My Journey to Darfur: Visit to Umkadada (East Darfur)......

I have just returned from conducting an evaluation at the Umkadada Team Site/Community Policing Center (CPC) in East Darfur. It is a 55 minute helo flight and when you are stuffed in the chopper with about 20 other Egyptian soldiers in 45 degree weather it isn’t very pleasant. We received a warm welcome and due to the shortage of accommodations I ended up living with one of the female Police Advisors from Tanzania. She was wonderful however she liked to turn off the air conditioning at night so it was unbearable trying to get to sleep.

Umkadada is about 175 km from El Fasher. There are no IDP camps within this area however the villagers are still suffering from lack of water, food, medical supplies and security. After completing my evaluation I was able to go on two patrols to the Umkadada village. Before each patrol can be conducted the team must attend the GoS Police station to speak with the Officer in Charge to see what the security situation is like and to obtain permission to conduct a patrol through the villages. We also visited the Detention Centre where 43 prisoners were being held (2 of them females). It was like a large chicken coop. People were all huddled outside on the ground with a small brick building at the rear. I wish I could have taken photos however it is forbidden. I was fortunate to receive this opportunity as it is not easy to get access to these Detention Centers. During my visit we also escorted 20 physicians from India to the local hospital where they will be spend a week performing eye surgeries on several of the villagers.

Saeed (Pakistan) and I at the entrance to the Egyptian Battalion Officers Mess in Umkadada

The Egyptian Military have made some pretty spectacular observation points around the Umkadada camp.

I did a poor job of packing for this evaluation and only brought one shirt for 4 days. So I had to hand wash my shirt everyday in this laundry room and hang it out to dry. As you can see I had a couple of friends hanging out with me going through the garbage.

I may have missed Stampede this year but I did not miss out on the mini doughnuts.Mariama who everyone calls "Mama" is a Police Advisor from Gambia and took very good care of me. It was pretty amazing watching her make these doughnuts outside her accommodations.

Here I am in the Gambian's accommodations having dinner. They made sure I was well fed. No such thing as cutlery here. Everyone eats with their hands and shares from the same plate.

This is my friend Amani from Tanzania. He was with me in Austria at the UN Games and will be competing in the WPFG in New York as well. UNAMID has had to make a few cutbacks and resort to camels as their mode of transportation while on patrol.

While out on patrol in one of the villages Mariama (Gambia) shows how people attempted to grow crops but were unsuccessful due to the weather and climate.

Some children hanging around in one of the villages.

Conducting patrol at one of the water points in Umkadada village.

At the animal market in Umkadada Village.

At the Umkadada Police Station with the OIC of the GoS Police, Lt. Khamal Bashir. As you can see my flak jacket is a tad on the large size and weighs about half of me. Two of our Language Assistants are there to help with the translation. I am still trying to work on my Arabic but it is not an easy language to grasp.

Many of the villages in the Umkadada area do not have sufficient water. While on patrol the Egyptian Military have provided some of the villagers with water.