First Impressions: Tuesday, 3 June 2008: Arrival in Sudan

Here begins a series of excerpts from emails I sent during my first visit to Sudan in June 2008; they are grouped under the common title and label "First Impressions."

Just a quick email at a little past 10:00 here in Sudan, before the generator goes off and I head to bed. We crossed the border into Sudan at about 12:00 noon today and I got a visa without any difficulty.

"No man's land" between the borders of Kenya and Sudan

Now I really feel like I'm in Africa! The further into the country we went the greener and more beautiful it became. There are wide valleys and savannahs circled by distant mountains. Baboons, guinea fowl and beautiful African deer crossed our path. The pavement ended about 5 meters outside of Lokichoggio and I haven't seen a patch of pavement the whole way.

Southern Sudanese scenery

Here in Sudan people in traditional tribal dress outnumber people dressed in Western attire. We stopped at several villages along the way (there were not many), and saw some UN installments and a project sponsored by the Carter foundation.

A village along the route to Torit

Scars from the war are visible along the way - including a burnt out tank beside the road. I was shown areas affected by land mines, the place where an Italian priest was killed during the war, and the principal battle line between the north and the south. We arrived in Torit as the sun was setting. It's obvious that there's a lot of rebuilding going on, even in the little I saw. I briefly met the bishop, and will catch up with him again tomorrow. I was driven to the place where I'm staying (my room is a tent - the new guest facilities are not yet complete) by a priest who was just ordained last year, but whose studies were interrupted for 8 years by the war.

My "room" while visiting Sudan

His father wanted to be a priest, but had to work to support his family. It's beautiful to see that his vocation was passed on to his son, even though he didn't live to see him ordained; he died just a couple of months before the date. I leave you with a thought that this persevering young priest left with me. He said that all the suffering he experience has produced a rich effect in his life. What might otherwise seem like difficulties or problems fade and disappear in the light of the suffering he and so many others experienced during the war.