Rasmussen College Raises Funds for ASAH

Fargo College Students
Work for Gift to Charity

(Fargo) – A college in Fargo raised more than $1,400 for a charity recently and the students used it as a learning experience. Challenged to perform a service learning project, the Business and Communication students at Rasmussen College created several pieces of writing including business letters, short reports, press releases and visual communications to market and create awareness for their chosen charity – African Soul, American Heart.

The finished writing projects were the centerpiece of a silent auction held at the college. The student’s goal was to raise $1,000, and with donations from staff, were able to present African Soul, American Heart president Deb Dawson a check for $1,428. According to a Rasmussen instructor, this was an excellent way for the students to experience writing in the “real world” as well as demonstrating to them how writing is a tool for social action that can be used to participate in and contribute to a local and global society.

African Soul, American Heart (ASAH) is a Fargo-based non-profit foundation dedicated to helping feed, house, clothe and educate young orphan girls (ages 10-15) in Southern Sudan, Africa. The organization has recently begun building the ASAH Home for Girls. The first group of girls is expected to move in about July 1st.

Learn more about Rasmussen College.

Forum on Oprah--Deb Dawson mentioned.

FROM Forum:

One of Winfrey’s philanthropic causes has been to educate women in Africa by opening a school for girls in South Africa. This work has served as a touchstone for Deb Dawson, founder of the Fargo-based nonprofit African Soul, American Heart, which provides shelter for orphans in Southern Sudan.

Dawson is not a regular “Oprah” watcher but sees news coverage of the challenges the icon’s efforts in Africa have faced. Dawson says seeing that “gives us a little heart when we run into challenges we face” helping in Sudan.

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/320837/publisher_ID/1/

Last Day in Duk

A light rain contributed to a pleasing 80 degree morning—though the temp crept into the 90s by mid-afternoon. Still not as brutal as the 100 degree days we have been suffering.

It's our last day here. Tomorrow around noon, AIM Air will pick Jef and me up on the Duk airstrip. Likely the John Dau Foundation car will carry us and our bags to the strip. When I arrived and departed last November, young men and women carried my bags on their heads through knee deep water because of the over-long and heavy rainy season. It sounds like Fargo will escape a devastating flood this year, however, and we will return in time to see the crest.

The past few days have been exciting for us and for our board back in the United States. This project has been a dream and is now becoming reality. Some members of our work crew went to the bush to cut down branches for interior support of the tukul walls as others dug foundation holes. Now all six tukuls are underway, the uprights in place, and work has begun on the braces for the roofs. Somewhere, thatch is being gathered or purchased, and Joseph Akol Makeer is in Juba purchasing materials for tukul roofing, latrines, showers, water tower and fencing.

It's too dry here to gather mud, so they'll send a truck closer to the Nile where the land is wetter. A month or two from now when the rains begin, there'll be plenty of mud here, but construction will be more difficult. We hope to have all construction finished within the next month.

This morning Jef spent time onsite videotaping and reworking his overall plan in his mind. I rode along with IRD and JDF staff to a health services coordination meeting in Mareng, where the County Commissioner is located. We had hoped to visit him last week, but he was in Bor. He was out yesterday and today as well, but I was able to visit with the Executive Director of the commission office. The health meeting was interesting. Various NGO groups, each with their own missions and funding, are trying to coordinate their efforts to avoid duplicating services in areas that are currently being served and to extend services to areas that are underserved, or not receiving any services at all.

Long Winter--a poem by Tim Nolan

I subscribe online to the Writer's Almanac, Garrison Keillor's site which sends a daily poem. I reprint this without permission but crediting the author, Tim Nolan. My comments follow the poem.

Long Winter
by Tim Nolan

So much I've forgotten
the grass

the birds
the close insects

the shoot—the drip—
the spray of the sprinkler

freckles—strawberries—
the heat of the Sun

the impossible
humidity

the flush of your face
so much

the high noon
the high grass

the patio ice cubes
the barbeque

the buzz of them—
the insects

the weeds—the dear
weeds—that grow

like alien life forms—
all Dr. Suessy and odd—

here we go again¬—
we are turning around

again—this will all
happen over again—

and again—it will—

---
Here in Sudan I have forgotten not only the grass but also the white expanse of cool wet snow. Here, the long dry season has left inches of fine silt to blow across the hard-packed ground. Sahara sand mixed with dirt, it coats equipment, tables, and chairs, dries eyes and throats, clings to the sweat that covers my body, blackens my sandaled feet.

There is no dirth of birds of all sizes and colors, both beautiful and hideous in looks or nature, their voices a cacophony sounding before dawn and after dusk. No sprinklers here, no strawberries, no fruit, save the coconut. The sun's heat is inescapable, except for the occasional breeze under the shade of the infrequent tree. There is also wind, which is quite different from the breeze, carrying the bric-a-brac of weeds and trash. The weeds often come with thorns and sticks, one of which stabbed the top of my foot where my sandal didn't cover.

