Hello from El Fasher......

Once again you are probably wondering if I have disappeared.  These last two weeks have been crazy.  From the time I landed in Ottawa on October 19^th I have not stopped working.  I was hoping to update my blog however the Internet would not work.  I am partnered with an OPP officer named Jack who has about 35 years of experience.  There are only two of us on this mission so we will be watching out for each other. 

Pre-deployment training in Ottawa.  I feel like a rookie in my new uniform.  

The training in Ottawa was overwhelming and very fast.  Many people who have attended missions in the past continue to tell me that everything goes very slowly and you have a lot of time on your hands.  I have to disagree.  My experience (and I have Jack to back me up) has been completely the opposite.  We have not had any time to get things done.  The training was supposed to be 6 days over a 10 day period.  Our training was for 3 days (we received the condensed version) and were on a plane to Africa on the 4^th day (September 23^rd).  The flight to England was fantastic.  I was able to enjoy one of the Air Canada pods and get some sleep.  We arrived in England at around 7 in the morning and had about a 9 hour layover.  We left around 4 in the afternoon and made a quick stop in Beirut.  I was surprised to hear that we were going there.  We landed safely and were back in the air in no time on our way to Khartoum.  Arrived around 3:30 in the morning and it took us about 2 hours to get through the passport and visa counter.

We were supposed to be met by someone from the UNAMID office however they never arrived.  Luckily, one of the RCMP members who is in charge of the South Sudan mission picked us up and took us to Canada House.  I was so exhausted, nervous, apprehensive but also very excited.  Canada House is like a large apartment in the city of Khartoum.  There were no other members staying there at that time so I was lucky enough to have my own bedroom and washroom.  The conditions were pretty good but it was very hot.

We were able to catch a few hours of sleep and headed into the UN Headquarters.  The minute we stepped into the UN compound we were being rushed around again.  They were doing everything they could to get us through the intake process so they could fly us out to El Fasher.  We were told that we would be in Khartoum till Thursday and start our Induction training on Sunday October 31^st.  Well that didn’t happen.  We were in Khartoum for only two days and back on a flight to El Fasher with no orders as to what we were supposed to do.  It was unfortunate that I was not able to see the city of Khartoum however I hope to get a chance to see more when I return to go on my leave (which will be in approximately 3-4 months).

We had to get up at 4am on October 27^th in order to catch our ride to the airport for 5am.  We arrived with all our barrack boxes in hand (we had about 6 boxes between us).  You should have seen everyone’s faces at the airport as you can only bring 20kgs with you.  One of the staff from UNAMID showed up and was surprised that we were just waiting for him.  We were told that we would be taking our extra baggage to the cargo area.  This guy must have had some pull because we pushed through the security lines and dragged all our gear with us.  Usually that does not happen and we would have had to wait about 5 days for it. 

The plane was so hot that I couldn’t stay awake.  There really isn’t much to see except miles and miles of red desert. A few small mountains in the middle of no where but that was about it.  We landed at the El Fasher airport and pushed our way onto one of the buses.  We were met by one of our Canadian Military officers at one of the compounds. 

There really isn’t much here.  The sun is very powerful and reflects right off the sand and into your eyes.  It is so uncomfortable that you would be crazy not to wear sunglasses.  In the afternoon we had a military officer from the Philippines (Ruben) show us around.  He took us to the Rotation Office to see if we could get our paperwork going before we start training on Sunday.  It was at that point that the Fijian police officers that we met on the flight over told us that the Rotation Officers have been looking for the Canadians.  When we attended the office they informed us that we started our training that morning and they have been looking all over for us.  We completed the necessary paperwork and were told to come back at 8 in the morning to start classes.  We will be joining 89 Rwandan policewoman and 5 Norwegians.

Training is very different from what I am used to.  You get about one 3 minute break in the morning, a two hour lunch and another 3 minute break in the afternoon.   I will be in training till around November 11^th.  I have to do an extra week of classes with the other policewomen on Gender Based Violence.  I am sure Jack will already be assigned to his posting.

There is not much for us to do in our own time apart from sweeping up all the bugs that have somehow made their way into our quarters, eat dinner and try to get on the internet.  I have used the gym by our training centre however I have tried to get out for a run every evening before it gets dark.  I can run around the compound which is about 1.5 km.  It feels so good to run even though the heat can be unbearable.  I sometimes feel as if I am in a prison.  When we are not at the training centre we need to be at our living quarters.  So you can see why running is very important.  I found a running partner along the route today.  His name is Mohammed and is from Khartoum.  What I found really interesting was that he was running in his flip flops because he does not own a pair of runners.  I have a feeling running might be my way of interacting with the other countries that are living on the other side of this compound.  

I had an interview with Human Resources today in relation to my position.  It took about ten minutes to complete and I guess I wait to see where I will be going.  I am hoping to stay where I am and receive a position where I will be able to work in the local IDP camps. 

We are very fortunate to be Canadians.  The people here are very excited to see our country in this mission.  Each day as I drive to and from work I am reminded of how lucky I am.  I know I will not be able to change the world but if I can make a difference or assist one person in this mission then I know I have succeeded.