Veneer

Once a week I join the citizens of Wadupe and walk almost three miles up to the main road. The walk leaves my feet dirty and my shirt sweaty. An hour later we stop where the Wadupe road meets the big dusty vein of commerce. To my right, Uganda is a day’s walk. Down that road terrified families once fled this place. To the left, a Toyota Land Cruiser could get me to Yei Town in 30 minutes. However, I rarely score a ride in a Land Cruiser. Market days are the best days to hitch a ride to Yei because there is generally more traffic. By the time I get there the market is already busy with gossip and trade. I get some peanuts and bananas and wait to catch an empty seat in a passing matatu or taxi. My favorite is when I get to ride to town on top of a truck loaded with people and sacks of beans or charcoal. I crawl up and squeeze in between the bewildered Africans. Some have heard about the white man who lives in Wadupe, the others are confused and entertained at the sight. I find a rope or something to grip for the next 15 miles(about 1 hour) and hold on. In the sun we sway and bounce down the red road cut through the deep green grass sprinkled with mango, papaya, and banana trees. I see brown skinned people along the way greeting neighbors, carrying goods to market, or fetching water. About 5 miles down the road I pass one of the saddest things I have ever seen in Sudan. In fact it has been a huge influence on Why The Woods.
As we crawl through a small village I fight negative thoughts when I see their primary health center. It sticks out of the landscape with cement walls and a shiny metal roof—a high commodity in this area, and quite a logistical accomplishment for whoever built it. No doubt Sudan is in much need of health care on any level. But, I am sad because this beautiful building sits empty—doors locked—teasing our eyes with the idea of progress; teasing us with the image of life saving healthcare when nothing but quiet darkness fills the cement rooms. I don’t know the story, I don’t know the reason, and I don’t wish to blame anyone but ignorance or circumstance. In fact I only want to use this image, not this particular building or organization, as an example of what must change.
The long gone organization that built this building in delusional hopes of helping these people is remembered only by the sign that marks their work. The building is so prominent and so commanding in this village of mud and grass. Yet, its strong shell is merely a quiet whisper of change—a gloom more than a hope. It’s a sad reminder that they [the Sudanese] weren’t heard, they weren’t helped, and nothing about their lives is different now. It’s sad to think of the resources that were used to merely change the landscape—the surface of this village. I fear in this instance we have misconstrued the meaning of “community,” “happiness,” and “need.”
I ask myself as I ride through, “What is my project…what is my purpose?” Can we place our veneer over this world and walk away? We have rushed to the aid of a country torn apart by war and tried desperately to rebuild. What we don’t realize is that what was destroyed in the war were people, not buildings. People are what we need to rebuild. The Why The Woods approach to rebuilding people is to inspire Love, Hope, and Knowledge. It seems easier to just look around and say, duh, they need a health center, let’s be proactive and build one. But that CAN’T be the first step. We must slow down and acknowledge the people first. Let us ask them, let us know them, let us understand them, and then let us empower them. Let them develop their own appearance. In the case of Wadupe, they have decided to rebuild their school. They may need material help, and that we can do well. But what good is another empty building built by another foreign group. Love has connected me with that village; a seed of Hope has been planted in their hearts and minds; new Knowledge is expanding their capacity; now, we are physically assisting them as they build. I refuse to merely change the surface and ignore the truth…the People are my project…His Love is my purpose.