When to Stay, When to Go

So I'm back in the thick of it. I've been back from R&R for a week now and it has been crazy busy trying to get my month end done and also just catch up on emails and pending issues. I stayed a couple of days in Khartoum before I came back to Nyala on Friday. It's so good to be home again. The only disappointing thing is that the heat has also returned so dealing with a temperature hovering around 40 is never fun - especially at the beginning. So there will be a lot of groaning and complaining heard until we all adjust.

The general situation here in Darfur is about the same. I think. It's so hard to judge what is the same and what is getting worse. There is this constant discussion withing the NGO community and in our late night conversations about when is enough, enough? Since the middle of December we have suspended work in one of our areas due to security issues. We have been trying to talk to the leaders of the area to come up with an agreement for us to return into the area. It's still in the works as they don't seem to want to agree to some points which makes us not have the security we need to go back in. So you look at that and say it is a smart and logical position to take and stand by it. Then in an area nearby that we are working in there have recently been families arriving from our 'no go' area that have severely malnourished children. We know that this is a direct result of us not being able to distribute food or do water programs in the area. So now how do you look at the situation? There is now a very visible direct result of us putting our safety over that of the communities. Of course the answer is that without security we can't go back in but that decision just became a little harder. The other aspect of the whole thing is that if we do return we undermine the stance that the rest of the NGO's are making by not returning until it is secure.

The other issue that we deal with is the crazy bureaucratic hoops and processes that we have to jump through to stay and move within the country. Instead of the government taking a stance and saying they don't want international organizations they just make the processes for them to actually work and stay in the country so difficult to work within. Not only are there so many steps within any process but they can change at any moment. A few weeks ago they fired and rehired different staff. So that means you have a department full of people that don't know what they are doing - plus they centralized the approval process so that one man approves all papers of all the NGO's in Sudan. As NGO's we are pulling together and trying to create a common voice to fight some of this but we all know we are fighting a loosing battle.

We had our second robbery happen in one month the other day. It was a small incident to what it could have been, but significant enough. Basically both times a group of guys wait along the road with guns and jump out and stop the vehicles. We also travel in a convoy of at least two vehicles and thankfully the second vehicle was able to get away. Our staff lost their cell phones, cash, watches, shoes and even shirts off the guy's back. They didn't take the expensive radio equipment or satellite phone or even the vehicle which tells us they were just looking for quick cash. But these incidences as difficult as they may be are not going to change our work. We will take a different road but because of their pettiness and non life threatening nature it does not stop what we do. But the potential is there and if we don't take action then their actions will continue because there are no consequences. Then you think about all those people that will greatly suffer if we don't return to the area.

I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to all this. Some NGO's have pulled out of Darfur due to insecurity and government restricting papers from being processed but as they step out another NGO fills in their space. So until all NGO's or at least a significant amount pull out at once then there really are no consequences to the actions against relief workers by the government or rebel groups. But then again there is always the other side of this of those that depend on the aid we provide due to the same fighting that may force the NGO's out. But in the midst of this we have a great team out here that have been able to do a great job of assessing situations and being able to make the call to stop movement or to try and open up areas that have been closed. In other words, we keep doing the work that needs to be done and rely on people's prayers to keep us safe.