27/4/2010

The trucks have been held up in the north again so are waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting,   waiting, Off to have morning tea with the Governor tomorrow and solve the worlds problems and some of our own, He has won the election and can now start the process of  getting ready for the referendum next year for an independent South Sudan.

Have had a journalist from AFP staying and having a look around she came up to cover the election and ended up with us for night and is now off on the road again as all good news hounds do. Following  the leads of a good story.

This little ramble is not much as I am having a bit of trouble getting inspired to produce a superfluity of words it is mainly designed to allow Noels good wife from Gundi to know I am still able to type.

Still we wait trucks stopped at check points for 600 ks or so some for money some for not enough paper work some I guess they just don’t want to drive. Ten different stories as to why the trucks cant move ,lies as to where they are or if they have indeed  left Kosti.

No one has any sense of urgency ,counting to ten has gone to 110 and still not enough. Every day we wait will cost us 2 or 3 as we approach the rainy season the build up has not helped much either 40 to 45 in the day 95% humidity and the nights are not much better just gallons of sweat pours out as you try and sleep .Tents are hot and air less.

Hard to keep every one motivated the 3 Bulldozers are on the move every day as we try and buy fuel from town in drums to keep them going. Noel has the hardest job trying to teach so called operators to drive a bulldozer who seem to think 45 min is a big day and have the attention span of an Adel pated twerp [slow pregnant goldfish for those of you who did not have Skippy as an English teacher]Tiredness comes early to some but I guess they are born that way .Noel certainly has some patience and is to be commended for that.

Maybe tomorrow will be the day for some containers and more gear lets hope so.

  

The poor little cow the big hunter and gatherer could not Kill so quiet it walked into the back of the ute

Killing Trees at last/friendly Birds

Start up/Blog comments made/Diplomacy

AT last we have some equipment arriving all but slowly and quite a few impoundments along the way by various persons for various reasons ranging from incorrect number plates, a large load, a big crane and some just for money, The truck drivers certainly earn their money, you can even send it by phone .You just credit the money in a phone shop to a number in one town it is sent to another shop in the next town and bingo they give the other person the cash for a fee of course and I don’t know how it really  but all were happy and we got our trucks out of the pound.

The Chinese bulldozers arrived safe and sound minus the air cons so they will be a bit uncomfortable as it is 45 today so we will have to do it in minute shifts I guess or take all the windows out. But the Sudan grass will chaff up and make the operators eyes fairly painful so will have to work that out .The 50 ton crane has rolled up too it has a couple of problems the CPU unit that operates it is in Chinese and also all the error codes so have to do a crash course in mandarin. I guess I could get Kev 07 to help it may be the only thing he is good at.

Although he has not got any thing to work properly yet.

Those of you through the comments and emails {yes G &R they are getting to me}who are wondering if I am ok? I am and I will do my utmost to stay safe and will remain apolitical as advised by my contrary mate and will keep an apolitical opinion and stance to the broader community at large. Though I really think this little blog has a very limited audience and is a better way of writing a generic email.

The money situation for the Zims has been compounded by the reserve bank in Zimbabwe hanging onto some of the wages and not releasing them so that is causing some real problems for them at home and is going to be hard to fix from our end as well. Bloody hard to do anything from here as we get about 1 Hour a day of good comms due to the network and also the atmosphere. Very frustrating listening to the stories of  real hardship by their families and not been able to do any thing about it we need to get our management structure in Khartoum and Cairo on the ball. But I am afraid it is like trying to pump up a tractor tyre with a bike pump.

Should have 23 containers on the road today all headed for us to be unloaded hopefully Wednesday and then we have a lot of unpacking to do .Machinery fit ups .scrub canopies, stick rakes, planters, plough etc. All we need is fuel.

Killing trees for the beteerment of humanity

Couplea mates

ElECTIONS/COWS/PHILOSOPHICAL NO CANS/TRUCKS

Election Time/11/04/2010/beast/Phiosophical with no cans.

