CLICK HERE for a longer video piece (6:30) on Connie Kinder and Dr. Terry Shrader's trip to Sudan.
CLICK HERE for a shorter piece. (3:30)

Centennial High School Principal Dr. Terry Shrader in Sudan, Africa.

College Grove Elementary School Principal Connie Kinder (left) in Sudan, Africa.

     There are more than seven thousand miles between Williamson County and Sudan, Africa.  But that distance and a world of cultural differences didn't stop two Williamson County Schools Principals from their mission of education.  College Grove Elementary School Principal Connie Kinder and Centennial High School Principal Dr. Terry Shrader visited the town of Lietnhom last month with a group from their church.  Their mission was to teach the teachers in the southern part of Sudan.  This was Kinder's third trip to the region, and Shrader's first.  "It's a long way," says Shrader.  "It's basically 20 hours in an airplane to get to where we went.  It really is the other side of the world."

     During their five days in the village, the group trained about 50 teachers using curriculum designed several years ago.  In fact, Kinder helped set up a model school in the region back in 2000.

     Many people in Sudan have never been to school and many of those who have don't have much higher than a middle school education.  Many of those who have been to school had to leave the country for their education.   Sudan is a country torn apart by war, but Kinder and Shrader say it hasn't broken the Sudanese peoples' spirit.  "I see hugely that the war has impacted these men," says Kinder.  "They have truly lived without, and the scars of war are deep.  Yet the motivation and the hope and value for life is very great because of what they've experienced."

     Shrader echoes those sentiments.  "They don' t dwell on anything negative.  Although the emotional scars are apparent and the physical scars are there as well, they all were talking about what they're going to do next.  They are moving forward."

     There were some setbacks during the trip.  Kinder got very sick and realized medicine is a luxury in this part of the world.  "There are no doctors and no medicine, and help is at least two days away," says Kinder.  "Fortunately we had some medicine with us.  But without it I probably wouldn't have made it just because of dehydration."   

     There were other dangers present as well.  "The other thing was the snakes!" says Shrader.  "One night one of our team members came running from the shower with a towel wrapped around him screaming a snake had come into the shower with him. We asked the men in the compound if the snakes were poisonous, and they started describing this one particular snake.  They said that’s the only one that’s not poisonous. All the others are!"

     Despite the health issues and some slithery visitors, the two say it was a very rewarding experience.   "People told me before I left, 'you’ll get more out of this than you give,'" says Shrader.  "And that’s the truth."

     "I just always feel so grateful that I have had the opportunity to go," says Kinder. "Because it is a gift to me, and seeing the strength of these people is just something that is life changing."