Volume 2
July 21, 2004Good news today. Our favorite nurse arrived safely, despite a bumpy plane landing, last night in Khartoum, Sudan, at about 11 p.m. their time, 4 p.m. ours. It was a long day for her, traveling from Amsterdam to Frankfurt, and then on to Khartoum after a stop in Cairo, Egypt.
Allyson called me this morning about 6 a.m. from Doctors Without Borders' office in Khartoum, where she is in an all-day briefing session. Khartoum, she says, is a large city, although distinctly Third World in character -- and, in her words, "hotter than hell." The good news is that the DWB house where she is staying right now has air conditioning. The house even has a dog, she says, and of course that makes her happy. But she still misses Chester. She hasn't seen a single paved street yet, but she hasn't really had any time to explore. Evidently, Khartoum is a relatively safe city, and DWB staffers there are under no curfews. The DWB office is only a few blocks from the house where she is staying.
She will likely spend another day or two in Khartoum before she is sent to Darfur. In the last Ally Report, I told all of you that she would likely go to Nyala, in Southern Darfur. That will indeed be her first destination, but she doesn't know yet if that will be her base. There is a chance she could be sent to refugee camps in smaller cities in the region -- Garsilla, in Western Darfur, or perhaps Mudjar. I can't seem to find Mudjar on any available map of Sudan, but this link will take you to a map of Darfur on which you can see both Nyala and Garsilla.
As for communications with her, she has been told that although she will have internet access in the refugee camp, the access is limited, because it is essentially a modem hookup through a satellite phone. They've told her that she will be able to send out emails, but have asked her to consolidate the replies. So if Allyson sends you an email, instead of replying directly to her, please send your reply to me. I'll cut and paste all the messages to her into a single email and forward them to her. This will cut down on the camp's satellite phone usage, which evidently is a heavy expense.
Because we don't have her destination yet, I don't have the email address for her. We know that once she gets into the refugee camp, she will not have Web access and therefore won't be able to get into her mac.com e-mail account.
On the educational front, there is an excellent column by Nicholas Kristof in today's New York Times about one American's work in Rwanda during the genocide there, and he compares that situation to what is occurring today in Sudan. Kristof also has a posting in the Times web site's forums, where he briefly explains which humanitarian organizations are responding to the Sudan crisis, and what political actions are being taken. If you are inclined to act, either via contributions or by writing letters and signing petitions, this posting is the best place to learn about your options.
Click here to read the column (but please note that currently, so long after the original publication date, reading the full column requires you to pay the NYT $2.95).
Click here for Kristof's reader forum on Sudan.
I'll keep you posted with additional news as it comes.
Chuck
Links to Aid Organizations
Doctors Without Borders UNICEF International Red CrossInformational Links
CIA Sudan Factbook United Nations Passion of the Present New York Times (Africa section)
NPR "Fresh Air" program on Darfur The Guardian's Darfur Diary
Last updated Wednesday, January 19, 2005