I arrived yesterday in South Sudan after an overnight in Entebbe, Uganda and then a flight on a small prop plane here to Yei. First time I've come across an international border to a dirt airstrip with a small, one-room building as "passport control" where they handwrote my visa and sent me on my way. This has only been an independent nation for just over two years and that was only accomplished after decades of civil war and pretty brutal oppression of the people of the South. Many of the population of this city spent years in refugee camps across the nearby borders of Congo and Uganda or took shelter in the forests away from their homes. So infrastructure is pretty much having to be recreated from scratch.
Today I got to meet a young man named Justice (appropriate, given the history). He directs a small children's home that provides a home for 18 "double orphans" (meaning both parents are deceased and no relatives available to take them). He proudly showed me around the facility with the various innovations they have, including solar power to batteries since there is no access to central electricity, a cooking stove that uses firewood with high efficiency, drying rack and washing stations that reduce the likelihood of disease, and beds for the children each equipped with nets. He is studying business administration on line. I also found out that he works with our missionary doctors here as they do public health training, especially focusing on husband responsibility in helping reduce the high rate of infant mortality and maternal death during childbirth. He has a strong faith and also hopes to study theology so he can strengthen the church.
It is a hard place and there are many years of hard work that will be required for this new nation to get on its feet. But with folks like Justice, one sees that the seeds are already here.
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