"Stop Danger Demining on progress", these are words to live by. There are tens on thousands of land mines left over from the war. Note to self stay on the road .

When my mind wonders to the memories of home L-R My partner in crime Dave, Brenda, me, my beautiful wife Cheryl, and the Chef/son Cody, good food, better times.

This was taken at a small police post just north of our team site, me a south Sudanese police officer and my partner Friday from Zambia.

These pictures were taken while out on patrol, there is no pavement, it's all trail and riverbed,

This one was taken very close to the border of the  Republic of Congo. The sign at the top of the hill states CHECK YOUR BRAKES, it was painfully obvious that this check wasn't completed.

Today is February 28, 2011, where has the month gone. I hear news from the other canadians that are currently depolyed in Sudan, that some have already moved on to better or should I say more responsible positions. I know you are all saying "come on Jimmy pick up the pace, due Calgary proud" and I will, it's nice to sit back and see whos who in the zoo. I have to remember that this is a marathon not a sprint, although......our team site leader is checking out on the 15th of March, so his job is comming up for competition, we'll see.  The tempature today is a cool 37.1, I was told that February is the hot month, can you imagine that February.......the hot month.........I'm used to the wonderful late winter snow storms, and the lovely spring snow storms, and the grand July hail storms, you get my drift.  Life here in the southern sector of Sudan is good, the Sudanese people are the most resiliant people I have ever seen. They have live the better part of their lives enduring the dark days of civil war, working 12 hour days, walking 10 to 20 km to fetch water, living 6-8 people in a toukel (mud hut) but yet when I drive by they always have time to wave, and the kids always have a smiles on their faces. I have travelled to all the corners of this team sites area of operation.  Our main task is to co locate with the south sudanese police, to help them understand the concepts of human rights, detention,gender crime, community policing etc etc. I feel for them, I see what I have in Calgary, and what they have to work with. Some of the officers come to work in sandles because they have no boots, no handcuffs, no notebooks, no vehicles, and some of the police posts are quite simply a wooden shack, but they have the will, despite all that is against them, they want to do the job, and I respect that, so I will do what I can, I will pass on my experiences, both good and bad to them, to help them become better police officers, and me a better person. The picture above was taken at the OTOGO police post, 2 people to my right is my partner Resty from the Phillipines, this is where I saw that monster spider.

Well it's Sunday here in the fine town of Yei.  I celebrated my 46th birthday on the 18th, by eating rice and watching Band of Brothers on my laptop. Brian gave me a Starbucks via coffee pouch, that he received from home, as well 30 Sudanese pounds worth of phone cards, thanks Brian. Well life here continues; for those of you who don't know, when deployed you work 7 days a week, and you can collect 8 days off a month, to which you can use that toward your CTO (compensated time off). I just love the comments all of you are sending, I try to get onto my blog every Sunday to publish them. To answer some those questions, I found the heat very uncomfortable, but after a month, 40 degrees feels really good. It generally gets down to around 22 to 26 at night, kinda weird that temperature feels cool. The food, well I wouldn't eat the meat or the chicken, but the market is full of tomatoes,onions,bananas, eggs, and fresh bread. So any of you thinking about a care package hint hint, canned meat would be wonderful. A real nice perk to being a Canadian working in the Sudan, is what is called family reunion trips, these trips are intended to reunite the member with his family, either at home or at a third location. My first trip will be to meet my family in Cape Town South Africa, from the 15th of April to the 01 May.  I met a real nice family when I was in Namibia in 1989, and we have stayed in touch over the years, they have graciously invited us to stay at there house in Cape Town, very brave. My trip starts here in Yei on the 13th of April. I will fly in a MI-8 to Juba, then a 737-600 to Khartoum, then I get a administration day, to pick up money and relax. On the 15th I fly from Khartoum to Doha to Johannesburg then onto Cape Town. My family will fly from Calgary to Amsterdam then onto Cape Town. I think it is safe to say that you have to have the attitude that the journey to and from is part of the experience. A funny note, my son Nick thinks that he is going to starve in Africa, this should be a eye opener for all the boys. We are planning to do some swimming, as it will be fall in Cape Town, maybe some skydiving, or bungee jumping, wine tasting, surfing, hiking, eating, and my personal request, to see the great white sharks off the coast, near Robben Island. I am hoping to take my next trip in July, I was planning on flying home for 21 days to do some camping.  Just a side note, the mandate for the United Nations Mission in the Sudan expires in July, which means that the UN will have to establish a new mandate, a new mission, which will most likely include moving the HQ from Khartoum to Juba. So interesting times ahead.

 The classic african trees, with high canopy, just like in the movies

I always spend time with the kids, sometimes they look at me funny, and I say, "thats the look my wife gives me"

This spider was about the size of my hand, now I know you are all asking "how do you know that" well judging by the size of it......i guesstimated. I was told that it is very poisonous.

 The Sunsets are the same as the ones in Alberta, during forest fire season, only in January

This is the community support base in Morobo.  Morobo is a town located about 20km north of the Ugandan border. This base has been in operation for 5 years, and when Brian and I got there, the first thing we assambled was a fire pit. The big white bag is full of charcoal.

This is the future of Sudan, I spend a lot of time with the South Sudan Police, but I also spend a whole lot of time with the kids.  They laugh at me because my skin is so white, and I have tattoos. The kids are great, it's our responsibility to empower them,to make them feel like they make a difference. When I leave here, if thats all I've accomplished, I'll be happy with that.

This is my ride, there are many like it, but this is my ride!!!Russian MI-8