My Journey to Darfur: Come on Irene.......

As many of you know Hurricane Irene or should we say Tropical Storm Irene put a damper on the World Police and Fire Games in New York. For many athletes they were able to reschedule their events however Dragon Boating was cancelled. I am trying to stay positive and look at it from a different perspective…..the Bad Buoys (that’s the name of our team) still holds the gold medal and will be the reigning champions for another two years. Guess we are going to have to wait to compete in Belfast Ireland in 2013.

We could not resist a photo with this athlete from Japan. Love the pants!

After the Opening Ceremonies we met this wonderful New York Police Officer. Did I ever feel small standing beside him.

Even though we were unable to compete we tried to make the best of it.

The CPS Bad Buoys thought they would practice their paddling skills in Times Square.

Thought we could recruit Elmo to join our team. He matches perfectly with our uniforms.

It was strange to see Times Square/Manhattan shut down for approximately 2 days. Most of the stores and restaurants were closed as well as the subway system. Some stores even barricaded their windows with plywood and placed sandbags at the front entrances. In some ways it was a bit eerie and having to go purchase water and food supplies for our hotel room made you wonder what could possibly occur. I really did not think I would have had to bring my flash light from Darfur to New York. The Walgreens in Times Square was packed with people and the shelves were becoming rather sparse. I am happy to say that the storm did not hit us like it was supposed to and we were able to enjoy the rest of our trip. I was fortunate to see many sites of New York and even take in a US Open Tennis match. It was wonderful to see all my friends and teammates and catch up on everything that has happened in the last 11 months (Tanya/Nancy….thanks again for bringing me all those Crave cupcakes from home…especially the peanut butter ones…..they were heavenly and not a crumb went to waste).

I cannot believe the famous Crave cupcakes made it safely from Calgary to New York. I owe a big thank you to Tanya and Nancy. You are always thinking of me.

Reunited in Times Square

One minute the stores were open in Times Square and the next thing you know everything is shut down and sand bags are placed around the entrances of the businesses.

Had to do the touristy thing and take in a few attractions. Here I am at the Top of the Rock (Rockefeller Square) enjoying an amazing view of New York and the Empire State Building.

Even though we did not compete we celebrated with some other Canadian athletes who took home the gold in weight lifting. I had to get at least one photo with the medal.

Visiting Ground Zero.

Enjoying the US Open. We were able to take in a couple of matches in the Arthur Ashe Stadium. We saw an incredible match between Maria Sharapova and Heather Watson. After we walked over to CitiField and took in a New York Mets Baseball Game.

We found a new job working as security at the front desk of the Empire State Building.

I returned to El Fasher safely however I have been trying to get over a horrible sinus cold. Many of my friends and colleagues are in the process of checking out so the atmosphere is changing around the office. Visas are still an issue so the number of Police Advisors appears to be dwindling. Eleven months ago my office had around 11 Police Advisors and we are now down to 5. By the time I check out at the end of October there will only be 2 remaining.

Scouts are still the highlight of my week. The other day I attended Boy Scouts and participated in cleaning up the garbage and weeds around the center. After that Peter and I showed the Scouts how to play Frisbee. It was a bit dangerous as the children were so excited and Frisbees were flying in every direction. I will never forget this one little girl, Usera (10 years), who was there alone. I had her join in and she is just as tough as the boys. We got along so well that she would not leave my side. At one point she even leaned over to me and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I wish someone would have taken a picture as it was priceless.

Mike’s brother-in-law donated a trumpet from his school in Medicine Hat. I want to thank Ray and his school for their generous donation. The leaders and children were so excited to receive this instrument. The leaders presented the trumpet to the Scouts and paraded it around as if they had just won an Oscar. It was so rewarding to see.

I am currently in South Darfur conducting an evaluation on two Community Policing Centers. I cannot believe this will be my last trip down south before I check out. Once I return from this evaluation I am off to West Darfur to conduct another one. This time I will pretty much be at the Chad/Sudan border. It’s hard to believe my mission is coming to an end. I am trying to see as much as I can in this short amount of time. I have to say that I am very fortunate to have the position that I have here in Darfur as it allows me the opportunity to travel and see the diversity of the region.