Sudan Update 8

Mangos are now in season; this adds an unpredictable, if not dangerous dimension to all daily activities since mango trees are rampant in this part of Sudan! I have yet to feel the need to wear my protective gear during a patrol, but have considered wearing my helmet to walk across the parking lot to work. The mangos fall from high in the sky with no warning, soundly crashing down on their unsuspecting victims below …. And they are relatively heavy as well! A strong pre-rain wind, further adds to this, now routine, adventure!

Can you imagine the sound a mango makes when hitting a sea container? It is a loud thump, substantial and impossible to ignore. The first few times you hear it, even if it is not on your container, your first thought is to run for your protective gear. Well, for those of us that are military it is anyways … A few of my civilian friends first dropped to the floor and considered hiding under their beds ;)



Note the mango tree in the left side of the photo. It
hung over five sea containers. Many scary nights
for the occupants, except for the brave
Army Brazilian Ricardo!





Then, you get used to it -- sort of. At least your brain registers what the noise is, though at times it takes your body a few more seconds to register the thought and you can’t help but jump a little!









I thankfully, do not have a mango tree on top of my container; my heart wouldn’t be able to take it!

Another amusing pastime is watching our BANBAT (force protection battalion from Bangladesh) pick mangos.

This feat consists of one lucky soldier taking off his shoes and climbing high up into the tree, with no safety ropes, tie off, or ladders in sight. He then uses a long pole with a metal end to gently knock ripe mangos from the tree.

While he is doing this two other soldiers are on the ground holding a sheet between them, ready to catch the falling mangos. This requires quite a bit of coordination and skill as the mangos can easily hit the soldiers on the ground, miss the blanket, or bounce off the blanket.

 

Any of these scenarios ruins the mangos; unnerving, yet hilarious to watch. TIAB (this is Africa baby)!

I found a mosquito resting on my Permithrin sprayed bug net – hmm, definitely makes me question the effectiveness of the repellent!  Apparently he likes it, and he did not die. Well I am hoping it is a he since the females are the malaria carriers. The mosquitoes here are tiny and silent – a deadly combination. Also, they rarely hurt when they sting, leaving one to find the swollen, bruised bites the next day. Their favourite target areas are the legs, especially near the ankles, so it’s prudent to wear heavy socks and running shoes at night, despite the heat, and to add a layer of 33%-50% DEET spray for good measure!

Driving. The driving here is challenging, unpredictable and slightly crazy!

As an example, if you are approaching an intersection and have the intention to go straight through it, you are to slow down or stop and proceed with your four way flashers on – yes four way flashers signify your intent to go straight!



It's always important to dodge the random animals
in the middle of the road!





Also, if you are passing a car on a main road and you intend to stay on your side of the road (here they drive on the right) then you put on your left flasher.









You also put on your left flasher if you are turning left … see where the confusion might come in? It is absolutely hilarious!

In an effort to make the roads safer, they have random traffic police standing in the middle of intersections directing traffic … well, periodically, directing traffic.

There are also countless HUGE, red dirt coloured speed bumps, which are strangely, if not inconveniently, camouflaged with the road. 






They are quite painful to roll over if you are travelling faster than second gear or have the unfortunate luck to ride in the backseat of any of our vehicles.

8 April 2011 patrol to NABIAPAI. The market in this payam is half in Sudan and half in the DRC. So today I visited two countries!

Some of our patrol in the DRC!

We were happy to make it past the checkpoint in GANGURA as last time we were not allowed to pass.

The road from GANGURA to NABIAPAI was somewhat challenging and will become impassable during the rainy season.

Two vehicles got stuck and one overheated. It was good fun!

It is only 30 km away and the patrol took 6.5 hours total due to poor road conditions!

The reality for the people in this payam is markedly different from many other regions within our AOR (area of responsibility).

Most areas have a school or two accessible to the children and at least some form of very basic health care.

In NABIAPAI, none of this exists; the schools are vacant and there is no health care due to the security situation.

