Hunger Relief Round Two: Dropping off Grain in Chukudum

Directly after dropping the first lorry load of grain in Chahari we headed on to Chukudum, another three hours down the road. It used to take 3-4 hours to travel the horrendous stretch from the main highway to the town, but on the newly completed road it takes only about 40 minutes! Fr. Darius Arite, parish priest in Chukudum says that this is the worst drought the Didinga people of the area have experienced in living memory, and mentioned a woman who recently died of hunger.




A small group of us joined in to offload the grain. After watching Musa, a hefty Nubian mechanic/driver for the diocese whom I've nicknamed "the Moose," unload a sack on his own, I decided to give it a try, too. It's actually a lot easier than it looks or than unloading it the other way; the trick is to balance the right way on your back.


These two children watched us unload, but unfortunately every time I got close to Fiona (the baby girl) she started to cry.

Tomb of Fr. Lino Sebit.

While in Chukudum, which is still a beautiful and cool place despite the severe lack of rain, I visited the tomb of Fr. Lino Sebit who died there in September 2008. It's located right behind the church. Fr. Lino had been tortured in Khartoum under false accusations 10 years prior to his death when he was just a newly ordained priest. That experience permanently damaged his health and left him susceptible to the more threatening effects of malaria which eventually claimed his life.



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