A new volunteer whirlwind

Some time ago, a Hungarian called Gabor sent a speculative email to different charities hoping to come and use his considerable practical skills in South Sudan.  He is an architect and engineer as well as a journalist.  The email eventually came to Fulaa, who invited him to come. 

Fixing the solar panel on the roof in the sweltering heat

Two days ago Gabor arrived in a puff of noise, dust and smoke, having driven his motorbike all the way from Kampala in Uganda.  By the time he arrived, he and the bike were the same colour as the roads he had travelled.  The bike was piled high with a tottering pile of boxes and bags.  I had a crowd of small children around me when he arrived.  One tiny child burst into terrified tears.  I can’t blame him.  It was a startling sight.

Gabor has travelled and worked in numerous other African countries but this is his first time in South Sudan.  He had no sooner been shown his room than he was exploring the compound and surrounding area. 

Next morning, Gabor was to be found tinkering with a generator surrounded by boys.  Then he came to the medical room, where a new solar panel kit sits unused.  The medical room’s solar panel is intended to power medical equipment once this has been acquired. 

Tinkering with a generator

In his exploration of the compound, Gabor had found another broken solar panel and an old and barely functioning battery.  The panel needs replacement parts in order to work.  Unfortunately the kit in the medical room lacks some crucial components too.  Gabor wants to get a panel working and on the roof, out of reach of goats and pebble-throwing children.  It was the pebble-throwing that destroyed the old solar panel.  This will save the children’s home the cost of fuel for the current generator and mean that there is constant electricity, not just for a few hours each evening.

In spite of the hold-up due to lack of parts, today he was on the roof with some of the boys, organising cables and making a place for the panel. 

Gabor is also talking about running water….  At the moment we all use basins and buckets to carry water from the bore hole.  At the rate he is working, Cornerstone will soon be in the modern world.

This man is a real asset and inspiration to all with skills to share in the third world.