Christmas is a time for giving not for coups

As some of you have seen there was an attempted coup in South Sudan beginning last Sunday in Juba. As luck would have it, I was in Juba attending a World Food Program workshop. I was planning on returning to Torit on Monday morning until I received word that there had been sporadic gunfire in the city overnight and the US embassy and the UN were on lockdown. 

I did not think much of the situation until I went to breakfast on Monday and began to hear explosions which I learned were from the tanks shelling buildings near our hotel. Then around 9am we started to hear automatic gun fire but it was still fairly far away.  I was in the hotel with some of our US based staff and we were able to discuss the situation. 

The vivacell (cell phone company) lines were cut by the government to limit rebel movement but my MTN phone and internet still worked all day. Since I had some means of communication I called home and let them know that I was fine and would keep them informed.

Around 5pm President Kiir made a statement regarding the situation and said that the former Vice President and his followers had tried to take over the government but President Kiir was in control of the government.

The shootings continued through the night and when I woke on Tuesday the fighting was closer then on Monday. After breakfast the shooting was so close I thought the fighting was on the next street.  My co-worker took this picture from his hotel window.

On Tuesday night President Kiir once again made a statement explaining the situation. He said that the military had been arresting former ministers who were behind the coup and that the airport would be open on Wednesday.

I had thought that since the airport would be re-opening on Wednesday that I would just take my scheduled Friday flight but that changed. On Wednesday morning I found out that the US embassy had suggested that all non-essential Americans leave South Sudan. Due to this announcement my company decided to evacuate all expats from the country.

I had a choice of taking the plane that the US embassy was arranging for any interested Americans or take the flight that my company was arranging. I chose to take the flight my company was arranging for numerous reasons.

My flight was arranged for Thursday morning.  We arrived at the airport at 8am, our charter plane landed at 9:30am, we finally cleared immigration and security at noon.

 When we went out to walk to our plane another plane was landing. When it landed one of the front tires blew then as it continued to move forward the landing gear on the nose collapsed and fell.

The plane was about 3/4 of the way down the runway so we were hoping that our small plane would still be able to take off. Our pilot went and determined how much room was left on the runway and determined that there was enough room. We got lucky and were able to take off.

After we loaded our bags and boarded the plane I began to feel like the end of a long experience maybe near. Once the plane left the ground the whole plane cheered.

We landed in Uganda an 1.5 hours later and left the airport for a few hours. At 11:30pm I took off for Amsterdam. That began the next leg of my trip home. I made it home on Friday night at 10pm. In total I travelled for about 48 hours and was very happy to be home.

My thoughts and prayers go out to my friends and co-workers in South Sudan. During times of conflict it seems as if the innocent are the ones who are harmed the most. My wish for the New Year is for peace and forgiveness in the country.

Trip to Ghana

I took a short R&R vacation to Ghana at the end of October.  It was amazing to see how much Ghana has changed in the 14 months since I left.

As I flew in to Accra at night it was nice change from Juba to see that the whole city had electricity, I was so excited to be spending 6 days there without the sound of a generator and with running water.

While I did not have a visa prior to leaving for Ghana, getting a visa on arrival took no time at all.  I filled out the application at the airport and 15 minutes later I had my visa and I was out of the airport.  I never got out of the airport that fast when I had a residency permit.

I went to the taxi area and negotiated a rate to go to Labone and just sat back to see what had changed since I had left.  Between the airport and the Holiday Inn there is a new high rise mall (which I did not go to) and a few new high rises.

It was great to get to Labone and see that the area looked pretty much the same.  It was also nice to have ridden on paved roads. I remember that when I lived in Ghana how we used to complain about how bad the roads were.  I can now say that their roads are like heaven compared to the roads in South Sudan.

The next morning at around 6:30am Ben and Sam came into my room to make sure that I was really that I had really arrived.  I wondered if they would remember who I was since Ben was only 3 and Sam was only a little over 1 when left but they did remember me and they were my little shadows for the whole time I was there.  On Friday the kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes for school and I rode with them to drop them off.  They wanted to show me their classrooms and their teachers.  It was so nice to see how excited they were to go to school.

I spent Friday going around Accra and Osu seeing old friends.  I stopped by the Peace Corps office but everyone was in a meeting so I only got to talk to Perpetua.  In Osu I went to see Georgina at the silver store and it was like I had never left.  She said that she was glad that I came in to see her and she wanted to know everything that I had been doing since I left.  It was like sitting down your grandmother and just what I needed.

On Saturday Gladys came in from Krobo and we spent the day in the pool and then we went to an Octoberfest party at the old Ryan's Irish Pub.  On Sunday we again played in the pool and watched the partial solar eclipse and had a great barbecue.


I was scheduled to fly out on Tuesday but before I left I wanted to go to Krobo.  Before I left for Krobo I went with the kids to school to say goodbye and they asked if I would come back to visit.  I said I would and then gave me big hugs.  I said I would Skype them around Christmas time. I took a tro-tro and surprised my friends there.  It was nice to see all of them and they were so happy to see me again.  While I told them that I would be back I don't think that any of them expected me to come back so soon.  A lot of them asked what I was doing and how things in South Sudan compare to Ghana but I told them that it was hard to compare.

The trip was way too short and I did not get to see everyone that I wanted to it was a trip that I wanted to take to recharge myself after being in South Sudan for 6 months.  I left Ghana feeling relaxed and ready to face the 2 months before I leave for the holiday break.

New Pictures

Well I have finally gotten around to post the pictures from the agriculture show and from my trip to Ghana.

Now if I can just sit down and write about the experiences.. . . maybe this weekend?

