My Seven Days in Sudan

(Continued from last week) Day 4: A long southward trip by road Friday was exhilarating, and by the same token, fatiguing. But, at least, we did not start at dawn. We set off in a heavily armed convoy escorting Gen. Nyamvumba and Scott Gration, the US special envoy to Sudan, and his American entourage, on a long nearly 9-hour road trip to Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, through a vast rough country of rolling desert and thorn bushes. When our driver helped me put on a flack jacket, for protection from shrapnel or any other possible firearm-fired projectiles, and gently asked me to take my seat in the white UNAMID Land Cruiser, unease set in. The ominous and weighty green flack jacket simply meant ‘anything’ could happen on this trip. The APCs with machine guns and airborne helicopter back-up that rapidly roared in, from nowhere, and tactically hovered menacingly above us whenever we stopped at a government check point, were not completely reassuring. But this trip was an immense opportunity for us to closely observe the difficult way of life in the countryside, and the peacekeepers at work. On few occasions, we encountered herds of cattle and sheep. And malnourished children, men and women, mostly riding donkeys or camels far away from the villages and dozen makeshift huts in congested Internally Displaced Camps. Civilians do not farm but depend on small scale trade and humanitarian aid in this land where heavily armed UNAMID patrols often come under ambush, in which militia factions mostly just want to grab vehicles. Camel and donkey cadavers are a common sight on the road side. The sandy terrain was evidently a hindrance to mobility. I was informed that, in the very rare short rainy season, the movement of patrols is very tricky. Our main stop was at Shangil Tobaya, a station with the last Rwandan contingent, located about 93 kms from El Fasher. Lt. Col. Ibrahim Muazu [Nigerian], a military observer team leader, made a presentation to acquaint the US envoy on UNAMID operations in the area, position of factions and IDP camps, as well as the security situation.According to Colonel Muazu, UNAMID components in the area conduct community policing and gender awareness campaigns. I had no doubt that this was an idea initiated by the Rwandans in the force. This has resulted in the establishment of community policing volunteer outfits in IDP camps. Because of this effort, he noted, cases of gender based violence had reduced. • The best of the best When Gration addressed the UNAMID officers and men in the area, he had a particularly revealing message, for the largest component – the 215 officers and men of Bravo Company, part of RWANBATT 25. The retired US Air Force Major General turned to them and said that the reputation of the Rwandan forces, and the people they represent, is very good, and that as a former military commander himself, he would be proud to go to combat with them, any day, any time. Gration also expressed enormous pleasure in being associated with their commander – Gen. Nyamvumba. “He is not only a great commander but also a man of integrity and great character, and his leadership here in UNAMID is making a great difference.” “You are making us very proud, as part of the international community. You are representing your country very well – continue to do this great service and, together, we can make a difference in this land. You are the best of the best and so I appreciate this opportunity to come here and address you – If we are successful, children in these camps will grow up with a brighter tomorrow. Women will not fear to be raped, and men can grow old in dignity.” “Many of you have come from a situation whereby you, too, can understand the pain that is associated with this kind of violence. I am very proud to see that you have volunteered your time and effort to make a difference in the lives of people that have suffered equally.” Gration’s comments reverberated in my mind throughout the remainder of the trip, until we parted ways with him in Nyala, and we returned to El-Fasher, by helicopter. Day 4: Lt. Gen. Nyamvumba’s office, and voices of Zam Zam Early Saturday morning, the General’s aide showed up as we were having breakfast, to announce that his boss was ready to give us our earlier requested interview. I put down my half empty beaker of milk and rushed out of the dining area to pick my notebook and recorder. Others too hurried the rest of their breakfast, picked their equipment and we rushed into the waiting vehicles. Lt. Gen. Nyamvumba first spoke at length about the UNAMID mission, before our questions started streaming in. I had interviewed the General before, in Kigali, but now, after ‘directly’ getting a real feel of his job setting, being on the ground, I mostly listened as he expounded more on the most significant issues. He acknowledged that the Rwandan contingent was gaining “enormous experience,” in terms of interoperability, from working in the multinational setting where 41 troop and police