South Sudan again...what has changed?

The streets of Juba....South Sudan

A busy Juba street with a Doctor's without Borders Land Cruiser  making it's a way along.

This week finds me in South Sudan again and I took this photo just now looking out the window of my room. The first and most shocking thing is definitely the heat. As you make your way to the exit on the plane you know full well that it'll be hot but as the warm air reaches you you think for a moment that it must be a motor running or something that makes that heat. And as you step from the plane it is shockingly hot. It was low 40's as I stepped off the plane and heard later that it had reached 50 north of there. That's an oven setting for heaven's sake. You roast stuff at that temperature!! Braised Layno coming up!

You'll note the almost complete absence of cars in the photo above for good reason. You simply can't get around the city in a car. The ruts are just too deep. Even the mighty Land Cruisers have to gingerly make their way along.

The city is full of plastic bottles. Some attempt to collect them and then burn them giving the city the odor of burning plastic. It's a smell I've come to associate with both Kenya and South Sudan.

As you drive along you see the odd dead dog run over and destined to stay by the roadside until mother mature does her work. And you see a lot of people just sitting. There are no jobs- no activities - no opportunities - no hope for many of these people. In the picture to the left is a woman and child. She sat there all afternoon and evening as her little guy looked around for things to do. Symbolic I thought, of the country and where they are.

I think I mentioned previously that I'm currently reading the book "Why Nations Fail" and have a new-found respect for the institutions I thumbed my nose at as a young rebellious man. The judiciary, the Bicameral legislature and even the Monarchy. Lizzie may be expensive from a dollar and cents perspective but the cost of lack of support for political structures is the absence of economic growth and the basic needs of its citizens. I love being 53 and enjoying the understanding that comes of the world from a lifetime of gathering bits and pieces. I'm not prepared to support societies notion that growing old is an unfortunate reality. Age is a gift that just keeps giving. May we all live forever :)

I'm very pleased to hear that UNMISS is investigating the breach of the POC camp at Malakal, South Sudan. This is good news as it's crucial that our world's peace keepers do the hard work necessary to keep our institutions clean and ever-improving. Why did it take this long to announce the need for an investigation? How long will an investigation take? I take issue with what appears to be a lack of urgency but look forward to a thorough review of the events.

The UN has it tough...I get that.....but when protection of civilians and rape of civilians are terms that can both be used to describe the world's peacekeepers, we indeed have a serious problem. In this case (Malakal) a deficiency in planning and execution of the emergency plan constitutes an egregious and fundamentally unacceptable failure on the part of the UN. I'll be very interested to see the result of the investigation.

Peace in the region is holding for the most part and the future looks to be improving... but it will be a very long time before anything like prosperity finds this part of the world. It's a long road ahead.

Well this beats walking!!!!

These two pics are for my Dad...On my way to a meeting we drove up behind this pickup carrying a camel. I was immediately reminded of one of my Dad's favorite jokes about the camel family. It goes something like this; Did you hear the one about the camel family? The father had 2 humps and was called Henry, the mother 1 hump and was call Hilda. The bay had no humps and was called Humpfree...hahahahhaha. 

I love my Dad for this and the rest of his stupid jokes. It's not the jokes I love but his ability to take something so incredibly stupid and still laugh about it. Thanks Dad!! You 're a decent man... and there are so few of us :)

Thanks reading - Love Layno

PS - well over 5000 reads of my little  blog to date...thank you so much for sharing my adventure!!!

Naivasha's Crater Lake and a little bit of Italy thrown in

Crater Lake in Naivasha

Rocking my new Zumba top.....oh yeah!!!!! But will I dance better? Unlikely

Last week I joined a group hike at Crater Lake, Naivasha. The hike, an hour and a half outside the city, is a great "reset" for the senses. Geographically intense, it also offers up Acacia trees full of 5 kinds of Monkeys and in that little valley behind (we hiked that later) is a veritable cornucopia of Giraffes, Gazelle, Waterbuck, Buffalo, Zebra etc. Special about this hike is walking among the animals. With the exception of the Buffalo and cats, it's safe to get close to the animals as they coexist in this little park/not a park. The buffalo scare the shit out of me and the cats are generally not to be seen and anyways - have plenty to eat other than people. People would be easy to catch I'm guessing though...hmmmm

A big male Baboon thinks about pork for dinner..."when did I last have ribs"? I once had Ribs with my friend Mary that were absolutely to Die for!!