5 Months in South Sudan

It is hard to believe that I have been in South Sudan for five months.  There are some days (many recently) when I don't know if I will make it another day and then I have other days when things seem to go smoothly and the lines of communication and work move properly.

As with moving any place new it does take some time to feel like you have settled in and I am still not sure that I have gotten to that point.  This is a difficult place to settle into, there are not many places where you can go to just get away.  While there is potential for tourism, it is still many years away from that point.  Although I could almost see the next season of survivor being filmed here.

Now that a new fiscal year is starting and my project is in the preparation stages for the next planting season, I feel like I understand what I am doing a little better.  I also feel like I understand more about the different theories in the development field from seeing what some of the results of the programs.

I now understand why those in the development field need their R&R breaks.  Working in the field is truly working 7 days a week, even if the contract does not say it.  At the same time, when you are in the field there is no down time so you need the R&R break just to get away and rest, like anyone in the West would do on the weekend.

The next few months will be interesting as the hot season begins and as usual more things start to break here from the extra heat and use.

I hope that everyone at home is enjoying the cooler temperatures and the changing leaves.

Things From America that Should Never Have Been Exported

As I have been traveling around the last few years I have noticed two trends that I know started in the US and have made there way to other countries. Now I know that I am not one to keep up with the latest in fashion and that since I have left my twenties behind some of the trends that I see on television have left me speechless (Miley Cyrus and the fascination with the Kardashians) but I feel an urge to list some the trends that I have seen lately that should have stayed in the US.

1. Pants worn so low on Men that you can see their underpants. I don't care how good looking you think you are no one anywhere in the world wants to see your trousers and in some cultures it is very disrespectful.  Unfortunately this trend has made it across the Atlantic to Africa where the young men think that wearing their pants like this makes them look like rich rap stars!
2. Baseball hats worn backwards.  If you need to wear a hat then the bill of the hat should be pointed forward otherwise what good is it doing?

Please feel free to let me know if there are any other new trends that I should be on the look out for here.  I am happy to say that Twerking or whatever that is has not made its way here but I am sure that it is just a matter of time.

I can finally cook in my house!!!!!

Who would have thought that having a propane canister could make me so happy.  Yes it is the little things in life when you are living in a slowly developing country that makes all the difference.

Yesterday my propane tank with regulator arrived and I was able to cook my first dinner in my house.  I made my usual "African Pasta" and it has never tasted so good.  You can't go wrong with fresh organic tomatoes, fresh green peppers, garlic, corn and onions sauted in extra virgin olive oil and put over penne pasta.  While I know that the parmasan cheese that I put over the dish was not of the best quality, beggers here can't be choosers. 

On my way back from Juba next week I will buy some egg plant, avacados and any other veggies that I want to cook with and eat until I can't stand myself. Oh how I like living in the house rather than the hotel.

Now that I have access to real milk I can even make some alfredo sauce.  Oh how my world is opening up to me.  I may even gain some of the weight that I have lost due to not eating enough.

I can't wait to cook, who knows I may even get the electrican to put in an outlet and use the oven.  Oh wait I don't bake.

Market Day

So today was my first day to really explore the market by myself and now I feel so much better about being here.  It is strange how just spending 1 hour in a traditional African Market can make me feel right at home.  It must be that I enjoy being out with the local people and not being driven around and kept away from everyone.

I had my driver drop me off this morning after my house keeper finished cleaning the house,  the driver went and had the oil checked on the truck and said that he would call when he was finished.  I then started wandering to where the vegetables are sold.

To get to the veggie section you have to walk through people selling various plastic pitchers and bowls, metal pans and some traditional things.  I eventually got to the bulk bean section (which since I still have no propane tank I did not buy) I walked past but I have to admit the cow peas looked really good as did some of the others.  I will be making some bean burgers in the future while here.

I then got to the veggie section and today was a good veggie day! There were lots of sellers with lots of great looking produce.  I had my choice of good tomatoes, cabbage some carrots, apples, melons, pineapple and oranges.  I  was able to buy enough to last most of the week and I think that I paid less than 10 USD and it is all organic.

I then kept walking just to see what else was in the veggie section and I came across women selling fresh bread (which I had to buy) and some various sandwich type items.  I bought a couple just to try, when in Rome right.  One was the fresh bread stuffed with Irish potatoes which was great, I could have eaten three!  The other was the fresh bread stuffed with a scrambled egg thing.  I thought about eating it after I bought it but then saw how much oil it had and decided to give it to my driver for his lunch.  He is used to the oil where my stomach is not.  The sandwiches were 0.25 USD each,  I really don't know how these market ladies are making any money selling them.

I finished my shopping and then found the Coke wholesaler and he had received his shipment last week so I was able to buy 2 crates of Coke for the house and a box of bottled water just in case I run out of the big bottles.

By the time I finished all of my shopping my driver was back from getting more oil put into the truck (the place did not fill it up when we had the oil changed last week) and the only place left to go was to the chicken place (for a whole cooked roasted chicken) and to get phone units.

While I was in the market I ran into two other Kawadjas (white people).  These ladies came up to me and introduced themselves since they had not seen me in the market before.  It is an unwritten rule that when you see another white person, you stop and talk to them here.  They are missionaries and living like I did while in the Peace Corps.  I told them that I would see them around after I was settled in more at the house.  It is nice to see other people from the US every now and then.

I think that the more I go to the market the more I will feel a part of the community.  I did see some of the people that I work with at the Ministry and they stopped and talked to me so the funk that I was in living in the hotel is lifting all due to a trip to a market.