The meeting of the Blue and White NILE which is in the middle of Khartoum. This is where I live. The name Khartoum is derived from a meaning of the Elephant trunk which is what people used to think this part of Khartoum looks like.
An interesting compond in the middle of no where.
Look at the contrast between the green areas and the sand
An example of a river in dry season, this river is completly dry!
I am about to start my first leave (holidays) of which I get three while I am in Sudan. As I wait at the Damazin Airport for my plane I meet a woman who is a senior member of the DDR (Demobilization, disarmament and reintegration) team. This program involves having the two military sides of the conflict identify those members of its army that are available for returning to civilian life. Most of these members include older members, injured members, female members and others that are no longer seen by the armies as main battle members. The process is lengthy as each member must be registered, finger printed, educated, enrolled in various programs, given food and money and provided other support services as part of the program. They can process approximately 60 people a day and on average they have about 5,000 people to process per site. I do not have any of these sites in my area so I will not get the chance to participate in this type of activity.
While in Damazin I met the two new German UNMO and the two new AUZ UNPOL who will all be located at my team site and living in the camp with me.
Here’s an interesting thing about some of the cultures I deal with. When we have our picnic with the PAK army we all sit down for lunch (see previous blogs) and they provide fresh clean water and one or two cups. It is their custom that you share the cup with everyone. While I was sitting at the Damazin airport awaiting my flight I noticed a water container (like you would have at the workplace or home with the big jugs of water you tip upside down and place on top) and a glass. Several people came by and filled the glass with water and drank from it and then placed it back on the stand. Then the next person came along and did the same thing. This is something that we would have used/provided paper cups for. I was rather disgusted… Can you imagine sharing a common glass for water at Pearson Airport?
I flew in a twin prop Bulgarian Landin L-410 UVP-E20 (for all my air force friends) to Khartoum.
It was once again amazing to view the Sudan landscape as we flew along the Nile River. There are sparse areas where the land is green and lush with vegetation, especially near Khartoum. There were several large areas of water irrigation and proper farms of vegetables. The amazing part was that these existed right beside vast areas of desert sand and brown ground.
That night (8 Dec) we decorated Canada house for Christmas. We had some wine, set up the Christmas tree and had a Christmas movie playing in the background. We even had some presents placed under the tree.
The next day I left for my trip to Uganda!!
While in Damazin I met the two new German UNMO and the two new AUZ UNPOL who will all be located at my team site and living in the camp with me.
Here’s an interesting thing about some of the cultures I deal with. When we have our picnic with the PAK army we all sit down for lunch (see previous blogs) and they provide fresh clean water and one or two cups. It is their custom that you share the cup with everyone. While I was sitting at the Damazin airport awaiting my flight I noticed a water container (like you would have at the workplace or home with the big jugs of water you tip upside down and place on top) and a glass. Several people came by and filled the glass with water and drank from it and then placed it back on the stand. Then the next person came along and did the same thing. This is something that we would have used/provided paper cups for. I was rather disgusted… Can you imagine sharing a common glass for water at Pearson Airport?
I flew in a twin prop Bulgarian Landin L-410 UVP-E20 (for all my air force friends) to Khartoum.
It was once again amazing to view the Sudan landscape as we flew along the Nile River. There are sparse areas where the land is green and lush with vegetation, especially near Khartoum. There were several large areas of water irrigation and proper farms of vegetables. The amazing part was that these existed right beside vast areas of desert sand and brown ground.
That night (8 Dec) we decorated Canada house for Christmas. We had some wine, set up the Christmas tree and had a Christmas movie playing in the background. We even had some presents placed under the tree.
The next day I left for my trip to Uganda!!
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