Big Changes

Re-Cap

I am sorry for not updating my blog recently. The intensity of work and growing strains of field life has been draining on both my energy and time. Since leaving you in February, the team here in Melut has continued working to supply better water, sanitation and hygiene, and improve the poor standard of health care. The two programs combined reach out to over 86,000 beneficiaries in the county and countless others from outside.

On the 9th of July 2011, many of you will have seen South Sudan becoming The Republic of South Sudan. This has brought so much hope and joy to it's inhabitants, however, difficulties lie ahead.

The influx of IDPs into ROSS (Republic of South Sudan) is the main focus for my work at the moment. Just last week we carried out an assessment in a larger town on the border named Renk. 7,000 people had apparently showed up. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is doing their best to register them and coordinate some kind of response. Medair, Malaria Consortium, Mercy Corps and FAR are the only NGOs operating in the State, so they have been pushing us to respond to the Health, WASH (Water and Sanitation, Hygiene) and NFI (Non-food items) needs.

We are already carrying out programs at full pace in the Upper Nile, and we simply do not have the capacity to effectively respond. A party of almost 15 UNICEF delegates seemed relaxed and happy to tell us we aren’t doing enough for the returnees on their 2 day jolly to Renk. Here in Melut we have also been warned that supposedly 20,000 returnees are on their way to this very town, which will TRIPPLE the existing population. I have been working since returning from Thailand (holiday to see the magnificent Joanne) on making emergency repairs and rehabilitating temporary water supply sites, as well as coordinating with Juba additional SWAT (Surface Water Abstraction and Treatment Systems) kits to be se^nt up. The fact is, if this number of people settle in Melut, the existing infrastructure will not handle it.

Two refugee sites have been set aside, however the local authorities do not seem to be taking control of the situation as more and more barges arrive each day each with up to 2,000 people. Medair has been charged with providing emergency water supply, although we do not want to begin construction because the precise settlement location has not be specified. When this project begins, the implementation will likely fall on me – my manager has been tasked with overall coordination and management of the efforts. So this will be three projects I am running at the same time. $50,000 county institutional latrine project, working around the county which makes logistics very difficult – it means I am leaning on one of my contractors far more then I want, $15,000 emergency water supply, $20,000 water emergency water supply.

On a health side of things, none of the people on the barges have been immunised as far as we know, none of the children have been vaccinated. The likely camp site is adjacent to the Medair run Health Centre, which currently serves 5 difference counties within Upper Nile, massively under staffed and over populated already. Get this – apart from the two doctors coordinating this facility and the health care units around the county, the most senior member of staff is a nurse, who is overwhelmed - as all nurses usually are!

Although the facts appear dire, people are happy. They are returning to this new country with hopes of being reunited with family, hopes of setting up new homes, finding work and living in peace, away from oppression from Al’Bashir. People are sometimes helpful in the work we are doing, and over the past 11 months I have learned enough Arabic to coordinate casual labourers and judge good and bad attitudes. Better to have 1 guy with a good attitude, then 10 guys with bad attitudes. Work takes longer, quality is worse, and it only brings out the worst in me and Medair funds.

Medair are not blind to the overview of this new country, and a pinch of cynicism must be included in the appearances to get a fair image of what is going on:

Ø Over 85% of the newly elected government are from the SPLM (Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement) party, and the other 15% are pretty closely affiliated

Ø There is no real opposition party. Just like SA, since the ANC came into power, no-one has effectively stood against them

Ø The new national flag is the flag of the SPLM

Ø The SPLA/SPLM were the rebels during the war that committed atrocities to their own people, only bettered by the Northern army, and only forgotten because of this victory

Ø Most of the State Governors and County commissioners are from a military background, and they have no idea on how to develop a nation

Ø The majority of the working population (ages 15 – 50) have never actually worked. During the war they lived on hand outs. Mobilising this country into work will be/is VERY difficult

Ø All of the unhappy militia groups appear to have an enormous amount of power in some states, and they are receiving funding from somewhere

Those are just a few of our fears, but Medair continues to take the security situation of all of their sites very seriously. Each day I cannot leave the base without 3 litres of water, two forms of communication (mobile, Thurya, VHF), my quick run bag which includes everything detailed in the SAS survival book also enclosed, all of my travel documentation along with copies and my Medair ID. Going for a 10 minute walk is no exception. When we are at security level 3, I must take my stuff even from my room to the mess and office. I look forward to going for a walk without 15kgs on my back in the UK in August!

Anyway – I hope this gives you a more complete picture of the current situation in Melut. Remember that we are in a strange place here in the Upper Nile, and most of Sudan is enjoying a time of swift development. In Juba, the airport will soon be opening a new arrivals/departures building (MUCH NEEDED).

Where a tipper of gravel used to be 3,000 Sudanese pounds, it is now 10,000 pounds here in Melut. In the Upper Nile, we are almost entirely fed from the North. So, after independence, the price of everything has escalated to crazy amounts. I have needed to consider this is project designs and material suppliers. For example – steel and zinc used to be an obvious choice in building materials. Now, we are using old 200 litre barrels and anything we can get for free from the oil company. Tippers and excavators when available are used only for transporting sand and gravel to Malakal (State town) because of the high demand and price there – now I mobilise a tractor and diggers to load sand manually from local pits. Challenges that took time to overcome, but when these opportunities reveal themselves, you must jump at it and ignore the cost. I have never been able to take the Sudanese pound seriously because I have only been dealing in thousands and tens of thousands at a time – it is like Monopoly money.

Anyway, I could write all day, but my lunch is getting cold, and I want to watch a movie this afternoon because Saturday is my half day!

Until next time, your prayers are appreciated!