 

The Italian Job!

 

It was  super sunny that's why I squint.....oh and the fact it makes me
look more like Clint Eastwood. A little...around the eyes?
Does Clint do Zumba??

On the way to Crater Lake, the road travels north out of Nairobi via a teeth shaking, kidney torturing excuse for a highway that ultimately turns west and down off the Great Rift Valley shelf. It is very much like the Niagara escarpment I have thought though a bit warmer and with less potholes. Torontonians may beg to differ.

What is uniquely different though, is the road was built by Italians prisoners of war in 1942. I imagine that you if you're going to be a POW this was not a bad place to be!!! The road is steep and has stood the test of time, a testament to the quality work done when constructing. And speaking of testaments, once you reach the valley floor a small chapel sits beside the road that also was built by the POW's. The British must have found a bit of compassion in their frosty souls allowing their fascist friends the chance to bring a sense of shared spirituality to this remote little place. As I walk around the property, I marveled at the terraces and brick work that leave no doubt of the architects and builders,. Pausing for a moment I can imagine elderly Italian men and women puttering about the place well after the POW's were repatriated to Italy. Many Italians stayed in this little valley taking up farming and Kenyan wives or husbands. The church continues to be in use as a spiritual gathering place as well as many weddings and end of life celebrations. A great description and fascinating comment section can be found at the blog link: The Church Tony Built

From that blog I(The church that Tony built)  learned more about the inside walls that are covered with Latin which reads, Venite Ad Memone (Come to me my people), Haec Est Victoria Quae Vincit Mundum Fides Mustra (This is the victory that has won the world by our faith), Benedicite Coeli Domino Benedicite (Blessed be the sky and blessed again) and finally Universa Germinatia In Terra Domino, which translates to, everything will germinate in the sky and also on the earth.( Source EA Standard)

The picture behind the altar is of baby Jesus and his parents Mary and Joseph surrounded by the angels drawn in early 1943 by Navitatis NDJC. The drawing symbolizes the victory achieved by the religion across the world.

 

Flowers from Naivasha

 

I do need to take moment and talk again about the flowers of Naivasha. The lake is surrounded by greenhouses full of these beautiful flowers. Roses grow with seeming unbridled enthusiasm  and I'm amazed that unlike Canada where Rose blossoms are a summer treat, the one in front of my office as example, has been blooming continuously since my arrival. They are easily one of my top 5 flowers along with Hyacinths, Bougainvillea, Tulips and Lilacs. I really do appreciate Mother Nature's Bouquet.  And here in Nairobi, they are a constant source of joy for me as cut flowers are cheap and plentiful. Twice weekly I visit Corrier outside Valley Arcade Plaza for another bunch of roses or something else similarly beautiful at about $2 per bunch. Of course they are seconds and don't last long but really beautiful with so many colors and sizes to chose from. A few hours in the sun on the back of a Boda Boda (below)  ....and maybe they don't last long I really enjoy the smell of fresh flowers filing the room when you come home at the end of the day.

I think Clint Eastwood is a big fan of flowers as well.

Lastly...I have discovered Simsim and Custard Apples this week. The Simsim are simply peanuts, sesame seeds and sugar in a golf ball shaped food unit that I am now happily addicted to. And the custard Apple is a culinary treasure I bought from a hawker while in a omnipresent traffic jam on Mombassa road. You treat is like an Avocado - that is to say that you leave it out until it is soft but then eat it a bit like a cocoa pod. It tastes just like custard. I did notice that the fruit is only good for about 2 days. Before its too hard and after getting brown and losing flavor.     

Thanks for reading - Layno