Below you find a selection of pictures and texts from my first time in East Africa. They were rewarding, though sometimes challenging four months. However I really liked it!

Since we came back here we have been quite busy.

We completed another 1.5 week teacher training for ALP teachers. ALP stands for Accelerated Learning Program, which is a program for adults where they can go through Primary education in 4 instead of 8 years. The classes have started now after the training.

In addition to our "daily" activities there was a fire disaster in the neighboring village. The whole village burnt completely down. We were able to distribute some food and will continue with Cooking utensils and other things. There were about 750 families affected and the distributions took a lot of time and energy. But it was also an interesting experience for me.

Now our main activity is to visit schools and communities to see if and how the schools are running and to bring materials (books, pencils, ...). We drive a lot and I enjoy handling the big car (landcruiser) on theses quite challenging roads. but it's dry season that's why we can drive to the different places. If there was rain most of the roads you could not drive on...

After returning to Kenya I was very fortunate to be able to travel to Maua, Tanzania to spend my Christmas time at the Franciscan Sisters. It is a very peaceful place to be close to Mount Kilimanjaro with great people. The climate was also very comfortable - since it was a lot cooler than Sudan.

I'm thankful for the time there and also for God's protection on both travels to and from by bus. The driver's speed and the African roads made the trips quite shaky but the scenery is great. I even saw zebras, antilopes, and an austrich out of my bus window :-)

In two days time (January 13, 2009) I'm leaving Nairobi again for my second assignment in Sudan lasting up until the beginning of March.

Slightly more than three weeks I spent in Boma, a marginalized part of Southern Sudan close to the Ethiopian border. It is a different world and I’m trying to give you a glimpse of it through these pictures.

Only when getting back out I realised how much I had gotten used to the simple life. They almost seem to be forgotten in their little corner of the world...

The Across team consists of the Sudanese teamleader, an Ugandan lady, a Dutch lady (only in 2008) and me. In addition to that we have several local staff ranging from cooks to watchman.

There is quite a large garden so our diet wasn't as limited as I had expected. Only the slimy green vegetable mixed with mushroom I definately didn't get used to. For the Westerners they even cooked some pasta and made some bread every once in a while :-)

Life on the base is peaceful and enjoyable. To meet with people I'd often take some walks in the evening through the village. This way you get more familiar with the people and the area. There are also quite often people just stopping by the compound for a chat or a question. My Murle vocabulary is only growing in very little steps though.

These two weeks were intense with at least one lesson a day but very rewarding in being able to interact with the local teachers. Some of them really know hardly any English so I encouraged them to help each other in mothertongue...

They were very motivated and also told me a lot about their culture. For example that they wouldn't marry an educated woman because she would quarrel with them and not respect them... Well, the lady teacher told me that Murle men are afraid that their women wouldn't do all the work anymore if they were more educated... Different views - very interesting to me!

We completed the training successfully and I'm looking forward to hopefully be able to visit some of the teachers in their school in January. Now the schools were closed for Christmas break.