Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Last Update For a Couple Weeks
The mission has been postponed until middle of March. We are all going home and returning on the 12March unless things change significantly after 04March when the ICC make it's announcement about issuing an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan. So until then that's alll I have.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Guess What!!
Another change. It looks like we are not going to deploy until at least next week ... Tuesday the earliest. But really I think everyone gets the point now. No one really knows. So when we go thats when we will know. This is pretty standard I am told. The last group that went to Sudan form Canada was delayed a month. Yikes! When I went to Kosovo there wasn't this much uncertainty... but every UN mission is totally different.
I see my "followers" are going in numbers. That's great. Thanks for your support. And thanks to everyone for your kind words and support. Especially your support for Heather and the kids. They are truly blessed.
I see my "followers" are going in numbers. That's great. Thanks for your support. And thanks to everyone for your kind words and support. Especially your support for Heather and the kids. They are truly blessed.
Deployment
The unofficial word for our departure is Saturday 21Feb. I am keeping my fingers crossed. It is really great to just have a date. Even if we don't go then it is nice to have a something to work towards. More to come.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Another Update
Note much has changed here in Ottawa. The news is still getting things wrong or being told the wrong information... you guess which. There hasn't anything new on the Bashir front like I noted in the last post. In July of last year Bashir was indicted by the ICC but they are still deciding whether to go ahead with an arrest warrant and that is what everyone seems to think happened last week... but no it did not.
So we still sit in Ottawa completing our pre-deployment training and don't know with any really certainty whether we are going to deploy or not and when. I think it is still assumed that we are going but the greater unknown is when... I think.
So until then we are learning a lot about Sudan ( not as much as we would if we were actually there) and it is all very very interesting. It is the biggest country in Africa but has very little infastructure by way of roads and rail. What roads they do have are mostly unpaved. And it sounds like to travel from the north in the country to the south where the majority of us are going to would take forever and a day by car and months by boat up the Nile. So we take a UN helicopter. Which will be very exciting. More to come.
So we still sit in Ottawa completing our pre-deployment training and don't know with any really certainty whether we are going to deploy or not and when. I think it is still assumed that we are going but the greater unknown is when... I think.
So until then we are learning a lot about Sudan ( not as much as we would if we were actually there) and it is all very very interesting. It is the biggest country in Africa but has very little infastructure by way of roads and rail. What roads they do have are mostly unpaved. And it sounds like to travel from the north in the country to the south where the majority of us are going to would take forever and a day by car and months by boat up the Nile. So we take a UN helicopter. Which will be very exciting. More to come.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
A Little About Sudan
The history of Sudan goes very deep into history and pre-history. There is evidence of not only habitation as far back as 60,000 years but conflict during the twelfth millennium BC. Sudan is home to the Nubians, who once toppled the Pharaohs and ruled Egypt.
In more recent times Sudan was ruled by the Turks then the British along with the Egyptians. The British held Sudan until 1956 when the Sudanese people gained independence and since that time the country has been in a state of civil war. There has been some intermission but generally for that last 60 or so years the state of Sudan has only known conflict. An entire generation has endured through what most of us could not conceive.
Unknown to much of us Sudan is an extremely diverse country. In the most general terms the culture is mostly Muslim, about 75% followed by Christian and then various other tribal denominations. Each of the three are split into a variety of different tribes and clans who have their own agendas in the social and political spectrum of Sudan.
The UN has been on the ground in Sudan since 2004 and a peace agreement was formulated in 2005. UN resolution 1590, 24 March 2005, tasked UNMIS with supporting the Government of Sudan and the SPLM/A (Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army)in the implementation of the peace agreement.
Now one must understand that the UN is in Sudan at the invitation of the Sudanese government. The UN has no executive powers and could be booted whenever the government of Sudan wants to.
Then there is of course Darfur the most Western state and one that everyone who follows the news has heard about. Darfur remains in conflict and as a result the UN has ceased sending police officers into this region. Because of the events in Darfur in the last 4 or 5 years the International Criminal Court in the Hague has discusssed issuing and arrest warrant for the head of the Sudanese government. This issuance could potentially threaten the UN mission in Sudan and as I write this tonight CBC reports that the ICC has issued that warrant.
Our deployment to Sudan has been in limbo since this announcement so tomorrow should have interesting news for all of us.
In more recent times Sudan was ruled by the Turks then the British along with the Egyptians. The British held Sudan until 1956 when the Sudanese people gained independence and since that time the country has been in a state of civil war. There has been some intermission but generally for that last 60 or so years the state of Sudan has only known conflict. An entire generation has endured through what most of us could not conceive.
Unknown to much of us Sudan is an extremely diverse country. In the most general terms the culture is mostly Muslim, about 75% followed by Christian and then various other tribal denominations. Each of the three are split into a variety of different tribes and clans who have their own agendas in the social and political spectrum of Sudan.
The UN has been on the ground in Sudan since 2004 and a peace agreement was formulated in 2005. UN resolution 1590, 24 March 2005, tasked UNMIS with supporting the Government of Sudan and the SPLM/A (Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army)in the implementation of the peace agreement.
Now one must understand that the UN is in Sudan at the invitation of the Sudanese government. The UN has no executive powers and could be booted whenever the government of Sudan wants to.
Then there is of course Darfur the most Western state and one that everyone who follows the news has heard about. Darfur remains in conflict and as a result the UN has ceased sending police officers into this region. Because of the events in Darfur in the last 4 or 5 years the International Criminal Court in the Hague has discusssed issuing and arrest warrant for the head of the Sudanese government. This issuance could potentially threaten the UN mission in Sudan and as I write this tonight CBC reports that the ICC has issued that warrant.
Our deployment to Sudan has been in limbo since this announcement so tomorrow should have interesting news for all of us.
Monday, February 9, 2009
A bit of an update but nothing too exciting.
Well I have started our pre-deployment trainging in Ottawa. It should last two weeks. Our tentative departure is 20Feb09. I just arrived at the hotel 12:30 am after saying by to family for the first time in a while. I took the last two weeks off to spend with the kiddies and Heather and had a great time... even babysat a little bit... ha ha ha. I'll be home next Saturday pm for the "real" goodbye. More soon.
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