Getting used to the idea

After the initial 'shock' I soon got comfortabel with the idea of going on the mission. After all it is part of being in the military and it gives reason to why you joined up in the first place. I can't say the same for the 'homefront'. Being away for 6 months has - as we say in the military- a major impact on daily operations. But most of all it will affect Brennain and Darren who will have to do without daddy for a while.

During the Christmas break I have been gathering as much information as I could find on the current situation in the mission area. Most of it I found here on the UNMIS webpage http://www.unmis.org/english/en-main.htm. In a nutshell:

Sudan is roughly 50 times as large as the Netherlands (or 5 times as large as France). The Southern part of Sudan is, opposed to the Islamic North, a mainly Christian oriented region. The region is also rich in natural resources which have yet to be fully exploited. The area which is in hands of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) is reasonably stable. The incidents that do take place are mainly bandit attacks staged from Uganda by the Lord's Resistance Army directed towards civilian targets. Looting, rape and murder are the result. With the dry season starting (Southern Sudan is a tropical jungle environment) it is expected that the number of incidents will intensify. Roads will become more accesible thus more commerce will take place hence more loot. It is expected the biggest challenge is the repatriation of the hundreds of thousands of refugees and their millions of livestock.

North and South Sudan have been in a state of civil war for all but 11 years since 1955. The UN task is to monitor if both the government of Sudan (GoS) and the SPLA abide to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement(CPA) which was signed in january 2005 and is ultimately supposed to result in an independant Southern Sudan in 2011.

While this conflict is being resolved the atrocities and suffering in Dafur (West Sudan) continue...