I had wanted not to write anything regarding this. But, I just can’t believe how exciting it is to once again have a room full of lights! I was about three months ago that my room blackout. These dwindle started with my AC not working, then the bathroom lights went out, and finally, the room’s light followed. While I kept hoping for immediate remedy, the situation just got hopeless till this day, 21st of June, 2010.
There were times when I felt so sick and tired. I just wanted to go to my room and rest. But, the sauna-like temperatures of my room dictated otherwise. I spent most of those times in the office, instead.
You know me, I hate complaining. I just wanted to let everything goes and hoped things would change.
Things never did. Instead, I was provoked to send this following email:
Hi Kon,
It has been two months now with the residential Civicon Prefabs (mine included) not having power. I understand there were contractual issues and that wiring needed to be done in a proper way. However, it has come to my attention that, currently, we have an electrical engineer working on the compound. And while, I would think his priority should be fixing the problem with the power in the residential Prefabs, he was directed to work on getting the office in place. And, as I speak, am writing from the office recently installed. I would like to know, therefore, if living condition for the residents is not as important as the working condition. Or, I may be judgemental, what is the reason behind focusing getting this office done, before the residential houses? Thanks, in advance, for your clarifications!!
Panther Alier
Community Development Project Specialist, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State
SUDAN BRIDGE Program
E-mail| palier@field.winrock.org| pantheralier@gmail.com
Phone| Zain +249 91 491 6585|Gemtel +256 477 155315| Sudani +249 127 057 427
Skype| aliergaak
Website| www.winrock.org
To which I got this reply:
Dear Panther,
I hope Paul had already signed the electrical wiring contract with us and he is working on it and that is why you do see him doing working around. We cannot tell him that do it as soon as possible, since it is already electrical wiring, it needs more attention from him to make sure that connection he made will not trouble us in the future. Should we attempt to tell him that, make as soon as possible then, we will encounter electrical problem and that is not our desire. Yes, we have to push him but we need to respect the electrical law. I do talk to him that our people are suffering, can you try your best do something possible but he do answer me that I need somewhat that will last long but not possible for a while and bring you in the same trouble we are escaping now again. Me I don’t want to have power problem once he finished the connection.
Panther I knew the long- suffering you people had been in but I apologies for that and be enduring, its remain only some little time to be relief out from the power issue.
Thanks.
Whatever!
I don’t know whether he actually understood what I was saying. This email was a reply to my message sent out on the 9th of June, 2010. On it, I made sure I copied the Team Leader. Although the compound’s constructions fall under the logistician, I am almost sure the Team Leader made the decision to work on the office first, forgetting that staffs are neither happy nor productive when subjected to harsh conditions.
I suspected this because, when he came back from his leave, he shifted to a new room shortly after finding out that his prefab, which is in the same line as mine, did not have lights. Previously, he instituted policy to shutdown generator after 11 pm. That works fine with the kind of prefabs he vacated, but not so good with the new one he moved to. This new prefab has only two windows facing the same direction. This makes it difficult to get in enough air unless the AC/fan is working. There, his policy of shutting down generators at night worked against him on that particular night. The night after, a 24 hour generator policy immediately took effect. This, of course, was good news for at least those whose electricity worked in their rooms.
And for me? I had to wait for a day like this. Although my AC still does not work, I can now, at least, put on fan and there will be enough air to keep me cool. I am sorry if this particular article has been too much of things that have not gone right. It is also about new lights and hope that things are now changing for better. By the way, we just had a Team Leaders’ change. We have received a Team Leader from one of our other three States and ours will go to replace him. More will come on these new changes. Wish us the best of luck!
About Me
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
An Eye Opening Experience
I always have difficulty describing what exactly I do, when asked. Immediately after I open my mouth to mention the Sudan BRIDGE, people reach conclusions: building bridges across the Sudan. No. I build mutual bridges, not physical. I create linkages between the servants and the masters; if this idea exists in Sudan its remotest sense!
The government entities and the communities are supposed to work together, in any country in the world, to attain the highest standard of development. They must support/complement each other for the welfare of both. This concept is none-existence in Sudan’s Southern region. Here, we (the Southern Sudanese) have better excuse: the long civil war in Southern Sudan overshadowed whatever role the government’s institutions would play in the last 23 years. Only UN and other INGOs are seen as saviors of lives here. And the government is running on that propaganda: “we have no money to provide for all that is needed by a common man”! This is a song so much desired by government’s agencies here.
