A Warm Welcome!

Salaam from Nzara!

I'm Elliot, and this summer, I'll be working in development for Episcopal Relief & Development in Nzara, a town located in the rural southwest of South Sudan.  For making this service trip possible, many thanks go to the local diocese's leadership, namely Bishop Samuel Enosa, his staff, and his family.  Also, I must thank my own family and friends as well as Reverend Ranjit Matthews, his colleagues in global missions and networking for the Episcopal Church, and St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Fernandina Beach, Florida, my parish back in the United States.

The Nzara diocese has kindly welcomed a number of westerners in the past few years.  Indeed, the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa has a companion relationship with the church here, and its parishioners have written fairly extensively about their recent travels to the town.

South Sudan -- located to the west of Ethiopia, to the east of the Central African Republic, to the north of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and... to the south of Sudan

This blog will focus on my day-to-day activities, mostly following author Gretchen Rubin's idea of keeping a one-sentence-a-day journal.

I look forward to posting here!  Feel free to reach me at elliotjwatts+salaamfromnzara(at)gmail(dot)com if you have questions or comments.

Peace,
Elliot

Nzara is about fifteen miles northwest of Yambio