January Update

I was just in Niertiti, our eastern-most project in Western Darfur. It’s an interesting place, because of the politics. Niertiti is very near the border between West and South Darfur. It is also very near to the Jebel Marra, which is controlled by the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA).

Niertiti itself was a tiny town of about 5000 people which became host to two camps of internally displaced populations of 30,000. There was just one small government outpatient clinic here before the camps. So we now work in that alongside the government health workers and we built a 50 bed hospital also, with a 40 bed feeding center for undernourished kids. This is a pretty unstable area, and gunshot wounds are a fairly frequent thing to treat in the hospital.

From here, we run a mobile clinic (meaning that we go there in the morning and return with the team in the evening) twice a week in Thur, right on the border between West and South Darfur. This clinic gets a lot of patients from the South Darfur side, the local government controlled areas, and the rebel controlled areas. About 10 days ago, 3 trucks full of food from the UN’s World Food Program were stolen near here by the rebels and taken into the Jebel Marra. This was kind of embarassing for the local government. Afterwards, the town of Thur was sacked, and there was quite a bit of gender-based sexual violence. We aren’t able to go back to our clinic in Thur until we can assure the safety of our team. It should be fairly soon.

We also run a clinic in the Jebel Marra, the rebel controlled zone, in Kutrum. This is maybe one of the most peaceful regions of Darfur! The government can’t dislodge the SLA from this mountainous area, and the SLA is in control so it’s not moving. Therefore, no fighting (although we do treat some gunshot wounds from the border zones). We see about 200 outpatients a day and have a 10 bed hospital there. Three people (a doctor, a translator and a driver/logistician) leave from here on Saturday morning to work with the local staff during the week, returning to Niertiti every Thursday evening. I was there today, and got to meet 3 SLA commanders. They seemed like pretty nice guys.

In Bulbul, our water distribution project is starting up nicely. This is a village in which a nomad tribe has decided to settle, to avoid continued conflict between them and the farming communities in which they grazed before. Between 15,000 and 25,000 (real figures are hard to get) have arrived in the village since July, and the water supply was not up to the volume. We now have 4 wells installed and pumping, and we are now getting the distribution system in place. We will also be distributing non-food items (jerricans for carrying water, soap and blankets) to the families. If we end up working in the hospital in a larger village nearby (Kass, another possible new project), we could operate a mobile clinic here.

I still have way too much to do, but it’s better than at the end of the year. We have the layoff in El Geneina, hiring in Nyala, finalizing 2007 accounting, putting in place a system to track expenses by activity, getting everyone into our human resources data base, and a host of smaller items.

It rained here the last few evenings! This may not be surprising to you, but it's about the equivalent of snow in Indiana in August.

I am heading up to the big city, Khartoum, on Monday for a few days to work with our country-wide Human Resources coordinator on some issues. I didn't move at all for quite a while, but now I'm making up for lost time.

Happy NewYear

Things in Darfur are pretty tense for the start of 2008. A group of Arabic soldiers who were loyal to the government are now calling themselves “the neglected soldiers” and are siding with some of the rebel movements. El Geneina is pretty much surrounded by this group and the town itself is being defended by some fighters who recently fled Chad! Zalingei as well is circled by the neglected soldiers in conjunction with some other groups. Different and interesting alliances are springing up. Although there is no more fighting than usual, everyone seems to be preparing their positions. Right now, it doesn’t look like 2008 will be the year for peace here, unless this new positioning forces the government to make some concessions that they wouldn't otherwise.

I finished my 2008 budget preparation on the 30th of December. It was a long and laborious process. I always underestimate the amount of work involved. From what I have calculated, our projects in Darfur should run around 3.8 million euros this year.

I haven’t had a slow moment since I came back from my break in Zanzibar, and the tempo finally caught up with me. I went to bed at 9:00 pm on the 31st and was not feeling very well for around 36 hours. Now I feel better, and the pace should go back to normal, too. The budget is in, all the assistant admins should be coming back from annual leave soon, and the coordination team is becoming more stable.

Of course, a normal pace is not slow either. We are starting a new water distribution system and distributing non-food items in Bulbul, the layoff plan in El Geneina has to be put in place, we have to do permanent recruiting here in Nyala, I have to close the 2007 accounting, etc. Never a dull moment!

We celebrated the new year here in Nyala with the staff. There were about 25 people at the house. We had received a sheep from the community of Bulbul, and we bought another. The guards slaughtered the two in the morning and did the main butchering. A special cook came in to prepare the meat. The liver was prepared raw, marinated in lemon and hot peppers. The ribs and most of the meat was grilled. The most tender cuts were breaded in a special mix and then cooked over an open fire as well. It was all accompanied by green onions and pita-style bread. The meal was great and the company was good too.

Most of the guards, cooks and cleaners don’t speak French or English, only Arabic or Fur, so conversation is difficult. But it gave us an opportunity to get to know each other better than in a work situation. We ate, drank tea, danced, laughed, and communicated as well as we could. It was a very nice day (even though I was still sick).

As I mentioned, we are finally getting a stable coordination team together. We have a new Head of Mission coming in mid-February to stay for 9 months, and he will be preceded and accompanied by Fred Meylan who has already been here last year. This is really good. After 5 months here I am right now on my 4th Head of Mission, my 4th Log Coordinator, and 3nd Medical Coordinator. At the same time, Paris headquarters has been in turmoil. All these changes call for a lot of explanations, produce a lot of direction changes, and create a lot of fatigue. Maybe now we can move ahead in ONE direction and spend less time and effort CHANGING directions.

I recently received photos of my apartment made by the builder. It’s getting together. The sound-proofing and plasterboard are up, the tile and hardwood floors are down, the mezzanine is about done, the stairway up to it is installed, and the bathroom is pretty much finished.
He should come back in February and March to do the rest: kitchen installation, a built in desk and bookcase, and some finishing work. I will have a place to live when I return to Lyon at the beginning of May! But I will need to install the closet shelving, and do all the surface sanding, varnishing and painting when I arrive.

Have a very good 2008!