Bruce, the Bat in my Tukul

Enjoy this excerpt from a FaceBook post by Valki , one of three wonderful American volunteers spending their summer vacation teaching at St Bakhita Girls' Primary School in Narus, South Sudan:

Valki in Haiti with an MBB Scholar (no pix yet from S.Sudan)

“Love my little tukul (hut). It’s round with teal door and teal windows. The walls are brick, concrete and the roof is thatched. I sleep under a mosquito net… The girls are sweet and full of song…. They come from many tribes. The Toposa have nose piercings (not allowed in their classes) and they giggle at the fact that I also have one. I tell them I am also Toposa because of this and they cheer loudly!
 “So far I am known as the one who attracts animals and bugs of all sorts, including a bat, Bruce, who hung out on my tukul for some time. I tried to feed him a raisin, but it seems he is not a fruit bat : )  In this first week I have two spider bites, a cat scratch, and a sizable ant managed to get trapped in my bra (and defend himself).  It is 9:25 pm now and—no joke—I opened my door because of a noise…and now I have a toad in my tukul. I think it is the very one that I caught yesterday.  Ha ha!"

Stay tuned for further installments of "The Adventures of MBB Summer Volunteers."

Pharell Williams, Eat Your Heart Out

Pharrell Williams may think he has a corner on what HAPPY looks like. But he hasn't been to Narus, South Sudan. He hasn't seen the faces of these exuberant young girls rejoicing at the arrival of the new Land Cruiser that Mercy Beyond Borders brought to St Bakhita Primary School this month!

THIS is HAPPY!

(I think there is a car in there somewhere...)

How's Your Creole?

With a bit of French vocabulary and a flair for sounding things out phonetically, you can decipher this public health billboard in Gros Morne, Haiti.  Oh, and it helps if you like rebus puzzles.

"Hygiene and Sanitation are the best protection against cholera."

Cholera did not exist in Haiti until after the 2010 quake. Epidemiologists have traced the start and subsequent deadly spread of the disease to one of the UN peacekeeping contingents sent to help the country recover from the quake. Thousands of Haitians have since died for lack of adequate prevention and access to health care.

As of May 2014 a cholera epidemic has also erupted in Juba, the capital city of South Sudan. Over 170 have already perished. Again, its epicenter was a UN camp.