Wad El Bashir

Hello Everyone.

Sudan is wonderful. A fantastic country. It really couldn't be any more surprising. We thought for sure that of all the countries on our route Sudan would be the most challenging.

The reality is that the people here are fantastic. They are genuine and friendly and kind and good. It's actually bordering on the ridiculous. People will buy us tea and coffee even when they have no money. If you show an interest in something - say a dish or a drink - you are likely to be given one for free. There is no trickery here - the people are honest to a fault. If you pay too much money for something, they give you back the extra money.

It's hard to believe that the country is actually being literally torn apart by war and conflict. It is quite likely that it will split in two in six years time and there is the possibility that it will split into several federal states. There is conflict in Darfur in the West and in Kassala in the East. There is tension in the West and the North. In the south, a treaty has just been signed ending thirty years of civil war. There are few here whose lives have not been affected by all of this.

Just the other day, we visited the IDP camp (internally displaced persons camp) at Wad El Bashir in the subburb of Omdurman here in Khartoum. Thirty eight thousand people are living in a five square kilometer area. The houses are of stick and rag or more settled people live in mud brick huts. These huts are likely to fall apart in the rains that come in July and are little protection against the cold in the winter. These people have so little. They have experienced so much. We met one boy who hasn't seen his parents since he was ten (eight years ago) and the two officers from Lokita who took us to the camp had themselves been separated from their families for nineteen years.

We really do not know how lucky we are...