Notes from the Field

By Steve

One of the perks of being in a regional advisory role is that I get to travel to field locations (as we call them) and visit currently ongoing projects, but then get to come back to the relative comfort of Juba.  Since starting in South Sudan 2 months ago I have been able to visit all of our “static” locations in South Sudan – Leer, Pibor and Renk.

Travel to the field in South Sudan looks like this most of the time:

First thing in the morning (say 6.00 am) we get driven to the airport which can be seen from the roof of our house, but still takes a little while due to the state of the roads which are more pot hole than road in most places.  The airport is usually a seething mass of people, even at this hour, and we join a queue of people waiting to outside the terminal building, many with multiple bags, boxes and rolled-up mattresses to make field life a little more comfortable.  Once inside, we can check in and then wait for our flight with the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) which, perhaps surprisingly, is run by the World Food Programme (whilst they do distribute food primarily, this is more a logistical task than a medical one and therefore they are well placed to lend their expertise to delivering aid workers to remote locations as well as food).

Many locations in South Sudan do not have an airstrip that is landable during the rainy season, so to get to these locations requires a helicopter.  Some heli’s leave from Juba, but often they run out of regional bases such as Bor and Rumbek, so it is usual that the route will involve at least two flights.  Even if a plane can land at the destination, there will often be pit stops along the way to refuel or pick up/drop off passengers.

The planes are usually small but fairly comfortable and you may even get a bottle of water during the flight.

Helicopters, though they probably sound more exciting, are much less comfortable.  These were designed in soviet-era Russia and are fairly utilitarian, with hard, folding benches to sit on and they are deafeningly loud (sweaty ear defenders are provided as standard).

Base Locations

Each of the locations, and each of the Medair bases, has its own unique character.

Leer

Leer is largely cut off from the rest of the country, with the only “roads” dirt tracks that become all but impassable during the rainy season (which – traditionally at least – runs more or less from July to November).  Even during the dry season, the main means of access for goods is via the river (Nile), along which barges travel bringing various commodities and passengers in some cases from the larger towns of Malakal in the north and Bor in the south.

I visited Leer a couple of times back in 2016 when I was working here before, and then it was a small town but largely deserted following fierce fighting that displaced many people into the surrounding swamps.  Today the town has grown and there is a sprawling market area, but much of the growth is from [internally] displaced people (IDPs) who, this time, have fled other places and settled in the relative safety of the town.  Living conditions are pretty desperate for many people and Medair, among others, are working to address some of the needs (but more of that in a later post). 

The Leer base is actually quite attractive, with 5 small buildings (tukuls) with thatched roofs, neatly arranged in a row for sleeping quarters, palm trees swaying in the breeze and a sandy soil almost giving the impression of a holiday resort.  However, the surrounding land is marshy which means as night falls the mosquitos come out for their evening feed forcing all sensible souls under their bed nets, and the place erupts into a cacophony of noise as frogs, crickets, cicadas, lizards and birds all commence their night time chorus.

Pibor

Pibor in theory has better road links to Juba (and then on to the supply routes from Uganda) than Leer, however intercommunal conflict and regular banditry mean that the road from Bor is often unsafe for trucks to drive, so it still feels quite cut off.

The Pibor base is defined by mud!  The whole region is dominated by black cotton soil, a type of clay that shrinks and cracks during the dry months, and turns into slippery, clingy mud at the first sign of rain.  All the working and living spaces are raised up by half a metre from the ground to avoid flooding when it rains, and trails of stepping stones provide the only route from one place to the next without losing your wellies in the mud.

Accommodation at Pibor is in safari tents, 2-person canvas tents that provide a good size room with two beds.  These can become quite hot during the day, and then cool down overnight.  Fortunately, they are all fitted with electric lights and fans.

In Pibor, as in Leer, bathroom experiences are pretty basic and no amount of bath salts and scented candles would make you want to linger any longer than is absolutely necessary.  Toilets are pit latrines with simple squat pans, and “showers” involve a bucket of cold water and a simple room with a bare concrete floor.

Renk

Renk is where I lived between 2016 & 17 and is much more of a functioning town than the other places since it represented more or less the southern limit of the Khartoum government’s development prior to independence.  It is a reasonable size town with a large market area and lots of single story flat-roofed houses in the Arabic style, arranged in a fairly organised road grid system.  It even has a power grid and water network.

Whilst it is as far from Juba as it is possible to be in South Sudan, the border with Sudan to the north is quite “leaky”, despite not being officially open, so the market has a steady supply of food and various commodities.  Despite this, Renk County has one of the highest rates of acute malnutrition in the country, and much of Medair's work has been to treat the children under 5 years who are most affected by this.

The Medair base is still in the same house where I lived previously.  Most people have a bedroom to themselves, all with A/C these days, and there are a number of shared bathrooms, although buckets are still required if you want any water!

Food

Wherever you are, once in the field, the food tends to be more basic than in Juba, with much less choice available through the week, and almost everything, from staples like beans and rice, to luxuries like fresh fruit and shortbread biscuits(!), flown in from the capital.  Since the majority of the staff that are based in field locations tend to be South Sudanese, and the cooks are always local ladies, the food tends to be more geared towards the local palette.  Rice, ugali/posho (a fairly tasteless staple in this part of the world, made with maize flour and water and with a texture a little like solid semolina pudding), beans and lentils are usually on offer along with some form of meat, since "it's not a meal without meat".  Although this food can be quite tasty, the chickens tend to be scrawnier and the goat that bit tougher than anything you get in Juba.

As mentioned at the start, it is not usually with too much sadness that one leaves behind the field gastronomy and ablution facilities, and for a day or two at least, remembers to appreciate the modern wonders of Juba life!