On Thursday, December 10th, we entered into phase three of the first stage of the hunger relief effort: delivering food supplies to suffering communities. The third cargo truck that had been left behind in Magwi was repaired by installing a different, used gear box. Unfortunately the vehicle was only able to the community of Imurok, half the distance to Torit, before breaking down again. The 14 sacks of grain it was hauling were transported by another vehicle. All of the sacks from the third, non-functioning vehicle were then divided and loaded onto the two other vehicles. We finally set out in the late morning.
Due to some misinformation and confusion, the drivers of those two vehicles did not turn off the main road to head south to Ikotos as planned, but instead continued eastward to a village we hope to assist in January. Because they had set out ahead of us, we didn’t realize this mistake until well after making that turn south ourselves. Thanks to a satellite phone that enabled us to communicate with the bishop’s office in Torit we figured out what happened, turned around and set out to track them down. We finally caught up with them two hours later as it was getting dark and starting to rain. We decided to head back to Ikotos and resume the original plan in the morning. We arrived close to midnight.
Due to some misinformation and confusion, the drivers of those two vehicles did not turn off the main road to head south to Ikotos as planned, but instead continued eastward to a village we hope to assist in January. Because they had set out ahead of us, we didn’t realize this mistake until well after making that turn south ourselves. Thanks to a satellite phone that enabled us to communicate with the bishop’s office in Torit we figured out what happened, turned around and set out to track them down. We finally caught up with them two hours later as it was getting dark and starting to rain. We decided to head back to Ikotos and resume the original plan in the morning. We arrived close to midnight.
World Food Program Distribution in Ikotos.
The village of Ramula.
A girl eating coconut, which has become a sustenance food in time of hunger.
The following day we made contact with Peter, the local catechist, and went with him at the bishop’s request to meet with the Commissioner of Ikotos County and explain our plans to him. He was happy to learn of our efforts, and put us in touch with Erneo Afore, Paramount Chief of the area in which two of the villages we planned to reach are located. Chief Erneo accompanied us first to Ramula, about 30 km outside Ikotos. Along the way we encountered people travelling on foot back to Ramula carrying heavy sacks from a World Food Program distribution in Ikotos. Ramula is an extremely poor small village situated at the base of a small mountain on the edge of a vast plain. I never recall having seen so many children without adequate clothing and living in extreme destitution, even older children nearing school age. Some were eating coconuts, which in this time of famine has become almost the only source of sustenance. Many people gathered to watch and help us unload, and some women gleaned the grains of corn that fell to the ground from broken sacks. We left 41 hundred kilo sacks (4 metric tons, just over 9,000 lbs or 4.5 tons) there.
Women gleaning corn.
The children (above) and people (below) of Ramula.
Our next stop was Lodwara, another half an hour down the “road,” adjacent to Tala, birthplace of Bishop Akio Johnson Mutek of Torit (Chief Erneo is a relative of his). There we found the Italian NGO, AVSI, together with a small team from the health department of the diocese, giving vaccinations to infants. This time the Monyomiji, men between the ages of 20 and 40 who help to govern, supervise and protect a particular community, helped us unload the grain. Some were dressed in traditional attire with daggers strapped to their upper arms, leggings, feathers and beads. As we did in Ramula, we prayed with the people and explained to them where the grain had come from, who it was for and how it would be distributed. We returned that evening to Ikotos. Lodwara received 44 sacks (4,400 kg, 9700 lbs) of grain.
AVSI and DOT health workers giving vaccinations under the tree in Lodwara.
Two of the Monyomiji who helped us unload the grain.
The following day we made the journey to Tseretenya, 30 km south of Ikotos right on the Uganda border. Along the way we saw fields of dried crops that never matured because of lack of rain, in the midst of one of which sits an abandoned tank from the war. Because it was in a different sector, this time we met with local Chief Peter Odwara. Once again the grain (40 hundred kilo sacks) was stored in the school. The villagers in Tseretenya had already begun to collect poles and grass for a community construction project as a symbolic gesture given in exchange for clothing they had already received and the grain that would soon be distributed.
Dried crops (above), unable to be harvested; an abandoned tank (below).
Part of the road we travelled - not even the worst!
Grass and poles for a community project given in exchange for food and clothes.
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