contributing countries are engaged. During the first phase of our trip to Nyala, the helicopters that provided airborne cover were flown by veteran Ethiopian pilots, while the Gurkhas, the world-renowned Nepali Special Forces partnered with Rwandans in the ground fleet. The Nepalis whose heritage is ripe with operational experience, are martial art experts and masters at cover and concealment, among other things, and are often used like the US marines. A Gurkha also adheres to a strict code of honor and discipline, one of them had confided to me, on the trip. “Rwandan troops pick from others but also have what to give – especially in terms of their own commitment, and ability to deliver,” the General noted, adding that it is “more of an interdependent relationship.” He gave us insight into the civilian population’s hardships, most of which we had witnessed, and the RDF’s determined participation, one inspired by the Rwandan experience.The exercise of Umuganda, in Darfur, is picking up, he said. “Rwanda as a post conflict society has experiences that we deem can help Darfuris as well. The only missing link is for Darfur people to use it as an opportunity – as a forum to meet and discuss their problems. This has not been achieved. The leaders have to be, often, pushed to take on and own the initiative.” Apart from this, the larger UNAMID community is contributing in “efforts to green Darfur,” – especially by planting trees, in conjunction with locals, we heard. Looking around, during my short stay in Darfur, I was humbled by the notion that Rwanda, a nation which is still rebuilding itself, can offer support in the humanitarian effort to return peace to Darfur. Rwandan forces, as the General put it, “have laid a very strong foundation for bringing back peace to Darfur.” Soon after the interview, we visited Zam Zam, a Rwandan area of operation where RWANBATT 23, under the command of Lt. Col. Deo Rusanganwa, is based. After getting acquainted with activities in his area of operation, we sauntered outside the camp where we spoke to locals.Issa Adamu Ah’madi, a local Sheik, welcomed us to Torba, his village of mud-walled huts and straw fences. Ah’madi was enthusiastic to talk to us and invited us inside his small hut. The old man sat his eager guests on the two small beds which occupied most of the hut’s inner space. He took up most of what remained, in a soiled white plastic armchair, and happily offered us some of his dry unwashed, but sweet, wild dates. I hesitantly nibbled at one as we talked. Through our translator, we listened and pried for details as our host gave us his take on the members of the Rwandan contingent in UNAMID. Sheik Ah’madi told us how a preceding Rwandan commander in Zam Zam helped solicit 25,000 US dollars, and together with his 300 Rwandan troops, joined the small Torba community in what appears to have been a replica of the Rwandan Umuganda or monthly community work exercise, and made bricks for the construction of the village’s primary school. “A total 60,000 bricks were made before the Rwandan army contingent returned home to Rwanda. Frederick [commander of a former Rwandan contingent at Zam Zam] continued to ask what more they could do for us – he requested me to list all the remaining requirements for our school to be completed,” he recalled. Rwandan troops’ acts of generosity like these have endeared them to Darfurians. Umuganda is winning hearts and is another shot at reining in a decade-long resource [water and pasture] conflict that was exacerbated by previous gaps in governance as well as political marginalization. The Darfur conflict erupted in 2003 when the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) rebels took up arms and captured the regional capital, demanding inclusion in power-sharing agreements between the government and southern Sudan. Khartoum preferred a military solution, and the conflict which now has economic, political and ethnic dimensions, has continued erupting unpredictably.People in Torba village face numerous hardships including a severe lack of water – a common source of conflict in the region. Rwandan peacekeepers often make effort to provide water and have other programs to help the communities share, equally, the little water. Apart from helping build schools, the troops also help provide much needed medical assistance. Rwandan police advisors also involved in initiatives aimed at propping up the justice sector, human rights, so as to rebuild the Darfur society. It is the Rwandan peacekeepers who introduced Rondereza, or fuel-saving stoves to Darfur, in an effort to check on the number of rapes of girls and women as they went about searching for fuel wood, far from their villages and IDPs. The project is as well an indirect way of protecting the environment and it also indirectly impacts on resolving the conflict. “We can never forget the effort by the Rwandan army in supporting us,” Sheik Ah’madi told us. When I asked if he had any prior knowledge about my country, or its people, the old man momentarily seemed