It's looking like Christmas!

So... we're doing what we can to get into the holiday season. It may be 45C outside, but with some Bing Crosby and some creative takes on mistletoe and BAM! Instant X-Mas.

We're number 2! We're number 2! (for insecurity... yeah!)

Lovely to be back from R&R. I spent 2 weeks in the Europe eating and drinking all the things. I think I visited every H&M on the continent to replace my wardrobe that has slowly eroded into nothing over the last seven months. Have to be well dressed to face Lakes State's recent promotion to second most insecure area!

When I left RBK there were altercations with the police and wildlife services over cut in pay. Without going into details, the event was a lot worse than what the media makes it out to be (*cough* there is absolutely no suppression of the media here). I've returned to something a bit worse.

Currently it is the season for traditional dancing and gatherings. Which on the surface is really cool. There are a lot of cattle keepers in town, there are a lot of flags and singing and dancing and running and drumming etc etc. But there are also a lot of guns. There have been shootings everyday at schools, on the street, late at night. There have also been a number of break ins to businesses, kidnappings and threats to business owners, and systemic attacks against East Africans and South Sudanese that are not from Lakes (Lakes is also just getting over a malaria epidemic and  MASSIVE floods that displaced an estimated 23,000 people in Awerial County in Lakes).

Next week salaries are released again. There is still no money to pay the armed services their full salaries. We've also been informed that the SPLA may not get their full salaries either - which may make them a bit peeved. They were the only government body to be paid, in full (or at all) since the beginning of austerity measures. This place will be one to watch. 

FORTUNATELY, the Sudanese and South Sudanese executives have agreed on enough to start the oil  flowing again and solve some of the citizenship issues. This will still take 6 months for any revenues, but they will both be eligible for loans. There's also a rumour that the Qataries threw a few hundred million dollars into the pot to help float this place (and promptly decrease the already artificially low exchange rate... sigh...). So I hope everything will calm down a bit and everyone can get paid. What the deal did not do is tough the disputed territories on the borded of the North and South. Nor did it discuss how the North is air dropping arms into Jonglei State, or how the South is turning a blind eye to militias operating openly out of Unity State. But foreign enemies are a nice distraction from the internal issues that both countries face. So I guess they may not want to clean these up too quickly?

 

Long story short. South Sudan. One to watch?

Cows for Schools

I was really happy to read this great initiative from the government of Unity State in South Sudan. They are selling cows to fund school construction. It may not come across as a big deal - selling property or investments to pay for construction projects - but I'm not sure that people outside South Sudan understand the significance of THE COW.

Cows are taken pretty seriously here. Almost everyone is named after a type of cow. Much like the Inuit have hundreds of words of snow, the Dinka and Nuer have hundreds of names for Cows. I myself have 3 Dinka names (and counting!): Allual (Red cow - I got this one when I arrived. I was likely fairly red), Yar (White Cow) and and Akuor (White Cow with a Black Spot over the Eye). Cows are also the economy here. You cannot get married without paying for your wife in cows (where I live... many cows), people measure their wealth in cows, and in some areas people will starve rather than kill a cow for food. A good looking cow can fetch you well over $1000, so 30 cows can go quite far.

South Sudan has one of the lowest literacy rates and school enrollment rates in the world. They are in desperate need of schools (and teachers... and teachers being paid). They're budget also relies very heavily on international donors and the work of aid agencies to provide almost all basic services. With aid budgets shrinking, there is less money for school construction funding by the international community. Moreover donors would like to see the government starting to take responsibility for the costs partially or in full. To be frank, it unfortunately rare to have governments here willing to support footing the bill even partially for projects.

As many know, earlier this year ROSS shut down oil production over borders disputes and transfer fees with Sudan. Now that ROSS has essentially no money -  the Government is enforcing austerity measures. They are cutting the civil service (or just not paying them - ministry staff I work with have not been paid in 2 months), reducing or halting projects etc etc. This leaves the average man, woman, child out in an even more vulnerable spot, with even fewer services.

Which is why I'm pretty impressed with the government in Unity State. I think they are setting a good example for the rest of the country. Well done.

Happy Olympics!

The Olympics have started! Congratulations to Guor Marial! The first athlete to compete in the games for South Sudan in the marathon. Well - under the Olympic Flag. South Sudan doesn't have a national olympic committee yet. But he's still there!

He has a pretty amazing story and he will surely make South Sudan proud.



(and go Canada too!)

End of an era at Juba Airport

Ladies and gentlemen, gone are the days that one can literally lounge in an airport lounge. Juba Airport took lounging seriously, filling the departure area with large, bulky, comfortable (albeit smelly and sticky) sofas accompanied with coffee tables (of course!) arranged around the one airconditioner and television set.

But this is no more.

Juba is a real international airport. In a real new country. Two out of the three baggage scanners work! (the other just gets in the way in the arrivals area... but that is another post for another day)

The lounge is now filled with practical seating for many. The television remains.

In other news, here are two interesting opposing views on pressure groups and South Sudanese independence from Reuters and Foreign Policy.

Happy Birthday South Sudan!!!

Hope you have a lovely day! And you fix your economy!
xox

No sticks, no spears, no fun!

Cueibet County in Lakes State (where I work), has banned sticks, and spears in town. Although I feel people should be able to make their own decisions, spears are pretty common and dangerous.

This isn't all that was banned.

"Malek’s order also banned people from using playing cards, normally under trees, during working hours, making it a prosecutable offence."

No fun city. Next comes dancing and music.