Somebody is actually reading this stuff...

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Today, is officially the third to last day that I will spend in Torit.

On Friday, Nov 9, I will jump in a helicopter and close this particular chapter of my life. At this point, I am very excited to go home, to be close to Laura, my family and my friends. I have once again been away from the computer for a week or so, as I had take my last 7 days of leave in Kenya with my friend Yannick, who is my UNMO partner here. I will attach some (a lot) of pictures of my trip once I get to Khartoum, and begin the end of mission administration with the UN.

I got quite a surprise today, as I opened my blog, and found 40 new comments on it! I couldn't believe my eyes. A good day in the past usually left about 6-7 comments on the page. These comments had come from various classes being taught my Brianne Cordingley, at Whistler High School. Most of the comments are in the entries titled "Unexploded Ordnance" and "Air Patrol to IKOTOS." Some of the comments made me laugh, while others were very introspective. And some made me scratch my head. As a quick note to all you up and coming students.... punctuation, proper sentence structure and spelling will take you a long way in this world. All sentences and names should start with a capital!!! Okay enough of that.

I arrived back in Torit yesterday and found out that an incident in Yambio, 400 km West of Torit. 5 SPLA soldiers, the former rebel force, had freed one of their own soldiers from police custody by force. They returned about 10 mintues later, and shot and killed the Acting Police commisioner and two other high ranking police officers. They then apparently opened fire at the station where two Dutch UN police officers were working. The two Dutch men fled, and the SPLA opened fire at them and chased them to the camp. This demonstrates a fundamental problem with Southern Sudan at present. The police hold little authority, and the way of the gun still rules. When the proposed military force in a country is unlawfulin it's actions, there must be repercussions, and punshiment. But here, the police are afraid of the SPLA, and they know what could happen if they arrest or interfere with them. The soldiers have ne fear of the law or prosecution it seems. In Torit, shopkeepers have reported that soldiers from the combined SPLA and SAF unit have openly taken many goods without paying, usually through intimidation/extrotion. The shopkeepers do nothing for fear of violence, and when they report the theft to police, the police do nothing as well.

I would like to pose a question for all the sutdents out there.

If you had to re-build a country like Sudan, which had suffered through 22 years of civil war, where would you start? With commerce and economic improvements? Communications? Security? Trade with countries? Change the political structure? Downsize/upsize the military? Please, go ahead and reply with comments as to what you think is one of the best ways to start. Pick your own reasons and then back them up with some of your ideas. This is just a discussion, there are no wrong answers.

Anyhow, things are winding down here for me, and I am happy with that. I realized soon after I arrived here, wide-eyed and idealistic, that changes do not happen quickly in an environment like this. Success comes in the form of small victories, and small changes over time. With enough small change, you end up with a big change. It just takes longer.

"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little." - Edmund Burke

I had the opportunity to have dinner in Juba with a bunch of British NGO workers on Saturday. I think it was both benenficial for both sides as I think that they had little exposure to the UN/Miltary Observer side of the coin; while I had little interaction with NGO operations. I found them to be very well educated, and very insightful. I have found that one of the most important skills I could develop here was the ability to listen. Listen to what is being said, and understand it. If you don't, ask a question. Simple. Sometimes you also need to listen to what is NOT being said, by reading a persons body language, facial expressions, and general attitude. I appreciate being able to explain my point of view, but I have truly learned the value of listening to others, and learning from them... especially here, where everything is different from my own culture and upbringing.

Take care,

Don

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Comments

[Picc]

Who are you???
Spelling? Punctuation? Sentence structure??? Who are you and what did you do with HM? This is from a guy who creates his own Franglais-language and email banter is full of invented words (like "sutdents"). Ha ha. Looking forward to seeing you and all your pics. See you back in Canada soon! ~Picc

[Chris]

Well done
Don (and Laura), Congratulations, you're almost there. I'm looking forward to being able to talk once you're back. Have a safe trip home.

[Dani]

We were wondering where you have been. Those are hard questions you put forward...I have no idea where I would start, something to think about. Hopefully your last 3 days go smoothly. Can't wait to see you. Have a safe trip home!

[Timmay]

Agreement with Picc
Hello, has le grand pamplemousse learned structure and grammar? Haha. Good to hear you've learned lots, and it will be great to see you soon!

[Cole]

hi, I think I'd start with the entire governemnt. It sounds very inefficient and doesn't do much.

[jake balzarini]

My Answer
if i had to start and rebiuld a country i would start with security because if u didn't there would still be crime and that is a very big issue

[Dylan]

ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION...woops cap lock
use lego. make sure its red ones though, no! Blue ones! wait, wait, yellow ones! no no no start by bringing in more up to date education! Kids are the future so if you teach them about how war can ruin a country and how killing each other isn't going to get you anywhere.

[Riley]

If i had to rebuild a conutry like Sudan i would start with changing what they need to most of. Like education and a new government.

