greetings from Darfur
hey all, it looks like i may have internet access in habilah on occasion. one of the other ngo's has it and apparently they let other expats use it when they aren't on it! for now that remains to be seen, but it's a distinct possibility and it will allow anyone who wants to email me to do so at my hotmail account. today in one of my briefings i was told to only give my msf email address to my family and close friends in order to control the number of emails they have to download on the satellite phones. i nodded, thinking 'yeah, and will YOU be the one to decide which of my friends gets to be considered close enough to get my email address? oh, and p.s. i have about 100 relatives, no joke".
today i'm in el geneina, the capital of west darfur (erase from your mind any and all pre-conceived notions as to what a capital usually looks like/consists of. replace those notions with huts, sand, donkeys and goats). i'm at the UNHCR compound using their computers after a day and a half of more security briefings and waiting around for more security briefings. on the plus side: one of those briefings taught me how to speak radio ("echo golf for hotel alpha, come in". seriously, how cool am i?). the unhcr compound also has air conditioning and western toilets. luxury.... i may never leave. after only a day of true msf living (and it gets worse tomorrow when we leave for habila) i can say that i have huge respect for this organization, and i am going to be SO hardcore when i'm done here :) the living conditions in the philippines and afghanistan are a 5 star resort compared to our compound here. we use eastern 'toilets' (a hole in the ground), we don't have windows to protect us against the violent sandstorms (hence the sand in my every crevice). the compound has 4 regular expats so they have 4 knives. and they have NO fans. none. today at lunch as i sat at the table trying to not die of heat stroke, i asked why they didn't have fans. andreas says 'we have a logistician who is very aware of justifying the use of our donors money'. i say 'and survival isn't justification enough?'. apparently not. if you can't justify the use of a fan in sudan, you can't justify the use of a fan anywhere. the heat is merciless. today i went to the latrine at the office (i made the mistake of taking my anti-malarial pill on an empty stomach. you don't even want to know how revolting it is to have to put your face anywhere near that hole. if i hadn't been about to barf anyways, i would have after that for sure). the latrine there has no roof (surprisingly a nicer design than the one at the guesthouse. less smelly and claustrophobic) which meant that i was almost completely under the sun, as was the metal door. when i was ready to leave i went to open the door and i felt like i had just picked up a hot iron by the wrong end. i looked at my watch and debated whether it was worth waiting until sundown to try opening the door again.
steffen and i got a small tour of el geneina today when one of the national staff took us with him to buy some supplies for me to take to my team in habilah ( its amazing the things they had to ask for: ketchup, oranges, oil, coffee, etc). the market here is amazing, and it's going to KILL me to not be able to take pictures of it. it's so familiar in so many ways, yet so completely different in so many other ways. this place makes afghanistan seem developed- and habilah is supposed to be even more remote. as one of the doctors put it in one of her briefings "make no mistake- you ARE going to an entirely different planet". (side note: this is the same woman who had a coughing attack during our meeting and said "i think i'm allergic to the dust here". i think to myself "yeah, it's probably that and not that you just chain-smoked through this entire meeting"). i won't bother describing it as it wouldn't sound that different from how i described el geneina in general. just minus the huts and put in small stores. still teeming with donkeys and goats, still nothing but sand.
well, my driver is here so i must jet. i leave for habilah tomorrow by car- my choice. if i have to face that road at some point, i would rather that the first time be with other people and there are 3 msf staff visiting that are taking the road to check it out. if i have to get robbed at some point, let it be tomorrow when i'm with 2 guys and i'm not the only foreigner :) just kidding family! sort of.
love Ames
today i'm in el geneina, the capital of west darfur (erase from your mind any and all pre-conceived notions as to what a capital usually looks like/consists of. replace those notions with huts, sand, donkeys and goats). i'm at the UNHCR compound using their computers after a day and a half of more security briefings and waiting around for more security briefings. on the plus side: one of those briefings taught me how to speak radio ("echo golf for hotel alpha, come in". seriously, how cool am i?). the unhcr compound also has air conditioning and western toilets. luxury.... i may never leave. after only a day of true msf living (and it gets worse tomorrow when we leave for habila) i can say that i have huge respect for this organization, and i am going to be SO hardcore when i'm done here :) the living conditions in the philippines and afghanistan are a 5 star resort compared to our compound here. we use eastern 'toilets' (a hole in the ground), we don't have windows to protect us against the violent sandstorms (hence the sand in my every crevice). the compound has 4 regular expats so they have 4 knives. and they have NO fans. none. today at lunch as i sat at the table trying to not die of heat stroke, i asked why they didn't have fans. andreas says 'we have a logistician who is very aware of justifying the use of our donors money'. i say 'and survival isn't justification enough?'. apparently not. if you can't justify the use of a fan in sudan, you can't justify the use of a fan anywhere. the heat is merciless. today i went to the latrine at the office (i made the mistake of taking my anti-malarial pill on an empty stomach. you don't even want to know how revolting it is to have to put your face anywhere near that hole. if i hadn't been about to barf anyways, i would have after that for sure). the latrine there has no roof (surprisingly a nicer design than the one at the guesthouse. less smelly and claustrophobic) which meant that i was almost completely under the sun, as was the metal door. when i was ready to leave i went to open the door and i felt like i had just picked up a hot iron by the wrong end. i looked at my watch and debated whether it was worth waiting until sundown to try opening the door again.
steffen and i got a small tour of el geneina today when one of the national staff took us with him to buy some supplies for me to take to my team in habilah ( its amazing the things they had to ask for: ketchup, oranges, oil, coffee, etc). the market here is amazing, and it's going to KILL me to not be able to take pictures of it. it's so familiar in so many ways, yet so completely different in so many other ways. this place makes afghanistan seem developed- and habilah is supposed to be even more remote. as one of the doctors put it in one of her briefings "make no mistake- you ARE going to an entirely different planet". (side note: this is the same woman who had a coughing attack during our meeting and said "i think i'm allergic to the dust here". i think to myself "yeah, it's probably that and not that you just chain-smoked through this entire meeting"). i won't bother describing it as it wouldn't sound that different from how i described el geneina in general. just minus the huts and put in small stores. still teeming with donkeys and goats, still nothing but sand.
well, my driver is here so i must jet. i leave for habilah tomorrow by car- my choice. if i have to face that road at some point, i would rather that the first time be with other people and there are 3 msf staff visiting that are taking the road to check it out. if i have to get robbed at some point, let it be tomorrow when i'm with 2 guys and i'm not the only foreigner :) just kidding family! sort of.
love Ames
posted by Amy Osborne | 4:10 PM
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