On January 29th I departed for Maridi, one of our other Salesian sites about 150 miles west of Juba. I went to represent our community for the ordination of Fr. Paul Tung, and was expecting to stay just two days. After eight long hours through the rough terrain of South Sudan, we finally arrived in the cool and scenic Maridi, the place I had been hearing about for five months. It was truly a beautiful place, with rolling hills filled with green trees and beautiful landscape. Though I was hoping to catch up on a bit of rest while away from Juba, I was quickly put to work the first day helping prepare for the ordination (I didn’t really want to rest anyway). The ordination day was much of the same busyness as well, as I was in charge of the soundboard and videotaping the ceremony. I finally got to relax in the evening as we celebrated Father’s ordination, and the festivities ended around 10:30pm. As I was saying my goodbyes and getting ready to head back to Juba the next morning, Grace (one of my fellow SLMs) realized that she was going to be all-alone in the dispensary for the week. One of the Sisters that worked in the dispensary was going to a conference for the week, so Grace made a last second push for me to stay for the week and help her out. The Fathers talked for a while and decided I could stay.

In my time in Maridi, I mainly worked in the dispensary taking patient registration and helping in the pharmacy, however, my duties did not end there. I helped clean-up Father JP’s computer, facilitate land transactions, played a song for the school morning assembly, and refereed a football match. Though it was certainly a working vacation, I felt surprisingly refreshed when I left. The change of scenery and lifestyle was just what I needed, but more importantly it was the visiting/conversations with Grace, Cait, and the whole Maridi community that restored me. They were so welcoming to me and made me feel like a part of the community, and I was saddened when the time for goodbyes came. In the morning assembly when Father JP said I was leaving, the kids let out a collective sigh, which was quelled when Father said I would be spending the next year volunteering in Maridi (we will see about that).

The time in Maridi also confirmed that my home is in Juba and how much I missed everything about it, from the kids to the community to the work. After two weeks I was really longing to sleep in my own uncomfortable bed, eat the same meals, and sweat all day long in the heat. The saying, “You never know what you've got until it's gone” never rang truer in my life.

I will try to get some pictures from the trip uploaded soon!