Some of the Chaine area

New High Rise Foundation

Trucks just out of Containers

Doing the Washing 

Jims mary with her goat money

The Week just gone 22/5/2010

Recieved a bit more doe  this wek after much angst so  we can eat again and Noel and I can kill some more trees which incidently don't seem to be dying from the first chaining so lets hope we dont have to double chain.Very messy and also a bit more tricky.

Noels fingure I stiched has healed well so will be able to open up my own clinic for disabled fingures.

Another South African Kaawahgaa has come on board he is a horticulturalist not sure what he has come so early for as we are so far behind on development and there will be no spare money for him to do anything but he is here now so will have to put him to good use.Peters father in law Allen has also arrived he is here to out fit the empty containers for us to live in.

Really getting into the build up now to the wet, weather has been not good hard to sleep and just water pouring out of the body .Still good for weight loss.

Have seen  few Mongooses as we are chaining a few fifferent birds lots of Guinea Fowl and Franklins a bird bit like a grosse except dont fly as much. The odd jaclal or fox .One of our soldiers and James shot a deer last week so that is in the freezer waiting for us to try.Unfortunately it was not bled but we will try some eventually .Our supply of meet on the hook is diminishing in our local area as the nomadic herdsman are on the move out for the wet those staying every thing is very skinny and looks non appetising .I must admit I am getting sick of killing.The butchering is been done by some one else but no  one can handle the slaughtering but will keep looking for a replace ment.

Staff reviews this week so will have to be at my managerial best .There will be a lot of nervous staff around as we had a bit of a clean out last week of some non performers .Not many[non performers" left but will cut numbers for the wet.

Still have trucks with plant and equipment,containers on the road North waiting for payment from Citadel before they will move any further.Arabs don't care they will just wait and the the others will pay when and if they are ready,"Inshalla"

12 th May/head banging again

Nearly Broke again/some gear/frustration

At standstill again as we wait for the other containers and machines half of the  support spares filters ,oil,compressors, oxy etc is still on the way ????have put scurb  canopies on the dozers but no oxy or cutting tools to fit the stick racks,all 3 dozers that are here are now over heating because we cant clean the radiators and it is still over 40’,drop boxes on the rams need cleaning after 70hrs so the Chinese machinery is real top class stuff at least the canopies have reduced the cab temperature by 2’.

Citadel still not fronting with enough cash and we are waiting again for money be back to 2sdg again soon .One positive have got rid of the trouble makers  in camp some old union boys, will be 18 gone by Saturday so even though 9 have gone today the attitude has lifted a lot amongst the others will have mostly young keen guys and a few steady old hands left will have about 19 left plus cooks and us so will have hopefully a good team left and any more who don’t work and can’t hack the pace will go as well.

All our patience is just about gone as we wait again to get enough money to operate There will have to be a large fiscal commitment from Citadel soon or we will have to go on care and maintenance as we are just running out  of time before the wet and we just don’t have enough supplies  to last right through so it is crunch time for the project for this year as every day late now makes us a week behind and the reality is we are a year behind now and not making any progress.

Still we keep our humor up and greet the new day with not always a smile but always a greeting from Clarence the crow who seems to have a miners lamp on his head and is always at the tent flap before dawn making a fuss about something or other with his mates. Vernon the vulture has not been around for awhile so must have a carcass somewhere else to naw on.

The Boss crashed again

The Buck stopps with the Boss can't blaim any one except himself this time.

The gfirst bit of gesr to arrive and look what happens but most problems have a silver lining the Yemmini boys from Thar Jar s came anf put it right and they are also oing all our lifting from now on.

No more amatuers.

have finaly started to do some work and get the tractors and plows ready so all should be full steam ahead although all the locals tell us to hurry up the rain is just around the corner and threatens every day.

Will have some more toys to play with on Friday and we can start benching the camp area to get out of the water when it comes.

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