Ben Tshin

I have been thinking recently about poverty, since it is all around me in Sudan. But one thing I have seen is a difference between slum poverty and village poverty. I mentioned this in an email to a friend:

It’s all about contrast and our sensitivity to poverty. Village
poverty is wide spread through a village. Usually, the entire village
has very little, including the elders and leaders of the community.
Village poverty is more akin to rural poverty, in that people are
usually survive through subsistence activities. It is usually no
market economy. Also, villagers are usually more spread out having
more land with which to scavenge materials like firewood, as well as,
land for their cattle to roam. Slum poverty usually occurs in pockets
within a larger city. Slums are packed and congested, and usually
without proper sanitation or water. A lack of sanitation isn’t a
problem in isolation. The diseases occur when people are congested,
bringing the lack of sanitation closer to each person. Slum poverty
might be a stones throw from a 5-star hotel. I was once in the Ritz
Carlton in Shanghai, and it overlooked a neighbourhood on the other
end of the economic scale. It wasn’t necessarily a slum, but you can
easily translate the scenario to Africa, and Asia and shift the
economic scales downward.

So slum poverty akin to acute pain and village more like chronic pain.
If you stayed in villages and small towns for long enough, you become
inured to the standard of life that people “enjoy”. But in a city,
it’s easy to see the horrible conditions endured in the slums,
especially when you sleep in a nice house with guards at the door.

Your comments on this would be very appreciated. I haven’t fleshed this out completely, but it is still on my mind.

“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.

Pictures from my R&R in Uganda and my first Kenyan wedding.

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This is a late update, but I’ve now been in Sudan for 1 week. I was lucky. I flew direct to Malakal with MAF instead of being stuck on the WFP flight that took the round-about way. I’m told to get used to the tiny Cessna Caravan because that’ll be my main mode of insertion and extraction at all the field sites. It’s a fun little plane especially sitting way at the back. Unfortunately, it gets a bit chilly since it’s not pressurized up at cruising altitude.

Immediately the next day after arriving, the WatSan team of 8 split into two teams to do a 3-day assessment of Malakal town. Malakal is the capital of Upper Nile state, but it’s situation is as dire as other parts of South Sudan. We saw people using fields for latrines, even going into (and being killed by) mine fields. Girls and mothers were drawing dirty, untreated water from the Nile. It’s sad to see such a situation in the 21st century.

I’m getting direct exposure to the heat of Sudan. The daily high has been constantly 35 Celsius and more. Nights start warm and get quite chilly by 3-4am. I only know this because I’m awoken by the donkeys braying, roosters cock-a-doodle-do-ing, the crickets playing their songs, and the slight chill. The Kenyan staff said that it started getting really hot the day before I arrived. But it’s only the start. They expect temperatures up to 40 and 50 Celsius before the rainy season comes. “You can’t tell the difference between 40 degrees and 50 degrees anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.”

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Although I’m updating this blog more frequently than my newsletter I’m grabbing this update from the newsletter instead of paraphrasing it again.

Hi! Greetings from Africa!
I hope you are coping well with the recent snowstorms in Toronto. Here in Kenya, it’s the opposite problem: sun, heat and more sun. The daily high regularly reaches +35C, but I’ve been drinking plenty of water to adapt with the heat and the intense sun.

At the moment I am waiting in Lokichoggio in northern Kenya. Situated 30km from the Sudan border, Loki was established by the UN in the 1989 to serve as a logistical pit stop for humanitarian assistance to Sudan under Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS). UNICEF, the World Food Program (WFP) and 40-other NGOs, including Medair, have offices here to support operations in South Sudan. As a result, a small town has sprung up around the airport and the UN compound.

Conditions in Loki are quite good. It’s much nicer than the expectations to which I signed up. There is a pretty good canteen with decent food, fresh fruit and vegetables. I’ve been told to stock up now before I head into Sudan where the food may come from tins. Unfortunately it’s a bit of a ghost town since 95% of NGOs have relocated into South Sudan after the CPA peace agreement was signed ending the war in 2004. The compound is littered with empty buildings of NGOs like Save the Children, Oxfam, etc. Altogether, I wouldn’t mind spending considerable time here, if only I had something to do.

Four weeks since leaving home I’ve been delayed once in Switzerland and once again here in Lokichoggio. Myself and another fresh colleague were hoping to get into Sudan as soon as possible. However, our second round of briefings have been postponed and put off and I’ve already seen different staff come through Lokichoggio on their way to Sudan. It is quite frustrating to be waiting here with nothing much to do.

Excitingly, I will finally be flying out to Malakal with MAF this coming Tuesday. I’m looking forward to seeing the real Sudan, instead of the veneer of Lokichoggio. The down side is that there is also no work to be done there either. My project is waiting for donor funding before we can go ahead with any work.

Please keep these things in your thoughts and prayers:

• an end to violence in Kenya which is weighing heavily on the Kenyan staff
• successful and quick donor funding for the WatSan project
• my faithfulness and fruitfulness amidst delays and boredom

in His service,
Ben