[Luana]

rebuilding a country
if i were to rebuild a country i would start with improving the economic structure. I would do this because then the people of Sudan could survive on their own and make a living. I would also build a strong security base and education so violence does not break out again and education because it would support the economy and help others.

[Max]

Heres question one Mr. Jamont
Spelling and grammar, who needs those in life? But anyways if i had to build a country from the ground up it would probably start with a change in the political structure. Kind of like how voting for the prime minister in Afghanistan would help change the way the country was.

[Lucas Quinn]

Well not to say that my grammer is great but I never got along with the grammer teachers in whistler. If I had the oppertunity to rebuild a country from scratch it would be alot diffferent then any other country. If I had to build a legal country I would start by putting someone who isn't a total mental case in charge. Anouther thing to start with would be a good education, more agriculture and a larger army so if any smart ass tried to start a rebel group then we could easily exterminate the problem.

[Samuel]

Fixing a country
If I were given a job to fix a country that had been at civil war for 22 years, I would work on stabilizing the military situation as my first priority. There is no point in doing anything else if it is just falls apart again. I would then start bolstering the economy, working on manageing the resources to the best of their capabilities. I would then start establishing education and health care, to give the country a chane to grow, in the sence of geting stronger.

[jan]

if i had to rebuild a country like sudan..............
if i have to rebild a country like sudan i would start with education! all the kids should have a proper education so they can have a good job to support their family, but adult should have a good education to, they can go to classes that teach different lanuage, because maybe they have a chance to travel.

[lukas]

comment
I would start by making it into two countries completely so that they could be completly diffrent it wouldnt matter they could have difffrent polititians diffrent rules diffrent cultures diffrent live and stuff.PS were not even getting marked for this just make sure ms cord doesnt get any eviler O and say that lukas deserves a better grade

[sierra]

If i had to re-build a country that has had 22 years of civil war i would not know how to repair all that damage of the people and the land. I would probably tair every thing down and build new buildings like we have in out cities get pavement roads put into place and most of all a would have a hospital or clinic built like we have today. after a while we would have better electricity and plumming. turn all the dry dirt into soil for plants and food. we would do this all one house at a time one piece of land at a time, unitl everything is new and improved.

[Brendan G.]

Brendan
If I was in controll of the country the first thing I would push for is improving the economy. You cant start to worry about the education system or comunications when you have no money to do so. Everything can be done with money.

[Harrison Shrimpton]

Sudan improvements
Waz up Don, I'm one of the kids in Ms. Cord's class and i'm going to answer your question about how i would improve Sudan. I think i start by what you did a little bit of. I would hire a lot of willing people who would go to Sudan, in peace, to help families and show them things that can useful to their lives. Also, like what you did, i'd go and make the children happy because they have to go through so much compared to kids in Norh America. Hope that answers your question.

[Alix]

Answer To Your Questions!
That is such a hard question to answer because starting would be the hardest thing. First more schools probably should be built and teachers should be hired. Even if the teachers were brought from other countries of half-year periods. Then, more children will have the education needed to start a buisness and to succeed in this world. Building a better economy would help boot the buisness'! Overall, little by little if more people start coming to help Sudan, in a couple of years maybe there will be progress in some weak areas.

[Reis, brendan]

Answer?!
I think i would rebuild South Sudan by taking all of the sudanise and send them to outerspace on some random planet. Then I would demolish all of the city's and villages and put 1 million Canadian citicens into Sudan which would then be called "Sudanada". Then Canada would support "Sudanada" and help them start over with some of Canada's money and all of the Sudanise money. Then Sudanada would be a happy little country and they would be friendly with all of the other country's. Oh ya, there would be many ice cream shops because nobady kills other people with an icecream cone in their hand!

[Laura McColm]

Re-building a Coutry
Hey Don. If i were to Re-build a country, i would probably have to start with the Government. They must take away guns and the militaries power. The G-overnments police should have the power to arrest villans. The schooling should be more of a priority as well. Someone should also be looking into having a large majority of the population get jobs. Create more jobs by creating more food, or products that could help modenerise thier country. Anything, as long as there is a positive hand of athority controlling the population and keeping things in controll.

[Graham]

Hey
Isn't that a little bit hypocritical to tell us about spelling when I have seen a fair share of spelling mistakes from you. ex. itimidation / extrotion, unlawfulin and benenficial. Any way to answer your question I would start with the army and change it into one small joint force to keep them both happy (both sides) then improve living conditions of regular people so farming seems better than war. Then give the police more power than one side alone because the possibility of them joining forces is improbable then I would create a democratic government with both sides having advisors in this government.

[Frazzzzzzzer]

ppfffft...grammar
ok this isn't school so i won't spell or worry about grammar and sentence structure mr perfect. I f I had to rebild a country like Sudan. A place that has suffered so much throught the years would probably take a long time to rebuild. I would start with sorting out the military and a police force and developing a proper law enforcement system. Then start to deal with poverty issues (including kids who can't go to school, healthy water, access to hospitals, more food) all that being a very long proccess.

