A letter from Sue Ellen Hall in Sudan
August 9, 2000
Dear Kith and Kin,
Happy to report that I’ve survived almost an entire summer in Khartoum, heat, dust-storms and all. Was one of the very few foreigners who didn’t travel anywhere. People began going home in mid-May, and the hegira continued until late June. Most folks just went for visits, but a few of our friends have moved on, sent off with a variety of farewells…boat trips, dances, songs, meals, silly photos and the like. Mike Parker, one of our PC(USA) contingent, has returned to California to do research and seek a new teaching position. With the completion of Bill’s book on the history of the church in Sudan, Bill and Lois Anderson have also finally retired…for good. They officially retired several years ago, but kept returning as volunteers. All three of them will be greatly missed. Now there are just three of us PC(USA) folks here…and from October to April I’ll be the lone ranger while Betsy McCormick and Barry Almy are on home assignment.
Although the term at Nile Theological College (NTC) ended in May, I continued to teach. In June I led a week-long workshop on the teaching of listening skills for several of the teachers in Omdurman. They had acquired a nice tape player, but didn’t really know just what to do with it. Tapes are just one small part of listening (and what if the power is cut?), so we concentrated more on other strategies. It was nice to work with some of my first group again. After that the class for pastors began again at the Literacy Center. We’re concentrating just now on writing with the help of a simple book that also includes lots of practice in basic grammar. The biggest problem (one I always face with any classes outside NTC) is the fluctuation in class members. Decided it’s best to forge ahead and encourage absentees to talk with their classmates. Since they all are working at various churches and centers, I can certainly understand the difficulty of getting to class. None of them has a car, and some have to take as many as three buses.
Traffic here seems to have doubled since I came in 1998, and roads and parking spaces have not kept pace. They did actually pave the street in front of the British Council this week. (And they painted the outside of the men’s prison a cheery yellow. Wonder if things improved inside?) Would be nice to have more done before the rains come.
In July I was also asked to be one of the speakers at a conference for women of the Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church on the importance of education. Fortunately, I had just read two books about Sudanese women (part of the ongoing "Faith in Sudan" series) and was able to talk with Frieda, the Austrian woman who works with the women’s desk of the Presbyterian Church of Sudan. Both sources gave me some ideas about what to say, and the women, many of whom couldn’t read read or write, seemed to have been encouraged. I just wish my Arabic were better so that I could have spoken without a translator and understood more of the stories they told after their discussion groups met to share memories of and visions for education. Even with better Arabic, however, I would have had difficulty, since they were using the southern dialect. The translator (Samuel, an NTC graduate who is now head of Gerief Bible School) said he simplified some of what I said. One woman approached me afterwards to ask for prayers, so would you put her on your lists as well? Veronica is illiterate and wants to learn to read and write. Pray for Ida also who is trying to set up a literacy program at Gerief. The education of girls and women is critical for Sudan’s future.
During the summer, in addition to the regular playing I do at the Arabic service, I’ve been one of the substitute piano players at the English worship. Then on Monday of last week and this I took my keyboard and copies of fourteen hymns with good four-part harmony (lots of Bach) to Bible study. A visiting professor and his wife joined us. I’d play the hymn for a verse or two, then we’d continue a cappella with Alan on bass, Betsy on alto, me on tenor and everyone else on the melody. It was great! We sounded so good that Gerald said we should practice next week and then sing at KIC. At NTC we’ve begun Saturday morning singing during the regular prayer time. We’d eventually like to print a supplement to their songbook, including songs we’ve learned at Easter retreats and some of the new African hymns (which will have to be translated).
Will end with the two bits of "excitement" here in this building. Thanks to some cans of paint, my neighbor and I both have beautiful blue doors into our apartments. Luckily, there was no haboob the day we decided to paint in the hallway. The second "thrill" was the temporary loss of my cat, Merlin. He went missing on a Monday morning while I was at work and the apartment was being cleaned. Two days of searching, calling, running up and down the stairs resulted in sight of neither hide nor hair and nary a meow. At 5:00 a.m. on the third day, just when I’d decided he’d fallen off the balcony and was long gone or dead, I heard a cat fight downstairs and found bits of gray fur. He’d been hiding in the electrical room at the foot of the stairs, too frightened of "freedom" (and of the tomcat that lives outside) to make himself known or come home. Took a few days to overcome his trauma, but he’s fine now…and much cleaner than ever before. Seems to bathe a lot more!
Please do write anytime, would love to hear from you and about what you’re doing and how you are. Please continue to keep Sudan and the church (and especially the women in the churches) in your prayers. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the year of Jubilee brought peace to Sudan? Take care and "allah yibaarikakum!"
Love,
Sue Ellen Hall
The 2000 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 48