The time has come for all the people of Sudan to have their first democratic elections ever. The polling is for 3 days and then the counting which will go on for ages it will be argued about and allegations of cheating and vote rigging will be prominent among the loosing candidates. To those who are victorious it will bring power and money the world will be there oyster and many promises that were made in order to get the vote will suddenly disappear just like any other elected government in the world. The basic lives of people will not change, the blame will be put on economic times and the sanctions of the world, and slowly the cynicism the populations of the world have for there governments will emerge in the coming decades. No matter who is in power the average person will just get on with his life?  I hope this cynical analysis is wrong and the Worlds newest Democracy can work and show the rest of us what leader ship is after all these leaders lead their people into battle for their right to be free.

How many of our leaders would be at the front line and live in the bush for 23 years fighting for a cause they believed in. But how many of us would follow the visions and convictions of our leaders to your possible death?

 None come that come to mind readily.

So perhaps it is time the rest of the world stopped inflicting its dogmatic rhetoric of virtuosity and actually helped the people of Sudan and other countries of similar plight. Business, money, travel, communication and all other sanctions do not work until the country is so broken it just doesn’t work any more. Who has been helped? No one. There is no spirit left just survival and a hollow soul.

Many people have relatives in Australia somewhere. All they know is they are there and alive. Some know where and all they want to do is join them sometime and be part of some thing great to be part of a community and country that works. To achieve that here will take generations.

Finally some of our gear is on the move cranes dozers cars at last we may be able to do what we came for, kill trees and grow corn. So lets hope some money also arrives for the fuel we will need?

At least the view will change out side the tent flap.

Got our first beast from the falata today tied him up and put him in the back of the ute and he is now in the freezer .Had one of our boys as part of his religion drink some of its blood and bent down and prayed to some one so he could eat some of the meat he has been a vego for awhile here as he has not had any goat or sheep’s blood. Every one to his own .

So hopefully he wont get any parasites etc from it .No wonder there are some weird and wonderful diseases in Africa.


Some of the trucks have left Kosti we may have a start thus week

Bull tied up Falta style before Loading

Dust/Ministers/Containers/ Broke /Donkeys

Dust/Ministers/Containers/ Broke /Donkeys

The wind was coming from the North East very much like an Australian drought wind of the nineties the dust was moving today instead of lingering like a pea soup fog the night before had been cold and you need to be under a blanket. You can feel the heat coming with the wind and the dust has a bitter course taste as it swirls off the roads and joins the dust in the air from some far away desert. It fills the eyes and nose with a thin film of clay as it attaches itself to the moisture of your body.

I am in town again chasing the illusive Minister for Finance and lets not forget development who is hard on the campaign trail before the election Next week which will define this country’s destiny and may be the rest of the world will then help a bit because all the sanctions and embargos placed on it do not make any difference they only curtail any gain the average person might be able to make.

Finally we track him down on the 3^rd day and obtain the State Stamp and his signature now maybe our equipment will be on the move and we can start work  Bookra Inshalla 2 famous and most said words in this world very apt and I might admit quite catching and basically sums up  everything.

Two of our temporary accommodation units have come up from the Capital Juba it has taken 6 days to cover 700 kilometers as they had to stop at many road blocks and were searched at each one even though they had soldiers with them,

To stop the Containers falling off they welded them on to the trailers.

Having a lot of trouble getting cash down to our operation the Egyptian accounts are definitely on flexi time always when the banks were open they are away still all checks and cash no electronic transfers. The bank manager here still signs each withdrawal.

Also Khartoum stops on Friday for the weekend and start Sunday we are Sat urday and start Monday so we only get 4 days banking well that’s if every body shows up . If the Manager is away like the other day you can only deposit.

I thought I had left the world of no cash and being broke  when I joined the corporate world .But this puts a new meaning on it here out in the middle of a dry swamp and 40 others to  feed and look after .Will have lift another notch and  up the hunter and gatherer part of my persona may be  break a few loves of bread and some fish its that time of year after all. I think a 40 day fast might just  be the go not even any baked beans to be seen Warny would not last long.

