Sudan Update 5

I have arrived safely in Yambio. The journey here was quite exhausting however! It began at 0530 from Khartoum with a trip to the air terminal – I am using the word, terminal, quite liberally. My flight from Khartoum to Juba was uneventful. I ran into two other Canadians in Juba who were a welcome site – one UNPOL and one UNMO. Unfortunately, I did not have much time to visit as I had to catch my connecting flight. 

The next two legs of my journey were in a large helicopter, with a stop in Maridi and then on to Yambio.

 

  

I unfortunately had to use the washroom in Maridi.

  

Now I understand why some people here stand (oddly enough) on the toilet seat -- it is because the holes in the ground used as toilets have elevated sides to stand on. This little bit of bathroom confusion now makes more sense to me!  

Once in Yambio, I was greeted by about 10 UNMOs from my team site (there are 22 of us total) and a marching band! The band wasn’t actually for me but I still think they planned my arrival quite nicely.  

My gold bags (parcels from home) arrived with me on my flight, however I had to watch them take my barrack boxes away from the aircraft in Juba as there was no space on the helo. Perhaps they will arrive later this week, or next, inshallah (God willing).

 

The landscape is so lush here; what a change from the north!  Mango trees are plentiful and there is lots of vegetation. Mangoes will soon be in season – I can’t wait! When the rainy season begins there will be even more growing. It’s hard to imagine after the barren, arid climate that I have spent the past three weeks amid! It also feels like a different type of heat here, more humid and quite aggressive! I will have to increase my water intake from that which I had adapted to in Khartoum.  

Internet and power are both intermittent here. Last night we lost power for about six hours. They installed a new generator so we’ll see if it gets better. It is unbearably hot in my sea container without the air-conditioning. They had a small party and made pizza for my arrival but we didn’t eat until 2330 due to the power outages! Until then, the Germans and Romanians welcomed me with some very strong mixed drinks.

This morning I went out to the market and on town patrol. The grand tour of Yambio took about an hour and a half.

It is quite a large sprawling village and the capital of this state, so there are many state buildings. The locals live in tukuls, a circular type of hut; some are even made out of bricks. I was overwhelmed by the number of schools and catholic churches that I saw in town. There were also kids everywhere! All the locals were incredibly friendly and quick to wave and smile when I greeted them.

There are a few different markets in town. In time I will describe them all to you. I will start with the vegetable and fruit market. Everything here happens on the ground. All food is placed on a cloth on the dirt in little piles of 30 cents, 60 cents, or a dollar. 30 Canadian cents is about the equivalent of one Sudanese pound. You can buy onions, tomatoes, cassava, potatoes, bananas (two bite bananas), and green oranges.  Today they also had cabbage and pineapple, which was quite exciting for my colleagues!  Women and children were selling all the produce; there were no men working in the market. All stores were run by Ugandan, Ethiopian, and Eritrean men.

 I am living alone in a 20 foot by 10 foot sea container. I have an air conditioner, desk, chair, night stand, bed, closet, and fridge. There are two windows and I have fashioned my bug net firmly over my bed.

 

I am missing one piece of my bug net that is in my barrack boxes -- it is the piece that separates the top to give you space inside. So last night, my first night sleeping in the bug net, I found it somewhat confining and difficult to move around without being blocked by the net! Today I will try to rig it better to allow myself more space.

 

I also have a bug net set up by my door to allow an extra layer of protection when I go in and out of the container.

 

The living containers are set up in groups; there are eight per group with a small common area in between.

I am in section B, our common area is full of beautiful purple flowers which I’m told will increase with the rains – it is quite lovely!

 We have two tukuls that we can sit under and socialize. There is a separate container for men and women’s washrooms. It is about a minute from my container, though more difficult to find in the dark! This morning we did not have hot water, but the water was clean – so not a bad start at all!

 

It is impossible to stay clean here. Everything is covered in a layer or two of fine orange dust and dirt and with the coming of the rains it will all turn to mud. My hands are forever dirty, my body always covered in a thin layer of sweat and then caked in dust.

You shake hands with everyone here, all the time, everyone …. My cute silver purse and fabulous boots have been replaced by hand sanitizer and wet naps as my favourite accessories!