day thirty: road-a-phobia

my conflict baseline analysis journey

So six State Government Officials, a Russian and a Scot take a wander through the Counties of Eastern Equatoria… Seven days, nine hundred kilometres and engagements with umpteen Chiefs, Commissioners, Women’s Committees and Youth Leaders later; we’ve heard the same story of land dispute, just from different perspectives.

When war began some indigenous left, some people became internally displaced (IDPs for the acronymically insensitive) and encroached onto their land.  War (kinda) finished.  Indigenous came back to their land to find the ‘squatters’ won’t leave.  The classic “what you doin’ in my home?” vs the “where were you when I defended it?” spat begins… add cheap Ugandan booze and a Saturday night oot on the town then ten men’s clubs are met by one man’s gun.  Welcome to the most common nature in the indigenous conflict of South Sudan.

You dancing?

You wouldn’t think land would be an issue when you first take a wander through Eastern Equatoria.  The country is as infinite as it is green with the enormous opportunity to develop the natural resources.  So why don’t the internally displaced go home?  Well, in most cases, there simply isn’t a worthy road to get you there, whether reason be potholes or landmines.  Day one alone saw landmines quadruple our journey to Magwi from Torit.  Unless your home is on the way across trading links, nobody seems interested in fixing these problems either.  The majority of roads are still under construction thanks to the companies only concerned with making sure cargo can cross international borders; while the Government makes laborious the effort in linking these to the isolated communities.  You should be careful who you carp these frustrations to; you have every right to moan to the stranger whose laptop you'd agreed to help fix... it’s just sometimes they turn out to be the Director General of the Ministry of Transport (where's Sasha's knowledge on roads when you need it!?).

In Kwotos, vast valleys are bounded by volcanic mountains that glitter the countryside

Either way, this extensive country is populated only near the limited extent of roads (78% in fact – I made a map).   Only here will you find the provision of basic services close at hand… which is a shame, because the more rural you go, the more beautiful the country gets.  Apart from the repeated stories of cattle raiding and unnecessary killings that is… but despite the vision that South Sudanese are all ‘brothers and sisters of one country’, the remnants of conflict are still perpetuated in their hearts.  Too used to food aid, too shocked by environmental change; tough times have exacerbated the problem.  It seems a new age of perennial poverty and violence is appearing.

Nimule Payam on the White Nile

 Is it as simple as poor agricultural practice from an era reliant on charity, and idleness amongst the youth…?  It screams out the need for vocational training to economically reform the country but it appears every aspect of a decent livelihood is lacking for the majority here.  

Outside the Nimule Administrative 'Office'

After my week’s worth in the field, I have returned to Juba in preparation for my departure to Khartoum.  Who knows if seven days is enough to gain a sense of the underlying factors to Eastern Equatoria’s conflict… My task in Khartoum is to make sure the UN’s Crisis and Recovery Mapping Analysis (CRMA) tool reflects as much.  I should start working on my ‘cattle raids’ and ‘border dispute’ icons now then…if all else fails, at least it’ll look good.

day twenty-three: baseline conflict analysis begins

In Southern Sudan things rarely get much forewarning.  Khartoum won’t happen till the first week in November now.  This came in the same sentence as confirmation to get my stuff together for the field!  No need to think twice, few DDG-branded tops, socks and a guitar and I was on board for Wednesday morning.  Head packed with the excitement at the chance to see more of Eastern Equatoria, albeit it for a sombre mission to assess the root causes of recent conflict, I'm just happy to get away from the shoddy shacks of Torit.

There's more to this story, because it's day three of the our travels right now, but with no phone signal and internet on a USB stick, it's a satellite-only affair for the large part until all is done by Thursday October 28th.  More details and tales to come when I get the chance!

=)

day twenty-one: driving round in circles

There was time on Sunday evening to enjoy some sophisticated dining.  I finally had the chance to show off my marinating skills on our beef fillet - a luxury when it comes from a slaughtered cow as opposed to one that just gave up the ghost.  Our de-mining team swapped pleasantries over some 10 year Talisker; the usual tête-à-tête over maiming blasts and child kidnappings.  It was a fine end to an enjoyable weekend in Juba anyway…

roadside markets provide your arse from much needed relief

This morning however, it was yet another joy to hit the highway from hell…this time with a driver who was determined to treat his land rover like a wild horse needing broken.  You have your own ‘special place’ you go to in a desperate attempt to avoid the nausea but it didn’t save me from the bum and back-breaking adventure I'm yet to accustom to.  The usual sightings of stranded trucks ensued and entertained at least.

but look on the bright side, the back garden's huge...

le discoball

Today’s psychotic driver was sponsored by Catholic Relief Services.  The road was taking another lashing from the rains and many were out on foot.  Many adults watching new rivers take away their homes, children using the opportunity for a spot of fishing.
 
