Things are heating up here again. And once again the Sudanese Government has refused to take part in the Security Council mentioned below. Ahhhhh! Please pray - what else can we do?
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
AI Index: AFR 54/043/2006 (Public)
News Service No: 223
Sudan: Government troop build-up in Darfur signals looming human rights crisis
28 August 2006 — Amnesty International today warned that the build-up of Sudanese troops in Darfur could lead to a human rights catastrophe in the very near future, and urged the UN Security Council to take immediate action to protect the people of the region.
"Eyewitnesses in al-Fasher in North Darfur are telling us that Sudanese government military flights are flying in troops and arms on a daily basis," said Kate Gilmore, Amnesty International’s Executive Deputy Secretary General. "Displaced people in Darfur are absolutely terrified that the same soldiers that expelled them from their homes and villages may now be sent supposedly to protect them."
The organization urged the UN Security Council to exert maximum pressure on Sudan to accept UN peacekeeping troops in Darfur — including imposing further targeted sanctions against Sudanese authorities.
The Security Council is due to meet today to discuss a draft resolution on the crisis in Darfur.
The Sudanese government has proposed its own protection plan for the people of Darfur — a plan that reportedly involves bringing up to 26,000 government troops into the region.
"The Sudanese government’s ’protection plan’ is a sham and must be firmly rejected," said Kate Gilmore. "How can Sudan — which appears to be about to launch its own offensive in Darfur — realistically propose being a peacekeeper in a conflict to which it is a major party and perpetrator of grave human rights violations?"
On 29 July, the Sudanese government bombed villages in North Darfur, violating a March 2005 UN Security Council resolution banning offensive flights in Darfur. Armed opposition groups have also perpetrated grave human rights abuses, including attacking humanitarian convoys.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Really Stuck
Here is a picture of that it means to get a truck stuck. The hole was actually created by us trying to get the truck out - we didn't drive into the hole. Enjoy
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Peace?
I don't fully understand the situation here in Darfur and just as I finally do understand something it either changes or I get conflicting information that starts me back at zero. I have never been politically bent. I have no idea what is happening in Canadian politics and I really don't even want to learn. It just doesn't interest me. I do find African politics a bit more interesting because they are a little more dramatic but still on the whole I don't really care about or understand them. There was a group of us that went out for supper the other night and we ended up talking about political leaders like you would normally find people talking about celebrities. Criticizing how they came across in their last speech, who they have been spending time with lately and even what they are wearing. How I got myself thrown into this world constantly affected by the political world that surrounds it I will never know.
So here is the scoop as to what I think is happening here in Darfur right now. You may or may not have heard about a peace agreement that was signed in Nigeria about 4 months ago. One of the rebel groups (SLA) signed the agreement but many others did not. Even the group that did sign, there are rumors that they were forced to do it. Now the leader of that group has been incorporated into the government as part of this peace deal. This has changed the atmosphere here in the little Nyala world that I live in.
Two days ago the house next door to the office became officially a SLA house. I don't really know what that means but from what I can see it means that a rough looking guy with a big gun sits in front of the house and 'SLA' is roughly drawn on the wall behind him. This is a very strange sight here in Nyala. Up until this point Nyala has been a government controlled area. This means that SLA has not been allowed a presence here. Once and a while we will see the janjaweed (the governments milita response to the rebels) in town but I have never seen the SLA. I have also seen trucks full of young men holding up SLA flags parading down the streets. I guess this is supposed to be peace. Allowing the SLA to have a presence in a government area is a show that the government is moving towards forming peace here in Darfur. But remember that this is all a show. These are very surface level declarations of peace. It actually leaves me a little uneasy and makes me watch the situation just a little closer.
But despite all of this our work continues and our vehicles continue to get stuck in the mud. It is rainy season here and a trip to the field has been more digging and wading through water than anything else. Right now we have just sent out a team to pull out a truck that got stuck yesterday in quick sand and is almost up to it's doors in mud. Peace or no peace we still have work to do. But all of these recent changes makes us keep our eyes a little wider and keeps us on our toes to see what will come from all of this.
So here is the scoop as to what I think is happening here in Darfur right now. You may or may not have heard about a peace agreement that was signed in Nigeria about 4 months ago. One of the rebel groups (SLA) signed the agreement but many others did not. Even the group that did sign, there are rumors that they were forced to do it. Now the leader of that group has been incorporated into the government as part of this peace deal. This has changed the atmosphere here in the little Nyala world that I live in.
Two days ago the house next door to the office became officially a SLA house. I don't really know what that means but from what I can see it means that a rough looking guy with a big gun sits in front of the house and 'SLA' is roughly drawn on the wall behind him. This is a very strange sight here in Nyala. Up until this point Nyala has been a government controlled area. This means that SLA has not been allowed a presence here. Once and a while we will see the janjaweed (the governments milita response to the rebels) in town but I have never seen the SLA. I have also seen trucks full of young men holding up SLA flags parading down the streets. I guess this is supposed to be peace. Allowing the SLA to have a presence in a government area is a show that the government is moving towards forming peace here in Darfur. But remember that this is all a show. These are very surface level declarations of peace. It actually leaves me a little uneasy and makes me watch the situation just a little closer.
