More Information

Here are some of my questions and the responses I received from the directer of Missions at Ginghamsburg.

Where are we going? Your team will be traveling to an area called Turalei.

Is this a town, a camp or what? It is a community that is spread out quite a bit and if I remember correctly has around 100,000 people. It is very remote area, and very very poor. They do have market there, and a dirt airstrip. The camp where you will be staying is about a mile from the market area.

Are the people there native to the area or refugees from other areas? Most of the people are Native to that region, however it is certainly possible that there may be some refugees in the area.

What are the living conditions for the people there? The people for the most part live in little dwellings called Tookuls (pronounced twocoals). These are mud based huts with grass roofs. They are dark, and usually responsible for housing an entire family. This area is a war torn area, and as a result the people have very little. The weather is extremely hot, and many have only one meal per day.

Are there schools and or jobs or is it more like a temporary holding area? There are schools, and a good majority of the children we saw attended. Not many jobs available for the people, but there are some jobs. This would not be considered a holding camp area.

How are these people’s daily needs met? Good question. I am not sure that they are met. Like I mentioned earlier, many eat only once a day. They do have access to bore holes to get there water, but many suffer from ailments created from bad water. A

re they totally dependent on the Eleos Project? Not at all. Eleos is there to assist the people, and there may be a handful of people who are dependent on Eleos, but the community is not. The Eleos Project, takes a holistic approach to the work they do there. And from my observations they are a relatively young ministry and seek to provide medical assistance, education and education improvement, water purification education, spiritual formation, and agricultural programs to name a few. However, it seems that they are taking the approach of not wanting the people to become dependent on them. There are a handful of other NGO’s in the area also helping the people.

Do they speak any English? Many of them do. They are taught English in school.

What is their native language (or languages in the area)? The language there is a dialect of Dinka.

Are there people from the Eleos Project there at all times? No. However, they will be there at all times while you are there. The Eleos staff live in Kenya at this point.

What is their focus? The web sight of Eleos list the following information: Our mission is to empower impoverished communities to assess their basic human needs to improve living conditions and to assist with compassion in finding viable solutions that will implement sustainable community development projects to reduce poverty in developing countries. We will act to compassionately address the plight and needs of others! The web address is www.eleosproject.org it does not give a ton of information, but it certainly does a better job of describing what they are about than what I can do.

Why are we planning on doing a sport camp? What is the benefit of this camp, long or short term? When we were in Sudan last year, one of the things we realized is the young men and women had nothing to do. They were bored out of there minds. So we came up with this idea to engage them and to draw them in. Our hope is that this is a vehicle that will provide some entertainment, but more importantly provide an opportunity to encourage them and invest in their lives through the camp. Perhaps even open up doors for spiritual formation, and many other possibilities. The long term value is uncertain, but we hope they learn something to provide some exercise and entertainment, as well as a community driven activities that might draw the young people to the Eleos Project compound. . . However, it is not 100% we will be doing a sports camp. Our real goal in preparing our team to do ministry is to utilize the teams strengths and gifts. As the team has filled up, we have discovered that a sports camp may not be the best way to utilize this team strengths. Then again maybe it is. That is one of things we will seek to discover when the team begins meeting. During the preparation meetings the team will work through some of this so that when you are there you will be more effective. Does this make sense? I have included a short paragraph from Mark, our host from Eleos Project about some of the work they are setting up for your team.

One of the ways we would like to use the service of your team in March is to work on the Eleos outreach facility during the day then use your team to do community outreach later in the day and evening. This would include things like the sports camp, music, etc. that you guys had been talking about. Your team will be going into Sudan during the dry season so rain will not be a problem. It will be warmer so we will be working early in the morning and into the afternoon until it gets too hot to work.

Are there items that my family/friends can be collecting for the people there? Hmmm, not sure yet. We are taking backpacks over full of school supplies, so maybe items we could add to the backpacks. Things like soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, flip flops, etc. We will try to find out if there is more information on what you can take. You will be some what restricted due to the luggage requirements.

Is this community predominantly Christian, Muslim or other? I would say the area is predominately Muslim, but the people that will come out to the compound will either be Christian, (catholic), or irreligious people.