[alex pro]

"i have no idea"
i do not have a clue were i would start in trying to re-build Suadan. like the kids dont have proper schooling, and they just beat there goats and meat sothatuget bones in your food instead of shooting it and then haveing no chunks of bone in your meat. but i dont have any more ideas how i woyld fix it. Alex

[Emily Wright]

responding to your question...
If I had to change a country lile Sudan then I would probably start with the government. I feel like changing the government and laws would help the whole country have more structure and rules to follow. Following the change of government there would have to be change in the security to make sure that everyone follows the new government and law. This would show the citizens how a country like theirs could be changed for the better. Health care and schooling could be changed as well (I know that that is a little off topic from government), there are many more changes needed to be made but those are some of the main issues that I feel strongly about and have noticed that are the worst. Well I'm looking forward to haveing you come to class and speaking all about your trip...because we haven't heard anything about it yet (just kidding) Good luck on the trip home! Emily

[Magnus Freiherr von Welck]

tough question!!!
Hi Don, ..the goverment needs to get money, for better education, sportscenter and better conditions for food and living!! Sounds easy, ..but to realize that project ..you need money, money, money!!

[Michael Zweibrot]

Difficult Question...
Hi Don, Well, that's a pretty difficult question. Honestly, I wouldn't really know, what to do first. Maybe first of all, I would try to give the people the feeling of safety back and fight against corruption. (I know that probably seems much easier than it is) Another big point would be to build hospitals and footbanks, as the health of the people is very bad in Sudan. After that I would start building schools and increase the education, because the children won't get criminal so fast if they have a perspective for their future. Have a good flight, Michael

[jay mc]

tough Question...
Sup Don Well, I would first put in schools so people can get a good education. Then I would put in electricity and water supply and build a good housing complex for the people to live in a safe environment.

[Hans Christan Bang]

Hi Don It is a really hard question, and it wasnt fair of you to post it, because now we have to do even more work! No in just kidding, but it is a really hard question to awnser, because I just simply dont know where I would start. I think that all the things that you mentioned as Suggestions to what we could do were good, but I think that another important thin is to get the people who live in the country educated, and teach them to respect for others. If they were educated tey could have a chance to improove the state of their country by them selves.

[Connor]

hi Don, i am a student at whistler secondary school, in ms cords class, and she has been force feeding us your blog everyday for the whole semester which is pretty good considering it gives me precious minutes to study for all the tests that i'm completely unprepared for and she will make me write when she’s finished reading to us (so make your blogs longer, fill it with any junk you can to give me more time!!!). but lots of times your blogs are more interesting then the stuff that i am hurriedly studding (the lives of long dead, Canadian politicians squabbling for power in a sea of corruption and slander) so i just end up listening to your blogs anyway. i think its cool that your making a deference in a country that could use some help. i also felt sad when i heard that and how the wonder dog died :'( . i hope you have a good trip back to Canada where maple syrup is plentiful and its not so f***ing hot. connor.

[Jambon]

Ridiculous.
Brendan, Not exactly a realisitc choice, nor does it benefit the people here. Are you American by chance?

[Jambon]

It sure is Graham, my spelling is good, but my typing is not. You have a few good points. Here they have formed "joint units" between North and South forces, which will become the new Military of Sudan if the countires remain united. If the countries divide, the joint units will cease to exist. one of the problems we see here is that both sides maintain their "regular armies" and then contribute to these joint units. however it seems that they keep their best troops for their regular forces, and contribute the worst to these joint units, which results in problems with crime and violence perpetrated by some of these soldiers.

[Brianne aka Ms Cord]

Wowie!
To most of my students: Remember our term paradigm shift? I'm seeing it more and more in you! You make me proud. To a few of my students: Are you ready to see how evil I can get? Canada is a great model for Sudan--many nations attempting to get along under one constitution. We have the British, the French and the many many first nations groups that make up our country in confederation, and then to add to the dynamics, we have all of our subsequent immigrant groups! We have definately had our fair share of problems--The White Paper, Residential Schools, Head Taxes etc but what we learned from our own history and take with us into the future is TOLERANCE and UNDERSTANDING. When we look back shamefully at our past wrongdoings to minority groups, it is a lack of understanding and acceptance that got us into trouble. I believe Sudan needs education not in the form of ABCs and 123s but in the form of cultural diversity and understanding. Groups need to learn to trust one another. The question is--who will be brave enough to disarm first and show that he is willing to put his life and future in the hands of his enemy/brother? Remember: "History, despite its wrenching pain, / Cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, / Need not be lived again." See you soon Don! Bri

[reis, brendan]

NOo..
WE ARE NOT AMERICAN! R U?????

[Paul (a cousin in Ottawa)]

cool site and hello
Hello Donald, Just checking out your blog... I think it is great; the photos are super. I hope all is well in your world. Say hello to your outstanding parents and sister from Chris and me. Paul