But despite all of this our work continues and our vehicles continue to get stuck in the mud. It is rainy season here and a trip to the field has been more digging and wading through water than anything else. Right now we have just sent out a team to pull out a truck that got stuck yesterday in quick sand and is almost up to it's doors in mud. Peace or no peace we still have work to do. But all of these recent changes makes us keep our eyes a little wider and keeps us on our toes to see what will come from all of this.
Friday, August 04, 2006
The Bank
I was sitting in the bank yesterday and I was thinking that this may be the most exciting thing that I can enter into my blog right now. So let me tell you a little about the excitement of my job as Finance Officer for Darfur, Sudan. Once and a while I get the pleasure to take a trip to the bank to withdrawal funds for our expenses. This visit can take from 20 minutes to 2-3 hours (like it took yesterday). As an NGO we often receive special privileges in a bank because of the amount of money that we go through. Unfortunately the special privilege here in Nyala is not the speed at which we receive our money but the location we get to sit at while we wait. We get to pass through the hordes of smelly, sweaty people bunched up at the tellers fighting for service, pass the guy with the AK47 and into the bank manager’s office. We greet the manager (who calls me Howa – which mean wife of Adam or mother of all – not sure what he means buy that) and hand him the cheque written in the amount that we would like to withdrawal from our account. Then we get to take our positions in the nice padded chairs and begin the wait. When I refer to something as nice please put it into the context of ‘Darfur nice’. ‘Darfur nice’ is something that can still be used for it’s intended purpose and does stain your clothes when you come into contact with it.
I have found during my travels in Africa that banks can be spotted as the cleanest and most modern building in a town. However once again, as soon as I think I have something figured out, Africa once again surprises me and makes me question everything that I have seen and concluded in the past. The bank in Darfur is filled with old desks that are falling apart and cockroaches. So we make our way, past the people through the desks, into the manager’s office and take a seat. The manager’s office has enough room for one enormous desk, a cabinet and the two nice padded chairs that we get the pleasure of sitting in. If the manager needs to leave his office he must squeeze past the cabinet, past us sitting in the chairs and maneuver around the desk to get out the door. Personal space was not considered in this set up. The reason for the long wait could be for various reasons. Sometimes we have come during what they call ‘breakfast’ but most of the time it is because they have run out of money and they have to go and get some more.
My assistant and I usually spend the time catching up on life stuff, work stuff and my teaching session about the culture of Sudan and how Sudanese people think. Other entertaining things can be done like counting the number of spiders that are in your line of vision or making up stories about the holes in the walls or the interesting characters that get to hold the guns. The money does eventually arrive from the central bank in a metal trunk that is ushered by two men through the side door, across the bank and into the back room where the tellers are. Once the money has arrived it takes at least another 45 minutes before you see your share. Our money is dropped on the manager’s desk in a couple of piles about 8 inches tall. We then count the piles and the bundles, put it into a box or bag and walk back through the desks, through the crowds of people pushing and shoving to get to the teller and into our vehicle waiting in front.
So I hope this dispels all myths that life in Darfur is somehow exciting and romantic. It’s full of spiders, waiting, guys with guns, nice padded chairs, waiting and piles of money.
I have found during my travels in Africa that banks can be spotted as the cleanest and most modern building in a town. However once again, as soon as I think I have something figured out, Africa once again surprises me and makes me question everything that I have seen and concluded in the past. The bank in Darfur is filled with old desks that are falling apart and cockroaches. So we make our way, past the people through the desks, into the manager’s office and take a seat. The manager’s office has enough room for one enormous desk, a cabinet and the two nice padded chairs that we get the pleasure of sitting in. If the manager needs to leave his office he must squeeze past the cabinet, past us sitting in the chairs and maneuver around the desk to get out the door. Personal space was not considered in this set up. The reason for the long wait could be for various reasons. Sometimes we have come during what they call ‘breakfast’ but most of the time it is because they have run out of money and they have to go and get some more.
My assistant and I usually spend the time catching up on life stuff, work stuff and my teaching session about the culture of Sudan and how Sudanese people think. Other entertaining things can be done like counting the number of spiders that are in your line of vision or making up stories about the holes in the walls or the interesting characters that get to hold the guns. The money does eventually arrive from the central bank in a metal trunk that is ushered by two men through the side door, across the bank and into the back room where the tellers are. Once the money has arrived it takes at least another 45 minutes before you see your share. Our money is dropped on the manager’s desk in a couple of piles about 8 inches tall. We then count the piles and the bundles, put it into a box or bag and walk back through the desks, through the crowds of people pushing and shoving to get to the teller and into our vehicle waiting in front.
So I hope this dispels all myths that life in Darfur is somehow exciting and romantic. It’s full of spiders, waiting, guys with guns, nice padded chairs, waiting and piles of money.
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