An all too familiar feeling

December 22, 2010 7:25 pm by Rachel Eichholz

With only a few weeks to go, the word on everyone’s lips in Sudan is “referendum.” Seldom do people have a decision that is six years in the making. After 25 years of war, which only ceased in 2006, the attitude here can best be described as “wait and see” mixed with resignation and worry. While NGOs, the UN, and governments grapple with 87,000 organised returnees to Northern Bahr el Ghazal state (where I work), as well as the food and water shortages and logistical issues that go along with it, people who have been through this all before lie and wait, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

Ayuel, an ACF food security and livelihoods programme assistant, says the key to surviving another war is using skills learned from before. He tells me that you go where the water is because the ground is soft so bombs only explode in a small area. You also need to have access to water for your family while in hiding. You stay away from the towns and main roads and you group your cows far away, because that is where the bombs fall.

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Cows and an education

December 20, 2010 6:35 pm by Rachel Eichholz

A Dinka woman collecting food for her family

If you’ve ever watched a Dinka woman carry 25kg on her head, you would understand why I was annoyed. The three workers we hired stood on top of the truck filled with seeds and tools; their job was to pass out heavy packages down to the heads of the mothers of malnourished children who were part of our outpatient nutrition program in Warawar, southern Sudan.

The problem was that the men refused to pass the packages to the women directly. Instead, they placed them on the ground, so the women had to stoop down and strain every muscle in their bodies to lift the packages back up to their heads. “It’s the women’s job to carry such things,” the workers said. “Let them pick it up.”

Grimacing, I stood on the truck and started to do their job myself. But after seeing I was barely able to lift the heavy packages down to the women, the workers were so embarrassed that they finally started to do it right.

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In need of a break – and a carrot

December 10, 2010 4:17 pm by Rachel Eichholz

The plane was about to land when a goat appeared on the side of the runway, and a tall, barefoot woman wearing a bright red cloth tied at the shoulder made a run for it across the dirt airstrip. The two pilots of our tiny nine-seater cursed in Swahili, and one of them pulled up hard on the lever. We circled around again just above the tree tops and passing trucks.

This time the runway was clear and there was nothing to disrupt our landing in Malualkon, a rural town in the state of Northern Bahr el Ghazal in southern Sudan. Malualkon’s flat and dusty dirt airstrip is dotted with old twisted trees, cows, and a water pump with women gathered round it. The women balance huge jerry cans on their heads with perfect poise, while skinny, giggling children run around them in circles chasing a soccer ball – some with even younger children balanced on their hip hanging on for dear life.

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