Now, who is responsible? This is a reason USAID came up with “Building Responsibility for the Delivery of Government Services: BRIDGE”. The BRIDGE I build stands on pillars of responsibility to deliver services to the people. That must be a new protocol. The war (I should qualify, the high level) has stopped and people must show they have fought a justified war by means of delivering whatever little they can. This is where my role becomes critical.
The government, or whoever is able, can only do deliver only if they knew whatever it is that to be delivered. The needs must be clearly articulated, prioritized, and presented by whomever these needs concerned. I make sure the matters understand and know what exactly, or close to that, they need to be delivered.
So, I work to empower people on issues of education, livelihoods/agriculture, water and hygiene and sanitation. These are areas which I called, “citizens empowerment”. So last week, I traveled to the field to work on promoting enterprise in rural communities. The program is to support small business enterprise through either expansion of existing small businesses or opening of new ones. We were surveying, by means of observation and discussions, within market in Nyamlell in Aweil West County, when we came to a small food serving “restaurant”. It was packed with people eating delicacies (according to local standard). We got so curious and wanted to investigate more on the nature of the business.
The owner of the business is a single mom with four children and has been running the business for over six months. She has few workers, but none could read and write to keep records. To her, “it has been a profitable business”! So we dug in more. We wanted to see how we can help her business expand. My colleague, Henry Jurugo, the enterprise officer, set in with some technical questions. We went down item by item so that we better judge the profitability of the business. With the help of our Agriculture Liaison Officer, who is a local, could do a better job of interpretation, because my (Dinka Bor) language varies a little bit from that of Dinka Malual’s. The businesswoman gave us prices of item bought per day and we calculated that against the daily revenue less expenses on workers.
If she was close or exactly right on her estimations, we discovered, she was running at loss! Yes, the devil is in the details! This was an eye opening event: she said, repeatedly, that she would hire someone to keep records of her all transactions. We jokingly agreed and suggested our staff to keep the records for her at a price of a meal per a day. But, the good news is, we are working with her to expand the business and this will be one success story. This is what is meant by building responsibility for the delivery of services. This is it for now. I hope you enjoyed reading this article!!
The government entities and the communities are supposed to work together, in any country in the world, to attain the highest standard of development. They must support/complement each other for the welfare of both. This concept is none-existence in Sudan’s Southern region. Here, we (the Southern Sudanese) have better excuse: the long civil war in Southern Sudan overshadowed whatever role the government’s institutions would play in the last 23 years. Only UN and other INGOs are seen as saviors of lives here. And the government is running on that propaganda: “we have no money to provide for all that is needed by a common man”! This is a song so much desired by government’s agencies here.
Now, who is responsible? This is a reason USAID came up with “Building Responsibility for the Delivery of Government Services: BRIDGE”. The BRIDGE I build stands on pillars of responsibility to deliver services to the people. That must be a new protocol. The war (I should qualify, the high level) has stopped and people must show they have fought a justified war by means of delivering whatever little they can. This is where my role becomes critical.
The government, or whoever is able, can only do deliver only if they knew whatever it is that to be delivered. The needs must be clearly articulated, prioritized, and presented by whomever these needs concerned. I make sure the matters understand and know what exactly, or close to that, they need to be delivered.
So, I work to empower people on issues of education, livelihoods/agriculture, water and hygiene and sanitation. These are areas which I called, “citizens empowerment”. So last week, I traveled to the field to work on promoting enterprise in rural communities. The program is to support small business enterprise through either expansion of existing small businesses or opening of new ones. We were surveying, by means of observation and discussions, within market in Nyamlell in Aweil West County, when we came to a small food serving “restaurant”. It was packed with people eating delicacies (according to local standard). We got so curious and wanted to investigate more on the nature of the business.
The owner of the business is a single mom with four children and has been running the business for over six months. She has few workers, but none could read and write to keep records. To her, “it has been a profitable business”! So we dug in more. We wanted to see how we can help her business expand. My colleague, Henry Jurugo, the enterprise officer, set in with some technical questions. We went down item by item so that we better judge the profitability of the business. With the help of our Agriculture Liaison Officer, who is a local, could do a better job of interpretation, because my (Dinka Bor) language varies a little bit from that of Dinka Malual’s. The businesswoman gave us prices of item bought per day and we calculated that against the daily revenue less expenses on workers.