Insects, lizards, frogs, and bats our constant companions, along with the antelope and the occasional feral cat.

Humidity will attend the rains in May, and by August, perhaps, the roads will flood. Vehicle travel between villages will cease and the silty footpaths will squish beneath the sandals or between the toes of bare feet splashing through water ankle to knee deep. Until the rains cease and the sun sucks dry the Sudd again.

External Hard Drive Dies--March 31

It was probably the ants. Two days ago, I was loading photos onto the external drive that stores my photo catalog with Daniel, my 15-year-old guide, translator, assistant. Dozens of tiny ants streamed out of it and onto my lap. I'm guessing the heat generated when I plugged it in may have upset them, or attracted them. They kept coming, so I sprayed the outside with bug spray, which killed them, only to have dozens more join the death march. Eventually they stopped coming out. I loaded the photos. Everything seemed fine, but yesterday when I plugged in the drive, my computer couldn't see it. I'm afraid their tiny little bodies may have gummed up the works. I've saved all the memory cards, so I won't lose those, but the same drive is also my hard backup. Let's hope my online backup system, which last did its job March 20, has the rest of my data--and photos from last November. The regular backup time doesn't match our Internet hours, so I better start doing it manually. I left the drive with Sammy, the tech guy here. He can fix anything from cars to plumbing to satellite dishes and has background in computers, too. It may be another day or so before I post more Facebook pics.

We have to feed the crew. The first day they worked until lunchtime, and I gave the supervisor money to buy lunch in town, at the hotel. The proprietor's name is Alice. I haven't been inside, but it consists of a few tukuls, a shower with a neck-high privacy wall of thatching materials, and buckets of water for washing. But there wasn't any food for the crew there or anywhere. So late yesterday afternoon, Sammy drove, me, Daniel, and Dau, our supervisor, to Poktop, the village on the ill-conceived canal dug to divert the Nile to bring water to the parched North. It now exacerbates the flooding in this area. Carcasses of abandoned cranes are part of the landscape there, the trees beginning to eclipse them. There's a market with a wide center aisle to accommodate trucks and people. But to find all you want, it's necessary to make several stops. The prices, however, are fair and don't adjust up when there's a white woman in the group, as happens with street vendors in Kenya.

We bought food to feed 20 people lunch for a month, the expected length of the construction time. Beans, rice, sugar, seasonings, onions, tea leaves, plates, spoons, cups, serving dishes and spoons, thermoses, wash basins, and buckets. About $500. Also, the exchange rate in Poktop--no banks there, just guys with money--is 300 SP/$100 instead of 280 in Juba, so we got more for our money.

Clearing the Land

I am writing this on my IPad connected to Internet in the office of IRD, International Relief Development, which is adjacent to our site. How fortunate Jef and I are to have these amazing tools and also these wonderful partners on the ground.

Jef spent time this morning with Gache, the IRD engineer, figuring out the fencing materials list. I just sent it off to Joseph to add to our list from yesterday with materials needed for the tukuls. We expect he will bring all the materials from Juba along with our dome on Friday. He works in both Juba and Bor, which is closer to us, but higher prices. He is partner with an architect and builder in a construction firm in Bor so we expect he will get us good prices.

Jef is on the site now. There are about ten workers plus supervisors clearing and burning brush, taking out stumps, and preparing for fencing. We have to feed them as part of our contract. Later today I will see if the JDF car can take me to Panyagor, about 2 hours from here, to buy beans, rice, sugar, tea leaves, plates, spoons, cups, thermoses, and hot pots, and we will pay two cooks to feed them. All labor payments are made at the end of The job.

The job is to build 3 large rectangular tukuls, 14 by 20, to house five girls each in two of them. The other is for an office/store. We will build three round tukuls for two staff and for security guard.

The guys that go to the bush to cut down the thatching and branches for tukul walls are paid 800 SDP for the job, which includes the building. That's around $300. The exchange is 2.8 SDP/ $1.There are nine plus supervisor paid 1000 SDP. The workers who are working clearing brush and digger, here on site each get 400 SDP. Of course there will be the latrines, showers, etc. to build as well. Fence building is included in the above.

Yesterday, Jef and I spent nearly fiven hours mostly being quiet while others worked our a land dispute in Dinka. Three hours were spent in the County administrator's office. The most interesting part were the many bats flying around inside and then dangling above our heads. Fortunately, the bats didn't bother anyone, even the chief whose legs they flew between didn't seem to notice, and the administrator is one of our supporters, as it was in his office last November, that the chiefs gave ASAH the land. But last month, a Paramount chief (head) had given the land to Colorado Lost Boy group and they built a visitor's compound on part of our site. Then some representatives came and said they were given the entire site. Apparently that wasn't actually the case. In any case, all parties were satisfied.

