Ben Tshin

March has been a long and busy month for me. It’s a welcome change from the boredom of the previous months. Actually, the Yei SWAT installation is my first real work in almost 10 months. That’s counting all the months from when I left CiRBA.

Yei is an amazing town. It’s in the far south of Sudan, almost at the Uganda border, so it has a very different and very African feel to the town. After a month of stifling heat in Malakal, the cool breezes and afternoon rains of Central Equatoria were very welcome. I immediately felt my spirits lift. We stayed with Samaritan’s Purse and their compound was simply amazing. For the first time since I had left Nairobi, I had hot water from overhead showers.

But there was work to be done in Yei. Our contractor took a week to construct a huge wall around 8 truckloads of murram (hardy red clay-like soil). But when that was finished, I had the joys of teaching my very first class of SWAT operators. They were an absolute joy to teach, even if only for 4 days. It was my first class and I definitely wasn’t prepared. I barely even knew how the system worked, let alone teach someone else. Luckily another SWAT operator from another nearby system came to my rescue. I would speak for one minute and then he would translate for five minutes.

At the end of it all, there was a great grand opening ceremony on Easter Saturday. The system was all completed and working. The operators just needed to complete the store/guard house. But everyone showed up. The payam (a step down from county, a step up from village) administrator, the head man, the sub chief, the church leaders and all the trained SWAT operators and hygiene/health promoters (HHPs). There were lots of speeches and after 4 hours the neighbourhood of Mahad had their very own source of clean water. They didn’t have to go to the river and drink the muddy, soapy, oily, feces-infested waters. I wish I could have taken a sip to show my solidarity, but they were still chlorinating. Next time.

The next time would be Khaldak. I left to go on R&R as the system was under construction. But more about Khaldak later. I’m sitting in the Entebbe airport, waiting for Alan and Liz who are about to arrive in a few short minutes. I can’t wait to see familiar faces!

Sorry, not many updates recently. I’ve been very busy for the last month, working hard in Yei (the pictures here) and also in Khaldak. I’m back in Nairobi for R&R and I’ll be flying to Uganda on Monday to join Alan & Liz on their Raising the Village
visit.

Below are the photos from the SWAT (Surface WAter Treatment) system installation in Yei.

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Here are pictures from the NFI distribution in Pajor.

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And more pictures from my first trip on the Nile to do an assessment in Khaldak, 40 minutes up-river from Malakal.

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Here are some more pictures of Malakal from February.

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Excellent news for me: I’m heading to Yei to do a SWAT (Surface WAter Treatment) system installation. The charter leaves Malakal tomorrow morning!

I’m counting 7 weeks into my field rotation right now (6 weeks since Loki), and the only change of scenery has been Juba for 5 days. I’m getting tired of the heat (40-45C depending on the source), tired of the same rice and stew, and tired of sitting around without any work.

So Yei is way down south near the Uganda border. Apparently it’s very green and lush. I can’t wait. But the best part is that it won’t be so hot. I can’t imagine setting up the system in 40C heat, lugging barrels, gravel, sand, etc.

The 7 weeks of this field rotation have been almost an eternity. The usual rotation is 8 weeks, so I’m starting to feel my mind slip away. Unfortunately, some friends are visiting Uganda in April so I’m extending my pain for 11 weeks in the field. I hope I get back to Nairobi in one mind. I feel like Dieter Dengler in Rescue Dawn, slowly losing my mind while I imagine what delicious items fill the shelves in my imaginary fridge.