If she was close or exactly right on her estimations, we discovered, she was running at loss! Yes, the devil is in the details! This was an eye opening event: she said, repeatedly, that she would hire someone to keep records of her all transactions. We jokingly agreed and suggested our staff to keep the records for her at a price of a meal per a day. But, the good news is, we are working with her to expand the business and this will be one success story. This is what is meant by building responsibility for the delivery of services. This is it for now. I hope you enjoyed reading this article!!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
The Trigger
I feel ashamed and embarrassed for having betrayed your loyalty and suddenly popping up here after so long gone! This is despite so many reminders from Abel Mote that the last time I posted something was in 2009! This is true but, I have countless excuses to make: work, marriage, and so forth. And be cautioned, with too much accumulated, the theme of this article will be so sporadic: the Triggers! Never in my lifetime have I ever imagined how costly a price for a wife is! I sometimes feel I should have waited and saved enough to finish with everything at once. But, someone has advised me against such plan: “never think you have to feel completely prepared for marriage!” he warned. I took the advice and now I feel there are endless marriage problems to solve.
That being said, something special is here that gives me a great deal of comfort. I have finally felt self-structured. I have someone in my life that I called “sweetheart” and soon-to-be mother of my child(ren). Her name is Yom Deng Bul. She is one unique character. Her story of childhood is a testament to what I so much love about her. She lost her mother at a very early age. She and her younger brother lived unimaginable life. I am not fit to recall her story; I just hope she, one day, will be able to put it down on a paper. But, I can authoritatively say, her story is one of resilience.
On the work front, there is something to feel proud too. With the kind of work we (community development persons) do, hearing your name being praised is just priceless. If you can recall from previous articles, I assist communities to establish community-based entities, namely community action groups, to work on their community’s behalf. I visited one of the villages we work in, when my wife visited, here in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and it was incredible to see a village chief running to greet me! Even more exciting was the presence of my wife to see, in person, the kind of work and the people I sacrifice for.
I became well known in this community, because I brought them new approach to development and new techniques to their farming systems. Well, technically, I mobilized and sensitized members to adopt new practices and the farming techniques were later on imparted on them by our agriculture team. As part of our livelihoods effort, our project (Sudan BRIDGE) works to change peoples’ attitude and give them new skills to be able to produce food and diversify their productions.
In this particular village, Majok Adim, the members adapted and embraced new approach so well that they continue to produce variety of vegetables like never before. I was humbled when one of the producer group members testified that (paraphrased) in their village, they only know of one season (rainy) for growing crops. But, with Sudan BRIDGE, they are now able to grow and harvest in dry season. This example is just for one village; there many others with similar stories. However, I must admit, not every community work in has embraced efforts for self-reliance. Others have been so disappointing: way entrenched in old relief mentality. It will take mountain to move them. Or better still, it will take World Food Programmes move away so that people think this is endless supply.
Recently, something phenomenal happened on this soil. People all over Sudan went to the polling stations to vote for their leaders. But, this article is limited to South Sudan people. They conducted elections against all odds that faced them. Chief of which was the nature of voting ballots. A voter had 12 ballots to cast. Mind you, this is a region whose major of its people have never witnessed art of voting. They all did what any citizen of any country could do, if given the opportunity to do so: voting. And if you followed the Sudan’s election, the South Sudanese voted overwhelming for their leader; Lt. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit for President. The elections had hiccups here and there, but I felt the completion of the exercise is just good a trigger to resume my blogging.
That being said, something special is here that gives me a great deal of comfort. I have finally felt self-structured. I have someone in my life that I called “sweetheart” and soon-to-be mother of my child(ren). Her name is Yom Deng Bul. She is one unique character. Her story of childhood is a testament to what I so much love about her. She lost her mother at a very early age. She and her younger brother lived unimaginable life. I am not fit to recall her story; I just hope she, one day, will be able to put it down on a paper. But, I can authoritatively say, her story is one of resilience.
On the work front, there is something to feel proud too. With the kind of work we (community development persons) do, hearing your name being praised is just priceless. If you can recall from previous articles, I assist communities to establish community-based entities, namely community action groups, to work on their community’s behalf. I visited one of the villages we work in, when my wife visited, here in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and it was incredible to see a village chief running to greet me! Even more exciting was the presence of my wife to see, in person, the kind of work and the people I sacrifice for.
I became well known in this community, because I brought them new approach to development and new techniques to their farming systems. Well, technically, I mobilized and sensitized members to adopt new practices and the farming techniques were later on imparted on them by our agriculture team. As part of our livelihoods effort, our project (Sudan BRIDGE) works to change peoples’ attitude and give them new skills to be able to produce food and diversify their productions.
