The first picture is the parking lot, we share the camp with military observation officers, as well as our protection force from Bangladesh, the next picture is my room in the container, there is a small beer, I mean water fridge, a desk, and a locker, it is quite comfortable. The other night I had a visitor, a small 6 inch lizard, after 10 minutes I was able to chase him out, I didn't want to be rude, however, I also didn't want him to invite his much bigger friends over.

This is home

These are the containers that we all live in, there about 12ft x 20 ft, not a bad size, they are all equipped with A\C, mine is the one to the right of the sat dish.

On the Nile

It was so surreal, it was our first night in the capital city of Juba, it was so different from Khartoum, first thing we all noticed was the heat, the temperature was around 35 that day, and you could really feel the humidity. There are a few Canadian police officers that have been stationed in Juba for about 3 months. Upon our arrival they took us to this place, a real gem on the Nile, I stood there for about 5 minutes saying man I can't believe it, I'm having dinner on the Nile, it was so majestic, I looked to the east and there were several kids swimming, and I said..."aren't there crocs in that there river"....and they said "yup", and I said "do they know that " and they said "o yea" things that make you go huh. I have to apologize, the Internet this far south is brutal, I can talk on msn, but skype is out of the question for now. Tomorrow, Monday the 31 of January I will be part of a long range patrol that will take four of us to the town of Morobo, this town is situated on the border of Uganda, from there we will pick up a second vehicle, and travel 25 km into Uganda. Once we are there we will have lunch with the police chief, I 'm kinda of hoping that I can get my passport stamped. There is a community support base in the town of Kaja Keji, this base was constructed for the sole purpose of supporting the referendum for Independence.  I will have the opportunity to stage long range patrols from the remote base, the duration would be for 30 days, how interesting would that be eh Roy. Anyways stayed tuned, the next few months will prove to be very interesting for all of us.

Yei South Sudan

Well, there are several things that I thought I would never do, and one of them was ride in a Russian MI-8 transport helicopter. I have lots of pictures, but right now I am unable to hook up my lap top to the internet, I should have that done in a couple of days. I am now living in Yei, a town of 140,000, spread over a very large area. This part of Sudan was largely unaffected by the war. Yesterday I had the opportunity to travel to the local market, what an experience, I walked past a booth that was selling meat, no refrigeration nothing, the smell made me gag. The market covers a couple of km, and one can purchase just about everything. I picked up some nuts, and bananas, and a case of beer. Most of the items come out of Uganda. The weather here is very nice, the daily temps get to around 30 or so, with a little more humidity.  Anyways once I have the internet up and running, I will download some of the new pictures, till then

Shipping Day in Khartoum

Today was shipping day, all the barrack boxes, food, and extra kit to the Khartoum airport.  Once there at the UN side, it's unloaded marked, tagged, weighed........you get what I mean.  The fella beside me is Brian Carmichael from Fredericton Police. For the next 9 months we'll be living and working together in Yei South Sudan. On Tuesday is will have been 14 days in Khartoum, the time has gone by quite quickly.  I can say for sure that we are all very excited to be heading to our team sites. Khartoum is nice, dusty,and 50 to 60 degrees in the summer months. Maybe after 9 months I will be able to apply for a job here, but for now, it's time to get on with it. Until next time.....Cede nullis

Canada House (police)

This is Canada house for the canadian police contingent in Khartoum. This is where we live for the first 2 weeks in country, it is also the residence of a full time canadian police officer who is in charge of the training cell for the UN.  It is quite comfortabe, and close to the airport.  It is also used as a stay over for us when we are in transit from the south, going on vacation. Right next door the Canadian military has house/hotel, that they use to house their UNMO united nations military observation officers. This place is about a 10 minute walk to the UN HQ.

ATV's

These are the types of vehicles that are operated. There are nissans,toyotas,and land cruisers. Note the snokel kit, that is a requirement for vehicles that operate in the south. I guess that the rainy season is quite a spectical,  roads become rivers, etc.

Check this out, this is a new apartment building that is been built close to the UN HQ. The concrete pillar on the 1/2 corner is all that is holding up the entire complex. The picture doesn't show, but this complex is 10 stories high. I sure hope that there are no earthquakes in Khartoum. 

