Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Just in case you were wondering, here's where I'm working. It's pretty much smack bang in the middle of Africa. 

For a bit of background (thanks Wikipedia):

The country is officially the Republic of South Sudan, and is landlocked. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more centrally-located Ramciel in the future. South Sudan is bordered by Ethiopia to the east, Kenya to the southeast, Uganda to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the southwest, the Central African Republic to the west, and Sudan to the north. South Sudan includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd formed by the White Nile, locally called the Bahr al Jabal. 

What is now South Sudan was part of the British and Egyptian condominium of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and became part of the Republic of the Sudan when independence was achieved in 1956. Following the First Sudanese Civil War, the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region was formed in 1972 and lasted until 1983. A second Sudanese civil war soon developed and ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005. Later that year, southern autonomy was restored when an Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan was formed. South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011. 

As for its pretty flag:

The colours are said to represent the South Sudanese people (black), peace (white), the blood shed for freedom (red), the land (green) and the waters of the Nile (blue); the gold star, the Star of Bethlehem, represents unity of the states of South Sudan.

On 14 July 2011, South Sudan became the 193rd United Nations member state. It joined the African Union on 28 July 2011. South Sudan is one of the poorest countries with possibly the worst health situation in the world.

If you break the country down by state, you get this. The two states I'll be working in are Lakes state (in the middle, of which Rumbek is the capital) and Upper Nile (top right; Malakal is the capital but our work sites are far from there). Upper Nile is prone to flooding every year, due to rain in the mountains of Ethiopia that flow down into the Bahr al Jabal. Currently, a lot of it is under water. Should be a nice challenging place to work - given the lack of access!

The pros and cons of living in Juba

Some other practicalities of living here ...

Everything in Juba is really expensive. Hotels are ridiculous - a minimum of $100 a night, and some of them are pretty average. At least beer is cheap (depending on where you buy it). Wine is much more expensive, even though its only coming from South Africa. I was warned, but I have still been surprised. 

The South Sudanese Pound (SDG) is officially worth about USD1:2.65, but at the ‘Custom Market’ you can get about 1:4. Not bad! Eating your lunch at western establishments will cost you about 40SDG, but if you go local - meat, beans, greens, typhoid (often Kenyan or Ugandan food) - it will cost you 5-10. And of course if you make the effort to go to the market you'll get it cheaper. Konyo-Konyo market is an amazing, crowded, jumbled mix of people, fresh fruit and veg imported from Uganda, slabs of meat, guys selling phone credit, second hand clothes and general household items from China. No matter where you go in the world, there's always a market!

In Juba it seems you can buy everything you need, so I’m interested to see just how limited (and more expensive!) things are once I get to Rumbek. Hopefully their market is just as bright and bustling as Konyo-Konyo.

We have our food catered for us at the guesthouse. It makes life easy, but it also makes you lazy, and you don't have to find out things like where the local supermarket is, or learn how much things cost. In some ways I'd prefer to shop and cook for myself. We've had a good range of food so far - a variety of vegies, meat, rice, chapati etc - so its all available here, but at a price! I'm enjoying the variety of food while I can... but am not looking forward to no vegetables (until the ones I grow myself are ready... Way to combat boredom in Rumbek #1).

One thing I find frustrating is having to rely on an Oxfam vehicle to get around. It limits your freedom; I'd much rather be able to drive, but due to the security risks (getting stopped at check points by drunk/cocky Sudanese Police Officers, or being involved in a car crash) its not worth it. We have one 'duty driver' available after work and on the weekends, so if we want to go somewhere we have to call him/her (yes we have a female driver and her name is Jackie!) to pick us up and drop us off every time. I can walk to the office in about 45 minutes, but as I don't know the town yet I'm not very confident. Town planning isn't the South Sudanese Government's strong point either...so it's easy to get lost. A pushbike would be great here, not only so you can actually get some exercise, but especially for the backstreets; on the main roads I don't know if I would trust the drivers, especially the SPLA cars which drive in the middle of the road (apparently drunk, if you go by cynical expat comments). I am definitely going to get a bike in Rumbek; its a smaller town so it should be easier to get around, plus I'll go stir crazy without some form of exercise.

