A Journey’s Reflection |
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by Michelle Scott, photos by Paul Jeffrey |
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New World Outlook, May/June 2009 Sudan is a place of contrasts: dusty and dry, lush and green; Muslim and Christian; peaceful and hostile. It is also a place where one can see Easter hope springing up in corners where once all hope was lost. You can see it on the faces of children who attend school -- be it under mango trees or in thatch-roofed classrooms. It’s evident in the pride farmers have as they bring in an abundant peanut harvest. It’s in the smiles of women who are carrying clean water from nearby wells to provide for their families. These are all examples of work started in Sudan in 2005 by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). The work was funded by a generous gift from Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Tipp City, Ohio, and by additional seed money. Over the past four years, UMCOR’s efforts have grown to encompass work in Sudan’s capital city of Khartoum, in Southern Darfur province, and in Southern Sudan. In a country that has known little peace in its 50 years of independence, new wells, schools, and seeds provide a glimmer of hope where once there was none. Seeds of HopeI had the privilege of seeing UMCOR’s work in Sudan first hand in the summer of 2007. It was my first trip to Africa and I had no idea what to expect. I knew what I had seen on television -- the people in the Darfur region and their suffering. But what I saw didn’t prepare me for the wonderful hope that filled each camp we visited where UMCOR is at work. Smiling children pressed against us. Women brought gifts. Men came to talk about the good progress. We were there at the end of the dry season. Dust reigned. The only color in the landscape could be found in the brilliantly hued fabrics the women wore in traditional Darfurian style. Everything else was brown -- parched and brown. We visited an agricultural project where, in what seemed to be a field of dust, people were working the land. They were planting seeds and preparing the earth because they knew the rains were coming. They had hope for a new day -- one that would be filled with abundance. Peanuts and millet would be planted on this patch of dust and the coming rains would transform it into a verdant and fertile field. That field would provide food for these farmers and seeds for next year’s planting -- with enough left over to share with another farming family in need. This agricultural project is the first one implemented in Southern Darfur with Ginghamsburg’s contributions. Now, it is self-perpetuating, with enough seeds from each year’s harvest to provide for additional farmers in the next. "They Can Dream Now"I visited several classrooms when I was in Southern Sudan and asked the children: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Even though they spoke English, they didn’t understand my question. I explained it further and my Sudanese hosts chuckled uncomfortably, as if it were a silly thing to ask. They translated it into the local language to help the kids along. In every class there was at first an awkward silence. Then a hand would go up, then another, and another. "I want to be a pilot," said one. "I want to be a nurse," said another. Some others wanted to be doctors or teachers, and there were even several aspiring presidents. My hosts were surprised. Then one said out loud, to no one in particular: "This is good. They can dream, now." The fact that these children can dream of a future -- other than being a refugee or a soldier -- is a strong sign of a new thing about to happen. It is a sign of Easter hope -- a symbol of a new day. Change is coming. Life is being restored to the way it ought to be. Michelle Scott is Executive Secretary for Communications for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).
Date posted: May 01, 2009 |
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The Mission Magazine of the United Methodist Church
