A Typical Day in Juba!

Now that I have settled into my life as a Lay Missioner in Gumbo, I can tell you what a typical day looks like for me!

National flag of South Sudan

 
Before I begin with my daily itinerary, I would like to give you some background information. I have been given the task of being an Administrator at the Don Bosco Vocational Training Centre (DBVTC) in Gumbo. The DBVTC is very close to my house as is the church and all the other buildings that house other communities and schools. The DBVTC is what we in the US call a Vocational or Trade School. We teach 4 departments: Auto Mechanics, Electrical, Weldng, and Computer Science. Although my office (which is quite big) says "Director" on it, I really don't feel like nor do I act like the director of the school. I mainly do administrative and clerical work for school functions and routines, but I also teach 8 English classes a week.



The DBVTC in all its glory!

The following schedule is a typical day, but I must put a disclaimer that not all days are typical in the life of a missioner. That being said, the days go by fast and they don't stop but I still manage the time to take a breath and enjoy my time here in South Sudan. The routine of daily events are almost the same, which causes the days to fly by.

Without further ado, I give you a day in the life of a Salesian Lay Missioner in Juba:

6:30am - Wake up, brush teeth, shave, get dressed, and get ready for mass

7:00am- Mass with the parish and community

7:30am- Breakfast with the fellow volunteers

On my way to work every morning, I have the blessing of seeing the migration of children going to class!

8:30am- Start work at the DBVTC

Fellow volunteer and electrical instructor James giving the day's morning talk (a Salesian tradition, in which the students of Don Bosco would start their day with a thought).



Fr. Joseph PL SDB giving the day's morning talk as DBVTC's Principal Fr. Joseph Can SDB looks on.

1:00pm- Lunch with the religious community (sometimes I eat at 11:30am other times at 2:00pm, depending on when I have to teach class).

3:30- Classes end (but I don't head home until 4:00pm).

4:00pm- Get ready for oratory

5:00pm- Oratory


At oratory we play football (soccer)!

 

Even Sister is in on the action playing football with the little ones!

We a also play basketball at oratory!

The big kids are usually really good at basketball!

 

We also play volleyball at oratory!

It is always fun to watch the pick up games!

We even throw around the Frisbee at oratory!

6:30pm- Rosary with the children and community

Rosary with the children and community!

 

It sometimes gets crowded at rosary, which is a good thing!

 

We pray until the sun begins to set

7:00pm- Take shower and get ready for dinner


 

Sometimes I will play guitar in the evening to relax.

  

7:30pm- Evening prayer with fellow volunteer

8:00pm- Dinner

9:00pm- Check e-mail and attend to personal business

10:30pm- Sleep (sometimes I sleep later depending on how much work I have to do. I sometimes do school paperwork at home).

What you see here is my schedule Monday-Wednesday. On Thursday night, we the volunteers go to evening mass with the community (instead of going to morning mass) and then we eat dinner with the community right afterwards. On Friday, there is no oratory, but rosary starts at 5:30pm, followed by adoration with the parish at 6:00pm. Saturdays are usually our day of rest, where we take care of our own duties, so we don't have oratory that day either, but we do have mass at 5:00pm. Finally Sunday, we usually attend morning mass (celebrated in the local tribal language of Bari), however, there is oratory at 5:00pm, followed by rosary at 6:30pm. We then take a quick shower and get ready for Sunday night adoration with the community at 7:30pm, which is followed by dinner with the community.

So there you have it! A typical day in my life. The routine of things here in South Sudan makes the days go by fast, so I am constantly trying to slow down and for a few minutes to enjoy the day and enjoy my time in Gumbo! I will fittingly conclude this post with beautiful pictures of sunsets that I see in Gumbo everyday through my eyes! I invite you to join me in taking the time to enjoy Gumbo with me through these pictures!



Beautiful sunset in Gumbo, South Sudan!

I can't tell you how beautiful the sunsets are in Gumbo!

One of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen in South Sudan after evening prayer rosary!