There is a large expat community here, but I didn’t realise quite how large until last night when patronising a local establishment called Bedouin Bar. My Oxfam colleagues, Niall and Christian, and I were sat watching Aston Villa vs Newcastle on their big white sheet of a TV screen when all of a sudden the place was packed with a bunch of mostly white westerners. They had all been down the road at the Juba stadium watching or playing in a rugby match (Northern vs Southern Hemisphere; I am happy to report that the South won) and had congregated back at the pub for post-match drinks. I think I may have laid eyes on almost all of the expats in Juba! I found it a little overwhelming and somewhat bemusing. It was just like being at home drinking at the pub (apart from the mixture of accents, most of which seem to be American, Canadian and British). It's also all a bit contrived; I don't like the fact that people introduce themselves as Oxfam/Save The Children/UN/'I've worked in X countries', instead of themselves as people - it's all a bit competitive.  

Still, the upside is that there's ALWAYS a party going on, or people to hang out with. And I think when I'm back in Juba from Rumbek, it will make a nice change from the bush. Ahh civilisation!

Weather with you

It’s a leisurely Sunday afternoon, and I’m sitting in the tukul of our guesthouse compound, sheltering from the huge downpour that’s just hit Juba. It’s been building all morning, the dark clouds finally releasing their anger on the city. There is water everywhere, streaming off the thatched roof, plopping onto the pavement, creating rivulets and saturating my colleague’s washing.

The storms here come and go fairly quickly; on Thursday a bolt of lightning made us all jump a mile in the air when it announced its presence like a gunshot right above our office. Unfortunately for the staff of Save The Children, it struck their office’s antenna and knocked out all their power, including their internet, so they were knocking on our door on Saturday for some electronic assistance.

The rain has now receded but the storm isn’t done yet; it’s finally announced its arrival properly with a huge clap of thunder. What is it about thunderstorms that I find so appealing? There’s nothing better than being surrounded by a rolling storm with it’s powerful sound and light show, the rain lashing the trees and buildings around you, while you sit back and watch it all unfold. I guess it makes me appreciate the unpredictability and force of nature – something that we can’t control, which makes us realise that we’re not so big and powerful after all.

Jubalicious!

Flying into the world’s newest nation on Wednesday morning, I was greeted with a vast, wide, flat green plain, thatch-roofed village complexes every now and then, rock massifs protruding out of the landscape, trees dotted around, small rivers winding their way like snakes. Unlike the Rift Valley in Kenya, which is heavily farmed, the landscape here is generally untouched. The Sudanese are overwhelmingly cattle farmers, the local economy based almost purely on it, and the landscape reflects it.

Juba from the air is a large, sprawling, low-rise mass, built around the huge rock massif, Jebel Kujour, that emerges out of the flat landscape. The city dwellings are predominantly red and blue corrugated-roof numbers, traditional thatched huts fighting to retain their place amongst their more modern counterparts and becoming the norm on the urban fringe. Flying in you can easily recognise the largest compound – which of course belongs to the UN. 

The airport terminal’s faded sign reads ‘Juba International Airport’; but until its new, glass-facaded terminal is completed, the existing terminal – a glorified shed – is a bit of an impostor. The atmosphere when you arrive is hot, sweaty and crowded, with humanitarian workers crowding around the small desk to 'sign in' and get their passport and work permits stamped, then fighting through the masses to try and locate their luggage which, once identified, is opened, checked and marked 'ok' with chalk before being allowed to disappear with its owner.

South Sudan’s capital is not the most inspiring city. It’s a sprawling, unplanned, dusty, dirty place that is more of a large town than a city. First impressions are great: the road from the airport is smoothed, paved and marked, the kerbs painted in black and white stripes, the medians landscaped. There are even glistening white ‘no parking’ signs on the roadside. But first impressions are just that. Sure, the part of town with the government offices is certainly new and shiny. But the rest of the city is just a ramshackle collection of dirty, faded houses, small shops, the bustling Konya-Konya market, and, winding its way slowly past the city, the River Nile. 

Juba doesn’t really have a centre; its just an organic mess of a place that has expanded with the arrival of the UN and hundreds of NGOs, plus the growth of the new Government. As for 'city sights', all I could really point out are the 'multi-coloured fountain' (lit up at night), the LED sign announcing South Sudan's arrival as new UN nation #193 and the freedom fighter John Garang memorial. Tourists ain't gonna be flocking here anytime soon.

Putting it all in perspective ...

To give you an idea of the situation in South Sudan, here's a bit of bedtime reading for you. Thanks to Oxfam for the info.

