"Roadblocks" in South Kordofan

And now for a blast from the past...

My last mission with UNDP closed a circle that had begun in September 2007. During the first week of July 2008, I boarded a plane for Kadugli, South Kordofan, for what would be the last of my rule of law assessment missions.

When I disembarked from the plane, one might have assumed that I had been there quite recently, rather than 10 months before. I say this because, when the police officer at the airport asked to see my passport and ID, he asked (without having seen either), "Your name is Hillary, right? I remember you from when you came before." Terrifying, right?! I mean, I assume I'm being watched, but I don't really want to be reminded of that fact.

From there it was off to Kadugli town and the UNDP office. Having faced delays in my departure for Kadugli, I had three very busy days ahead of me. The next day and half was busy but largely uneventful. I survived a couple of nights at the UNDP guesthouse--by far the worst UNDP guesthouse in Sudan. I got to know St. John, the new UNDP Rule of Law UNV, who was supposed to go to Abyei but was reassigned to Kadugli after most of Abyei, including the UNDP compound, was burnt to the ground during fighting in June 2008. I learned about the rainy season in South Kordofan. It turns out that there is a good reason why South Kordofan is so much greener than areas to the north. Finally, I had dinner at what is reportedly Kadugli's only good restaurant. That's where I saw this monkey, which apparently the owners had caught.

On my third day in South Kordofan, we drove north to Dilling, the site of one of 3 Justice & Confidence Centers in South Kordofan. On the drive north, we passed this nomad camp between Kadugli and Dilling. The nomads in this part of the country herd cattle and typically travel with thousands of the animals.

I had met the Dilling paralegals in September 2007 and been impressed with their dedication. In the meantime, they had suffered a number of setbacks, many attributable to UNDP. I was therefore somewhat nervous about meeting them again. But I needn't have worried. Although they made clear that they wanted things resolved and asked me to do anything in my power to help them, they were quite cooperative, answered my questions, and seemed genuinely happy to see me again. In fact, they had a photo taken during my previous visit on the wall of their conference room.

On the drive back to Kadugli from Dilling, we were forced to stop at a roadblock that had not been there when we drove north. Roadblocks and checkpoints are not unusual in Sudan. The government, for example, has a number of roadblocks and checkpoints throughout the country. Darfur, in particular, is littered with them. Indeed, the road from Nyala to Kass in South Darfur had something like 16 official checkpoints that last time I was there. In Darfur, however, when you encounter an unofficial roadblock, particularly one that wasn't there when you drove the other direction, you have serious cause to worry. These roadblocks are typically set up by the region's various armed groups for the purpose of robbing or carjacking travelers. Thus, if one encounters a new road block in Darfur, the wisest move is usually to turn around and return to one's place of origin.

The roadblock in this case, however, turned out to be benign. Those minding the roadblock were children, who were apparently trying to raise money for an event at their school. The kids were requesting donations from the drivers who arrived at the roadblock. They did not, however, prevent those who failed to donate from passing. As was explained by some of my national colleagues, this is apparently a popular way for kids and others to raise money for parties and other activities at their schools or in their communities. I quickly learned how true this was.

The first roadblock we encountered turned out to be the first of many...four or five to be exact. At first, we were quite generous. But by the time we arrived at the roadblock in the picture above, most of us were out of change. Although there were 4 of us in the car, we found ourselves scrounging through our pockets in order to produce a donation. Thankfully, this was the last of the roadblocks, and we returned to Kadugli without having to disappoint any of the children along the way.