I cannot believe there is only 3 days until Christmas. I am a world away where the main religion is Muslim, not a mall to be found and no Christmas music to be heard or decorations to be seen. The whole commercialism of Christmas is totally not here. We haven’t even had the opportunity to put Christmas decorations up in our kitchen tent.
Since I work 7 days a week I will be spending Christmas in the office. It will be good to keep myself busy and my mind off of all the celebrations that will be going on at home. I am hoping to join my family at the dinner table via Skype. I am sure everyone will be on the network that day so I am not counting on having a good connection or any connection for that matter….but we will give it a shot. The Canadian contingent (2 Police and 2 Military) plans on having Christmas dinner and inviting some of our Egyptian friends from the camp where we reside. I think it will be good to have others join us to see how we celebrate. I am not sure what the meal is going to be but I am guessing it will consist of chicken and rice.
Many of you are aware that I am able to receive care packages from home. Over the last week or so the Sudanese Customs officials seized all our care packages from Canada. We had no idea when they were going to be released and why they were being seized in the first place. The Canadian Forces have been wonderful and worked hard to get this matter resolved. The care packages are back in the Canadians hands and have just arrived in El-Fasher. I should have them upon my return to camp tonight. It will be like an early Christmas (minus the weather). The care packages are referred to as “gold bags” and literally that is what they are…..big gold bags containing our boxes of goodies (it is so appropriate).
I would like to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and all the best in 2011. We are truly fortunate to be Canadian and I appreciate everything I have more and more each day I am here. Three days ago I went to visit an IDP camp that is approximately 12 km from the camp where I am staying. There are over 110,000 displaced people from Darfur making it one of the largest IDP camps in the region. It went on for miles and miles and I could not see an end to it. We sat with the Umdas and listened to their concerns of safety, health, and humanitarian aid. I could have sat with them all day and listened to their stories. The men want to be able to provide for their families but they cannot leave the camp for fear of being killed. The women go out every day to collect firewood however there is a high risk of them being raped. They are trying to make these IDP camps their homes. They take pride in what they have and for some of them it is only a couple of sticks with some plastic to shelter them from the sun. They want to believe that someday Darfur will be safe enough so that they can return to their villages and rebuild their lives again. I hope they can feel as safe and secure as we do in our own homes.
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| Zam Zam IDP Camp - Am I that short or are the kids just that tall? |
I would like to thank all of you for supporting me on my journey here in Darfur. It has been a real eye opener and I know there are many more experiences to come. I will keep you posted.
I am very lucky and blessed to have all of you in my life. Happy Holidays!
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