High Dura (Sorghum) Prices Drive Establishment of Cooperative

Lohutok, Sudan

Pastor Thomaso gave the sermon today.  He spoke about two points - God's wrath and God's love.  His texts were from Romans 1:16 & following, II Thessalonians 2 and John 3:16 & following.  At the end of the service, he explained about the cooperative society.  After the service there was a meeting under the tree near our storehouse.  Josiah presided over it.  The Lohutok Primary Cooperative Society was formed and its first 25 members were signed up.  More can be signed up later.  Josiah was made chairman, Michael  and Akim were chosen as treasurer and secretary.  (I am not sure which was selected for which office.)  Each person joining must pay 1 Sudanese pound and buy at least 1 share at 5 Sudanese pounds per share.  The shares can apparently be sold later, perhaps at a higher value if the cooperative is profitable.  They should be able to get dura (sorghum) for 25 Sudanese pounds per bag (FOB Lohutok) rather than the 30 or 35 pounds it reportedly costs from the merchants at Torit.  The first dura purchase should more than pay each members fees and stock purchase.  Not only dura, but also hoes, sugar, oil, kerosene, and other commodities can be purchased from the cooperative.

  

Lanny returned from Juba today.  He brought some lemon grass with him to plant and give out.  It can reportedly be made into a good tea.  They were not able to get dura in Juba.  It would have cost 60 or 70 Sudanese pounds per bag.  They did get a couple of bags of white wheat flour.

  

Lanny said that Daniel (chief of Lohutok) had told him that more cassava is not grown because the goats would eat it.  Beans are not grown because they do not have seed.  The people eat pumpkin seeds.

  

The Taposa made a cattle raid last night at Mura which is a village near Lalanga.  The drums sounded this morning and some men left running, but soon came back.  I guess the Taposa had too big a head start and the Lotuko were already tired.

  

Lanny mentioned a couple of things that sound good to me.  1) Going to the village and staying overnight for a couple of days to see what goes on (e.g. food consumption patterns).  2) Spending time, perhaps a week, with a Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) agriculturalist.  That would give me quite a few insights and contacts for thesis purposes.  It could also help Voluntary Service Group's (VSG's) agriculture program tie in closely with NCA's.  (VSG is the service arm of Africa Inland Mission here in Sudan.)

Cattle Raid!

Lohutok, Sudan

This morning all the younger men were running north with their weapons in a long, spread-out string.  Drums had sounded in the village to our northeast.  I found out later that the Taposa had stolen some cattle from a Lotuko village during the night.  The Lotuko got their cattle back, but one man was wounded in the process.  I hope this sort of thing comes to an end.

Photo: Warriors on their way to recover stolen cattle.

I did some more welding today.  We passed the half-way mark in building rafters.  We also made fairly firm arrangements to have some men start building my hut.  They should begin tomorrow.  I think housing will become tight here soon.  When the Yonkers get back, Samuel and Christine will have to move into a tent.  I hope the living space crunch does not cause too much tension.

I poked around in the ground today and noticed that the onions I planted have sprouted.  At least one of the three things I have planted should do okay.  I hope the carrots grow too.  I do not have much hope for the lettuce.

Michael is talking of going to Juba to get grain.  At Torit, sorghum costs 36.50 Sudanese pounds per bag, but only 15.00 in Juba.  We may have the plane go to Torit to get sorghum from Norwegian Church Aid.  We have heard they have some sort of cooperative.