For many weeks I decided to have a break from Acumcum and spend the weekend at a hotel in Wau. There are two hotels that cater to the international community and I decided to stay at the one with the best pool. It is called Amarula Lodge. It is situated out of town, opposite the United Nations compound.
I woke up on the Friday with an awful head cold and spent the day lying in my tukul. Of course I was disappointed that I would be away for the weekend and not feeling a 100%. On Saturday morrning I got dropped into Wau and spent the day in and around the pool, enjoying cold drinks. A friend joined me for dinner at the hotel and then we went on a night motorbike tour of Wau - not much to see as there is no electricity, only a few generators here and there.
It was so nice to sleep on a firm bed and have a flushing toilet and hot shower. On the Sunday I was not feeling well and spent the day drinking soda water instead of enjoying the food! I met some really nice people around the pool and it is interesting to hear what they are all doing in South Sudan. In particular I had some really good conversations with two men who work for the United Nations in de-mining. They have been doing it for years, travelling through various war torn countries disabling land mines.
Sunday night at the hotel was very quiet. Apparently there is no money circulating in Wau, so local people have limited money to spend on food and beverages at restaurants or bars. In addition to that, there has been a curfew in place since December, after serious shootings occurred in town. That means that international personnel, particularly UN staff do not go out and about after the curfew because if something happens to them they will not be covered by insurance or be provided with UN assistance.
Unfortunately I woke up on the Monday morning with a stomach bug. I have never been so relieved to have a flushing toilet close by! Luckily for my health situation the work car had some problems that needed to be fixed so it was in the mechanics for most of the morning. I managed to rest, take a lot of medication and then got picked up and went to Mapel for a community meeting. The road to Mapel is the main road heading to Juba, the capital city yet the conditions are awful. It is so bumpy with huge craters everywhere.
Thankfully I survived the day and the community meeting went really well. The information I received will help me to write my next project proposal that is due this weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment