A Bit of Culture...then Reality Hits!

After a Sunday rest in the heat of the afternoon, we were taken on another tour of areas around Khartoum. It was highlighted by Kim's explosive behaviour with a can of frozen Pepsi in a high-end "More's Department Store". We got back to the hotel for supper and then headed off with Dr. Wageeh for some culture. We visited an open-air club at the previously named Meridian Hotel to see a group of Ethiopian dancers and band. They were a very energetic group and were joined briefly by Kim when one of the dancers came to our table and Kim performed a few cultural moves. We were back at the hotel by 11:30 and had no trouble getting to sleep. The temperature today hit 38C.

After breakfast, we piled into the Mitshubishi 4-wheeler and headed off to the Dar El Salam School in a resettlement area outside Khartoum on the edge of the desert. When we arrived, we were met by about 50 enthusiastic children between 5 and 10 years old in this YMCA school. The students sang soncs to welcome us and were thrilled to have us shake hands with them and take their photos (especially when they could see them on the screens of the digital cameras). These students were dressed in uniform clothes (shirts) and were happy as they were visited by this strange looking group from far away.

We were back at the hotel for lunch and a rest on a hot afternoon and then left to visit the children's school funded by our Northern Ontario YMCA's. It was a long drive through Khartoum and then the City of Omdurman across the Nile from Khartoum. We drove through the world famous Omdurman Souk, one of the largest outdoor markets in Africa. After several kilometers of non-road driving over sand and through endless masses of mud-brick homes, we reached the YMCA school. The area is known as Gavarona and is home to over one million displaced persons originally from Darfur, Southern Sudan and the Nubia Mountains. They have been relocated more than once, every time to an area further away from the city. There are only a very few schools in Gavarona, and the YMCA school has over 170 young children enrolled for classes - all between the ages of 5 and 10 or 11. There are some younger children there and are tended to by their older sisters who are students.

As we entered the door to the school compound we were greeted by all 170 students neatly sitting in rows on benches - singing to greet us. They sang a song in English with the words "Thank You Visitors" as the key message. As these children do not speak English, learning songs in a foreign language was a real accomplishment. The students come from various religious and non-religious backgrounds are all given a chance to learn at the YMCA school. After mingling with the children we passed out bed nets to each one of them. The World Health Organization has found that chances of contracting malaria aare reduced by as much as 70% when children can sleep with bed nets to keep the mosquitos away.

The children in this school do not seem to have reached the same level of comfort and happiness as we had seen earlier in the day, but they will get there with dedicated staff of teachers and the strong support of the Khartoum YMCA. It was an unbelieveable experience.

We drove back to Khartoum as dusk started to set in, discussing the events of the afternoon. The Omdurman Souk was even more crowded and conjested with cars, donkeys, people and buses than on the way to the school. We finally did get back to the hotel for supper and a chance to reflect on what we had experienced this day.

Today reality set in on what life is like in Sudan outside of the Khartoum core. We will never forget today.