Meet the Azande King

Training for TOT for the mental health initiative ended Saturday afternoon. Many people headed back to their respective locations in WES that evening. I had one more night in Nzara. It was very much a lazy night.

On Sunday I got up early and went for a walk. I like walking through the village early in the morning. Mostly there are women and young children about in the morning. In Nzara people greet you when you walk down the different roads and paths much more than they do in Yambio. Often the kids run up when I am walking around and people call out. It is very nice.

I headed to the hospital, walking past some of the wards, and greeting people I met. I spent a while in the morning at the Doctor's Guesthouse chatting with Beverly. She is very much a mentor to me and a good friend and I appreciate having her here and being able to talk about challenges and successes with her.

We parted ways when she left for church and I headed back to the guesthouse I was staying at to gather my stuff so I was ready to be picked up when my ride arrived. After all my stuff was gathered, I sat in the sun in the courtyard for a while listening to the music coming from the church. The Zande mass was going on and the music is very beautiful to listen to.

Once my driver arrived, I piled all my bags in the car. Somehow, I returned to Yambio with more stuff than I left with but I never went shopping. I am not sure how these things happen. Though Bev did give me some fabric to take with me that I hope to get made into either a skirt or dress.

We picked up the MOH's from the Doctor's Guest house and they decided that they wanted to go to several markets on the way back to Yambio. We stopped at several along the way. All are much smaller than the one in Yambio. However, all were also not very busy and did not have as much stuff because people were still at church. Sundays are market days here, but most people come after masses conclude for the day.

We headed back to Yambio after concluding with the markets. Since Veronica (one of the PMs I work with) was also with us she showed us a very good restaurant in Yambio. Here we ate traditional South Sudanese dishes, in a traditional South Sudanese manner. All of the foods come out on one very large tray and we eat with our hands.

I got 4 small dishes, one with beans, one pasta-like dish, green, and another dish similar to greens. It was all served with pitas that you use to eat the food with in place of silverware. The food was excellent. I am getting more used to eating with my hands here but sometimes it throws me off because certain foods seem harder to eat with your hands. It can get messy as well but it is a great cultural experience.

After lunch I was dropped off to my apartment to prepare for the event of the afternoon. We were going to meet the Azande King! He is the king of the Zande tribe here in South Sudan. He has been king for 1 year. Because of the training I missed the celebration of the one-year anniversary but I was going to meet his so that was going to be better.

In South Sudan there are 2 kings. The Azande king is one and there is another tribal king in another region. I currently cannot remember what tribe he is from. However, South Sudan considers itself a democratic nation and is ruled by a president instead. I do not quite understand how all of this works but I do know that the kings do not rule over the president here.

So, I had to make sure I was presentable if I was going to meet with the King. Typically, I wear tank top style shirts here that are sports ones because of the heat. However, to meet the king this is not appropriate. Thankfully, I have my beautiful blue and yellow dress that I bought from Omelara back in Syracuse. This was the perfect outfit to wear as it was long enough and covered my arms enough to be acceptable. I also wore the headpiece with it to keep my hair covered and contained.

Our driver picked us up and we headed off to the King's place. He does not live in a palace like the monarchy does in the UK but rather we went to a compound on the outskirts of the town. It is secured and there are guards. We met with one of the royal family members. She is the niece of the king, as well as one of the women who attended training in Nzara with me.

We were greeted by several members of staff and warmly welcomed. We discussed protocol and how to greet the king when we did go in to see him. We were also shown several pieces of jewelry that were made by staff at the king's residence. They are traditional Zande jewelry, made from a special tree in the region and painted either brown or white. I purchased a necklace that had both brown and white seeds on it.

Meeting with the king was very interesting. We went into his sitting room. I was not sure who the king was at first as there were 3 men sitting in the room already. However, once I took my seat, I discovered that the king was very close to where I was sitting. He is actually a small man and seems very humble.

We introduced ourselves to him. When we did so we put our hands together like we were praying and made a little bow. He spoke to us for quite a while. He spoke in Zande and then his niece translated it into Arabic. I understood very little.  I was told he welcomes us to his Zande Kingdom and to get an honorary part of his Zande tribe. It is good to feel like a part of this community.

We took some photos together at the conclusion of the meeting and said our thanks. After meeting with the king, we went and met with one of the queens. She is very nice and was fun to speak with. We ate there at the compound as well. Then we met with one of the Zande princesses before leaving.

Once we left the king's compound we headed across the road to where there was a women's group meeting. I have wanted to meet with a women's group since learning they are very popular here. I think they are a great asset to the community and a good place for education for mental health care. It was nice to listen to some of their desires and conversations.

Overall, even though I had hoped for a more relaxed Sunday it was a very incredible experience. How many people get to say they have met a King and his royal family before?!