Three things in South Sudan
Relaxed as I lay in bed or sit on the rooftop I'm often confused by the calmness of the surroundings. It's in part due to the easy going nature of my colleagues juxtaposed against the realities of this war-torn country. The odd gunshot in the distance is a punctuating reminder of the reality against this backdrop of relative peace and harmony.
Joanne Lui, MSF International President, was in the project this week and again with credit to our organization receives no special treatment whatsoever. The same living arrangements and security context greeted her on arrival as they did me on mine. One becomes accustomed to the 9pm curfew and being able to only walk on the one street (until 7pm) - and the heavy metal sheets over the windows - and of course the constant threat to one's safety.
Surprisingly to me, she fit in with the team very well indeed. Her warm and jovial side is disarming particularly when compared to the persona often seen on the news and in various video clips. That she is fearless when criticizing heads of state and international organizations is well know. That she is unapologetic in voicing our organization's shared sense of righteous indignation -- equally so. Less known is her easy going nature and her quick delightful sense of humor. More pointedly - Joanne met with the President of South Sudan and said very clearly that abductions of MSF staff in January were unacceptable and can not happen again!!! She was assured that it would be the last time.In fact - he gave his word.
She toured some of the war-torn regions seeing for herself the sharp difference between what is said to be the case by government sponsored media.... and what is actually the case. There are no foreign journalists here any longer and most of those in the local media who have come out against the government have been killed or silenced in some other way. There are a few foreign journalists who have snuck into the country including the one killed yesterday in fighting in the southwest. Wrong place - wrong time. That's the thing you see, most in the world are unaware that the fighting continues unabated given that the underlying tensions remain unchanged. Even less understood, is the fractious nature of the conflict where it is not clear which group is affiliated with which side.... if in fact there are sides.
That is the second point here. I was fortunate to attend two briefing sessions. The first, describing the northeast was 4 hours long whereas the second attempted to explain some of the context surrounding the fighting in southwest. This was an additional 3 hours. Through this I learned about the incredibly disorganized and fractured the situation is. There are more tribes and interests and disputes than I could ever have imagined. The hours spent in no way even scratched the surface of all the varying issues.
The third and final point was the relationship between danger and aid delivery. The people don't give a fuck about the well-being of the aid workers. Locals, fighters onlookers etc.,.. it is simply a matter of life and death for those impacted by the years and years of fighting leading to a complete desensitization of the intrinsic value of human life. In a state of shock I heard of one of our teams in the southwest being taken on Thursday. In my mind I went over what he confrontation must have been like. As the news was delivered to me by the Head of Mission - I could see the strain on her face.. it was a moment where all slows down and realities come like waves onto a beach in a winter storm. One grim reality followed moments later by another. In the end all folks were recovered unharmed and other than the Land Cruiser being stolen... and some communications ..... equipment life goes on. But how to deliver aid to the people who need it when there is not reasonable hope for safety of those providing the aid? It's a tricky and I think depressing reality that will be with the people of South Sudan for a very long time. While you can't see it...I'm shaking my head...sadly and with regret for the state of this wretched part of our world.
Thanks for reading .....Layno!!
Surprisingly to me, she fit in with the team very well indeed. Her warm and jovial side is disarming particularly when compared to the persona often seen on the news and in various video clips. That she is fearless when criticizing heads of state and international organizations is well know. That she is unapologetic in voicing our organization's shared sense of righteous indignation -- equally so. Less known is her easy going nature and her quick delightful sense of humor. More pointedly - Joanne met with the President of South Sudan and said very clearly that abductions of MSF staff in January were unacceptable and can not happen again!!! She was assured that it would be the last time.In fact - he gave his word.
She toured some of the war-torn regions seeing for herself the sharp difference between what is said to be the case by government sponsored media.... and what is actually the case. There are no foreign journalists here any longer and most of those in the local media who have come out against the government have been killed or silenced in some other way. There are a few foreign journalists who have snuck into the country including the one killed yesterday in fighting in the southwest. Wrong place - wrong time. That's the thing you see, most in the world are unaware that the fighting continues unabated given that the underlying tensions remain unchanged. Even less understood, is the fractious nature of the conflict where it is not clear which group is affiliated with which side.... if in fact there are sides.
That is the second point here. I was fortunate to attend two briefing sessions. The first, describing the northeast was 4 hours long whereas the second attempted to explain some of the context surrounding the fighting in southwest. This was an additional 3 hours. Through this I learned about the incredibly disorganized and fractured the situation is. There are more tribes and interests and disputes than I could ever have imagined. The hours spent in no way even scratched the surface of all the varying issues.
The third and final point was the relationship between danger and aid delivery. The people don't give a fuck about the well-being of the aid workers. Locals, fighters onlookers etc.,.. it is simply a matter of life and death for those impacted by the years and years of fighting leading to a complete desensitization of the intrinsic value of human life. In a state of shock I heard of one of our teams in the southwest being taken on Thursday. In my mind I went over what he confrontation must have been like. As the news was delivered to me by the Head of Mission - I could see the strain on her face.. it was a moment where all slows down and realities come like waves onto a beach in a winter storm. One grim reality followed moments later by another. In the end all folks were recovered unharmed and other than the Land Cruiser being stolen... and some communications ..... equipment life goes on. But how to deliver aid to the people who need it when there is not reasonable hope for safety of those providing the aid? It's a tricky and I think depressing reality that will be with the people of South Sudan for a very long time. While you can't see it...I'm shaking my head...sadly and with regret for the state of this wretched part of our world.
Thanks for reading .....Layno!!
No comments:
Post a Comment