A Long Walk to Water
Chapter 7
Southern Sudan, 2008
Nya's Story
Nya sat on the floor She reached out to take her little sister's hand Akeer didn't seem to notice She lay curled on her side, hardly moving except for an occassional cry/wimper
Nya was afraid Only two days before, Akeer had complained she had pains in her stomach but now Nya could see that Akeer had gotten much worse
Nya knew that many people got sick the way Akeer was sick. Usually they began with cramps and stomach pains and then got diarrhea and a fever Most of the time, adults were able to recover but younger children sometimes didn't survive
Nya was worried Akeer might die. Nya's Uncle told her to take Akeer to the nearest clinic , but Nya was worried Akeer might not be able to survive the long journey.
Southern Sudan, 1985
After learning of Marial's disappearance, Salva felt sad and afraid. He felt sad because he had lost his best friend and afraid because he knew it must have been a lion that took him.
If it had not been for Uncle, Salva might have gone crazy with fear
Uncle told him, "Salva, I have a gun I will shoot any lion that comes near. Soon we will be out of lion country and everything will be alright".
Soon Salva and the group came to the Nile River . Uncle told Salva that they would cross the river in order to get to Ethiopia and continue their journey.
Salva asked Uncle how they would get from one side to the other Uncle told him they would have to build their own boats.
Salva could barely walk with all of the reeds he was carrying. Everyone around him was busy doing different things to help build the boats. It was hard work running back and forth with all of the reeds in his hands, but Salva felt like staying busy was good for him so that he didnt think of anything sad
It took two full days of carrying the reeds and bending them to build a canoe . Finally, everything was ready. They were going to cross the Nile RIver.