SEA Partners is planning to return to Boma at the earliest possible time once the Covid 19 pandemic crisis finally passes. It appears August 2020 is a very real possibility as international travel is resuming. We continue to pray and hope that God would grant us the opportunity to return to Boma next month.
After talking with our Director, Henry Okumu, we have developed a preliminary plan.
- Take 5 additional staff members to reopen the school and to begin farming on a larger scale. We need to bring John and Velma, who have been faithfully serving in Boma these past months, home to Kenya for a well-deserved rest.
- Bring in a water-well technician to repair our main well and to provide any needed maintenance.
- We hope to install the internet. We have been trying to accomplish this for a long time, so please keep praying that we can get this completed.
- Repair and improve the solar power grid.
- Take in additional supplies and salaries for our Boma staff.
There are several challenges facing us as we prepare for our return.
- Because the rainy season has begun, all staff and supplies must be flown into Boma. This will increase the cost of this return.
- The logistics for accomplishing all we have planned will be especially demanding. Once we get the equipment and supplies into Boma for the well repair, internet installation and power grid increase, we pray that we have the needed parts to make it all operate properly. As you know, there are no Home Depots in Boma.
- Doing all this work during the rainy season will make it quite difficult. There are days when it rains the entire day. We need the Lord to hold off the rain for a few days so we can complete these tasks.
Projected Costs:
| Item | Explanation | Costs in USD |
| Local Staff Wages | We are behind in paying our Sudanese staff in Boma and need to bring the cash in with us. | $7150 |
| Staff Supplies | We need to take food and supplies for the additional Kenyan staff returning to Boma. | $750 |
| Healthcare | Each trip to Boma we take in medicine and bandages for our staff and students at the school. | $500 |
| Flight to Boma | A flight chartered from Nairobi to Boma is needed to carry all the staff and supplies. | $7000 |
| Return Flights | The well technician, Vincent, Velma and John will return to Kenya via a UN Charter to Juba then by commercial to Nairobi. | $2500 |
| Visa Fees | We are required to pay visa fees when both going in and out of South Sudan. | $1000 |
| Total | $18,900 |
It is our hope and prayer that we can return to Boma sometime this summer. We believe it’s prudent to begin putting money aside for this return in addition to our monthly expenses. To date, we have $7000 on hand to fund this return trip. We would ask that you prayerfully consider a special one-time gift to help us raise the final $11,900 to return our staff and supplies to Boma.
Thank you for your consideration.
Donnie Brake, Ed.D President www.sea-partners.org