(After one of the many rains in Aweil that week, a rainbow appeared. You can't see it in this picture, but there was a double rainbow!)
From 13-17 July Lutfiyah and I again went to the field; this time to Northern Bahr el Ghazal (NBG) state. The trip started off a bit rocky. As we were checking in our bags at the airport, we discovered that our luggage was too heavy. The limit was 15 kg (around 30 lbs) for everything you are carrying. Normally, they just weigh your checked luggage, but this time they weighed everything. To make matters worse, we were carrying training materials for sessions we would hold with the team in Northern Bahr el Ghazal which added extra weight. After some begging, pleading, angry phone calls to our logistics team for not pre-arranging for the extra weight, we took only the essentials and boarded the plane.
After a quick plane transfer in Wau, we arrived in Aweil, the capital of NBG. Our team in Aweil has no compound yet so most are staying at the UNOCHA (United Nations Organization for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) compound. A few observations about Aweil and the UNOCHA compound: First, Aweil is HOT; very hot. The only relief is found under the many mango trees (sadly, mango season had ended) on the compound and the area. Even then, when there is no breeze, you simply suffer. The room I was staying in for the first half of the trip didn't have a working air conditioner or a fan. So, I simply could not go into the room during the day, and at night, the humidity and heat in the room was not conducive to sleep. Needless to say, I was awake for far too many hours during this trip. Second, logistics and communication systems in NBG were awful. Since the Winrock compound wasn't finished (or even really started) the program coordinators who we needed to speak to were scattered throughout the compound, either commandeering an open office if available or working under a tree. In this state, the junior staff were all based in the counties and could be up to 2.5 hours away from Aweil. Exacerbating the situation were poor cell phone networks, and terrible/unpredictable internet connection. Lastly, when you hear things that sound like hundreds of birds in the mango trees at night, don't be fooled, they are actually fruit bats. Upon this realization, stop video taping and begin walking faster.
These difficulties aside, we had several good field trip days in the county locations. We met two Community Action Groups, two Women's Support Groups, visited a school identified for rehabilitation by our program, two vegetable producer groups, a couple water points, and attended a PTA training. The vegetable producer groups and the PTA training were the unique aspects of this visit. Vegetable production is not very good in Aweil North or Aweil West (the two target counties in NBG) and it is evident in the lack of locally produced vegetables in the markets. So, the BRIDGE program (Winrock's program name) is going to train several communities on vegetable gardening techniques, and give training on "farming as a business" to the vegetable producer groups we train. Hopefully, these producer groups, as a result of being a group, have more bargaining power to get a better price for those who would sell their produce at local markets. Unfortunately, the message and purpose of these types of groups sometimes get lost or not effectively communicated when BRIDGE is forming the group. Team members continue to work on this, and due to visits such as our M&E visits, we can observe these shortcomings, inform project decision makers, and make recommendations on what needs to be done.
(Below: One of the vegetable producer groups we met. Second Picture: The children that naturally gather when they see outsiders, especially a white person.)
The PTA training was the first activity we have visited that was actually taking place during our visit. Although the training was set to start at 9am and was around 2.5 hours away from Aweil (starting from the UNOCHA compound), this did not seem to phase the coordinator in charge of the education sector. Lutfiyah and I were ready at 7am, but we didn't leave until 8:15 (and they still needed to pick up supplies and other trainers for the PTA training). It had also rained earlier that week so the roads were not the greatest. Several times we had to get out of the car and survey the mud/water puddles to see if the ground was hard enough for the vehicle (SUV with 4-wheel drive) to pass through. We finally made it to an area (called a boma, which is made up of several villages) called Marial Bai. In many societies time is not a huge factor and communities gather for meetings very late, but here, the communities always show up relatively on time. So, we were very late, and some people who had gathered earlier, namely women, had already left to attend to their daily tasks. On the bright side, people did gather after we came and the first of the three day PTA training began. For Lutfiyah and my sakes, translations from dinka/arabic were translated into English during the opening remarks we were observing. After opening remarks, the training continued in either dinka or arabic- training the PTA members on their roles, the role of a PTA as a whole and instructing them on how to create a proper project proposal.
(Below: PTA training sign-in for day 1 in Marial Bai boma.)
As I mentioned earlier, the roads were not in very good condition due to the rains and communications systems were not good either. We had planned to leave the PTA training after 2 hours and get picked up from another car of Winrock's. It turned out that no one had the thuraya (satellite phone) number or vehicle radio number of the vehicle that was picking us up. We had heard that the vehicle left on time to pick us up, but hadn't arrived when it should have. With its front tires almost bald, we had to assume that the vehicle was stuck in the mud somewhere, which ended up being true.
During the wait, the heat was becoming hotter by the minute it seemed. The only relief we received was standing under a tree and listening to very interesting war-time stories of the area from the Director for Education in this county. The director, Jamesco, who was in his early or mid 30s perhaps, casually described the days of insecurity. People did what they could to maintain some level of a normal life. He was in school (either elementary or secondary) during some of the war and was very dedicated to his studies. Whenever word came that there was insecurity in the area, teachers and students would quickly get up, collect their chalk boards and materials, and run into the woods far enough away to be safe. There, they would set everything up again and continue their lessons. We also heard other, more terrible stories of the war. Schools, such as the one we visited in Wedwill boma a few days earlier, and any other structure within a community was bombed. The goal was total eradication of infrastructure. We were even told the story of a day of celebrations for education in Southern Sudan. Teachers, professors, and leaders within the education center all gathered for a day to celebrate some achievements. That day, with all these great minds of Southern Sudan gathered together, the venue for this event was targeted by the armies of the north and bombed. The director only knew of one person who survived ( a member of the community in Marial Bai where the PTA training was taking place). There was no foresight in this war, as in many. If there weren't any educated people left, then there wouldn't be anyone to lead the people to fight back.
(Below: Classes are most often held outside because buildings are either destroyed or unsafe. Because of this situation, classes are cancelled when it rains. At times, the rainy season lasts from June through September. Second Picture: One of the many buildings of a boarding school in Wedwill Boma that was bombed during the war.)
Overall, the trip was better than we had expected. We had heard horror stories of a monkey that lived near the Southern Sudan hotel we were originally supposed to stay at that particularly liked to attack women, the team leader's tendency to never stop talking (mostly true), and the disorganization of the program in Northern Bahr el Ghazal (partially true). Whew- thank god the monkey wasn't there! (Below: One of the more serene pictures of Aweil. Mango trees line the streets.)
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