Friday is Sunday

I just wanted to explain a bit about the following pictures.  The best way to get around Khartoum is by way of the tuc-tuc, the 3 wheeled evil vehicle from hell, however saying that it is a memorable ride to the local market, weaving in and out of traffic.

Southpoint Paint and Decour Khartoum

This is the new Southpoint paint and decor, that I opened in Khartoum, I'm just looking for a manager.

The United Nations office/residence containers

United Nations Camp in Khartoum

This is where I sleep, and this is where I sh..

January 12 2011

Well as the week winds down, and the training comes to an end, I have some time to reflect. Tomorrow is our last day of induction training, I remember reading blogs from other officers who served in the Sudan, and they expressed there frustration with all the repetitive information that we receive, I think it is important that before we deploy to our team sites, we all have an understanding of what is going on in the complex country.
I will be deployed to team site Yei.  This site is the most southern site in Sudan, it is positioned in close proximity to Uganda, and the Congo. The town is home to around 140,000 people, so it should be quite interesting, My partner and myself will be the first canadians to be posted to this southern town, so standby for photos.  One last point to my buddy Dave, this city will need you expertise, so hop onto a flight and bring lots of paint.

January 7 2011 Induction Training

Well we finished our clearing in yesterday, signed our lives away, and changed our money into Sudanese pounds. The question is what is next, well let me tell you all INDUCTION TRAINING 7 days of lectures on everything from the mission statement to sexual harassment, to what you do if you are taken hostage. I found the line up of instructors was more interesting than the actual topics.  We had 2 ladies from my old stomping grounds in Namibia, the sexual harassment lecture was done by a Russian, we had a lecture on UNPOL (united nations police) from a Ethiopian police officer. I've met officers from Kenya, India, Sweden, Australia, Bangladesh, Turkey etc, etc. For those of you who have been on other missions, this one seems different right from the get go, first it's a African Union lead mission, with support from the international community. I was told today, that only Canada, and Australia are the only english speaking contributing countries, at least in the police side of things, so as you can imagine the diversity of people I will meet and work with is truly exciting.  Next week we do our drivers test, and if you survive, then you will be issued a UN drivers licence, and then we would have a little more  freedom. The weather today was Africa Hot, I think about 35 or so, till next time.......

Just arrived at the Khartoum airport

Looking to the southeast

Khartoum in the morning

January 5 2011

We started our first day on a bang, at 04:45 hrs, I was awaken by the call to prayer, this consists of several hundred speakers placed all over the city of Khartoum, the volume cranked up then the howling begins, this carries on for several minutes, then silence. This happens several times a day.  The city of Khartoum looks like construction gone wild, all or most of the buildings are incomplete, this is done so the owners can forgo paying the required taxes. There is also the smell of burning garbage, that coincides with the lack of any traffic control.
Today was our first day of work, it consisted of clearing in, getting id cards made, filling out paperwork etc etc.  The food is pretty good, and quite cheap, I had breakfast for about 7 dollars, or 20 Sudanese pounds.  Were living in a rental house, for about 10 days, then we'll get or postings to the south of Sudan, and that's were the majority of our time will be spent.  Tomorrow Thursday, will be spent finishing up with all the paperwork, then on Friday starts the United Nations training program. This training is a continuation of the training that I received in Calgary and Ottawa. The referendum for a independant South Sudan starts on the 9th  of January, and will carry on for the following week, the UN has decided that they will not move us south until the vote is over, however they will not announce the results until after we are placed in our respective team sites. Tomorow I am going to get some pictures to better describe what I see everyday, I think this is important that all of you can see what I see, and travel with me over the next 12 months.

Flight of the Argus January 3 2011

Well the journey starts, Calgary to Ottawa, Ottawa to Montreal, Montreal to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Khartoum, holly flight hours. We arrived in Amsterdam at 07:30 hrs local, say around 01:30hrs Ontario time, and 23:30hrs Calgary time. So here I sit in the Amsterdam airport, with the sweet smell of cheserfield cigarettes, and the cool europeon atmosphere.  We leave for Khartoum in 2 hours so seee you later