Going for Gold........

I first have to say CONGRATULATIONS to my dragon boat team who raced in the Calgary Dragon Boat Festival at the beginning of August.  They took home the gold!  I am so proud of all of you and cannot wait to see you at the World Police & Fire Games in New York in less than 5 days.  It is going to be such a culture shock going from Darfur to the Big Apple.  However I am very excited to see Mike, my Dragon Boat Team and the rest of my friends who are coming from the Service to compete and cheer on the athletes in the Games.  I cannot believe it has been ten months since I have seen anyone.

I celebrated my Birthday the other week and it was fairly low key as I did not mention it to anyone.  I do want to thank all of you who sent me Birthday wishes.  Someone got a hold of my Canadian colleagues and informed them of this day (thanks Mike).  When I was back in ZamZam and thought I had escaped any Birthday celebrations I had a knock on my door and was told to get changed and that we were going for dinner at one of the local restaurants.  When we arrived my friends had put together a small Birthday dinner and even had a cake made which is pretty amazing when you think of where I have been living.   My Birthday gift was a traditional women’s tob that Jack purchased from the market with the assistance of Nuwar (one of the local national staff in his office).  Purchasing the tob was an adventure in itself as Nuwar was apprehended by the local GoS Police.  As they were returning to the vehicle the GoS Police grabbed her while she was getting in.  They took her aside and started questioning her to see if she was from Sudan and why she was wearing the clothes she was in.  You have to remember it is Ramadan here and everything is based on Sharia law (Muslim or Islamic law, both civil and criminal justice as well as regulating individual conduct both personal and moral).  At the time she was not wearing her traditional clothing however she was still fully covered and had a scarf covering her head. The Police were also wondering why she was with Jack who is not her husband.  She explained that she is working for UNAMID and that Jack was one of her colleagues that needed assistance in the market to purchase some items.  Eventually Nuwar was released and they both returned to the office safely.

While back at the office Jack received a lesson on how to wrap a tob.  You will see from the photo he did a pretty good job however it was not 100% accurate.  One of my arms was stuck under the tob and I could not figure out how to release it.  I will take my tob into work and scouts so that the local ladies can show me how to wrap it properly.   If I tried to do it myself I would be all  tangled up….there is definitely an art to it…….the tob consists of a minimum of 4.5 meters of material which I find a lot of fabric to wrap yourself in.

Wearing my traditional Sudanese tob that I received for my Birthday.



We are now into day 22 of Ramadan and I am still fasting from sunrise to sunset (no water and food). Many of my Muslim friends and co-workers are amazed that I have made it this far.  Jack stopped fasting after the first week and Peter is currently in Rwanda on CTO and decided that he will stop fasting so he can enjoy his travels. You can see that everyone’s energy level is very low.  Our work schedules have changed during the period of Ramadan as most people are not taking lunch.  That means my work day ends a bit earlier than usual which I do not have a problem with.  It gives me some time to rest which I need at this time. 

I cannot tell you how tired I feel.  Day in and day out with the heat and climate really takes a toll on the body.  I find that I go to bed early and want to sleep-in when I wake up.  You drive to work and because it is so hot you want to hide in your office to stay cool.  The sun is so powerful that you have to cover your head and wear sunglasses as the reflection is blinding.  We have had some pretty large haboubs these last few weeks.  I have a great picture of my friend Annette who is in her compound when a haboub was just coming into El Fasher.  To see it in person is pretty spectacular but now that I have experienced a few and have seen the aftermath I am happy not to see another.

My friend Annette (Norway) watching the haboub roll through the town of El Fasher.

Not so pleasant being on a convoy and getting trapped in a haboub while driving through the desert.

As you can see from this photo the sand and dust from the haboubs can be blinding



After a haboub a rainstorm and flash flood can usually occur.  As you can see this APC is a rather large vehicle. Well look at the next photo to see what a flash flood did to one of these in Kabkabiya

This APC was trying to cross this riverbed when it was fairly dry however it got caught in the sand.  Next thing you know a flash flood occurred and submerged this vehicle.  Thankfully no one was injured.



An aerial shot of Zam Zam Camp.  This is what I have been calling home for the last 10 months. The green tents/buildings at the bottom left side of the compound is where the Canadians reside.

On the 15th of August we were invited by the Boy Scout group to join them in a traditional lunch that took place at sunset.  The lunch comprised of asida (porridge), kisra (flat bread), beans, eggplant, falafel, soup, dates, and chai. All the food is presented together and you eat out of the same dishes as everyone else with your hands (no utensils). The leaders were so appreciative that we tried their local food.  Many photos were taken that evening and I had so much fun with the children just playing around and interacting with them. It is going to be very hard to say goodbye to these scouts and leaders.  They have accepted us into their community and the cultural and language barriers are starting to diminish.  

Jack and Peter enjoying a traditional Sudanese meal with the Boy Scout leaders.

Everyone wanted their picture taken with the Canadians.

Not exactly sure what we were doing but we followed along with the kids.

Last week we returned to the boys school that the Canadian Military have been working with. We met the new Head Master and provided him with several boxes of school supplies.  We then received a tour of the school as this was Peter's first time there and ended up in one of the classrooms where the boys were writing exams. I felt guilty interrupting them as they were trying to concentrate on their work.

Presenting the school supplies to the Head Maser.  The man on the left is our Language Assistant, William.



One of the classrooms where the boys were writing their exams.



How I miss my bike back home. I am thinking of decorating my road bike to match this one.  As you can see the boys love to add colour and decorations to their bicycles.

I look forward to going to my Scout meetings every week. Lately the children have been practicing for an upcoming graduation so they have been doing a lot of marching. I am unsure when the graduation will take place but I hope I am not on CTO or outside of El Fasher on an evaluation when it takes place. 

I couldn't resist taking a picture of these younger girl Scouts.

Before one of the Scout meetings I entertained the children with some bubbles that were brought over from Canada.

Here I am with my colleague Saidybah (Gambia), Girl Scout leader Nawafil and Boy Scout leader Yassir.

It was interesting watching both the Boys & Girls Scouts practicing their marching together. Lots of laughs to be had.

Not really sure what was going on here with the tree branch but Nawafil's expressions are priceless and we have a lot of laughs together.  She is very open minded and loves to learn about the Western ways of living. The children love her and she is very dedicated to these girls.  It's amazing to think that only months ago we could barely communicate and had to use Mohamed as an interpreter and now her English has improved so much that we can hold a descent conversation.  She is trying to help me with my Arabic but I am finding it very challenging.