Kodok at Last
By: John Jefferson
Kodok at Last, Kodok at Last, Thank God Almighty, Kodok at
Last!
The UN Mission in South Sudan compound in Kodok is not set
up for visitors per say. It does have a
generator that provides one of the few lights in the city after dark, but it is
very small and stark compared to many UN facilities. Kodok is really a small port village along
the Nile, which more than doubled in size as a result of people fleeing from
Malakal and other places closer to the fighting. Our arrival late at night caused the local
army officials to be concerns about my safety and thus, the request for the UN
to take us in. There were a few nervous
moments as we waited outside the very secure compound gate to see if we would
be allowed to bed there for the night.
By the grace of God we were, and even had the chance to take a bucket
shower before hitting the rack.
After a comfortable stay at the very basic and suitable
UNMISS accommodations, we embarked upon what became a bit of a frustrating
chapter in the story.
Though only 4 KM
from Kodok , it took all day to reach the refugee camp and complete the last
phase of the mission before starting the return journey to Melut. (We didn’t
arrive at the refugee camp until after 2:30PM on Friday to distribute the food
and other supplies) The logistics involved in finalizing the food delivery took
precious time from the efforts to record the events, document the condition of
the people, share the reason and purpose of ENG with the population, and
articulate the spiritual element driving these efforts.
In other words, if it were just about
dropping off food, then the phase from Kodok to the camp would have been a bit simpler,
but all those other elements had to be crammed into the remainder of the time.
(By God’s grace all was accomplished, but next time allowances should be made
to maximize time in the camp vs. in the city)
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