In this particular village, Majok Adim, the members adapted and embraced new approach so well that they continue to produce variety of vegetables like never before. I was humbled when one of the producer group members testified that (paraphrased) in their village, they only know of one season (rainy) for growing crops. But, with Sudan BRIDGE, they are now able to grow and harvest in dry season. This example is just for one village; there many others with similar stories. However, I must admit, not every community work in has embraced efforts for self-reliance. Others have been so disappointing: way entrenched in old relief mentality. It will take mountain to move them. Or better still, it will take World Food Programmes move away so that people think this is endless supply.
Recently, something phenomenal happened on this soil. People all over Sudan went to the polling stations to vote for their leaders. But, this article is limited to South Sudan people. They conducted elections against all odds that faced them. Chief of which was the nature of voting ballots. A voter had 12 ballots to cast. Mind you, this is a region whose major of its people have never witnessed art of voting. They all did what any citizen of any country could do, if given the opportunity to do so: voting. And if you followed the Sudan’s election, the South Sudanese voted overwhelming for their leader; Lt. Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit for President. The elections had hiccups here and there, but I felt the completion of the exercise is just good a trigger to resume my blogging.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Our Voting Is Done in Public
The kind of work that I do here in Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal State can be very stressful. I am trying to establish systems that aren’t there. I work from village to village facilitating village development committees, known as Community Action Groups (CAGs). The word to underscore there is “action”. I emphasize on this because leadership is slightly misunderstood here. To some, leadership means giving peoples instructions and boosting them around. And this is commonly practice in Dinka communities. I say this because am a Dinka and understand the concept well. I must point out though; the concept of leadership is also understood differently among the village illiterates.
Traditionally, leaders who won hearts and minds of their followers were those who demonstrated spirit of shared responsibilities. As far as I can remember, when I was a young boy growing up in the village, I witnessed some pretty impressive layers of Dinka’s leadership. There were leaders in what they called “Beny Wur” also known in other Dinka’s version as “nhom e Gol”. This is a position attains when one shows these two traits; a good wrestler with many herds of cows. You have to be also generous to help the needy ones at times when your help is needed. The other area one becomes a leader is the village. In many cases, village is where elders retire in. Cattle camps are left for young energetic people who are able to take cattle grazing in some distance places. It’s also a place where young Dinka boys and girls are sent to learn some useful live skills there. While in the village, elder now practice farming to support their livelihoods as well as that of those in the cattle camps in cases where there are few or no lactating cows. But, more importantly, the village is where important issues are discussed and resolved. In other words, even those in the cattle camps are within the jurisdiction of village chiefs.
This traditional leadership is less corrupt and more caring then what is seen with more affluent leaders. In fact, village chiefs were used and still are used for levying taxes. There is usually a great accountability and transparency in the way they do their things. Many issues are discussed in a caucus of elders (chiefs) and disseminated in the same manner.
So when I say “leadership means giving peoples instructions and boosting them around”, it is in the context of elites. This is why word “action” becomes a centerpiece of my discussion when I do community mobilization. Additionally, I am dealing with communities devastated by war and sense of self-reliance has been completely shattered. Their independent live style has been replaced by relief services in the last twenty two years. People have gotten used to free things that it has become a detriment to their own livelihoods.
That is why I am focusing on establishing these action groups. As part of the USAID program to create sustainable livelihoods in these villages, my work is to make this goal achievable. I have my team of community development stationed in the counties that our program operates in. This was to maintain visibility and closeness with these communities. Besides, I get immediate feedbacks from them about what the community thinks about our work. So far this had worked.
But, the most important strategy has been election of the members. To able to form a Community Action Group (CAG), there are few things that are done before. First, we employed the widely known development methodologies known as Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and Appreciative Planning & Action (APA). These methodologies stimulate the community’s curiosity, which, therefore, calls for action. At that point, the idea becomes locally born and is immediately own by them. The call for action is that members have to be elected by the community. Perhaps, I have mentioned in my previous article, that these gatherings are attended by a number between 200 to 300 villagers. As such gatherings are new in many of these areas; they draw people of different ages and sexes. In election, members are first nominated by the assembly and then elected through plurality.
I must point out that our elections, although quite remote a process, are the most transparent you can ever ask for. Candidates are lined up, and general assembly chooses by lining behind a candidate of choice. Given the communal way of live in these communities, it must be hard to show favor in public. At first, I feared this would be the case. But, it never did. Almost everyone who attends these gatherings tends to vote. This is why I think we have just established “a brave democracy”. We do not need secret valets here!
