Flight scheduled March 4

Got an e-mail today saying the flight to Sudan is planned for saturday march 4. Looks like it's really going to happen this time. Yesterday I was at the Ministry of Defence for a final briefing on the situation in Sudan. We were joined by a cpuople of folks from the Foreign Affairs Ministry. They were there to give us a background as to why it's so important that we participate in this mission. It comes down to the fact that the Netherlands changed their third world aid policy. In stead of giving a little to a lot of countries the just want to focus on a few and give them substantial support. For the African continent the main focus is on the Horn of Africa. As for peace keeping operations; Africa is booming business.

It is still not sure if and when our 15 observers will ship out to Sudan. The UN still hasn't deployed any of the 80+ observers already statiobned in Juba to any of the remote team sites. Reason is the sites aren't fully deployed yet. Some lack essential basics such as clean drink water facilities and health care units. The delay is mainly caused by underestimating the poor local infrastructure and geography. Things will only get worse with the rainy season starting in a couple of weeks. Another issue is that the Russians haven't fulfilled their commitment to supply a helicopter unit yet. And by the looks of it this won't happen any time soon either. This means it will be extremely difficult to evacuate any staff from remote locations in case of an (medical) emergency. This could be a reason to keep our observers home unless the UN come up with a creative solution. It seems the level 2 hospital in Juba is almost fully deployed. So no reason to keep me home ...

Latest news from the medical front is that Cholera has reared its ugly head in the South of Sudan. So far about 100 people have died of this highly lethal disease and it is reported to have spread to Juba. I have been vaccinated for about every illness possible. Unfortunately there is no vaccination for Cholera. Just have to keep my fingers crossed I don't catch it.

Thanks Gilly...

For the nice card you made me:)

Counting the days

Two weeks to go now. On the one hand I'm looking forward to this mission on the other it's a burden for the home front. Have all my things packed that need to be shipped in advance. Even added a couple of rolls of soft toiletpaper to ease the buns when I get the runs.

We' ve had the first feedback from our fellow countrymen in IMAT (international military advisor team). This is an international team of military experts that is supposed to aid Sudan in reorganising their armed forces. However we learned that the Sudanese are masters at stalling tactics and that much work still needs to be done to kick this thing off. Furthermore it seems that many of the counsils and fora which were supposed to be installed according to the CPA only exist on paper. This means that it will take even more time to achieve all the goals stated in the CPA. It also seems that not all of the Sudanese army units have retreated out of the key cities in the South where they were supposed to hand the scepter to the SPLA. Only time will tell what consequences this has for the peace proces. All in all the situation in the South doesn't seem to be as stable as the UN leads us to believe. This is backed-up by an email I recieved from a Dutch aid worker who's stationed in South Sudan. I guess I'll learn more in about two weeks time...

Good news is that Ruud, the Navy captain who's deputy commander of IMAT, arrived safely in Sudan last week. He also recieved all his luggage that was sent in advance. A previous party had to wait more than 4 weeks for their luggage to clear customs.

Decision is made

My departure to Sudan together with Jelle is now officially planned for March 1st ( or whenever there's a flight available around that time). In the meanwhile I'll be hanging around at work and getting the last odds and ends sorted out. Since all my tasks are divided over the remaining staff, and it seems to be going OK, there's not much left for me to do. Tomorrow I have planned a day at the shooting range. Contrary to the obeservers I will be be issued a sidearm. It can't hurt to get in some more practice on the GLOCK 17.

Ping Pong

Recieved a call from Operations again; "The UN is breathing down our necks to send some staff". This means I'll probably ship out before April 1st. First indication is in two weeks' time which is not very convenient for me to say the least. I hope they can extend it till at least the 1st of March. This whole go/no- go situation is really starting to get frustrating. Seems like no-one is in control and we are just pawns that can be moved around randomly as political small change.

Preparations continue...

Since our deployment has been postponed we have some time to aquire additional skills. Jan (aka Jack) - another guy on our team - works for the defence driving center. He arranged for us to have a course in all-wheel driving. We figured this could come in handy when we have to navigate the dirt trails down in Africa. And with the rainy season coming up these will transform into muddy gullies.

This was my first experience with all-terrain driving and in one word it's AWESOME! After being taught the basic academics of 4x4 driving we took the vehicles into the field. In this case the standard Army Mercedes Benz 290GD. The training center caters to all vehicles from the new FENNEK recon vehicle to the Leopard II tank and has various tracks to practice on.

(brand new FENNEK reconnaisance vehicle. Pity we're not taking these along)

After a leasurly morning drive in the loose sand and woods the instructors had a treat in store for us. In thew afternoon we were allowed on the track that's used to test the limits of our terrain vehicle. This particular track is usually off limits for the regular course. Just the other day one of the cars toppled over and was totalled because it exceeded the 38 degree roll angle. But it's just amazing what a 4x4 is capable of if driven with tact. It requires a different mindset compared to normal driving. The key is patience and anticipation.


(Jeroen full of confidence, urging our car forwards...)



(...Jeroens' car 5 minutes later)