15 October 2009
I have been meaning to drop a line for sometime, but it has been bit of a culture shock, deploying first to Khartoum and then to Team Site Rumbek*.
I look back at visiting Mum and Dad in Christchurch before deploying, and my brother asking me, “So what will you actually be doing in Sudan?” I had the slick staff answers about monitoring the Peace Agreement, but in reality the task that has most touched me is ‘providing a UN presence’. I’d read about this before coming here, but to be honest I could not tell you what it meant.
It has now come to mean a lot to me and I’m only truly “getting” what a UN presence can achieve during times of tension. I can tell you that a UN presence is not just driving down dusty roads or dirt tracks at 60kph. You need to get out of your vehicles, put your boots on the ground and meet the local people. The Sudanese are wonderful people and despite initial stares and questioning looks, it only takes one smile and your smile will be returned ten-fold. As UN Military Observers I believe we are probably the safest people in Sudan.
The Sudanese children, while nervous at first, are wonderful, always greeting us with a warm handshake and a beaming smile. I suppose, at the end of the day, children are children wherever they are in the world and they just want to play and laugh. It is our job to make it a safer place for them to do that.
It is, however, the hardship that the children have endured during years of civil war which will remain with me when I leave the mission, though I will leave knowing Sudan is a better place for our “presence” and I’m proud of what the UN achieves.
I would encourage other potential UNMOs to give Sudan a go. It is truly a “boots on the ground” mission which brings many rewards.
Must sign off now, I have to do my nightly radio check with the Indian Signals Unit who are still giving me a hard time about the Black Caps being beaten by 6 wickets by Australia.
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by Royal New Zealand Navy's LT CDR Laurie French
United Nations Military Observer in Sudan
* Rumbek is the administrative capital of Southern Sudan. It's population is about 100,000.