Traditionally, leaders who won hearts and minds of their followers were those who demonstrated spirit of shared responsibilities. As far as I can remember, when I was a young boy growing up in the village, I witnessed some pretty impressive layers of Dinka’s leadership. There were leaders in what they called “Beny Wur” also known in other Dinka’s version as “nhom e Gol”. This is a position attains when one shows these two traits; a good wrestler with many herds of cows. You have to be also generous to help the needy ones at times when your help is needed. The other area one becomes a leader is the village. In many cases, village is where elders retire in. Cattle camps are left for young energetic people who are able to take cattle grazing in some distance places. It’s also a place where young Dinka boys and girls are sent to learn some useful live skills there. While in the village, elder now practice farming to support their livelihoods as well as that of those in the cattle camps in cases where there are few or no lactating cows. But, more importantly, the village is where important issues are discussed and resolved. In other words, even those in the cattle camps are within the jurisdiction of village chiefs.
This traditional leadership is less corrupt and more caring then what is seen with more affluent leaders. In fact, village chiefs were used and still are used for levying taxes. There is usually a great accountability and transparency in the way they do their things. Many issues are discussed in a caucus of elders (chiefs) and disseminated in the same manner.
So when I say “leadership means giving peoples instructions and boosting them around”, it is in the context of elites. This is why word “action” becomes a centerpiece of my discussion when I do community mobilization. Additionally, I am dealing with communities devastated by war and sense of self-reliance has been completely shattered. Their independent live style has been replaced by relief services in the last twenty two years. People have gotten used to free things that it has become a detriment to their own livelihoods.
That is why I am focusing on establishing these action groups. As part of the USAID program to create sustainable livelihoods in these villages, my work is to make this goal achievable. I have my team of community development stationed in the counties that our program operates in. This was to maintain visibility and closeness with these communities. Besides, I get immediate feedbacks from them about what the community thinks about our work. So far this had worked.
But, the most important strategy has been election of the members. To able to form a Community Action Group (CAG), there are few things that are done before. First, we employed the widely known development methodologies known as Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and Appreciative Planning & Action (APA). These methodologies stimulate the community’s curiosity, which, therefore, calls for action. At that point, the idea becomes locally born and is immediately own by them. The call for action is that members have to be elected by the community. Perhaps, I have mentioned in my previous article, that these gatherings are attended by a number between 200 to 300 villagers. As such gatherings are new in many of these areas; they draw people of different ages and sexes. In election, members are first nominated by the assembly and then elected through plurality.
I must point out that our elections, although quite remote a process, are the most transparent you can ever ask for. Candidates are lined up, and general assembly chooses by lining behind a candidate of choice. Given the communal way of live in these communities, it must be hard to show favor in public. At first, I feared this would be the case. But, it never did. Almost everyone who attends these gatherings tends to vote. This is why I think we have just established “a brave democracy”. We do not need secret valets here!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Becoming A Star!
Abel Mote keeps reminding me that I run a risk of losing my audience if I don’t update my blog soon. This has been my worry all along. I never anticipate that I will never have personal time to write! This is because, even with greater effort I put to meet every dateline I set for my project, I still find myself way behind. First of all, I traveled to the States and stayed there for more than a month. And recently, I got a medical condition that kept me away for treatment for about two weeks. And then there are some other programmatic delays. All these have made me feel like I am chasing a train that has already pulled away from the station…not quite…maybe I feel like boarding and discovered that the Charlie card is missing; and now feel disorganized completely! I am trying to catch up with everything. So, I must say, this is the reason you have not heard from me, my dear readers. But I will keep my promise to give you updates as much as I can and as time allows.
So here are some few updates. I have come to like my work so much. Being a community organizer feels unique in its own way. You have to be ready for disappointments as well as excitements. It brings you closer to common man—mankind, no offend!! I see real desperations as well as optimisms in the eyes of people on daily basis. But, what is so rewarding about this kind of work is that I feel like am sowing seeds of development as well as roots of progress in the villages I work in. My community development portfolio aims to establish what we called Community Action Groups (CAGs) and Women Support Groups. These are provisional councils of Bomas. A Boma is a small, but bigger than a village, administrative entity within a Payam. And a Payam is an administrative boundary lower than a County. Sorry for all these Southern Sudanese terms!
To get a community action group, I do multiple visits to the village where the CAG/WSG is to be established. I meet with villagers, chiefs, and local government officials. In these meetings, I make sure it clear to everyone who different our approach to development is from development during war times: Building Responsibility for the Delivery of Government Services (BRIDGE) is to change things from relief times to sustainable development. My project is to create that sustainability at the community level. My goal is to assist these communities to own development of their own villages so that nonprofit organizations don’t worry about long term sustainability.
