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September 08, 2007
Market Day
Dear Friends,
We'd love to tell you about our visit to the market the other day. This is not a terribly spiritual email, but you are friends, and we're not trying to impress you, only share our day with you.
Love,
Chris, Beverly, and Thomas
SIM Sudan - Yabus Team
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Tuesday in Yabus is market day. So, after I had spent some time in the office, Beverly strapped Thomas onto her back and we headed out to the market. As we walked down the path, Bev said that she was glad to get out a bit. As a mom to a crawling, nine-month-old Thomas she sometimes feels stuck in the house.
We walked down a hard-packed trail bordered by 6 foot high grass, through sesame fields planted by our neighbor Yakub, down through muddy runoff channels, and passing many huts where kids ran out to greet us.
Halfway to the river we stopped and greeted Taiya's two goat boys who left their flock and came running over to greet us. Taiya is Bev's friend - she is about 8 months pregnant and alone because her husband has gone off to Chali village to greet his family.
Some Como or Ganza ladies (could not tell which) passed us with approx 20kg-40kg bags on their heads, headed for market. We moved out of the way to let them pass. At the river, we got in line with 30 people waiting for our makeshift ferryboat. We could have pulled rank and gone to the head of the line, but we wanted to show that getting in the line was valuable.
Titus (pronounced Tee-tus) Bashir, our Mabaan boat guard was getting the people in shape. He's a tough guy and always thwarted the ones trying to crash line. Kassu, our Ethiopian collegue and his family joined us in line. Together we stood and talked and joked with people nearby. Naturally, people were curious to see Thomas. A little white boy in the middle of Sudan creates a spectacle wherever he goes. While waiting Titus helped me negotiate a deal for three chickens.
When our time came we boarded our "boat". It's a pontoon boat, but not like you're thinking. It's fabricated from square steel tubing, is 3.5 meters by 2.5 meters, and it floats on six empty fuel drums. A steel cable is tensioned across the river and attached to big, ancient baobab trees. On that market day alone, the boatmen transported 1,250 people across the Yabus river. Quite an unexpected ministry God has given us. Without it, we'd be effectively isolated from the market, airstrip, and other services.
The current slowly pulled us across. We slithered and slid up the steep bank to firm ground and walked another kilometer to the market.
The Yabus market is largely a social event. We greeted zillions of people and slowly made our way to the main objective: cold soda. When in town, we eat at Nimeri's resteraunt. It has "W Hotel" painted on the outside. Nimeri is a Bertha guy who is really nice and has always helped us personally and in selling us bread, etc. He pestered me for an English book, and I promised I'd look for one.
Washing goat stew off my hands outside, I was accosted by an older lady who was asking for things. She was wearing the "taub", the traditional outfit of some ladies. But, as she was speaking I began to suspect she was drunk. She was definitely uninhibited. I went back inside the resteraunt and was holding Thomas so Bev could eat. Loud Arabic music was playing so I was swaying to the music to entertain him. Then, I looked up to see the drunk lady dancing with me! Bev whispered "maybe you should sit down". Still the lady continued to dance - for about 5 minutes. After a while Nimeri came over and sort of griped at her. Then she left.
Moving through the market, we found lots of friends and chatted with them. We saw Yuna our compound manager making his purchases. Kassu had finally found a donkey harness, which we had been trying to get for months. We bought some flip flops for Bev to wear in the house, a new flashlight, and some sodas to stash at our house.
We walked the mile or so back to the river and boarded the boat. However, our adventures were not over. The boat needs frequent load shifting because it, shall we say, lacks stability. All the ladies and cargo were situated near the center of the boat and the men were asked to shift fore and aft to compensate as needed. We shifted forward to get the stern out of the sand but when we shifted back, I slipped off the back! I managed to grab the overhead cable but the boat tried to continue across the river without me. Fortunately, I clambered back aboard.
After that it was only walking back to our base.
Some Prayer Requests
1. Our ability to encourage the newly formed Como-Ganza churches.
2. Continued health for all.
3. Praise for Thomas' excellent health and good sleeping.
4. Focus for Chris and David Lama as we try to drive the secondary school project forward.
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* SIM by Prayer *
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Published at September 8, 2007 09:02 PM
