Uganda here I come

A Village from the Air....


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!!

WARNING!!

Ok folks, I got "spoken to" today. Please DO NOT send things in bottles that look like ALCOHOL bottles!! Especially if it IS alcohol!!! Due to the operation in Afghanistan Canada Post scans/x-rays all care packages looking for contraband. It is ILLEGAL to send alcohol by mail as it is considered (ready for this...) an explosive!

I had a package opened by Canada post within the last couple days, they found alcohol (including mini bottles) (psst I would of liked that! LOL) and they confiscated all of it. They also file a report to my HQ and my HQ notifies my boss here and I get spoken too. The best part is they know that we can not control what others send...so I really can't get in trouble.

Remember they will open any package that has something that looks like alcohol in it. SO be careful... You can get in trouble if Canada post decides to follow up on it.

And remember, I do have beer and some wine at my village.

Thanks again!

Mike

DVD's

If anyone has DVD's (good ones / newer ones) that they no longer want please send them to Canada House as we have a collection here that we share and sign out amongst all of the Canadian UNMO's and permanent staff.

The videos are a great morale boost as the team members can grab about 20 and take it to their team site and then exchange it next time that they are back at Canada House in Khartoum.

To mail them send them to:

Canada House / NSE Staff
OP SAFARI/OP SATURN
PO Box 5225 STN Forces
Belleville, ON K8N 5W6

Leave a note inside saying " For Canada House"

Heads up

If you are sending me stuff through the mail please be careful NOT to mark anything as (or recognized as) a charity item, ensure all listed items are for my personal use....

Sports Items - Is fine

Sports balls for school kids - is NOT fine

We can not overload the military system with charitable items. Still send stuff if you are, just be cautious about the label...

Thanks again!

I am presently in DAMAZIN awaiting my flight to KHARTOUM and back to Canada House. I have also found out that I will be attending a course in Khartoum as soon as I arrive back from my Vacation to Uganda. This is a CIMIC course for three days.

It means 3 extra days away from Kurmuk and living at Canada House. It also turns out that I actually get paid extra to take the course... Hmmm In Canada we just get assigned to the course there is never any "bonus" for being there...

I am looking forward to the course as I am trying to increase and re-develop the cooperation between the military and the NGO's in the Kurmuk region. I have already increased the info sharing and it is proving to be somewhat beneficial to the villages as their problem and concerns are now being passed directly to the organization that can help. Those organizations are becoming very thankful for us because we are becoming their eyes and ears for villages that are way to far for the NGO to drive to just to see if there are any problems.

Essentially the NGO would have to visit a bunch of villages then return to their HQ. They would have to make a plan, get supplies and then go back to the villages. Now they can receive a basic report from us and then gather the supplies and head directly to the village and assist with their needs.

I do hope it establishes a better and more effective working and sharing relationship for the future.

I have blisters on my hands today. Yesterday I started to plant a garden at the team site. With the assistance of some of our workers I was able to design an area, break up the ground and remove some large rocks. The workers are very interested. They appreciated the seeds that came from Canada (thanks mom!) We will have Lettuce, Peas, Beans, Corn, Carrots and herbs. So there is another item if you want to send stuff... I will give any extra seeds directly to the workers inside the camp so they can use at their houses (Tukuls).


I will most likely NOT have Internet access in Uganda so I will not be reporting anything until I return which is on 13 Dec 09. I will be located in Khartoum for the CIMIC course which means that I will have great Internet so I can post the pictures that I will take while in Uganda.

Once again, thanks for reading my post!

Final update as I prep for Uganda

I'm showing off my new gifts from Rob and Reagan.




A Christmas card I received from Michelle - an unknown Canadian Girl.....



Me and my Wheels!



Taking notes and grid ref at a local voter registration centre. We are monitoring the security and safety of the registration process.




Once again, my pet chicken. I also have video of her... she gets chatty when I feed her.

Thank You Day

Thank you day

Well today here was like Christmas but early. So I was happy to have my two gold bags arrive today and I was rather surprised to see what I had inside.

I was humbled to find that I was a recipient of the Canadian Forces Christmas Card program. I received in my bag 7 Christmas cards addressed to: “Any Canadian Forces Member – OP Safari”.

