Bryan Archer holding his granddaughter Zoe, 3, Richard Welch, Destinee holding Ellisha, 1, and Jono Macleod when Bryan and Richard arrived in Tonj. Photo/Supplied
Bryan Archer holding his granddaughter Zoe, 3, Richard Welch, Destinee holding Ellisha, 1, and Jono Macleod when Bryan and Richard arrived in Tonj. Photo/Supplied
Sickness, poverty and corruption didn't stop Tauranga's Bryan Archer from building a house in South Sudan for his daughter and son-in-law so they could continue their work.
After being bitten by a poisonous spider, getting malaria twice, and working in temperatures soaring above 40C, it might be fair so say that Bryan Archer should be in the running for father of the century.
The Tauranga local has just arrived home after a 20-week trip to Tonj, South Sudan, where he built a house for his daughter Destinee Macleod, her husband Jono their two little girls Ellisha, 1, and Zoe, 3.
The couple, both doctors, have been volunteering with In Deed and Truth (IDAT) and living in a house with a makeshift ceiling and cracks in the windows and doors, giving easy access to scorpions and snakes at night.
The house was constructed with the help of fellow builder Richard Welch, 54, and eight local Sudanese men.
Bryan Archer with his grandaughter Zoe in Tonj, South Sudan. Photo/Supplied
Archer was only supposed to be in Africa for 12 weeks, but the shipping container with building supplies turned up five weeks late, forcing his extended stay.
"I couldn't leave without finishing. No one else had the skills to do it," Archer told The Bay of Plenty Times Weekend.
"The happiest day of my life there was seeing the truck turn up - five weeks late. I got to the point I despaired ever seeing the truck. The corruption in the trucking industry there was beyond belief. We had to pay US$12,000 ($18,350) to get the truck from Mombasa up to Tonj."
Riots along the road and trouble between neighbouring villages meant the truck driver stopped in Juba and would not continue without a monetary incentive.
"All the time the wet season was coming and the roads were getting worse.
"He finally arrived five weeks late, everything was intact and nothing had broken, despite the fact the lock had been smashed off the back of a container."
The build was harder than anticipated as daily temperatures soared between 36C and 48C.
"Richard and I were drinking eight litres of water a day for the first week and I never went to the bathroom because I was just sweating that much out."
But the house was completed with several bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and lounge. It also had solar panels, and insect screens on all windows and doors.
"The mere fact they have a toilet in the house and you don't have to walk 20m into the darkness during the night for the loo, or shining your torch when you're getting out of bed to make sure there are no snakes and scorpions to stand on" was a life-changing improvement, Archer says.
"There were just a myriad of things that could bite and eat you up there and spiders' mouths are like the mother of all supermarkets for toxins and disease. They inject them into what they are killing and suck it dry. I was four days on my back in those high-30s [temperatures] with my foot up, having IV antibiotics."
He recovered but then came down with raging fever - "malaria, my immune system had zeroed out".
Destinee and Jono tried two separate treatments, but neither worked so he was evacuated to Uganda for more treatment.
"I arrived in Sudan weighing 88kg and left weighing 67kg. Jono commented I looked like I had come out of PoW camp."
The word 'Tonj' means swamp, which he says is very apt as the town is malaria-ridden.
"It's almost like a fifth world country - forget the Third World, you go way beyond that. The housing they live in is worse than anything I ever saw living in Papua New Guinea, the Pacific Islands, or anywhere else in Asia. It's so basic and rudimentary.
"That whole area and the whole of South Sudan suffered from the effects of 34 years of war. More than 800,000 girls were taken into slavery and it still exists in that area. Anyone with a criminal record is allowed to be sold as a slave and out of those 800,000, close to 90 per cent were killed. Over a million lost their lives over the 34 years," he says.
"One of the workers I had was inducted into the army at the age of 13 and considered expendable. He survived those 34 years. He was the quietest man on my team, but I understood why after some of the stories he told me. Virtually every family has lost someone from the war and still suffers and feels the effects of it."
The area where the Macleods live is ruled by the Dinka people, Archer says.
Destinee Macleod with her daughter Zoe with two Dinka women who have given birth in her clinic. Photo/Supplied
"In the morning you see endless mobs of sheep, goats and herds of cattle being walked to the river, all led and chased along with boys with a stick. During the day you look out and people are walking around, people travelling on motorbikes, you walk into town by yourself there are always people loitering - unemployment is high.
"As the evening comes on, emphasis is down on the river where people are washing and doing their laundry. The women are always well-dressed, in long dresses. The men are not particular about what they wear. Although if a man has money and wealth he will wear a suit in the heat of the day with pointed leather shoes to display himself.
"Dinka are also allowed to carry arms, so most men walk around with an AK-47 slung across their shoulders, which makes it one of the safest areas in South Sudan. They have this really interesting way of celebrating things, too, where they wait until night and fire their AK-47s into the air.
"We would go for walks down to the river in the afternoon, where you would be followed by about 50 boys, and then stop and watch the locals playing soccer. The people are incredibly friendly even though some can't speak English, they jabber away to you."
Bryan Archer holds his granddaughter Zoe and stands in front of the house he built his daughter Destinee Macleod who holds Ellisha. Photo/File
Spending time with his family and watching his youngest granddaughter Ellisha, 1, grow over the five months he was there was one of the things which made his trip.
"Having time with Zoe and Ellisha - reading them stories, hopping in the paddle pool with them (which was named Lake Rotoiti; 'we'd go down to Lake Rotoiti for a swim and a waterski') and just watching Ellisha grow."
Archer gives credit to his children: "Jono made the comment, you don't get a lot of gratitude thrown your way but I guess with 34 years of war, of killings and hatred. But there are those that know if they left, they and their families would be far worse off.
"The work they do over there, I took my hat off to them. It drove me to stay that extra time to build the house. Some of the cases they see coming in were like death-warmed-up yet Destinee and Jono are so positive, nothing riles them."
"If they weren't there, you would have nine children dying a week from malaria. It strikes so hard and fast. Say a kid gets malaria 4km out in the bush, they are not going to walk in to the clinic in the middle of the night with snakes and hyena. They are going to wait until morning but by that time the child is on its last legs," Archer says.
"I have nothing but admiration for the both of them. For the work they are doing, and the conditions they are working under. It's the hardest conditions I have ever worked in since 1983, and I have been to a lot of places to build in Third World countries. That said, they will last the distance, they are determined to and they are making a difference."