Greetings from East Africa!
As of Thursday February 4th I've safety arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, met up with Steve Riley the Executive Director of The Nuba Water Project, and have begun filing the necessary paperwork in order to obtain a proper visa to enter Southern Sudan. As is not always the case in getting official documents in Africa the process has been up to this point surprisingly smooth. All that has been required of us is quite a bit of patience paired with warm smiles and friendly nods.
Whooshing back memorable experiences from my 2003-2005 Peace Corps days in Togo, West Africa, I was privileged enough to enjoy my first shower (by bucket and bowl) a few nights ago after spending two days traveling by air from Los Angeles, California. Readily available hot water and shower pressure are not fully appreciated until one finds themselves without it. After sometime though you can develop an appreciation for the simplicities of life within such countries and amongst such people. Though quite difficult to describe to those who've never had the chance to visit the continent, Africa has a unique air about it and it's refreshing to have returned after approximately five years of being back in the USA. It's striking contrasts of beauty and poverty can be seen in every direction you turn your eyes; quite notably in Nairobi.
The children with their massive smiles of white (or in many cases black and brown with dental decay) run around jubilantly in the dirt and pot-hole laden roads amongst mounds of trash and decrepit buildings which so many of their families call home. The women sing choral tunes as they go about their daily chores of cooking, cleaning, caring for the children, and fetching water and wood for the family. The men and boys are out plowing the fields as the cattle, goats, and donkeys graze to nearly bursting their bellies. There's no doubt of the uniqueness of this place on earth and I do highly encourage those of you who can to make it a point to someday pay a visit which will surely become an experience of a lifetime.
Regarding visits, I invite you all to checkout a site I've created where I'll periodically post updates on this Expedition and The Nuba Project's efforts to bring clean water to the people living in the Nuba Mountains of Southern Sudan. Due to the the generous contributions of some incredible people I've managed to cover most of the costs of this project, though additional support is greatly needed and warmly welcomed. My deepest and heartfelt thanks go out to the following individuals below who have kindly offered their assistance to help make this project successful already:
- Fr. Tom Rielley SJ & Friends
- Mary Rust
- Stacey and Heather
- Fr. Michael McFadden
- Mr. John Sullivan
- Mr. and Mrs. Green
- Mr. and Mrs. Hyashi
- Tom and Drewcilla Annese
- Fabrice and Rachelle De Clerck
- John August Swanson
- Seth Lichtenstein
For those others of you who would like to make a contribution to The Nuba Water Project and my efforts currently taking place in East Africa please send your donations to the following address:
Thomas De Clerck: Expedition Sudan
2919 Waverly Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
I sincerely thank you in advance for your generous support and look forward to sharing with you the project's developments in my next letter. Again, I invite you to make a visit to the following sites for further information, updates, and photos on our work:
http://web.me.com/thomasdeclerck/Expedition_Sudan and http://www.nubawaterproject.org/
Warm and Peace Filled Regards,
Thomas De Clerck
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