The cards were from various Canadians who wanted to share their appreciation for the Canadian Forces personnel who were serving THEIR country overseas and would not be with their own families for Christmas. Let me share with you:

Neil and Adel Volk from BC – Hand wrote a special holiday letter from Campbell River explaining how they celebrate Christmas, what their plans are for this year and the fact that they always think of Canadians that are not going to be home this season. They also asked if they could borrow my cook to help with their dinner as Adel is dreading cooking for her whole family once again…LOL They often go to the various neighbors houses and sing Christmas carols, although out of tune LOL

A letter from Clair from, I assume Calgary, who’s 22 y/o son was the one that tol here about all the CF members overseas and she felt so enriched that the young generation of Canadians back our forces that she should too. She had moved to Canada as a child and now she says she is so proud to sing our National Anthem. She speaks of a recent hockey game with the Flames and during the opening ceremonies they put a video up showing all the Canadians overseas. She says even the players were taken back by it all. Then the national anthem played and she said it was the loudest she has ever heard it in the arena. Thanks Clair from Calgary… and I agree GO FLAMES!!!

A letter and card from Sarah Heather of Brooks Alberta. A great Christmas card and wonderful wishes. I am assuming that Sarah is in University. She writes how she worked for an NGO (Non-Government Organization) in South Sudan in a town that I haven’t heard of but will be looking up. She tells of how she lived in a Tukul with no electricity and no water. She tells of how an 8 y/o boy adopted her and became her security guard. She taught him English as he “protected” her. She is presently with Beta Sigma Phi. Thanks Sarah.

Richard Dyalsingh from Toronto passed on his best wishes and also included a religious proverb on a small pocket card. Thanks Richard.

Esther Franklin from Cornwall Ontario sent a Christmas card and some religious writings and blessings to help a soldier get through the holidays without their family. Thanks Esther.

The next two made me feel…… well ya. I received a Yellow Christmas card from someone that I figure is about 4-6 year old. Inside it says “Hope, Peace, Wonder, Joy” written on yellow construction paper with green crayon. No name was left L… But It will be posted in my office tomorrow.

The second was a green construction paper card. This is a snowman card from Michelle who I figure is about 6-7 years old. Thanks Michelle!!

Neither one had a return address nor and envelope. I wish they did. For all of the other cards most had an email address or a mailing address so I will respond to all of them. I think it’s my duty to let these kind people know that their card made it to the troops and that it was appreciated!

I also need to thank some others……

Rob Johnstone and his 4 y/o daughter Reagan. Thanks Rob for the great food, the magazines and the shirt. I have posted a pic of it. Reagan wanted to help her dad prepare a package for me so Rob took it upon himself to educate her on Africa and what I am doing here. One of her family members is in the army and is going back to Afghanistan for the 4th time (Best Wishes!) and the kids only know that Canadians go to fight because of that. So Rob educated Reagan on what we as Canadians are best known for “PEACEKEEPING”. Reagan learned so much from Rob that she included in the package her toy “little pony”…. I was shocked… how many 4 y/o’s would give up a toy for another child overseas. She wants me to give it to a little girl here…so now I have a project, as I will not simply just give it to anyone! J LOL Reagan also knows that the people in Africa are very hungry..LOL (Inside story) Yes Rob I LAUGHED and Cried!!!!

Just a quick story about Rob and Reagan. They were visiting the armouries the other day and Reagan had just learned about Remembrance day at school. While at the armouries this little 4 year old caught the attention of a few of the forces personnel and began to sing (all by herself) the entire National Anthem!!! Way to go Rob!!! Reagan also sent me a beautiful card with pictures, a real maple leaf and writing. It’s now up on my wall.

My Aunt Marg and Uncle Paul – Thanks for the gift box and the going away card. The card, combined with the Weiss’ bought me the accessories to the new IPod that I was given from my friends in the military. The pencil crayons will be given out on my next patrol to the school teacher. I am sure they will be appreciated. The Christmas meal items will come in handy! Who says you can’t have Turkey, Ham, Potatoes, veggies and stuffing in the middle of Africa!!! I can’t wait.

The Weiss’, again thanks for the great card and gift. I used it to buy the accessories for my IPod. It comes in very handy!

To the folks from 166, 110 and 25 fd. Thanks again for the going away party and of course the IPod! Jeff it has come in so handy. I now have my tunes playing while I am trekking across the African safari looking for the next village that I am visiting. It helps the time go by and it’s nice to hear my music from home.

My friends from the dt area, Byzanthium night was great...from what I remember! LOL

To my office mates form Toronto EMS – I did as I said and I have the talking card on my bed stand. When I need a good laugh and a smile I just open it up. Thanks again!!