There are many be advantages to our program to be in this area. It is close to the school and is adjacent to IRD and Mama Jean's compound. This provides security. There are other larger sites, but they are quite far away and would be harder to protect. Also in this location we can run pipes from IRD's well, and also electricity. This will save us lots of money which can be used toward getting more children in our program.

I apologize for typos in this and other blog posts. Internet access can be unpredictable, and there is little Romeo our busy day for editing.

Juba and Bor, Southern Sudan

March 21-24, 2011

On Monday the 21st, we flew to Juba, the capitol of Southern Sudan, without a visa for Jef. A friendly Jetlink agent helped us to find a contact to expedite our visa, only to learn that the only individual who issues visas had been out sick for a week and no one knew when he was expected back. Joseph Akol Makeer arranged for a GOSS representative to meet us at the airport in Juba to help Jef through customs there. My visa was still valid since my November visit.

Joseph, Kenneth Masunga, Jef Foss and I had dinner at the Oasis—a paradise-type restaurant on the Nile specializing in Indian food. Delicious Naan. We stayed at the Olympic hotel for $100 a night—wireless Internet in the rooms, toilet and cold shower, plus breakfast. When Jef and Ron Saeger were here two years ago, they spent $200 a night for a tent with no amenities.

The next morning we left with Joseph for Bor, the capitol of Jonglei State. Joseph is working for GOSS in a public relations and communications arena—a group of about 75 Lost Boys and girls from across Southern Sudan who have returned from the US, Australia, and other countries to help their homeland.

Our goal was to meet with NGOs who might provide aid for our boarding project for orphans in Duk Payuel. Our first visit, to UNHCR, resulted in a tip about an interagency meeting taking place the next morning at the governor's office.

Our hotel in Bor, the Freedom Hotel, offered three meals a day plus slow and sometimes offline Internet in the restaurant—which was always packed with NGO folks and computers. Talking on Skype to my husband, we were interrupted by various groups—he said, "This place must be some kind of NGO heaven."We met a couple guys from Platteville Wisconsin who were hoping to build a school near Bor. Some of the IRD (International Relief Development) team from Duk Payuel were also there, and we made plans to caravan with them to the village the following day.

Wednesday, the 23rd, we stopped at World Food Programme and learned how we might qualify for food aid for our program—which requires fairly permanent buildings and other amenities in place—kitchen, latrines, etc. Each person we met along the way gave us suggestions about what other groups might lend us a hand through aid or guidance of some type.

From there we headed to the inter-agency meeting, only to have the car break down a few "blocks" from a garage. Joseph caught a ride on a passing motorbike and several guys from the garage came to push the car with me steering. We left the car and a garage employee took us to the meeting. We were now 45 minutes late, but being that "This is Africa," the meeting didn't start until the governor, Kuol Manyang, arrived, 15 minutes after we did. There were about 30 people, including us, seated at long tables. Each seat had a mic, a water, and a soda. Joseph sat in the back with other visitors. The meeting lasted about 2 ½ hours with the ministers of each department in the state reporting on everything from health, to education, to cattle raiding, to physical infrastructure, and more. At the end, Joseph stood and introduced Jef and me. I was pleased to be able to tell the group about ASAH and to tell the governor that his daughter and her husband, who live in Fargo, were friends of mine. We made several contacts at this meeting who will be helpful to us in the future.

The day was long, and we made plans to leave for Duk at 7 the next morning in the caravan. But This is Africa. IRD (International Relief Development) had some shopping to do at the market (fresh vegetables, which they treated us to later that evening) and said to meet them on the main street around 9. Somehow, our driver decided NOT to drive to Duk Payuel, so IRD went on alone, and we headed out with Joseph and a new driver later that morning. Gabche, a Kenyan with IRD, gave us one of their SAT phones to carry in case of problems. What kind of problems? Well, in a three hour period on a recently built but still very rough road, we passed a couple of burned out vehicles, stopped to help a stalled vehicle get started, and passed two lorries going our way. That's it. For those of you who know I had cervical disk surgery recently—I held on to the dash handle, wore my soft collar, and sat in the front seat while Jef and Joseph bounced around the bench seats in back of the Land Cruiser. What made the road travel worth every bump were the thousands of antelope—Kob and Topi, we passed on our way, plus ostriches to boot. You can find pics on our Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/African-Soul-American-Heart/48997754057

Joseph left us off at the Lost Boys Clinic in Duk. We set up a camping tent for Jef near the containers where the ground was smooth. I'm staying in the tent of the project manager, Tom Dannon, tent as he is gone to Juba for procurement with the clinic manager, Joh Deng. Tom has offered to stay in my camping tent upon his return and let me remain in his tent which has actual beds. A true gentleman.