The area is markedly poor and their hopes for a brighter future rely heavily on stability and security in their payam.



The head of the Home Guard (Arrow
Boys) in NABIAPAI holding
a locally made rifle.



The UPDF (Ugandan Peoples Defence Force) is active in this part of Sudan, helping to counter the ever present LRA threat that hangs over the locals as they attempt to go about their day to day life.

 

One of the most pressing issues with the instability is that locals are scared to cultivate their crops and to stay in their homes.

Their bellies remain empty and further IDPs (internally displaced person) are generated, creating a larger food and water burden for those living in safer areas with already limited resources.

 

Today while on town patrol, we stopped at the power plant. There were four children standing outside by the road and I happened to have some suckers in my pocket - enough for all of them and there didn't appear to be anymore kids in site. So, I took some out and gave them each one. They were so excited! There were two little boys, about 3 and 5 years old. The oldest child was a little girl of about 7 or 8 years old, carrying a baby that was over half of her size. She had the baby propped up on her hip, the baby’s legs dangling down around her body, past her knees. The baby's bare bum was exposed as she happily played with her sucker. In the older girl's other hand, she carried a large machete that was the size of one of her legs. She used it to balance and at times as a walking stick while she went about her business. None of the children had shoes and they were walking across the road unsupervised, heading off into the bush... 

Sudan Update 7

Patrolling. Now let me be clear, when I say we patrol to a village and stop and talk with the local Chief, I am really saying that we drive and stop by a nondescript tree on the side of the road, follow a small path into an area with a few tukuls, and sit under a mango tree with makeshift chairs to conduct our mtg.

There are kids running around and women going about their daily routines. Men walk by pushing bikes and business is interrupted to deal with daily issues or simply to greet newcomers and invite them to join our discussion.

Our hope is to meet with the Boma/Payam Chief or Administrator, but there is often no way to get hold of them in advance, so we speak to whomever we find in the village or return when possible (the schedule depends on the distance to the village).




I am finally out patrolling and it has been fabulous! My first SDP (short distance patrol) was on 24 March 2011 to DIABIO, 80km away and a two hour drive each way. I was driver of vehicle two. It was beautiful and fun driving – challenging with all the bicycles, narrow roads, obstacles, speed bumps, random people walking, and periodic large truck!

The countryside is stunning: lush and littered with villages and people seemingly in the middle of nowhere!








Not the same school, but this is one of the nicer ones
that we have come across!







We even passed one school; I'll describe it in another mass update.









The Chief we met today was very angry for a few reasons. Apparently, an NGO hired Ugandans to refurbish the local clinic, which is a good thing, but the payam (county) administration hadn't gotten the word out to the boma (village), so they were unaware that these people were coming. Also, they didn't appear to hire any local workers. He was upset because we haven't helped with their bore hole issues -- they have one but it's not enough (the same concern as everywhere in South Sudan). The women have to go get water at night, which can be dangerous. He showed us a sample of his water; it was disgusting. One of our patrol members asked if they knew how to filter it, the Chief answered that they did. And yet they are drinking very dirty water …

25 March 2011 SDP was to NABIAPAI. I was added at the last minute because it is on the border of Congo and the Congolese troops speak only French. They had a member on the team that spoke French, but not English, so I fulfilled both roles.

It was only 30 km away but can take up to 2.5 hours to reach due to poor road conditions. In fact, the road is impassable during the rainy season, so it was very important that we reached our destination that day.







We left with a five vehicle convoy, as we had Bangladeshi force protection and one UNPOL (UN police) vehicle accompany us.

Unfortunately, we were stopped at a roadblock in GANGURA due to alleged LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army – Ugandan rebel group) activity in the area and were unable to negotiate passage to NABIAPAI.

They built the road through the middle of an SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) camp in GANGURA and serious negotiations and extra paperwork have been required to attain passage since the referendum this past January.