Sharon, Thanks again for the little note book. I never thought I would use it however from the point of my first flight being delayed until I reached my team site I used it to track my memories and thoughts. It was a great diary that fit perfectly in my pocket and made updating the blog a great deal easier.

Angela, it’s been too warm, ok I mean its friggen HOT!! To wear the shirt you got for me, however it will be packed for my trip to Europe! Thanks again!

Todd, many many thanks for the two books on Sudan and Darfur and the card. The books were all I had to pass the time away. They were a great stress relief as no matter how bad my day was or how delayed I was Nothing (I mean NOTHING) could compare to what those boys of Sudan could have gone through. Every day when I am on patrol the stories from that book go through my mind. Thanks for giving me more of an appreciation for this country and the HELL that they have gone through. And thanks for being there when I need to hear a familiar voice back home.

Rich Lim, Thanks again from me and ALL of my team site for the 250GB of movies you loaded for me. I have only watched about 1/5 so far. Thanks again! It helps pass the time.
Thomas Nguyen I can thank enough for all of the advice (as he just returned from Sudan) and for all of the accessories that he had left me. If it wasn’t for him I would have either starved or spent a great deal of money. Thanks again…see you soon Sir.

Today I visited another village that once again has nothing. But somehow they survive. To get water they walk over one hour to a river where there is a hand pump. And then it’s an hour back to the village with the weight of the water. To get medical service or to shop at a market it’s an hour and a half walk. The kids walk an hour and 15 min to get to school. The kids here didn’t have much and they were polite and curious. I asked the village elder if the children of the village could use a soccer (football) ball. My language assistant looked at me like I was making a joke. I asked him to translate and said maybe I have one that can be shared by all of the kids. The smiles were priceless. I go to my vehicle and had my partner inflate a soccer ball for the village. The kids loved it. I had seen one older child asking my other partner for his pen.

There is such a desire for education here. They have no pens or books. I was happy to also give the village elder a handful of the golf pencils that I bought at Staples.

It is amazing that the little things that we take for granted can mean so much to others that are in need. The soccer balls are the greatest hit and I picked them up at Zellers for $4.50 each. I deflated them and shipped a box of 7 to myself. The PAK Army Capt was amazed and thought I had received them from our HQ in Khartoum. When I told him that it was a gift from Canada and that it was the least I could do for a village he was shocked and shook my hand.

I cannot forget my Mom and Dad. If it wasn’t for them I would be starving here and have nothing at all. Their packages are great and it’s always like Christmas when they arrive. My workmates laugh at me, they know if the gold bags arrive Mike will disappear for about an hour or two. But they are also happy because I normally bring treats into the office the next day. I can’t thank them enough! Even the imple phone calls home are always great. Can’t wait to see my Mother in Europe…our first vacation together in YEARSSSSS!!!!!

I'm off to bed..... Night all....

Stuff

In with all my parcels I also received

The Cape Breton Post news paper
The Ottawa Citizen News paper
Toronto Life
Rolling Stone Mag
SCUBA Diving Mag
World of Wheels
McClains Mag
Hockey News
Muscle Mag

Thanks to the CF and Rob J!

If you are sending me things and want to include something for the childern that I see everyday here are some ideas:
Small pencils (Stables)
Small Paper pads
Soccer Balls - deflated (Zellers $4)
Hard Candy individually wrapped
Canada Frizbie - (Dollar store)
Kids Bubbles (put in a zip lock)

I will include Pics tomorrow... Internet is extremely slow today...

Mike

The Monitoring and Verification

I received permission to show these...

This is the Monitoring and Verification (M&V) that we do. We line the troops up. Get them in order of the names on the roll call...




They each have an ID card, we verify who they are, confirm their number and confirm the spelling of their name

At times we also verify their weapons, tanks and ammo.... not today...

Local women.... Everything is carried on the head, this is learned from an early age

SAMA

The Village of SAMA



More Tukuls


This is our PAK Picnic! Love it, Spicy Chicken



My friend LCOL Freddy LOZA from Bolivia





The main mode of transport for the locals

I wasn't quite sure if they were teasing me when they said follow this road and be sure to turn right at the TANKS! I guess it was true... any guesses on the type of tank? It's most likely Russian - I'm thinking T-55, T-72

The great people of SAMA

The first Soccer ball I have given out... great for the kids...

An insite to UNMO work;

The area is very hot and dry. There is a constant wind. I have arrived in winter which is also the dry season. I have been here 5 weeks and have never seen a drop of rain. The village/town that I am located is very small and does not have much to offer. Most villages / towns are judged in size by their market and availability of items. The market here has some onions, small tomatoes, potatoes, pasta and bread. You can also by 500ml coke/Pepsi, some interesting juices, bottled water and buns. That is all. Not much more.

