Last post from the safety of home..
Tomorrow morning I'll be on my way to Sudan by means of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. That means that my next post will be done in Sudan. Kind of an odd feeling right now. Over here there's a 10cm pack of snow with more to come. In Khartoum it's a comfortable 28 C. I think I can leave my polar socks and undergarments home. I don't know what to expect when we arrive there. We have no clue yet as to who and if there will be someone to pick us up. Another uncertainty is our luggage. The carry-on luggage shouldn't be a problem but it might take a while for our pallets to clear customs. Also they didn't pack all of our gear. Some of the stuff is still on the pallets that are packed for the group of observers that will hopefully follow about a month later.
I said goodbye to the kids today. It's heartreaking to see how difficult this situation is for them. Especially since there is no real way to comfort them. Hopefully Ill be back before the summer holidays are over so that we can still take a vacation.
Latest news is that the Sudanese peolples are becoming more hostile towards the UN presence. Not a very comforting feeling. However this seems to be more the case in the Islamic North than in the South. I wouldn't surprise me if it still has to do with the recent "cartoon" business. Another aspect is that the Government of Sudan(GoS) is not in favor of UN presence in Darfur. A major issue since the UN is the only organisation at this moment willing to fill the void that the African Union will leave behind when they retire from the area. Also the team of one of our colleagues on another mission(IMAT) in Sudan were paid a visit by the national security force. They had to hand in their PC's, communications equipment and vehicles. Some of the equipment was returned later. The valuable lesson learned here is that an AK47 puts more weight in the scale than diplomatic immunity. A minor detail is that the IMAT mission does not have an official status yet, so the intruiging game of power and politics can commence...
I said goodbye to the kids today. It's heartreaking to see how difficult this situation is for them. Especially since there is no real way to comfort them. Hopefully Ill be back before the summer holidays are over so that we can still take a vacation.
Latest news is that the Sudanese peolples are becoming more hostile towards the UN presence. Not a very comforting feeling. However this seems to be more the case in the Islamic North than in the South. I wouldn't surprise me if it still has to do with the recent "cartoon" business. Another aspect is that the Government of Sudan(GoS) is not in favor of UN presence in Darfur. A major issue since the UN is the only organisation at this moment willing to fill the void that the African Union will leave behind when they retire from the area. Also the team of one of our colleagues on another mission(IMAT) in Sudan were paid a visit by the national security force. They had to hand in their PC's, communications equipment and vehicles. Some of the equipment was returned later. The valuable lesson learned here is that an AK47 puts more weight in the scale than diplomatic immunity. A minor detail is that the IMAT mission does not have an official status yet, so the intruiging game of power and politics can commence...
posted by Jan at Friday, March 03, 2006
1 Comments:
Have a good flight and a safe time when you arrive mate ... I hope it all goes well for you and the others with you.
Looking forward to the meet later in the year !
Best Wishes and stay safe.
Simon,Jane & Christopher.
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