This ownership starts with members of the community elected to a CAG/WSG. These elections draw very large crowd. For many in these communities, elections are new phenomenon. Everyone is excited to be part of this new thing. People line up behind their candidates of their choice. In one of the Bomas that I my team has established a CAG/WSG, something fascinating to watch happened. A woman candidate was neck and neck to a man. This was especially interesting given the culture here: patriarchy. A man later won 107 to 103 votes. I really was hoping the woman win; people in this particular Boma continue to amaze me, nevertheless.
I feel am becoming a star in doing this community mobilization activities. I just find it interesting to standing in front of 200-300 people, and to explain to them how development of their communities must come from them. I share with them my experiences and what I have seen in all the places I have been to. Sometimes, I surprise myself when people give me round of applause every time I open my mouth! But, what is important to me is my conviction to them—my people. I want to see that they change from the state of dependency to become self-reliance. This, I believe, will be achieved when these communities realized their potential and work with these action groups to initiate process of development.
So here are some few updates. I have come to like my work so much. Being a community organizer feels unique in its own way. You have to be ready for disappointments as well as excitements. It brings you closer to common man—mankind, no offend!! I see real desperations as well as optimisms in the eyes of people on daily basis. But, what is so rewarding about this kind of work is that I feel like am sowing seeds of development as well as roots of progress in the villages I work in. My community development portfolio aims to establish what we called Community Action Groups (CAGs) and Women Support Groups. These are provisional councils of Bomas. A Boma is a small, but bigger than a village, administrative entity within a Payam. And a Payam is an administrative boundary lower than a County. Sorry for all these Southern Sudanese terms!
To get a community action group, I do multiple visits to the village where the CAG/WSG is to be established. I meet with villagers, chiefs, and local government officials. In these meetings, I make sure it clear to everyone who different our approach to development is from development during war times: Building Responsibility for the Delivery of Government Services (BRIDGE) is to change things from relief times to sustainable development. My project is to create that sustainability at the community level. My goal is to assist these communities to own development of their own villages so that nonprofit organizations don’t worry about long term sustainability.
This ownership starts with members of the community elected to a CAG/WSG. These elections draw very large crowd. For many in these communities, elections are new phenomenon. Everyone is excited to be part of this new thing. People line up behind their candidates of their choice. In one of the Bomas that I my team has established a CAG/WSG, something fascinating to watch happened. A woman candidate was neck and neck to a man. This was especially interesting given the culture here: patriarchy. A man later won 107 to 103 votes. I really was hoping the woman win; people in this particular Boma continue to amaze me, nevertheless.
I feel am becoming a star in doing this community mobilization activities. I just find it interesting to standing in front of 200-300 people, and to explain to them how development of their communities must come from them. I share with them my experiences and what I have seen in all the places I have been to. Sometimes, I surprise myself when people give me round of applause every time I open my mouth! But, what is important to me is my conviction to them—my people. I want to see that they change from the state of dependency to become self-reliance. This, I believe, will be achieved when these communities realized their potential and work with these action groups to initiate process of development.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Me and My Money-belt
I did not want to appear stringent. But promoting corruption is not something I would ever encourage either. Plus, I was already feeling anxious about the prospect of my money-belt being stolen. I had made a grave, soon to be regretted, mistake by pulling out my money-belt, fearing it would trigger security alarm at the security check –in. While I was getting ready to pass through the checkpoint, between two to three guys crowded to help me to go through the security checkpoint. I wanted to tell them, “I have been here and I had gone through this checkpoint several times; back off!” But, as I was getting my perfume and other essentials out of my computer bag, one of the guys had already pushed, through into the baggage check machine, the tray I had placed both my watch and the money-belt. And more importantly, he went on to the other side of the checkpoint. I was still struggling to get off the rest of stuff that would trigger security alarm, when my most valuable item arrived on the other side of the conveyor belt.
When I arrived on that other side of the security checkpoint, the guy who went with my money-belt, more mysteriously, traded ways with me out. My fears got deeper. I wanted to start counting my money right there. But, I was also conflicted by this act. I did not want to appear either suspicious or showing off. And my more pessimist side told me, “If the guy stole the money, counting the remaining would not help bring back that which has been stolen”. This was the “inconvenient trust” part I had to come to term with.
So! Next, at the check-in desk, the attendant wanted to talk. I had excess luggage. I figured, “this must be kitu kidogo thing!” And this other guy, who was standing next to me, but different from the one at the security’s gate, said, “This is too much luggage, but we will talk”. I got confused. But, the lady at the desk really wanted to talk! She put the price at a hundred US dollar. This was just to bribe myself out!