I have food shipped in from home and I place orders for frozen chicken and eggs from the sector headquarters – it comes in by chopper 3 times a week.

I have been assigned two positions here (most are assigned one). I was warned many times prior to coming here that English speaking and Europeans are the hardest workers and are often given other peoples extra work that they do not want to do. Things are definitely not equal here. The work ethics of some of the countries are quite interesting. Even when they have a job or task to do it will be done at a pace that is unbelievable.

So presently (because of vacations) I am the G2 – Intelligence Officer and the G5 – Civil-Military Cooperation Officer. On top of these jobs I still go out on Patrol as either a member or a patrol leader. The G2 job incorporates analyzing data, patrol reports, media reports and making assessments and recommendations. I also look at the upcoming weeks patrols (we get assigned 7 days of patrols every Friday) and analyze the security situation of the patrol area, the mine fields and the village itself.

The G5 job is very interesting. I work as the go-between military and civilian groups including the multiple NGO (Non-government organizations) and civil authorities. Once again I analyze the patrol reports and share information, plan group or team activities and recommend to higher which villages we should visit again.

Our two main focuses right now have been the Monitoring and Verification of armed groups (M&V) and Election Assistance. The M&V is done in cooperation with both armies of which we sit right in between. We verify the number of troops, weapons (small arms and tanks) and ammunition. Our second focus is assisting the Electoral Assistance. This country preparing to hold its first democratic election in over 25 years. There has already been censes which was contested by South Sudan. Now we are preparing for the national, regional and local level elections which are to take place in April 2010.

This election is an incredible task that has the assistance of over 60 countries. You can imagine the task of getting information out to people who live in villages with out hydro, roads and with people that can’t read or write. The population has been trying to register over the past month and it has been a difficult task. The next task will be actually running the first democratic election and being able to run it in such a way to prevent anyone from contesting it. This will rove to be an incredible feat. I am not sure what our/my role will be in that. Presently we will conduct a patrol to a village and gain info on how the registration went and whether there were any problems.

Once this election is over the country must hold a referendum with in 12 months as part of the UN agreement. This referendum will have the people of Sudan decided if they want to separate North Sudan from South Sudan or have one unified Sudan. The separation would most likely be across the 1-1-56 line. Even this line, which was created by the British in 1955 is contested and has not been mapped out.

Presently the village that I am in is controlled by the South Sudan Army – The Sudan People’s Liberation Army which according to the UN Comprehensive Peace Agreement is supposed to have ALL of its troops south of the 1-1-56 line. I am presently in the Blue Nile State which is above the 1-1-56 line. This state along with 3 others are contested land and both armies want it.

So other then that I perform about 3-5 patrols per week. These patrols consist of visiting a village or an army camp to gather information, solve problems or pass on information. The patrols consist of short range (<50kms),>100kms – two days) or Air Patrol. We have an armed escort for all of these patrols as I am an unarmed peacekeeper.

On days when I am not on patrol I am in the office checking emails, preparing briefs and preparing for the next patrol.

Days here start at 0810am, we hve lunch at 1:30, a briefing at 2:30 then its your time until final radio check at 6:00pm at which time you are 100% on your own time. Fridays are the only day where we have no offical patrol other then 50min in our own village. Fridays we do training and car maint.


Just an insite.......

Patrol Leader

Patrol Leader

Today we were heading to a village called NAXILA which was by GPS straight line 49 kms from our camp. I was offered two ways to get there as I was the Patrol Leader. The one direction was a much longer road route but had better roads and the second was a straight line route that had worse but usable roads. Oh forgot to mention the straight light route was mined. So I consulted 2 of my colleagues and they both agreed that the straight route would be the best and that it had been cleared of mines.

The PAK army suggested the other route as being a much better and faster route. So I followed my colleagues advice (they had been here over 10 months) and chose the most direct route. Within 20min of leaving town we came into a mined area!! We were safe; the local Mine removal company (Rotal?) was busy working in the area. There were hundreds of rocks painted half white and half red. As long as you were on the white side you were ok! We were! It was really surreal to see. I read yesterday that they will clear an average of 11m2 in 6 hours. They only work from 0630am (first light) until 1200noon as it gets way too hot wearing a fully explosion proof suit and poking at the ground waiting for a BANG! There is a job you could NOT pay me enough to do. I will try to get some picks of this area over the next couple days.