We drive on regardless.  With only 3 passengers, there was leg room to spare.  So you can imagine the guilt felt when passing by a woman of a rather long-standing age carrying a clay pot the size of a disco ball.


As she waved her hand in desperation for the short lift to the nearest town, my colleague from CRS just turned to me, “it’s not in our policy.”  Well don’t you think you should stick that in the acronym somewhere?  ‘Relief Services (Within Our Policy)…it's not that I don't get the rules, but not everyone is a freeloading drunk with an AK, so where did sense of charity and circumstantiation go?

roadside fishing spots are cropping up towards the end of the rainy season

So I'm back in Torit while I wait another week before heading to Khartoum.  Torit didn’t miss me, I didn’t really miss it either.  Could show you more pictures of the rather not-so-glittering capital of Eastern Equatoria but, as my Russian comrade found out, pulling out your iPhone for a quick pic of the kids taking their chairs back from school is not recommended.  Nope, that’s just a guaranteed method to signal to national security members lazing in the streets that you’re a spy for sure.  Referendum paranoia in full effect.  Once the head of security had stopped our vehicle and finished going through every one of his photos however, it was alright to settle down.  How do you say ‘panoramic’ in Sudanese Arabic?

You mean this photograph officer?

day nineteen: back in paradise?

I don’t think I’ll get tired of taking on the rough road back through the scenic side of South Sudan.  The drivers certainly won’t…one small error of judgement and you could be stranded for days.  With each passing you can see the cost of unfortunate faults.  Livelihoods and livestock don’t survive particularly well when stranded on deserted roads.  With every truck stumped in the mud you tend to find a few goats lying waste on the side. 

another unfortunate

But with death there is also life and my favourites happen to be the tiny swamp butterflies that sit by the puddles that cover the crevasses.  The sound of land rovers soar them into the air as they turn from green parasitic-looking beasts into a brilliant array of yellow and white winged beauties.  You could spend the whole journey taking photos of the largest flocks of them, but that’s a quick-fire way to nausea.  Then again, so is stopping for lunch at the halfway trading centre, despite how hungry you thought you were.

swamp butterflies!

Arriving back in Juba and any previous feelings of isolation quickly disappear…my internet comes with a cable, and there are people staying where I stay too!  I head to the nearby Ethiopian place, mainly for their aromatic meat and injera, and it turns out Juba even has pub quizzes!  I was feeling happy in my little ice box back in Torit but its amazing how quickly the little things like variety eating and an Oxford accent become like extravagances… I have to keep reminding myself that it’s only been 19 days since the Bonnieland.

But you can imagine how little I cared to be told that it may be a while still before I head to Khartoum.  The skyscrapers in the desert can wait while I indulge.

day sixteen: not much of an early warning system for me

You have to be good at jigsaws if you want to have any kind of clarity it seems.  Little snippets of information get thrown at you from all directions and eventually you start to have a clue.  In fact, I find myself instructing others based on these small snippets in the hope that they have some idea what it is I’m going on about.

That was the second jigsaw today; involving myself trying to convince one Ministry to find two telecommunication engineers to be given to an organisation that I’ve never met before, to go to places I’ve never heard of before, and to do things I don’t understand at all – I don't play with RF radios... 

The second was about me and my travels to Khartoum.  By the time I’d pieced together a Friday night dinner invite in Juba, I knew it was going to be sooner rather than later.  So it seems I’m packing up again and taking the fun road to Juba tomorrow.  Whether or not I fly on the Sunday to the North is still up for debate.  Especially since my job up there was to accompany a database manager who is yet to be hired…

Either way it seems I’ll be missing out on my first chance to do some field work actually ‘in the field’.  I’ve mixed feelings over that.  On one hand I’m happy that I will continue to live somewhere that can afford electricity for my fan.  But on the flip side, it’s all a bit backwards; too often has information systems been developed without first tailoring itself or connecting with the happenings on the ground.  Maps seem to convince others of their ‘expert’ knowledge regardless; I was just hoping to experience some ground truthing before I started mapping my version of the truth on the ground…or before it gets hotter!

day fifteen: playing houseys

I’m starting to feel at home here in Torit.  More than two weeks have gone by and my little container in the wilderness is taking shape…well, I mean it has my maps on one wall, my guitar in another corner and even a wee desk and chair to sit under the AC all day!  After installing a new router I also have fuller access to the internet without having to waste away in the sun!