26 March 2011 SDP was to a boma about 3 km away called DUDUMA. I was driver of vehicle one. After a half hour meeting with the local acting sub chief and some members of the community, we found out that we were in the wrong boma! We were actually in YABONGO!

I have to admit that I was quite distracted during the interview. I was taking notes and only asked a few questions, so I had time to look around and assess the security of the area as well. Well, all was calm and peaceful.

I didn’t see much on that front but I did find the cutest little boy, half dressed in trousers, and unbelievably dirty, peeking shyly out at me!

I smiled and waved and his face broke out into an immense grin! The next time I looked back he had disappeared, but I couldn’t help myself – I kept checking to see if he had come back.

Well he did, this time carrying his baby sister who was about 1/3 his size with tight little curls in her hair.

She had the most precious smile, which was intermixed with little sad faces and the occasional cry. I was so taken with them that I asked our camera guy to take a picture. I had nothing to give them; I think that if I had, I would have given it all. But where do you even start?

We concluded our mtg and headed out to find DUDUMA, which was actually back off the road in the middle of a forest. There are no street signs here, or really noticeable landmarks, so it is quite easy to get turned around!

As we approached, I noticed hundreds of kids and locals dancing and singing. We had come upon a large celebration! It turned out to be the start of Saturday mass.

They danced and sang and were dressed so vibrantly. The air was thick with a positive, festive energy; it was hard not to be swept up in the beauty of the moment!

Luckily, we were left to observe and enjoy for a few minutes before meeting the town clergy and leadership. 

Everyone wanted to shake our hands and genuinely welcome us.

This act was even more touching as we discussed the village’s issues with their sub chief and began to understand their day to day struggles.

30 March 2011 SDP was to LI RANGU, approximately 37 km from YAMBIO.  I was responsible for communications and navigation for the patrol.

We took five cars, two force protection, two UNMO, and one UNPOL.

It took an hour of driving, through the most beautiful countryside ever, to reach our destination.

I bought a few cassette tapes at the market, so we actually had music for the drive – it was fabulous! It was one of those mornings where you can’t help but smile and feel thankful for being alive and in such a gorgeous, heavenly place.

My favourite part of being communicator is that I can look out the window and wave to all the children and locals. I can’t begin to describe how happy it makes me to see their bright smiles, or how unbelievably sad it is to see them begging for food. Whether they have become dependent on aid or they have had to leave their crops due to LRA attacks, the result is the same …

In LI RANGU, the payam Chief and his deputy were both out, so we met with the clinical officer of the health center instead. 

She spoke English and was very helpful. She described the aid which NGOs are providing and the daily trials and tribulations that her community faces.

At the end of our discussion she graciously gave us a tour of the medical facilities. They are building a new health center, a large concrete building to service the payam; it will be a step in the right direction.

There are currently 11,500 people who are serviced by two nurses with limited medicines, one microscope, and no equipment.

The current facility has two rooms, no beds, and two plastic chairs. I have never seen such desolate medical facilities; and yet these are the lucky ones that actually have something at least. 

Police in front of the police station in Li Rangu



They also have a motorcycle ambulance that can carry one patient; it is new, and they are very proud of it.

I saw a child playing with the most heartbreaking toy. Most children here play in the dirt, on the trees, around the piles of garbage.

Today I saw a small boy, perhaps four or five years old with a “real” toy. It was a makeshift car, on a string, that had only two wheels and a feeble metal body.

He patiently pulled the string around and the car wheels turned and the decrepit toy followed him in the dirt between the tukuls. It was heart wrenching, and I found it difficult to concentrate fully on the conversation while these kids were playing around us in such a simple way.

They truly have nothing; it is impossible to imagine, to believe, when our reality is such a world apart and our children have so much.

It makes me unbelievably sad, and yet, these kids are happy and curious and full of energy -- just like ours. But what type of life awaits them? What opportunities will they have? What type of world will they grow up in? The answers to these questions are both hopeful and sobering.