Goodbye for now

Back in KL for a short while and on to Melbourne then to the States for a month each before returning to South Sudan at the end of June.

In the pic to the left, you can see Yei "airport". The runway is basically a dirt path that has been cleared from trees and any underbrush. The small building houses the check-in counter, customs and immigration, and boarding gate all in one! Long queues form when more than one group decides to leave on the same day - especially since there are only three flights in and out per week. Everything's done manually (passport details and so on are laboriously handwritten into an exercise book) so the whole process could take a while, but that's ok since flights rarely arrive or depart on schedule; an hour within the stipulated time's considered pretty good!

All in all, though, thank God that this airport does exist otherwise we would be forced to take the long journey by road to the capital (Juba) in order to even leave the country. I'll probably not post many more updates in between now and the time of my return; or at least, ones that directly pertain to South Sudan. But please feel free to check back in two months' time :) Till then, take care and may God watch over us in these troubled and tumultuous times.

Addition:
In the meantime, read the story behind the Harvesters orphanage + school + hospital complex in Adventures Under the Mango Tree; having personally met its author, one of the co-founders of the ever-growing ministry, I can assure you that it would prove to be inspiring, touching and hopefully, life changing by the close of the book.