Peter, one of the lost boys of Sudan who left his home in 1987 at age 7, is now 28. Recently, he returned to his homeland for the first time in more than 20 years.

Peter spent the first 15 days of his 3-month trip in Juba, the future capital of Southern Sudan. There is a well-established hotel there, as well as aid supplies and materials available for purchase. With $750 wired from the One With Us account, Peter was able to purchase 120 mosquito nets. He directly distributed these nets to those most seriously disabled and unable to work, and to families with very young children.

He developed a preliminary relationship with a

Sudanese medical care clinic and its administrator. The clinic is located in Duk County, approximately 45 minutes from Peter's village of Duk-padiet. The head administrator of Duk county clinic said that they have not been paid for eleven months and they have not received medical supplies yet, so he lost his employees. He said that children are suffering from air borne disease because they have not been vaccinated for many years. There is also a lack of antenatal care for women and a lack of all care for many more. The advantages of a relationship with this clinic include use of the permanent structure for storage and distribution of supplies and aid; and a local liaison who can work with Peter to identify the priority of needs. The disadvantage is its distance from Duk-padiet.

Peter learned that there is indeed a Lutheran World Federation presence in Sudan. Leif's on-the-ground arm, Lutheran World Relief, is currently working to build a school and develop a tap water source in Amil, a town some miles away.

Peter took extensive video footage of areas in need, which has since been edited into a PowerPoint presentation with the help of Pr. Koch. Speaking engagements thus far include St. Ignatius High School in May 2008 and a north shore Rotary chapter in June. The PowerPoint presentation highlights the need to develop a water filtering system, pump, and tap source. People returning from refugee camps to their villages are going back to the refugee camps due to the lack of health care and schools.

Our first goal is to establish a health care system in Duk-padiet.