Well I'm 10 days in to my time in South Sudan. I'm still in Juba, rather than in the field bases I'll be covering. This is due to a mixture of issues - getting a handover and also the infrequency of flights. You cannot get to many places in South Sudan without getting on a UN or private charter flight. It's frustrating not to be with my teams yet, but it's great to be back at work.
South Sudan is a very complex context. I was surprised before I left the UK at how many people didn't know that South Sudan is a separate country to Sudan. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after many years of civil war. However, things have not been peaceful since then, and at the current time part of the country is under government control and other areas are under 'in opposition' control. Things are at an unstable stalemate at the moment, with violence flaring up now and then around flash point areas. Surrounding countries are leading peace talks which do seem to hold some promise. Some parts of the country however have been very peaceful - and in these areas humanitarian and development work is able to have real impact. In the areas which remain volatile, it is difficult for organisations to have lasting impact as populations are continually moving, perpetuating the cycle of food insecurity as land is not farmed consistently. This food insecurity has led to acute malnutrition across the country, at varying levels. The country is also lacking in infrastructure, meaning that access to water and sanitation is at critical levels in many areas. (This is a very, very, very simplified version of some of the issues).
I will be covering a couple of areas for Tearfund, where the projects are nutrition for children and women who are pregnant or breast-feeding, food security and water, sanitation and hygiene. I'm excited to see on the ground what these projects look like.
I fly tomorrow (weather dependent) to a remote field base, where I will live for the next 5 weeks. It's north west of Juba, in a little settlement in the bush. It rained heavily last night here in Juba, which may hamper travel plans as if the airstrip is under water the flight will not go - I wait to hear from the team how the situation is up there today. I'm really looking forward to getting there - I'm very limited in Juba in terms of what I can achieve work-wise; especially as I have not met my teams yet. Once you have strong relationships with the team, remote working is so much easier.
