A young man
from the Nyangatom ethnic group came to our clinic in southern Sudan with a very
bad snake-bite wound on his hand.  It required several surgical procedures. As
he came out of the anesthesia the first time, I asked him who I was and he
replied, "emoit, or stranger," the word they use for anyone who is not
one of them.  After the second procedure, he replied, "ito kang, or my
mother."  Needless to say, I was surprised and touched.  When I told one of the
Sisters who works with us, she also surprised me.  She had seen how bad the
wound was and said, "Of course, only a mother would take care of him the way you
did."