"For all but 11 years since independence in 1956, until the signing of a peace agreement in January 2005, southern Sudan experienced civil war. During the nearly 40 years of conflict, an estimated two million people died, four million were displaced internally and at least 500,000 fled to neighbouring countries. Systematic targeting of civilian populations by armed forces, during which assets were looted, burned or destroyed, disrupted livelihoods and caused widespread displacement and food insecurity. Periodic floods and droughts exacerbated the already intense suffering.

The post-war situation of southern Sudan is of poor or non-existent basic infrastructure and services, and frequent disease outbreaks such as cholera, acute watery diarrhoea, uncontrolled malaria, meningitis, haemorrhagic fevers and natural disasters such as flooding and droughts. Simultaneously and ultimately, there is a need for long-term initiatives and sustainable development, as many of the recurrent humanitarian needs in southern Sudan are the result of decades of neglect and marginalisation. But longer-term interventions have not been adequately funded or supported by the donors or the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS).

The effects of decades of conflict and mass displacement together with southern Sudan’s historic marginalisation make political and economic reconstruction a colossal task. The lack of infrastructure, economic opportunities and basic services mean southern Sudan has some of the worst humanitarian indicators in the world. The resettlement of an estimated 2 million people is putting an additional burden on an already extremely vulnerable and underserved population. Poverty rates are amongst the highest in the world; with over 90% of people living on an income of less than USD 1 per day. Reportedly, one in every seven southern Sudanese children dies before the age of five, mainly from preventable diseases such as malaria and diarrhoea.[1] Life expectancy overall is just 42 years and the maternal mortality rate for Southern Sudan – 2,037 per 100,000 live births[2] – is the highest in the world.  Access to any form of healthcare remains very limited. Tropical diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and leishmaniasis are endemic, and cholera, meningococcal meningitis and yellow fever epidemics are common. Southern Sudan has one of the lowest routine immunisation coverage rates in the world, with only 10 per cent of children fully vaccinated.[3]  Despite some modest gains, however, southern Sudan still has some of the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world. 

As a result of the past conflict in Sudan, the longest war in Africa, water sources, sanitation and health services in the area have been put under an ever-increasing strain. With limited infrastructure, the populations in Upper Nile are vulnerable to massive health risks.  

In Southern Sudan, 48% of the population have access to drinking water. However, only 13% of existing water sources are protected. Many existing water points are non-functional because of a lack of proper operation and maintenance (O&M) systems, poor infrastructure and overuse. As per available data, 30% of existing water points are currently non functional, because of inappropriate choices of technology type, location, flaws in design, and population movements

Sanitation coverage in Southern Sudan is very poor, with only 15% access to adequate sanitation and only 6% for excreta disposal[4]. The combination of lack of safe water, lack of sanitation facilities and low hygiene awareness renders the public health situation in southern Sudan extremely precarious."

So, we, and the world, have quite a challenge ahead. 

---

[1] ‘Southern Sudan Scary Statistics’, November 2008. These have been compiled by OCHA from a range of sources.

[2] Southern Sudan Household Health Survey 2006.

[3] ‘Southern Sudan Scary Statistics’, November 2008.

[4] GoSS Household Survey 2006

Sydney to Rumbek

As I sit here on my mattress on the floor of my room in Alexandria, Sydney (I sold my bed last week so the floor it is), having just played basketball, my housemates watching the Sopranos, I'm contemplating how different things will be in a few days' time when I'm in South Sudan.

While I have internet searches, maps, temperature charts, malaria country profiles, American Christian missionary blogs and reports from the field, I still can't imagine it.  But I do know it's going to be rather different from here...!

Why would I go to South Sudan? Well, I'm going to work for Oxfam Great Britain as the Team Leader for their Public Health program. The program is operational in two locations: Lakes State, where I'll be based in the capital Rumbek, smack-bang in the middle of the country; and Upper Nile state, located in the north east, which shares a border with the 'old' Sudan. We have programs in two very remote parts of Upper Nile, so travel there will be quite challenging! Plus the state is under water for half the year. I'll be overseeing and reporting on a Public Health program (hygiene promotion, disease identification, prevention and treatment if necessary, managing staff and budgets, capacity building and training) management of its implementation and ensuring integration with the other programs: Water & Sanitation, Livelihoods and Economic Security. Should be velly intellesting.

And of course: South Sudan is the world's newest country! I feel very privileged to be even going there; I hope that I can make myself useful and in this fledgling nation that has been affected by so many years of ongoing conflict.

I also hope that you keep reading.