Details are still a bit vague. But here's what I know. John had been with a few friends for dinner and then to the British club for a NYE party. He and a friend left, she was dropped off first. The car, a few blocks from him house, was fired upon. AbdelRahman, our driver, was killed at the scene. John died later from his substantial injuries.
John is returning to the US tomorrow and some of us will try to be at the airport here in DC. I will also try to go to the service mid-week for John in his hometown in New York. Also, his dog Cooper, should be arriving in the coming days. Hopefully I'll be briefly reunited with him here or in New York.
There are lots of articles now about John, just google John Granville, and you can see all about him. As they report, he was definitely committed to his work and would rather have been living in Juba (the capitol of South Sudan) than Khartoum. But he was making his home in Khartoum (and when he had a bbq at his place as a goodbye for a colleague and made grilled paneer just for me!) He had a warm and welcome smile and thought I was nuts for loving his dog even for a few weeks! The last communication I had with him was an emailed thanking me for the presents I had sent out for Cooper and saying he would see me here, in DC, in January. Its tragic that that will never happen.
AbdulRahman was on leave when I left Sudan in mid-December so I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. But he was great. As I said earlier, he looked serious when he wasn't smiling but the smile was easy to get. He was quiet and courteous and so happy to be a dad. We hired him in 2004 as part of our initial team to help immediately following the violence in Darfur. He has stayed with us since. He leaves behind his wife Fatma and a 1-year old son. It's my understanding that USAID is setting up a global fund for contributions for his son.
Here's a nice photo of Adelrahman Abbas Rahama
Thanks for the comments and well wishes I've received.
More soon,
Jane
1 comment:
Good post.
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