I had emailed our office in Nairobi to inform them of my excess luggage out of Nairobi to Juba. And I was assured of this request, and out associate in Nairobi reminded me the night before my flight that “all is set for me to fly on the East African Express”. So when everyone appears eager to get my money, I told the attendant, “I was told excess luggage has been booked by our office here in Nairobi”. That got the attendant edgy. And the guy next to me set off for other lucks out there. I offered to call the person who booked the ticket. They wanted to call their office, instead. Nothing seems to be working out, so I went ahead and called our associate who later on contacted the airline. Problem solved! I was told to go ahead and enjoy my flight—to which, I responded, “I sure will!”
I understand you have to pay for an excess luggage anywhere in the world. But, I was deeply troubled by the way this whole thing was being handled. Also I understand those who were involved don’t get paid well enough, so they feel the need to make extra bucks where they can. Or, for some like the guy at the gate and at the desk, doing what they do is an employment in itself. In fact, my taxi was signaled to pull over by the police just as we were approaching the airport facility. The driver, knowing what exactly this policeman wants, lowers his right hand and drop what appeared to me like 50 ksh, and said, “Here you go boss!” Honestly, I do feel sorry for them.
I am, however, a strong believer in legal system. Inadequate is not a good reason to keep beating the system. If I were to pay a hundred bucks, I need a receipt. Plus, I wanted to make sure I don’t double pay, even if this were at all genuine procedures!! That was my introduction to Africa. I only have few hours left to fly to my final destination. Till then, I hope.
When I arrived on that other side of the security checkpoint, the guy who went with my money-belt, more mysteriously, traded ways with me out. My fears got deeper. I wanted to start counting my money right there. But, I was also conflicted by this act. I did not want to appear either suspicious or showing off. And my more pessimist side told me, “If the guy stole the money, counting the remaining would not help bring back that which has been stolen”. This was the “inconvenient trust” part I had to come to term with.
So! Next, at the check-in desk, the attendant wanted to talk. I had excess luggage. I figured, “this must be kitu kidogo thing!” And this other guy, who was standing next to me, but different from the one at the security’s gate, said, “This is too much luggage, but we will talk”. I got confused. But, the lady at the desk really wanted to talk! She put the price at a hundred US dollar. This was just to bribe myself out!
I had emailed our office in Nairobi to inform them of my excess luggage out of Nairobi to Juba. And I was assured of this request, and out associate in Nairobi reminded me the night before my flight that “all is set for me to fly on the East African Express”. So when everyone appears eager to get my money, I told the attendant, “I was told excess luggage has been booked by our office here in Nairobi”. That got the attendant edgy. And the guy next to me set off for other lucks out there. I offered to call the person who booked the ticket. They wanted to call their office, instead. Nothing seems to be working out, so I went ahead and called our associate who later on contacted the airline. Problem solved! I was told to go ahead and enjoy my flight—to which, I responded, “I sure will!”
I understand you have to pay for an excess luggage anywhere in the world. But, I was deeply troubled by the way this whole thing was being handled. Also I understand those who were involved don’t get paid well enough, so they feel the need to make extra bucks where they can. Or, for some like the guy at the gate and at the desk, doing what they do is an employment in itself. In fact, my taxi was signaled to pull over by the police just as we were approaching the airport facility. The driver, knowing what exactly this policeman wants, lowers his right hand and drop what appeared to me like 50 ksh, and said, “Here you go boss!” Honestly, I do feel sorry for them.
I am, however, a strong believer in legal system. Inadequate is not a good reason to keep beating the system. If I were to pay a hundred bucks, I need a receipt. Plus, I wanted to make sure I don’t double pay, even if this were at all genuine procedures!! That was my introduction to Africa. I only have few hours left to fly to my final destination. Till then, I hope.
Friday, February 20, 2009
The Roundabouts
Some of you may be wondering why I haven’t been posting blogs for this long. And I must apologize for having introduced you and promise to keep feeding you back some description of my Sudan’s stay and about my work. Things have been incredibly busy here. Just to get my project rolling, I have been running here and there between governments and NGOs offices and from county to county and from Boma (village) to Boma. So I am taking this little time, 7 am in the morning, to try to fulfill my promise to you: to write at least one blog for this month. I am also doing my master’s paper and it’s not fun!!