My Space

My work is more enjoyable now that the focus is more on GIS.  I don’t have to sit through workshops in silence so as to make sure that the framework came from our local colleagues and not the University of Edinburgh (or Moscow in the case of my associate Anton!).  Instead, I’m preparing materials to bring along for the field work on baseline conflict analysis in the comforts of my teeny freezer.

What is much more exciting is the prospect that I am to go to Khartoum for two weeks to train on the CRMA (Crisis and Recovery Mapping Analysis) database that we will customise and implement here in the South.  Depending on other schedules, I’ll either be flying out from Juba this Sunday or next.  I’m told my visions of skyscrapers and city lights may be a little hasty, but the chance to swap my lonely ice box for a UN office seems like a good plan to me…. Let’s hope the North just don’t think I’m a Southern spy…

Until then, I’ll be making maps in my storage space if anyone needs me.

p.s. I officially hate paella now (thanks Spain)

day thirteen: my first day off

At least now when the question “what was the scariest thing you saw in Sudan?” occurs, I’ll be ready with an answer.  It will be tough to beat the trepidation experienced when entering the mammoth-sized UN compound in Torit for the first time.  The National Day of Uganda was the excuse behind the throng of intoxicated staff.  There was no excuse however, for distressing levels of sleaze amongst an eclectic mix of randoms… I only wanted to enjoy some cold ones and maybe a dance… I did not want some Guatemalan dude up close and personal showing me the ‘robot pump’.  To an extent, I was more than happy for him to continue directing it to the local staff in the end!  Freaked.Me.Out.

Club Sleaze @ UNMIS on Uganda Day

The nicety of having new people to jam with and eating freshly made Tom Yam soup was grand.  Today was at least the first day where I could even afford a wee hangover.  And after being forced dark rum in order to ‘catch up’ with insobriety last night and the early hours of this morning, I was glad to have limited responsibilities today…unless you count swapping pirate software with IT guys from Government ‘responsible’?

My desk in the compound: with no internet in my ice cold container and every other room resulting in me dripping with sweat, this is my only option!

Still, outside that little transaction, I’ve pretty much just had my feet up…fun activities are limited in Torit (especially since my swimming pool and volleyball net didn't arrive from Juba today - deadly serious) so instead perfectly enjoyed the peace and quiet thanks to our broken generator.  Now that’s she up and working, think I might just cool my room down to around 18 degrees and sleep!

day twelve: not a life for vegans

Today his Excellency the Governor decided to show up in Torit.  There were various traditional garments, drums and dancing everywhere!  But naturally giant Cat machines were levelling the roads covering up its gaping chasms only for the storms to turn them back into mush.  I never get tired of how awesome heavy storms are.  You can’t do anything else but watch – no electricity, no internet, not even conversation since no words can materialise over the roars of thunder and crashing waves of rain.  Not so good for conducting meetings.

I’m almost delighted to be working my Saturday.  Even if I had a day off I’m not sure what I would be doing…the washing? Making paulgeorgie.com? The compound has become distinctly deserted since the departure of all my expat colleagues back to Juba.  Now all that’s left is to start preparations for what could be up to 18 days of field work.  The next step is to carry out a baseline conflict analysis and identify early warning indicators for Eastern Equatoria.  I’ll get to see a lot of the country, or at least the hotspots of dispute.  I should be heading out next Friday.  Should the sh*t hit the fan you can always check up on me through satellite (+88 216 555 37434)

=)

But tonight I may treat myself.  EVERY day I’ve had beef, twice a day actually.  Half that time I have no idea which part and usually base my pleasure on the sauce or how many small bones didn’t manage to choke me.  I did some number crunching for Spikey – based on 100g of beef per meal, that’s 2.4kg of prime protein!  So tonight a buddy is me for some street chicken…that’s if we can sludge through the roads…

day ten: the day I got my third degree

A project to establish and operationalise a conflict early warning and early response system for Southern Sudan is not an easy task.  But we’re getting there.  Two days of workshops and interactive learning has at least provided a far greater insight into this conflict.  A framework for mapping the likelihood of armed conflict is on its way.  The difficult part is finding it in such heat.

With bottles of cool water providing brief relief, indicator after indicator is plucked from the minds of Eastern Equatoria’s Ministerial elite, the UN and the 'Chief of Chiefs'.  Swedish analytical tools aside (who doesn’t love problem trees?), time is consumed by endless conflict jargon from academia.  Sometimes you see the confusion on silent faces; sometimes the lady dozing off next to you is the best sign.

Speaking of sleep….not even thunder and lightning can prevent me from crashing.  I'll celebrate being awarded my MSc when I get back to Edinburgh.

