“TIA.”
Says Danny Archer (nee Leonardo di Caprio) in Blood Diamond. “TIA”: This Is Africa. I’ve just been reminded that this is still Africa. Or more accurately: This Is Sudan. It might be post-civil war Sudan, but this is still Sudan.
Safety and your sense of security is all relative. It’s relatively safe in most parts of Southern Sudan. Of course, it’s safe where Medair operates since it doesn’t make sense (operational sense, business sense or any other sense) to work somewhere where there is a high risk of losing money, assets or staff. Ironically, Medair regularly warns and reminds staff that the security situation in Nairobi, Kenya (where we go for our R&R) is notoriously worse than Sudan. Perhaps worse than Sudan collectively. Nairobi is affectionately called Nai-robbery, with good reason.
But Sudan can still be a dangerous place. There are mines, and accordingly, lots of de-miners (Zimbabweans, South Africans, Cambodians, Bangladeshis), frequent nights with gunshots and of course, crazy drivers on pothole-rife roads. We hear reports of cattle raids, and even our own local Sudanese staff had his cattle stolen.
There have also been lots of events that have made the news back home:
- May 2, GoSS Minister of Defence killed in plane crash: We had 3 days of official national mourning two weeks ago. There were rumours of foul play. But another theory is that they overloaded the plane.
- May 9, Attacks on aid workers in Juba: Just after arriving in Juba, I saw some of the aftermath of attacks. In our compound, I was shown the splintered trunk of a tree struck by a bullet. There were several consecutive nights where different NGOs were attacked near us. Our neighbour behind us was attacked twice apparently. The most reasonable explanation: people with guns (ex-military or ex-militia) not getting paid, and needing money for food. Or just opportunistic, since Juba might have the highest concentration of aid agencies with lots of US dollars.
- May 11, Darfur rebels attack Khartoum: This was the big shocker because Khartoum was considered one of the safest cities in Africa, even during the civil war.
So I’m reminded that this isn’t home. I’m far away from Canada and the safety of Sherwood Forrest.
Tags: Africa, Kenya, Medair, security, violence
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Nice pictures.. the one you relaxing at dawn.. Did someone else take that picture or was it self-timered? I’m gonna subscribe to your RSS..
HA! I took the picture. But that’s because it’s NOT ME!
I haven’t changed that much in 4 months!!
Boo. I just typed out a whole long comment, and it got erased.
It went something like this:
Hey Robin Hood!
It’d be great if you were back in Sherwood Forrest. But then again, if you were Robin Hood, would that make me Maid Marian? And… who would Sheriff of Nottingham be?! Uh oh - competition for you! Haha just kidding.
Anyways, so Blood Diamonds. Good movie! I ended up watching it in my conflict class last fall, and in your case, you’re right. TIS! It’s incredible to recognize that my reality here is so drastically different from the reality you’re experiencing over there. I mean, even with processing sponsored refugees these past few years, it boggles my mind that I can sit at one end of a table, coming from a middle-class lifestyle, and at the other end of the table, sits a boy the same age as me, who has lived in a ref camp all his life, has no idea where his family is and has elephantiasis.
Maybe on a larger scale, it’s not even TIS. It’s more like TIL - This is Life. This is the World. Inequality, grossly imbalanced economic and resource allocation… Mmh. But just thoughts anyways.