My Journey to Darfur: Where has the time gone......

I cannot believe it has been a month and a half since I put an entry on my blog. So much has happened and I hope I can show you what I have been up to through my photos. I went on leave for 3 weeks and travelled around Greece with Mike. We had a wonderful time even though the weather was not the greatest. We ended our trip on the island of Santorni which was incredible. If you don't like lots and lots of stairs then I do not recommend this island. Even though it is a relaxing and beautiful place to visit...it is also a good workout for the glutes. I wish I could have showed you more photos however I sent them back to Canada with Mike.

On my way back to Darfur I stopped over in Cairo for about 10 hours and one of my friends arranged to have his friend, Osama, who is an Egyptian Police Officer show me around the city. It was great to see it from a locals persepctive. He showed me the pyramids (although they were closed) and he even took me to Tahrir Square where the revolution occurred. The square was still packed with demonstrators and I have to say I was probably one of the few tourists there.

After returning from my CTO I then jumped back on a plane and headed to Austria for a week where I competed in volleyball at the UN Inter Agency Games. On my way to Austria I stayed in Khartoum for 2 days at Canada House. When I walked through the door I was surprised to see Jim. He was on his way to meet his family in South Africa. It was wonderful to see him and catch up on all his adventures in UNMIS (United Nations Mission in Sudan). He is doing well and is currently the team leader within the Yei Team Site.

When I arrived in Austria is was so nice to see the mountains and even the snow. I have to say that I miss it a bit. I know many of you back in Canada are tired of the cold weather and snow but I would like to trade you for just one day of this heat in Darfur. It is unbearably hot and having to wear a uniform all day does not help. The average temperature is about 45 degrees and it is supposed to get even hotter next month……I am going to melt when it reaches the 50 degree mark. With the heat comes all the critters as well. My first day back from CTO I was given a surprise while I was at my locker in the kitchen tent. I felt something on my right foot and when I looked down I realized it was a camel spider. Did I ever jump (however I did not scream)! I ran out of that kitchen tent so fast. It had these long hairy legs and I have heard so many horror stories about these spiders. I went to bed that night and had nightmares that these camel spiders were getting through my mosquito net and crawling in my bed. Honestly, I have to say that the malaria pills are giving me some pretty interesting dreams.

My two Canadian Military Counterparts (Jason and Julian) have returned back to Canada and so Jack and I are left to man the fort. It has been rather quiet but we have heard that new Canadian Military officers have received their visas so they should be arriving in the next couple of weeks. There will be 6 new people living in “Hotel Zam Zam” so it is going to be a full house. It will be nice to have more Canadians in the mission. As I have said before this place can be very isolated.

Something very interesting happened to me a couple of weeks ago. I was outside my building one morning talking with the local Sudanese staff that clean our camp. Anyway, one of the men came up to me and said he was supposed to look out for a female Canadian Police Officer. At the time I was not in my uniform. I explained to him that I was the only Canadian female officer in Darfur. He said that his cousin lives in Canada and he was told to look out for this female. I asked if he knew what city he was from and he provided me with a mobile number in which the area code was 403. I then asked if his cousin was Abdalla and he said yes. Abdalla is part of the Sudanese community within Calgary. I met him while I was preparing to come on this mission. He mentioned that his family lived in the IDP camps here in Darfur. There are so many camps and within each one there is well over 70,000 IDPs. Who would have thought that we would run into each other…..what a small world?

Standing in front of the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens

This is me at the aquarium in Crete. The weather was not very warm in Greece so there was no swimming at the beach. After living in a desert for 4.5 months all I want to do is jump into a big pool of water.

Here I am in Tahrir Square in Cairo where the revolution took place only a few months ago. As you can see there are still many demonstrators.

Hanging out with Jim at our favourite ice cream shop in Khartoum

I attended the vigil of the 17th Anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide on April 8th. It was a very emotional evening for the Rwandan military soldiers and police advisors who survived this event. Many stories were shared and it seems as if ever Rwandan that I have met has lost a family member. Just the other day I was speaking with one of the soldiers who told me that his entire family (including his aunts and uncles) were killed in the genocide. He has no family to go back to when he returns home to his country and you could see the pain and sadness in his eyes.

The UNAMID female volleyball team in Austria. This is my action shot. I am #10 in the bottom left corner.

The bronze and silver medalists. I forgot to mention that our team won the bronze medal. I also forgot to mention that there were only three womens teams.

The volleyball team was comprised of policewomen from all across Africa, one lady from Brazil and myself. Everyone thought I was crazy for wearing flip flops in Austria as they found it so cold.

The volleyball team after receiving their bronze medal at the closing ceremonies.

Here I am sporting my new bronze medal.

Having dinner with my girlfriend Annette (Norway) in Munich, Germany.

Patrolling in Abu Shouk IDP Camp. I found a new little friend.

Abu Shouk IDP Camp. Here I am being escorted by the Indonesian Formed Police Unit (FPU). UNAMID personnel have to be escorted whenever patrolling IDP camps or villages within Darfur.

Interacting with the local women while using the assistance of a Language Assistant (who is on my right). We are at one of the water stations located in the Abu Shouk IDP Camp.