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Pibor... oofda.

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In Minnesota, we have a unique expression. When something is a lot to handle, or challenging, or comical in its difficulty, a good Minnesotan will shrug their shoulders, shake their head, and in one big exhale say, “oofda.” In that one word, everyone understands the frustration, exhaustion, and even humor of the situation. In Pibor County, former Jonglei state in South Sudan, there is a similar habit of shaking one’s head, and simply saying, “Pi—bor” with a grin. In mid-August, Wori, Brian, and I were dropped by a small charter plan on the mud airstrip of Pibor (other team members would join later). August is well into the rainy season, and though the weather was dry when we landed, we knew not to expect it to stay that way for long. Unlike other locations I’ve worked in South Sudan, we would not have a car here. All of our movements would be walking, or perhaps hiring local canoes or boats. So when we were dropped by the charter with the first load of cargo to begin vaccin
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Assessment in Cuiebet

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This assessment was conducted by our Emergency Response Team (ERT) in July, but I’m just getting around to posting. I guess ‘better late, than never’ applies in this instance. As the adage goes, admitting there is a problem is the first step in solving it. But for emergency response, we amend the adage slightly to become,‘identifying a problem is the first step in solving it.’ That was our goal as our team set out for Cuiebet County to assess the emergency situation in the area. We had heard reports that due to inter-communal violence and cattle raiding, a large number of people had been displaced from their villages. Displacement is one of the triggers that makes our ERT jump into action. When a displacement occurs, people are forced to flee their homes and leave everything behind. They seek protection in an unfamiliar community, where they may have nothing – not even a place to sleep. Sometimes the displacements a short, but more often people are displ
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White Ant Season

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Now that the rain has started in earnest, the landscape and environment of South Sudan is changing rapidly. One of the changes is that we now get to deal with mosquitoes and other insects in much greater quantities. Normally I would consider this a burden, but this week my African colleagues have helped me to find the silver lining. White Ant Hill Let me introduce you to white ants. They are extremely abundant here. When I'm in the field, I can look any direction at spot one of their massive anthills. During the dry season, the ant hills seemed abandoned, and it was rare that I even noticed insects. Now however, it is the larval season for white ants. Which means for about 24 hours, our compound in Luonyaker was over-run by the winged white ant larvae. For just one day, the ants develop wings, mate, and then lose their wings before returning to the ant hill. I'm not knowledgeable on the subject, but what I know is that this means hundreds of thousands of swarming, flying
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A Day in the Field

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I’ve had a few people ask about what a typical day is like in the field, so for one day during the Gogrial East Campaign I wrote down all of our activities. I would say it was a pretty average day. I apologize in advance if this entry gets a bit long or overly detailed- I’m new to this whole blog thing! A day in the field. My day begins abruptly at 6:30 am with a car starting and Dinka music blaring about 5 meters from my head. I lay in the mozzi dome for another few minutes listening to the roosters crow and a loud donkey braying in the nearby field. We all choose to sleep in our mozzi domes, because the tents are too hot. The mozzi dome is basically a pop-up mosquito net, it allows for air movement so it’s much more comfortable. I unzip my dome and reach for my shoes. Before putting them on, I check for scorpions- all clear. I’ve been lucky so far, but yesterday someone got stung by one, so today I’m even extra cautious. As I get up, I notice other Medair staff
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