An unpredictable bubble

There is no experience quite like finding the country you currently reside in in the lineup on the international news, where the number of positive stories per week usually fit on one hand.   Geneva made waves while I was there with some rather inflammatory comments from a North Korean speaking at a disarmament conference.  My reaction was along the lines of, “Ooh, diplo-drama down the street.  That’s kinda cool.”

In a developing country, and one less stable than Switzerland (as almost all countries are), we usually make the news for different types of news.

Here, I’ve had that er, pleasure twice in the last couple months (that I know of).  A few weeks ago, Al Jazeera’s nightly news alerted us to conflict between South Sudan and the Sudan over oil. . . in short, the Sudan accused South Sudan of supporting separatist rebels in Darfur, and gave them 30 days to cease the support or have the oil piplines cut off (all the oil wealth of the South has to go through the North).  At which point the South threatened to stop the oil production the North depends on.  So we got to see Juba lit up on a bright red map.  I haven’t had the chance to research it thoroughly to figure out the truth of the matter, and when it comes to politics, truth is second to posturing and gain.  All I know is that negotiations are still ongoing, but the urgency of the situation has dissipated.

More recently, mixed up with nearly constant coverage of Cairo (where I’ll be in just a few days), this baby country has made news with a substantial political shakeup, as the Vice Preisdent and Cabinet have been dismissed by the President.   We’ve heard that more police have been deployed, government offices and some stores have been closed, foreigners have been advised to keep a low profile.  The word on the street has called it an anti-corruption measure. Foreign nalysts have mostly pegged it as an effort by President Kiir to challenge those in his party (the dominant party, the SPLM) who have expressed interest in challenging him in the next election. Again, the truth is less important on the ground than people’s views and reactions to the situation.

What’s interesting is how little this affects my day-to-day life.  I, the sisters, many/most of the teachers, and most of the students stay within the walking distance, so at school it’s business as usual.  Those coming from outside have faced some difficulties getting here with the shutdown, but have always made it here. Without TV or internet, people in the village can remain unaware of international issues like the oil conflict, and know only limited or rumoured information, such as what is heard on the radio, about the more local events of the past few days.

So once again, I’ve found myself in a bubble, made partially of living in a compound with nuns, and partially of living and working among a decentralized, community with limited communication technology.  A bubble where there’s no such thing as a typical day, business as usual when the usual business means unpredictable tasks, responsibilities, and challenges.   I try to stay aware of the political issues that are happening just barely outside the bubble because that’s who I am, but it doesn’t change much of anything of how I serve them.  Political unrest or not, I still get up to face the day, just maybe with a little extra prayer for peace and unity thrown in for good measure.  

Later on:

I had this experience a third time on my journey home, when I saw coverage of protests in Cairo. Egyptair offers free hotels to those with overnight layovers, and so, from a luxury style hotel in Cairo, where, if I had had my head under a large rock, and hadn't turned on the TV at all, I could have gone the entire 16 hours on the ground without knowing that the country is currently in a state of . . . serious conflict.   More on the stopover in Cairo later, but in short, it was 16 hours of serious bubble time.