Talk about great medical attention.........

I am feeling about 90% better which is a good sign.  I went back to the Level 2 Hospital to get a copy of my medical report.  I walked into the nurse’s office and I found it to be rather warm in there (that’s because the people from Darfur and the other African staff are finding the temperatures a bit cool right now and they have put the heat on in their offices). Anyway, I still consider it rather warm and when I told them I was hot (because of the heat in the office) they thought I was burning up with a fever and that I needed to be examined.  So I was back in the doctor’s chair with a thermometer under one arm and a blood pressure cuff on the other.  All I wanted was my medical report.  I was trying to explain to them that I coming from Canada and this weather is much warmer than what we are used to.  So I ended up with a free examination and a visit to my wonderful female doctor from Bangladesh who now calls me by my nickname “Cappy.” I walked out of the hospital with more medication for my stomach troubles and NO REPORT. Guess they want me to come back and visit again.

My first lunch at the Graida Team Site

It has been rather calm in Darfur since the voting started for the referendum on January 9^th.  Today is the last day of voting and the counting of the ballots will begin.  We still cannot predict what the upcoming weeks will bring.  When I say calm you must understand that things are still not peaceful here.  There are still so many horrible acts of violence that are taking place in the villages and IDP camps around the region.  There are many days where I sit and wonder how this is all happening.  How can people do this to other human beings and animals?  Every day as I drive to and from work I see so many different things…..the children and the animals rummaging through the garbage site trying to look for any scraps of food that has been left behind.  Usually there is nothing of substance so the animals resort to the national flower of Sudan, “the coloured plastic bags” that are growing and multiplying all over the ground. I might have said this before but I have never enjoyed goat until I came to Sudan. The running joke is that the reason the goats taste so good is because their diet consists of plastic bags, paper and cardboard.  I am not kidding you!  I have one favourite donkey who I have named “Ears”.  The reason I have called him that is because he does not have any.  It appears someone has cut them off (which I don’t want to think about). Anyway, I look for him every day as we drive through the market.  I had a large watermelon that we needed to get rid of and we did not want to throw it away so we dropped it off with “Ears” the other morning.  There were a few people in the market and I think they were very confused as to what we were doing.  I considered it my good deed for the day! 



My Favourite Donkey - "Ears"

We are still conducting many inspections at the main headquarters however I am meeting some wonderful people and learning a lot about how this organization works.  I conduct my inspections rather differently from the rest of my team and I am receiving a lot of positive feedback.  How I see it…..I am conducting these inspections to see how the Unit/Team Site or Community Policing Centre (CPC) is running but I am also looking at the needs of the UNAMID staff.  I want to make sure they are being taken care of and their needs are met.  Especially for the men and women who are working in the Team Sites/CPCs.  They are like our front line officers who I believe have the toughest job.  I am still keeping in contact with many of the Police Advisors that I met at the Graida Team Site.  They call me on a daily basis to let me know how they are doing.  Its things like this that I find rewarding.  If my reports can make a difference then I have made my small footprint here in Darfur.  It makes me think back to my initial training here in El-Fasher when one of the facilitators made the comment, “It’s good to leave part of you behind.” I know at the end of this mission I will look back and wonder what that was.

Just outside Camp Zam Zam

The last couple of weeks have been a bit frustrating at the Zam Zam camp as several new people have moved into the tents.  You name a country and I guarantee they are living here.  We have Senegal, Egypt, Nepal, Yemen, China, Ghana, Canada, South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Pakistan….I don’t think I need to keep going.  I am waking up in the morning to find there is no water left for a shower or even tap water to take a sponge bath.  It isn’t a pleasant start to the day then you have to add the heat and the dust to it.  I can’t tell you how relieved I am when I can jump into the shower…..and remember it isn’t the kind of shower we can take back at home.  You can’t just let the water run and it is a 50/50 chance that the water is going to be warm.

BBQ with our Egyptian Friends at Camp Zam Zam

Well it is just after 10 pm and I should get to bed as 5 am comes around rather quickly.  I want to thank everyone for their emails.  I apologize that I have not been able to respond back to everyone.  There has not been enough time in the day and the internet does not work as quickly as it does back home. I hope you are all keeping well.