End of my first rotation

Good afternoon, wonderful friends and family.

So, I am coming to the end of my first rotation in South Sudan! All field staff here in South Sudan are flown back to Nairobi every 6-10 weeks. The reason for this is to rest, catch up on sleep, clear your mind of work and to re-align yourself with God.

When I was first instructed of this procedure I thought to myself; 'Ace, mandatory holiday, I won't be tired.' WRONG! I am exhausted, and because you are working so hard with your back-to-back activity filled days, in temperatures greater then 40 degrees C, you do not even realise it. It makes me wonder, how unnoticed my stress and energy levels got in the UK without assessment. I agree with this Medair R&R policy. In this tense environment, a loose comment can make such a difference to base and personal security. The authorities we deal with on a daily basis, all have close ties with the military, who spend most of their time drunk, and scared of the future. Anticipating war, living in peace with very little to do, leaves your average adolescent soldier quite trigger happy.

Months Update

So in my last entry, I was in Wadakona, located on the border between North and South Sudan, in the Upper Nile State. I was testing concrete latrine slabs, and working on water treatment and distribution system designs for three towns to the South.

Three weeks ago, I relocated to our base in Melut to focus more of my time on starting up the Melut Water Distribution Project. As I said goodbye to my manager who was returning to the UK for a month, I felt the increase in purpose and responsibility. If this project was going to begin, it was down to me, the task was set...

JP (my manager) and I had largely agreed on the design, and a Memorandum of Understanding had been signed by the county Commissioner, so the first step was to order materials. The inefficiency previously experienced in the Aid sector, has rightfully forced NGO's to supply greater accountability to their Donors. One of the area's being monitored was procurement (the buying of materials). I had to find the best quote from at least three different suppliers. This was also the case when appointing a contractor. Materials were transported from Khartoum (Capital city, North Sudan) on huge trucks and were offloaded in our compound. Contractor interviews began soon after, and I tried my best to explain to them the works information.

We received four contractors who boasted years and years of experience. I took a translator with me, and drove them to the existing water distribution kiosks. The work would involve, excavation, minor block work, concreting, plastering and painting, fencing and pipework. The value of the work ahead would be approximately $75,000, including materials, labour and transport.

During this period, I have been taught the importance of clear understanding and patience, unfortunately I learnt the hard way. I thought all the contractors had a good understanding of the work, so we decided to invite the lowest bidding contractor back, to discuss the contract. I spent one hour explaining to him the details of the contract we would sign. "Do you understand?" I asked. He replied yes. "Do you have any questions?" I repeated. "No." he answered. 'Great!' I thought, but sure enough, the following morning he had arrived with a revised quote that had doubled.

In the end, we appointed two different contractors. One to manage the construction of two new kiosks and the rehabilitation of the existing eight, and one to manage the installation of 1300m of pipework. Contracts were developed and signed, and work began the next day. I breathed a sigh of relief...

The following day I woke with a smile on my face, excited to see work starting, and begin moving the materials from our compound to the work sites. At 10.30, I received a call from our pipework contractor... 'The SSRRC has halted our work. He wants to see you.' I jumped into the car with Isaac (our translator and a good engineer) and set off for town. The SSRRC is the South Sudanese Relief & Rehabilitation Council. They are the authority that manages all work relating to NGO's. They do not have much authority, but they have strong links with other authorities further up the chain, and make life very difficult. They have been known to have NGO vehicles taken due to insufficient visibility (flags, logos), they have removed NGO's from their bases, and prevented their return. In this case, the problem was that the pipework contractor, was managed by Kenyans - not Sudanese. I told him we would return later that day with a solution. When we returned, he brought us into his office and told us he was busy - '...come back on Monday at 9am, sharp.' That was that. It is a minor issue, but it is a shame the contractor was made to suffer - their enthusiasm to get the job done would be a real asset.

Kiosk work continues uninterrupted by the local contractor, and progress suggests the project deadline of December 20th 2010 is very possible.

Concrete latrine Slabs Testing

So I am still testing different latrine slab designs. Since arriving in Melut I have cast three more slabs.
1. Concrete slab reinforced with steel reinforcement
2. Unreinforced domed concrete slab
3. Mortar slab with three layers of 25mm chicken wire (12 gauge)

As you can see by the pictures, we had lots of fun testing them. The steel reinforced slab and mesh reinforced slab were tested with 400kg and did not fail. The unreinforced slab failed under 150kg. Rather it fails 1ft above the ground, then 2m above 1000 litres of rotting faeces. It is sad to say that the 400kg test weight was the total weight of 8 Sudanese men. Just imagine what the nutrition rate was like when they were children.

Girly emotional stuff

As I previously mentioned, I am feeling exhausted and am looking forward to spending time at the coast near Mombasa. I am especially looking forward to eating a variety of foods, yoghurt, muesli, cheese, chocolate. The diet is very similar day to day, all credit due to the cooks, who are able to make the most out of limited supplies.

Breakfast - Tea, bread and spreads (honey, home made peanut butter, sometimes Nuttela from Khartoum).

Lunch - Rice, beans and meat (still not sure what type of meat it is, they are definitely mammal bones that get lodged in your Trachea though)

Dinner - Rice, beans, meat, maybe greens (unknown what this is, maybe boiled grass), special treats include chips or ciabatti.

Lots of tea, so I have been surviving.

I have really been noticing how far I am from the family and Joanne. The occassional discussion via Skype is a real blessing, and I look forward to video calls when I am in an internet cafe on R&R. These facilities are available for the country HQ in Juba, but out here in Upper Nile state, we are limited to text conversations. Communication is so much more then words.

So I have typed far too much, but this will be my only entry for October. Keep well, and thanks for your prayers.

Blessings,
Damon