on the plane. Still more delays after delays and we finally made it back to Khartoum just after 10:00 pm last night. We would very much suggest not flying Sudan Airways. We never really knew if we would get back or not. There are no display b oards with information or even available staff that knew when any plane would come or go. It all just happened by accident that most passengers found out about the actual time of the flight. The flight we were on was actually 31 hours late. Sounds like trains in Canada!
Today is report writing day and laundry day. Tomorrow Dr. Wageeh and I will be travelling back to our Gabarona school with a group of visiting CIDA officials that really want to see this school. We will be visiting the downtown school again and then will start to wrap up this great trip to Sudan.
Word has it that Helen, Kim and Nancy have started to adapt to Northern Ontario weather conditions and are slowly coming to grips with the realities of home.
Stay tuned.

Photos: German YMCA visitors to Sudan (Fritz, Andrea dn Matthias); and a bus loaded with Southern Sudanese leaving the North before the referendum.