at a loss, but he beamed and answered: “I don’t get much news about Rwanda but I visit the camp in Zam Zam and the way I see them, I feel that these are good people and that their country is also a good country with good people and good things – I have no doubt about that.” We took pictures with him under the unsympathetic sun outside his compound and then he took us on tour of the brick making site nearby, before we hugged again and said our goodbyes. • Understanding the RDF drive An earlier candid chat with Maj. Egide Ndayizeye, the second-in-command at Zam Zam, had shed some light on the Rwandan troops’ source of motivation. Even just for a Rwandan soldier to board a plane and come here, the youthful Major told me, they are already well clued-up on their main tasks. These include: ensuring the freedom of movement of the population; protection of IDPs; protection of UN equipment and personnel. “On arrival here, he or she endeavours to accomplish just that. Secondly, they know the predicament we went through, in Rwanda, when we sacrificed to stop the Genocide – the system we established to stop the genocide without any outside help.” But even then, Maj. Ndayizeye is often surprised by his comrades’ devotion and motivation. He too, thinks it has deep roots which even the troops themselves normally don’t perceive, and just choose to ignore, and carry on with work. “There is a sense of obligation, deep in one’s heart, and the question is always that ‘if I was able to stop the genocide, why can’t I also do a good job here?’” “So, when we start, the commitment and resolve we have cannot be compared to that of those other countries which did not go through the difficulties we did. That is probably why you hear that we work better and harder than others.” “There is no special experience but just our sheer sacrifice – it is the problems we have experienced, and others have not. It is not that we have gone to better schools or have better training as such, but there is something in us that is simply not visible to anyone.” “At work, I think that I am doing the usual normal simple things yet a foreigner is amazed – apparently, there is something good, inherent, in the way we work but we usually do not know it.” Day 5: Crimson Lights, Super Camp Worldwide, Human Rights Day is celebrated on December 10, but in El Fasher, it had been postponed to December 12, so as to allow the local civil society to partake in the celebrations held at a section of Super Camp. First, there was a moving drama act by a joint Sierra Leone-Gambia police contingent. Afterwards, members of RWANBATT 25 swayed guests with Rwandan traditional dance. After the event, I had more than enough time to notice more of the life in Super Camp. There are various extracurricular activities going on in the evenings. You find the troops playing mini-soccer just behind armored tanks and APCs, and volley ball, as others set off for patrols, far from the camp. A 300 square meter tent, was actually located just behind our quarters in which 15 to 20 soldiers would be found sparing in a Karate session, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We flew back to Khartoum in the evening. Day 6: Goodbye All of a sudden, my Sudan adventure was fast threatening to end. We had planned to have, at least this Monday, off work so that we could extensively tour the city. But, oddly, things didn’t go according to plan. Precious time went to waste at the airport as we sought to clear the dregs of the camera matter, so as to avoid possible distress on our way out later. Even so, we managed just about five hours to look through Khartoum’s markets and upscale shops, for souvenirs. I even got an opportunity to pose with a ‘chai woman’, as a colleague furtively took five prized snaps. In the evening, shortly before 08:00 hours, our UN van sped off towards Mr. Rutabana’s residence. He was expecting us. We left Mr. Rutabana’s house sometime way past midnight. Our flight to Nairobi was scheduled to depart at 03:50 hours. We only had time to pick our bags from the UNMIS HQs. Day 7: Homecoming Walking out of Kigali International Airport on a fine December 14 morning, in spite of the drowsy exhaustion that I carried around, seemed as if I had not been gone, even for a day. It was odd. I headed home, and straight to bed. When I woke up, later in the afternoon, I couldn’t easily turn away from the haunting scenes of the blameless, bony, but smiling dirty kids from a village in the outskirts of Shangil Tobaya. An about 8-year old girl had tried to sell some wild Darfur fruits but I refused. I was touched by the fact that they were not begging, but selling. I gave her whole group of five the only Sudanese currency I had, a one Sudanese pound note, for free, and was amazingly blessed with more smiles and intermittent appealing murmurs from which all I could make out were “shukran” and “Madarasa,” which I then vaguely believed to mean, thank you, and school, respectively. I still feel guilty that the kids will never see the pictures I took of them. Ends