Sudan

My parents worked in Southern Sudan (Lui to be exact) for about a year and half at a hospital as humanitarian aid workers. I was able to visit them for 2 weeks last summer. It was incredible. The amount of need and despair is something I will never forget. There are no roads, there is no electricity, there is no running water. There is no such thing as public services. And I was in a pretty sizable town. But the people are beautiful in body and spirit. I have never met a people group that has more inner strength than the Dinkas. They are truly warriors. I conducted research for my senior thesis while I was there by interviewing various local people. The stories I was told are ingrained in my memory. I talked to SPLA soldiers, to the chief of Lui, to pastors, to hospital workers, to SPLA commanders, etc. I have never been to a place that is worse off economically. But the land is beautiful even though it has been raped and robbed of its resources. I tried to spend as much time as possible with the children that are always hanging around, because children are the future and if Sudan is ever going to function as a whole again they are the ones who will make it possible.