=)

day seven: wish i'd brought two fans

My first full day in Torit is also my first week in South Sudan.  Life here has to be productive if we are to get a conflict early warning system off the ground before the referendum in January.  Today I met inspiration in the form of the State Director who has instantly left an impression on me.  Some people just have their heads screwed on and get things done.  Why can't all heads of State be like this? From his State Capital office all the way down to Payam level (small groupings of villages), he has already established the necessary communication links (with the help of DDG I may add).  He loved my whisky, map and football chat so I’ll be getting free rides and tour guides around Eastern Equatoria to turn qualitative incident reports into near-real time conflict mapping.

From left to right: my prefab room, nightmare toilets, DDG's office @ Merlin, the chicken shack

That of course means I’ll be here for much longer than expected.  I’ve got my own wee office at the Merlin compound and another at the South Sudanese Government office for Relief and Rehabilitation Council.  When I do leave Eastern Equatoria, it seems that I’ll be heading now in the direction of Khartoum to talk to Team Geek at the UNCRMA.  Until then, I’m enjoying the ridiculous heat, my portable fan and three square meals a day.

My space at DDG Torit

I’m yet to get a day off and I can’t see in it on the horizon yet.  When it does though, I’m pretty sure the acoustics of these prefab containers make excellent recording studios.

better a bumpy road to where you want to be, than a smooth one that gets you lost

 

A friend of mine told me that the road between Juba and Torit would be like riding a horse…I can tell you it was more like five hours on an angry bull!  X5s need not apply… Every season the roads are treated to a fresh coating of sand, rock and mud; only for the rains to wash away the majority of it.  Add a few military and cargo trucks and you have a very traitorous jaunt between two of South Sudan’s state capitals.  Repairs continue on a ‘volunteer’ basis…that is, one guy with a bucket of cement every 40 miles or so.  Simply ‘going through the puddles’ isn’t a good tactic either; you never know how deep those rabbit holes go.  We didn’t, but the poor souls stationary in 3-wheeled tragedies were all too aware…!

This country is beautifoool! It’s good to finally see more of it.  All along the road runs alternating patterns of civilian and military settlements.  While the SPLA barracks resemble quickly thrown up hay shacks, the civilian settlements comprise of tenderly crafted huts from the usual mix of mud and straw.

Despite what a wise man from Skyros told me, goats DO NOT run from the paths of vehicles here!  With each settlement, the sight of a vehicle brings a sea of waves from the children while women continue with the work… men with the resting.

With a sore ass and numb everything, I finally arrived in Torit late last night at the Merlin (Medical Relief International) compound.  But the irony of being surrounded by the hoard of mosquitoes that have infested the interior of this place, whilst medical professionals look seemingly un-phased, is not the relaxing end to the day I was after at all.  Neither was the choice of Big Brother Africa over the Chelsea – Arsenal game but you can’t win ‘em all!  I had sleep to catch up on and a Ministry of Peace to teach mapping to…but thanks to a thunder storm to end all thunder storms, the sleeping part'll have to wait for another night.

ps. Happy Birthday Daddio, they don't have Jameson here anyway =)

morning! morning!

Finally, somebody treated me to an adventure outside of the compound!  After finishing another long day and with nobody seeming interested in beer, I could feel a little agoraphobia coming on but the guys finally came through and so out we went...  Nothing too carnaging of course, just your usual couple of cold Tuskers.  Well, unless you consider going to a bar that, in the last month or so, had experienced a shooting as ‘usual’.  Maybe that was the reason that, in a normally Expat-filled venue, I was the distinct minority?!

Not as dangerous as it sounds, honestly, especially when your company entails some of the more executive members of various international and governmental organisations.  Nevertheless it was my first experience lounging in an environment with a very ‘post-conflict’ feel…I’ve been search for guns before (thank you World Cup 2010) but I’ve not seen local people reserved in dancing to loud bass before but it wasn’t long before the place was busy and carousing again.

Preparations outside the DDG Office / Compound in Juba

It’s been a flash of firsts.  Awaking with little sleep, my next first was a Saturday meeting with Ministry Directors at 9am!  Then the highlight of my day and without doubt the CUTEST thing I’ve seen in my life thus far: tiny TINY children running up to me with one hand firming stretched out ready to shake with mine, shouting morning! morning! morning!  An image that would warm any heart!  Then it was off to my first market where I couldn’t help but notice large jars of Jalapeño Nacho Cheese which will go nicely with my salami toasties (no chef on the weekend you see).  As much as I would love to eat and be enjoying football on my oversized flat screen this afternoon, DDG is busy busy busy! Today’s proceedings will be filled with preparing for our trip to Torit tomorrow to begin trainings, workshops and maybe even some de-mining if I’m lucky.