The ind has bought he long awaited deposit of Money into the Ivory Bank in Bentiu but alas we are thwarted again as it closed early today for some reason “Inshalla” what a wonderful word it is.But Bookra is Good Friday so hopefully it has no significance for the bank and it will according to local knowledge be open till lunch time “Inshalla”.

Containers are off and it was a welcome surprise to haave some people who new what they were doing they were Yeminis and operate out of Tah Jar and provide support for the oil rig shifts .The crane was in good nick and well looked after.

Had a bit of a mishap with my passport today it had a wash and the photo is not so good just as well I have a copy signed and stamped they love stamps here. Will have to get a new one out of Cairo from the Embassy there so a nice man from Canberra told me so will see what the go is  there, have sent the email but they are closed for Easter. Phones diverted to Canberra.

 The cattle are goig to the otherside of town so the shortist way is straight through the Market

Dont complain about your tea after a hard day at the office

Nice day for a spot of shopping

Bit more up market

Guarding Finance ministery

On the right side of picture you can see the end of a fence they took too long to finish it and people have moved in to the Ministry grounds and don't want to leave

Running out/trucks Kostie? /what the?

Well we have about 100 sdg left in the box under my bed Frank has enough for 2 loads water so maybe we will make it with out too much problems if the bank is open tomorrow and there are no glitches “Inshalla”. The transport and logistics are very wearing on a persons mind as you have other people you are responsible for and they have put their trust in you to look after them and this is really noticeable with the Zimms as the are totally dependant on you as they are still trying to grasp where they are and what it is all about .Not starting the main part of the project and having no gear has made it very hard to feel as though any thing is going to happen as the time lines are repeatedly changing all the time and not forwards but always Bookra .I have basically 40 odd nervous people waiting to start what they came for ,the forth coming election has them worried as well with all the bad press that is reaching us and those they have left at home.

Stuck out under a thorny acacia tree in the middle of a dry swamp is not exactly an ideal spot to spend Easter by any ones standards. Although Beatrice the new electrician feels as though she is on a camping holiday but when we ran out of water yesterday for a few hours I think the novelty wore off. I must admit the challenge for me has certainly been constant although short so far has kept the grey matter active and surprisingly calm it is one way of getting rid of your depression I can tell you.” no more pills have not got time “ so all good on that front. Have not even thought what F!!!!!!KK am I doing here .I wanted to come so when its all over not much I will not be able to handle except another woman although here it is quite acceptable to beat them with a stick once a week just to keep them in line. [Don’t think that would go down too well at home though]

The Zimms are having there Sunday service which goes for a fair while every Sunday some have a small one every day .It is all that has kept some of them going over the past years does not seem to be a real church just a lot of strong belief in God and how he will keep them safe and secure in the turbulent world they have been born into.

The Sudanese are much the same there is a very strong Christian element down here with the Presbyterian church and the Catholic churches having a significant presence the Catholic relief aid has a large impact in this part of Africa. There is a large rally every Sunday in Bentiu to celebrate their faith.

This supposedly simple part of the world certainly has its own machinations when it comes to doing any thing. You will have the water truck on his way here and he will get commandeered by the police at a road block and off goes that load to them so luckily for us he comes at night .I suspect we are the only ones who pay him so he comes.

It is a bit like living in a small country town they are all related, know some one, know what you are doing before you do, know if you have upset some one, always a reason why you can’t do some thing before telling some one else, must be fair to all, don’t understand that some people are better at a job than others, like to work get paid, fed and not do to much.

Un fortunately there is a certain amount of hand out mentality because of the food aid that is distributed and only a few try to grow their own crops. Most of the time the crops are not enough to sustain there families for long any way as they are growing varieties suited for arid areas not tropical, weeds are a big problem as they have only hoes for that and the Sudan grass grows 2m in 6 weeks if conditions are right.

No storage, just a shelf made from grass to keep it off the ground, we have a lot to teach them and we must be careful how and not make the mistake of doing it for them as they will get little benefit and it will become another handout. The traditional people from here are animal herders not farmers.