I had to get special permission from the military to visit Geli, a village that had been attacked four months earlier by the LRA. The government lent me a Police Chief and a Military Intelligence Officer for the day as added protection. Half of the village was wiped out by the attacks, entire families buried together in small unmarked graves next to their burned down huts. The LRA took all of their livestock and destroyed the fields leaving the survivors with nothing to sustain them. When I arrived, there were only a few people around sitting under a tree trying to escape the scorching Sudan heat next to a makeshift chalkboard outlining ways to prevent HIV/Aids. Gabriel, the Police officer, served as translator and said the villagers were so happy to see me because I was American and that meant I would send help. They had been surviving on boiled leaves for months, and some of the villagers had walked several hours to the nearest town to see if they could trade some leaves for maize or soap. After a lengthy tour detailing the attacks I thanked them for their time. The tribal elders came out and gave a speech of gratitude for my visit and offered blessings from God. Later I was able to send a 50 kilo bag of maize and a case of soap. I wish I could have sent more.
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