So since the last time I posted I’ve spent most of my time either working or asleep. Things are, as you can imagine, pretty busy here.
I’ve been on two trips so for now I’ll focus on that because the other day to day stuff is pretty boring.
The first trip was to visit a partner working with the communities in and around Lobonok in Central Equatoria State. Most of the people here fled to Uganda during the war but have been back for many months. And they were mostly able to stay together during their time in Uganda which is, frankly, amazing.
The programs focus on diversifying assets so people don’t rely entirely on farming for food security. Some of the groups have opened small shops to sell things like soap, sugar, soda, etc to others in the town. Other groups focus on tailoring/sewing or soap making. The groups have chosen these activities as something they’re interested in and that they feel there’s a market in. Many of these people also take part in adult literacy and numeracy classes. The motivation to be involved and find other opportunities is very apparent. What’s less apparent is how these groups will really function once the agency moves on. The skill level among community members is quite low, transportation is very difficult and supplies are sometimes hard or expensive to come by. All of which bring sustainability into question. But everyone hopes for positive things in South Sudan and improvements are being seen. So we’ll cross our fingers.
After that trip I spent a considerable amount of time focusing on the bureaucracy of allocating money to groups to do these projects. But I did manage to plan a trip to Agok. Now depending on who you ask, and which map you look at, Agok is either just south of Abyei in Warrap state or is in the very must southern area of Abyei. Under the CPA, Abyei is a special administrative area and one that the North and South are still talking about and trying to come to agreement on. It’s also a huge flashpoint and one that we all expect will deteriorate before it improves. Temperatures were in the high 40s (Celsius) which is REALLY hot! Even though I’ve adjusted to the heat, I can hardly be in that bright sun. In the shade it’s about 38C.
I visited a partner who is one of two NGOs provided almost all of the health services in the area. The Ministry of Health here is very weak and doesn’t have the funding or capacity to provide these services. Our original plan was to visit Abyei town and then stop to see where some of the people who’ve come from Khartoum are settled while awaiting an allocation of land for permanent settlement from the Abyei administration. However, due to insecurity in the area about 3 days before we left Juba, we changed our plan to not go to the town and just to visit the returnee areas which are quite a bit south and therefor much safer. When we got to Agok we learned that there had been additional fighting resulting in many people moving temporarily from Abyei town southwards where they feel safer. All of the NGOs in Abyei relocated their staff and the UN agencies went into a more contained mode.
To get to Abyei and the settlement locations from Agok you have to cross a river. There is only one bridge. So if anything happens to that bridge you’re stuck. Given the lack of options, we decided it was safest to not cross the bridge. That way, if there was any need to return to base quickly, we would be able to do so. So, we traveled north of Agok town towards the bridge where our partner has a health clinic instead.
On route to the clinic we saw many people on the move. We stopped to talk to a few and most were headed to Agok where they have family and where they will stay for a few weeks in case the fighting in Abyei gets worse. Most have left behind the father or uncle to watch the house and other assets. We also saw a lot of youngish men walking southwards with their guns and some supplies. But there was no hint of violence or tension. It was more that a lot of them had been told to make their way south and were walking/biking with their assets. But we’re not sure why or who they were.
At the clinic we talked to the main “doctor” who is actually a Community Health Worker. This is someone who’s received basic training but isn’t a doctor or a nurse. However, he’s responsible for running the clinic and identifying most problems and then referring those that are more complicated to the town where one NGO runs a large health clinic and hospital. Also on staff are Traditional Birth Attendants who do pre-natal visits and education, a vaccinator, a pharmacist (but not trained like one in the US), a growth monitoring person (mostly gives children under 5 their shots), and someone to look for malnutrition in children. Despite how scary that sounds in terms of not having a lot of qualified staff, this set up is actually quite good and this particular clinic has a lot more staff and training than others I’ve been to.
While I was there, one of the patients was a young boy—probably around 10—who had something like scabies on his legs. But because of the scratching it has turned into a bigger infection and there were open cuts. He was receiving a tetanus shot, treatment for the infection, and a thorough cleaning. His 23 year old brother has this as well but to a much lesser extent. One of the steps the doctor advised was for the family to wash their clothes and their bodies and whatever they were sleeping on as well. The germs, when people aren’t cleaning regularly, are quickly spread between family members and are much harder to eliminate. But, the good news is, with regular treatment, the boy will be fine. He will however have to have treatment every day for 5 days. All of which is provided free of charge by the clinic.
Since we left Agok, the situation in Abyei has gotten worse and things look like they will deteriorate and more fighting is likely. Hopefully with some intervention and diplomacy things will calm down, but as this situation hasn’t been resolved in the 5 years since the CPA was signed, I think it’s highly unlikely that it will be resolved before July. They also need to have their own referendum for determination (postponed from January 2011) which I’m sure will cause further upheaval.
Anyway—it was a really interesting field trip for me, and I’ve got a few others coming up, so stay tuned!! In the meantime, it’s back to work.
Jane
Link to photos of Lobonok and Agok/Abathok:
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| Lobonok CES and Agok Abyei South Sudan March 2011 |
Slideshow of the same:
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