BEST SMILE

Seth and I voted this guy "best smile" in Sudan. His name is William, and he is the country director for ALARM there. He has one of those faces that is really easy to look at. And his smile is contagious. Deep lines. Dimples. Perfect teeth. Eyes that disappear. And the smile lines from his eyes nearly meet the smile lines from his mouth.

His smile is one that evokes a response. Whenever we talked with him, I couldn't help but smile back. And I wondered how he could smile like that. We didn't learn all the details of William's life, but I know that it hasn't been easy. Like many other Sudanese that we met, he lives in a tookle (a small, circular hut-like structure with a grass-thatched roof); he is separate from his family who lives in Uganda for better education for their children; and he took 2 days to get from Jubba (where he lives) to Yei (where we were) by bus, walking, and hitching because the roads in Sudan are crazy during rainy season (the trip should normally take around 4 hours).

While in Yei, Seth and I walked most evenings in the "suburbia" behind the compound where we stayed. ("suburbia" being a village of tookles grouped together... people cooking outside together over a fire... paths going from tookle to tookle). One afternoon, William walked with us, and talking with him and meeting many of the people living in those tookles, it hit me how incredible hard life has been for the people in Sudan. (obvious statement, I know, but there are those moments when it hits me in a new or a more profound way). I believe Sudan has the record for the longest on-going war in Africa. They now have peace, but are teetering on civil conflict again. There are signs everywhere warning people to stay on the roads because of the danger of mines. And everyone we spoke with could talk about where they came from... no one had remained in their home land. They were all from Yei, but had spent the last few years of the war as refugees-- in Uganda, in Congo, in the hills...

And yet it seemed that many of them, like William, could smile... could warmly greet us... and would openly talk about their lives with us. And it amazed us that their faces could contain so much joy and warmth and even hope.

(more pictures and thoughts from Sudan yet to come!)