As we carried on I couldn’t help to look out the window and every once in a while notice a hidden marker to show where an unsafe area was located. When we stopped for a pee break we didn’t step off the road, not even an inch!!
The drive was definitely long and difficult. One man we passed said no vehicles had been on this road since last season. This was a lie because one of our patrols got lost here 2 weeks ago LOL. Around 1330pm we finally reached our village. Ummm did ya catch the math? 54 kms = 4 hours. What a trip!

The village was small. I was the team leader so that meant that I would conduct the interview and make a report at the end. I combined two interviews I performed a village profile and an electoral process questionnaire. Because we were so late getting to the village we had already decided that the interview had to be quick so that we could have our picnic and get back to base by 1800hrs (UN SOP’s). My interview lasted 13min and all of my questions were quickly and accurately answered. My language assistant appreciated the fact that he didn’t have to figure out what I was asking before he translated it which is something he has to do with most of my workmates as English is neither their strong point nor their native tongue.
Speaking of which 3 of my teams mates had never spoken English until 6 months ago when they attended the Military English Training School at CFB BORDEN, Ontario!!! They loved it there. Except most of the Africans were a little shocked when they arrive there in Dec and had to live 4 months in the SNOW!!!!
So with the interview done we headed home but on the other route. We stopped quickly for our picnic lunch (again curried chicken) and prayer (several Muslims) and then headed off. Before we could leave several children approached us. They were from the nomad tribe FIGULI. I managed to take a few pictures. Note their wearing traditional outfits, all but one. They wear this as their daily dress. They looked so pretty. Some had many bracelets of metal. We gave them some of our leftover food as we left.
The route home was faster, safer and we could get the car up to 50kms at times. I took some pictures of some of the mountains. Notice they are made of boulders. The weird part is some of these boulders are perched on top of other boulders on the top of the hill. It was awesome to see.

A long day and I am tired. Have a good night.

More info

Mom, Don't look at this one....

Can you find my state? BTW NO UN people have ever been hurt by land mines!!

NAZILA village these are the standard Tukul.

This is the local school in MAYAK....

Our standard PAK Army Picnic....



It was amazing to see some of the mountians and how they were formed by boulders and how some of these boulders exist on the top of the mountian and seem as if they have been perched there and are balanced.



The cheif of NAZILA (in white)




Women do most of (if not all of) the hard labour in Sudan. They also are trained from a very young age to balance things on their head.




These girls approached us while we were having lunch. They are from a nomad tribe call the FULANI tribe. I found it interesting thet they were dressed in a traditional outfit (all but one). They wear this as their regular clothes.

We gave them some food and sweets... BTW I am running out of sweets (I only had one bag of Worthers Originals)......

Pics

This is our camp pet chicken. She has produced eggs in the past. Every once in a while we get worried because we wont see her for 2-3 days. With all of the wild animals around here we think she may have been eaten, then she re-appears a day or two later. Yes Todd she is real.



If a patrol runs over the lunch hour (most do) the PAK Army that is with us insists that we stop and take a break. So we find shade and the army spreads out a large tarp, we all wash our hands and then we sit in a row cross legged and have a PICNIC!!!! It's always curried chicken and flat bread an some apples. It's GREAT! and SPICY!

What an awesome tree we found......

Pics

These piles of rocks and gravel were gathered by the local population of Khor HASSAN to build a school with. An NGO told them that they would be back to provide cement and assistance. So the village cleared a huge area and collected ll the materials....... no NGO ever came back... I am looking into this one...





All roads here support ONE vehicle (no room to pass), however on these roads are bikes, trucks, motorcycles, people, goats, cows and donkeys. UN Cars have the right of way most of the time. This traffic jam was us verses goats!



This is a good bye pic at our team site. In it is UNMO's and UNPOL (UN Police). Can you name all of the uniformed countries here? The guys in civilian clothes are leaving for holidays right after this pic. Most of these guys (other then me) live in one house in town.




The final parade for our friend a Major in the Russian Navy, guy on the left.




Many, many lizzards and gecko's here

More pics finally!!!

My Helicopter, The Roads and some Mayak kids

The pic above was taken at Mayak on my first patrol. Great people with a nice sense of hospitality. The pic below is a STICK Praying Mantus... It was so small I almost stepped on it.

