Friendly Farewell.

Achan and me after her birth last August.

Achan delivered a few months back. She blessed me to no end during her birth with her serious promise of friendship.... if I could just stop her pain! When she delivered a few minutes later, she decided we’d be friends for life! (Read her story here.)

What an honor!

I’ve seen her a number of times since then. Each time she has greeted me loudly, while repeating over and over again the only English words she knows.

My friend! My friend! My friend!

I can’t help but just love her to pieces.

Well today, she came to say goodbye. Apparently, she must return to the village and can no longer come to visit.

She brought her doe-eyed daughter with her, and proudly handed her over for me to snuggle. Then through a translator and while continually repeating “My friend! My friend! My friend!” she told me that she named her baby after me.

When I expressed my happy surprise she explained, “Her name is Akuac Kowaja!”

You might recall that my Dinka name is ‘Akuac’ which means ‘White cow with black spots and uneven horns’.
          -- Yep, I'm a Jersey cow.

However, you may not know that ‘Kowaja’ is the term used for anyone who is not Sudanese. Technically it means ‘foreigner’ but it is also the term most often used for ‘white person’.

She is the first baby named ‘Kowaja’ that I’ve met!

I was happy to see my friend one last time and hope that we’ll get to meet again soon!