Kajo-Keji

Landed at Entebbe International Airport at 7:30am. Another excellent 9 hour flight through which I slept around 8 hours. Woke up feeling refreshed and ecstatic about setting foot on African soil for the first time in my life. We stepped out onto the stairs to descend from the flight and the air was cool, fresh, and breezy. We collected our luggage without ever handing over our Uganda Customs Forms or showing our passports to anyone really. That was odd. But in doing that, it enabled us to avoid stopping at the Uganda/Sudan border in order to exit the country on our Mission Aviation Flight (MAF). The flight was about an hour and a half from Entebbe to Kajo-Keji in South Sudan. We crossed the Nile which was pretty neat. I got some photos from the plane, but the internet signal is so weak and there are so many people trying to update blogs/upload videos/photos that I'm not going to post any of my alternate photos for the day until I'm back in the Banana Village in Uganda on Thursday or London on Friday.
Made it to the compound. It's gorgeous. There are 5 or 6 tukals that we can sleep in with around 3 beds in each. All equipped with mosquito nets of course. (Thank God. I'm terrified of contracting malaria.)
Malaria is endemic in this part of Sudan. The predominant parasite is plasmodium falciparum, which is also the most deadly. But Norma, the nurse practitioner for Medical Health International (MHI), has the rapid tests and the appropriate meds to knock it out effectively.
We took a walk around Kajo-Keji before sunset and stumbled upon these sweet girls on the road. They were so precious. The children all learn, "How are you? I'm fine." And it's adorable to greet them with their beautiful smiles and sweet selves. As Grady remarked, "I don't think I've ever smiled or shook hands with more people in my life." They are so friendly here and welcoming. It's a joy. An absolute joy.

I will be posting my alternate blip of Caleb with his chicken here. Note to self.