Patrol Day

Well I woke in the morning to diarhhea and a grass fire. The grass fire was moving quickly and was approaching our camp. There were high winds and it built up the fire. We have a large trench around our site so the fire never hit us. Some of the team reminded me that because of the fire we now have to be more careful for things like snakes and other criters. They may have moved into the camp to avoid the fire.

Well it was my first real patrol. We were heading to the village of Mayak. It was located about 50kms from our team site. The drive was interesting...We had to cross all types of terrain..remember there is not one single paved road within 100 kms of here. I took some good video of the trip.

We went down ravines and over rocks and boulders, crossed rivers and what used to be rivers.

I learned a great deal on the way to Mayak as I was with two Africans. For instance... most animals will follow or stay near Giraffes as they can see furthest for noting danger and for finding water. Also Hyinas are best friends to lions as the lions will kill the food and the hyinas get the left overs. So if you see hyinas then expect lions.

I also found out that there is a lion in the mountian near our village. The locals hear it and see left overs.

We finally arrived at the village. The village Sheik was not available so we met with three of the elders. We had a good talk about the village, problems, needs ect. At the end one of my colleagues gave the elder, who was also a teacher, some blank books for the kids to write in. I gave a handful of pencils and for the three kids that were with us I gave some candies.

We will take our info and pass it on to the appropriate agency. For instance one of their roads has mines and bombs on it so we will notify the agency that specializes in removing them.

By the time we got back to the camp I really wasn't feeling well. Figured maybe too much sun. By 6pm I had a fever of 108f / 39.6 c.... I was dizzy and had constant runs...

I went to the medical clinic at the PAK Army. They assessed me and quickly had me strip down for a cooling sponge bath... The manuals say use tempid water (not too cold) these guys used water from the fridge with ise in it!! Man it was COLD!! Slowly my temp came down and felt a bit better. The Dr had seen me and prescribed meds and a malaria test...It was negative.

I went back to camp around 900pm. I was missing our party. It was a good bye party for three of our guys and a welcome party for me and my friend from Boliva. I went to bed...around 2 am I woke up and was soaking wet, fever was back up. I took some more meds and tried to sleep.

The next day I was feeling somewhat better..no fever but the bowels still not good.

I have a day off to recover... Hope I feel better by Sat.

Mike.... Pics to follow.

Weekend update

Well it has been an interesting experience here. The team site is very remote. There is plenty of wild life around here. Packs of wild dogs, wild pigs, goats, gecko and chickens.

I was given two bars of soap and a can of air freshener upon my arrival...The air freshener was "Tobacco" scent...LOL

The hill right in front of our camp was on fire the other night. It was eerie watching it burn across throughout the night. Ashes would fall on the camp site. There is two thoughts...One is that the locals burn it to scare away and kill all of the snakes and other nastiness. The second is that it signifies the local harvest time.

I went on my first patrol yesterday. It was to a JIU (Joint Integration Unit). A concept whereas you put equal amounts of each faction together and build a unified team so that when peace is final they will then become the standing army of the new nation. Yeh... it does not work! Both parties live "near" each other, and they often fight between each other.

We went to do a verification of one of the factions... the commander was..umm.. drunk..(it was 0900am!) he played a political game of denial... the end result we never accomplished our mission... so Patrol over.

What to do.... I was warned about the free time you have here... So My next patrol is next Sunday, until then I have NOTHING to do. Just show up to work at 0800h, shake hands with everyone (everyday), steal a computer... Lunch at 1300h, meeting at 230pm... radio check at 600pm... done..

I have decided to become a member of the G5 branch - CIMIC - Civilian and Military Cooperation. This, I feel, will give me a greater opportunity to see the local communities and villages from a non-military view. It will also mean that I work more closely with the local NGO (Non-Government Organizations) Charity groups.

So it's Sunday, one of our patrols was cancelled and the other one has departed. I will now try to occupy the next 8 hours... The worse part - can't work out or really disappear during that time... hmmmm

The Party

Russian, and UNPOL


Russian, Tanzania, Romania

Faye, one of the only women, however she lives in a Tukul in the GOAL NGO team site about 4 min drive away..She is from Ireland



A feast was put on by the UNPOL (UN Police) for two of their guys are End of Mission and heading home and they had two new arrivals. The feast was two lambs freshly killed and cooked.. They were cooking 4 different ways... One was quite spicy but still great! I was happy as I wasn't sure what I was going to have for dinner..


My Team mates (Romainian, Philipines, Indonesia, Bolivia)



New friends. Freddy on the left arrived here with me.. Great guy



Ethiopian Beer...mmmmmmmmmmm