Updates at Long Last

Hi all. Sorry for the lack of updates for the past two weeks or so. My laptop finally succumbed to the field and is out of commission until I get back. I'm now using an old Dell desktop that is shared amongst three others. That also means that photos are also a no go for a while.

That is not to say that things haven't been lively around here though. After we had our most recent supply drop, we've been having non-stop programming. The week before last, the village health committee got off the ground and we had a three-day, eight-hour training workshop for about 40 people. We trained them on how to deliver health messages in their respective villages and created and action plan for forming a local management committee to take greater involvement in operating the clinic and dealing with issues that come up.

Then we had a second de-worming event at the refugee waystation. This one targeted another 300 children who were given de-worming pills (mmmmm!) and a mosquito net. This was also about the time that we ran out of food at our compound and had been subsisting on scraps of rice and beens for about a week. The waystation has three giant ostriches that are kept there as pets and we started planning for Operation Ostrich Liberation, which is where you sneak into the waystation and eat their pets. Unfortunately, a two-meter tall bird resembling a Velociraptor is unlikely to be hidden in a large shirt.

This week, we had two more training workshops--one for the teachers at the Early Childhood Centers and one for parents. After two or three weeks of bad weather and no supplies the last two weeks have been ridiculously packed. They've also given me a chance to get the documentary filming into high gear. Today, I shot my 33rd hour and have been interviewing parents, teachers, and pretty much everyone I run into. Every person that I've interviewed was either a refugee or child soldier during the war--and this from one of the safest regions during the fighting. I wish I had another two weeks to shore up the footage, there is still a lot to cover and it has only been within the past weeks that I've been able to get where I need to be to talk to people.

Good news though, I am making my escape on Tuesday with the end result of finding my way to Addis Ababa by Saturday. Bad news is that after heavy heavy rains the airstrip is no longer functioning reliably and the road to Ethiopia is covered in a few feet of water. David, Duncan, and I are going to make the trek to Ethiopia on foot through about 30k of what now looks like the Everglades, but with crocodiles instead of alligators. Good news is that once I get to Kuergen and then Gambella, there should be real food! Meat, vegetables, the whole lot. The best news is that after Saturday, I'll be spending my last two weeks going cross country in Kenya and chilling in Nyanza near Lake Victoria. More to come on plans for the developing exodus to food and freedom!

After a Week of Not too Much to Report, the Plane Comes

Sorry for the lack of updates, but this past week has been pretty slow.  Plagued by a lack of drugs in the clinic and no money for programs or to pay salaries, it had seemed as though things had sort of ground to a halt.  However, yesterday our charter plane made it in just before the rains opened up and was able to deliver boxes of much needed drugs from the Southern Sudan Ministry of Health.  

 

Hopefully this means that starting this next week we can get back to our programs.  Things were starting to get a touch of the old cabin fever for a while.  As in, when you hear an engine of sorts outside the compound, you run over to the fence to gawk at whatever/whoever is passing by.  Maybe not the best use of time but it does provide for intermittent entertainment.  Even better, we've been watching the Olympics pretty much non-stop on the sat TV in the dining hall.  The opening ceremony rocked my world.  

Weekend Supply Drop and Other Fun

On Saturday, our long anticipated charter flight arrived.  We were to receive supplies, the most important of which were the drugs for the local clinic.  Unfortunately, either due to a delay in the delivery to Juba or some other mishap, the only things on the flight were materials for the Early Child Development program, including about a dozen easel chalkboards.  Even worse that meant we had to go our Monday meeting about the drug supply problems with less than awesome news.  

Despite the small setback with the charter, the weekend was great.  A second UN flight came and the UNICEF officer who had been stranded in Pagak and for the past week had been staying in our compound was able to leave.  The UN flight brought somebody important--perhaps a new local administrator, as the flight was greeted with far more people than the usual crowd for a plane landing.  The rest of the weekend was marked with non-stop women singing and drum music.  Homemade hooch (a rough but potent home brew of yeast and sugar) flowed freely throughout town.

Sunday was a nice day of rest.  I slept in until about 10 and just sort of fumbled around for a few hours, not doing anything in particular.  Lunch was the usual blend of rice and baked beans.  Afterwards though, we finished preparing a goat head for a much better and far more satisfying meal.  Lately, we've been keeping the head after the goats have been slaughtered.  Usually we send them home with somebody.  However, the last two times one of the guys has commandeered it for a special treat--Kenyan style.  Preparing it is a two day process.  First it is put on a rock or grill on the fire.  The heat quickly singes the hair and carbonizes the skin, locking in the moisture on the inside.  Then you take a knife an scrape off all of the blackened outer layer and repeat until the outside is at the perfect consistency and the inside is mostly cooked.  The next day, the head is slowly cooked in water with some spices and greens.  After a few hours you have a delicious spicy soup as well as a bunch of delicious meat.  Everything gets eaten and nothing is wasted.  

After sitting around eating goat, we had a few cold beers and retired for a nice long afternoon siesta.  Sudan can be tough sometimes and development work is painstakingly slow but its nice those times when you can laze back embrace it and have yourself a mini-vacation.

Also, in what would be great news, a malaria vaccine has shown effective results in clinical animal trials and is now set to be tested on human candidates.