In my first to trip to one of the counties I will be working in, Aweil North, I saw these hilarious scenes of roundabouts. This area is mostly populated by returnees. Years before the war and years after, the Arabs sponsored militia has been operating here. Literally, they are equivalent of current Janja weed operations in Darfur. Even the locals here call them jur aa jiewak (people of the horse). They are raided cattle, abducted children and women (in most cases the rapped them). I heard grim stories of how the lynched people here during the war. This was good enough a recipe for complete desertion of the area. So when war came to an end just about four years ago, people who survived these atrocities quickly came back to settle in their places. And with the creation of the semi-autonomous government of South Sudan, they started to design administrative boundaries between states, counties, and payam. This also meant creation of local governments for these administrative entities. Now begin the real development. They started making roads. By the way, as a side note, this roads construction caused great destruction in many of the villages in Aweil areas. The road construction company literally thwarted waterways and creating no passage for the water to flow. In places where they should have built bigger culverts, they put in place something that looks like an open barrel of oil on both ends. These were not enough to drain water away fast. So the water decided to show its might: whole of Aweil town and the surrounding was underwater in the last rainy season. This is not meant to bore you; I am trying to put this into development’s perspectives. Once can see clear neglect this whole entire story. This can be an example of where consultation has gone terribly wrong. Either the road construction company failed, out of ignorance, to consult with local communities or they just cared about achieving their goals of building roads to be paid their contract agreement’s money.
So as I was driving north of Aweil town to Gok-Machar, administrative head of Aweil North County, I saw another example of failure of this roads construction company to consult with communities.
Huts after huts were sitting in the middle of the road. When I talk about roads, I mean piles of mud compacted hard enough to pave way to these remote areas. They are good until it starts raining; and we may be back in square one again. But the whole point of this discussion is to see relevancy in doing development. In the mind of this roads construction company or whoever sponsored these roads constructions, development meant physical existence of roads. While this may be true to some extent, development must mean more than that. It must mean physical existence up to a point where other necessary conditions are met. It must mean sustainability. It must mean overall public awareness and serious community consultations. And when these preconditions are not met, you end up being force to unnecessary roundabouts such as the one you see in the picture.
Mango trees are also sacred here and you don’t want to touch them! They can have their own roundabouts
I hope you enjoy reading it. More will come when I find some times in the morning such as this one.
In my first to trip to one of the counties I will be working in, Aweil North, I saw these hilarious scenes of roundabouts. This area is mostly populated by returnees. Years before the war and years after, the Arabs sponsored militia has been operating here. Literally, they are equivalent of current Janja weed operations in Darfur. Even the locals here call them jur aa jiewak (people of the horse). They are raided cattle, abducted children and women (in most cases the rapped them). I heard grim stories of how the lynched people here during the war. This was good enough a recipe for complete desertion of the area. So when war came to an end just about four years ago, people who survived these atrocities quickly came back to settle in their places. And with the creation of the semi-autonomous government of South Sudan, they started to design administrative boundaries between states, counties, and payam. This also meant creation of local governments for these administrative entities. Now begin the real development. They started making roads. By the way, as a side note, this roads construction caused great destruction in many of the villages in Aweil areas. The road construction company literally thwarted waterways and creating no passage for the water to flow. In places where they should have built bigger culverts, they put in place something that looks like an open barrel of oil on both ends. These were not enough to drain water away fast. So the water decided to show its might: whole of Aweil town and the surrounding was underwater in the last rainy season. This is not meant to bore you; I am trying to put this into development’s perspectives. Once can see clear neglect this whole entire story. This can be an example of where consultation has gone terribly wrong. Either the road construction company failed, out of ignorance, to consult with local communities or they just cared about achieving their goals of building roads to be paid their contract agreement’s money.
So as I was driving north of Aweil town to Gok-Machar, administrative head of Aweil North County, I saw another example of failure of this roads construction company to consult with communities.
Huts after huts were sitting in the middle of the road. When I talk about roads, I mean piles of mud compacted hard enough to pave way to these remote areas. They are good until it starts raining; and we may be back in square one again. But the whole point of this discussion is to see relevancy in doing development. In the mind of this roads construction company or whoever sponsored these roads constructions, development meant physical existence of roads. While this may be true to some extent, development must mean more than that. It must mean physical existence up to a point where other necessary conditions are met. It must mean sustainability. It must mean overall public awareness and serious community consultations. And when these preconditions are not met, you end up being force to unnecessary roundabouts such as the one you see in the picture. 
Mango trees are also sacred here and you don’t want to touch them! They can have their own roundabouts I hope you enjoy reading it. More will come when I find some times in the morning such as this one.
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