My Journey to Darfur: I have survived 100 days.....

Today marks the 100th day since I left Calgary. In some ways it feels like yesterday and in other ways it feels like an eternity. I have had another rough couple of days here in Darfur as I have come down with a sinus cold/infection. Guess you could say I am not having a very good start to the year.

Today was a special day for my Canadian Forces counterparts as they received their UN medals. They joined up with the Nepalese and Kenyan Army Medal Parade which consisted of over 500 soldiers and officers. The parade comprised of traditional dancing, sword and martial arts demonstrations and ended with the Nepalese Special Task Force conducting a UN hostage recovery demonstration. It was pretty spectacular and I am not sure what Jack and I are going to do about out medal parade in the next couple of months. We are hoping to join up with our Norwegian Police Advisors since we all went through training together. I don’t think we will be doing any traditional dancing.

UN Medals

Nepalese Special Task Force - Hostage Recovery Demonstration

It is pretty quiet at the camp since we are all taking our leave around the same time. My “Zam Zam Chefs” (Jason and Jack) are currently out of mission leaving me to fend for myself. So it’s back to the basics –noodles, rice and tuna.

I had the pleasure of meeting the UNAMID Police Commissioner the other day. He is from Ghana and a very approachable man. We did not talk about anything specific or really work related. It was rather funny because I asked to have a picture with him and once the photo was taken he wanted me to show him the picture so he could see how he looked. He is very down to earth.

Visit with Police Commissioner Mr. James Oppong-Boanuh

I can feel the weather starting to change again. The mornings are not as cold and the days are getting hotter. The sunrise has been so beautiful these last few weeks. The colour of the sky with the sun edging its way over the mountain range to the east is gorgeous. When you look around you honestly feel as if you have gone back in time. Most people do not have electricity and donkeys are considered a living pick-up truck as they transport everything from water, firewood, rice, people, etc.

Sunrise in El-Fasher

I have not been able to run these last couple of days so I went walking around the compound. You feel as if you are in an outdoor prison due to the limited movement and curfew. As I was walking I noticed some children on the outside of the compound riding their donkey and just doing what kids do. Again my Arabic is limited so we could only exchange a couple of words and continue to smile at one another. This is why this mission can be very difficult at times. It is mentally challenging due to the heightened security and limited movement. Now you can understand why I enjoy my drive to and from work each day. It is those moments where I get to see and interact with the people of Darfur.

Looking out at the children from inside Zam Zam Compound

Don't ask me why but this is what we call the No Man Running Track. It's a 1.2 km dirt road around the inner perimeter of Zam Zam.

One of the villages just on the outskirts of Zam Zam IDP camp

A Sudanese tukul

This small body of water is located approximately 1.5 km from our camp. Villagers come to this water point to collect drinking water for their families and animals. The villagers will collect water from this location until it is all dried up and will then have to find a new water point.