Our nine months has been a success. Our contribution has made a range of differences and in some ways changed the organisation we have participated in. And it feels great to think those two sentences. Here is how...
Our presence, according to staff in SRCS, inspired more activities overall and created a higher productive nine months for the branch, especially for the volunteers.
The sexual health programme is running better with more resources and initiative because of Anine`s contribution through countless hours of work and talk.
The International Humantarian Law (IHL) & Movement Structure activities trained over 100 more volunteers in basic introductions and had a deep IHL session with 25 IHL experienced volunteers.
The Street Children Centre has been opened and helps 10-20 street children every weekday (five days a week) with breakfast, free soap for washing clothes/ body and the hospitals have come together to help the children with basic healthcare for free.
A temporary private donor has been secured who funds half of what the centre needs for critical basics such as described above on what the street children recieve.
However the centre needs a fixed consistent donor. The children also need more support than just the critical basics. They need help on drug/alcohol abuse, education, reunion with family, older children proffesional experience for jobs, sexual health and more.
But the little the centre is open now, hope is there and the children do not starv or die of easily threated diseases. Maybe they are also able to stay out of trouble more because of the primary needs covered.
Also we have participated in english and computer knowledge on the volunteers. We have witnessed vaccination campaigns, women and health centres, water and agriculture support schemes, first aid trainings, home nursing courses, water and sanitation trainings and organisational development.
Picture: From a dinner at the fishmarket with Disaster Manager Hashjim Saleh`s family. Here we are with Sohel, Hashjims daughter.
We have also, in the field of organisational development, had the joy of helping with the new strategy and structural documents for Sudanese Red Crescent and been around freshly established ambitious local branches in Port Sudan City.
While Anine was sick in hospital i Khartoum for a week I helped the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) with maps and latest geographical information on Sudan from United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
We have also had the pleassure of meeting all relevant SRCS, IFRC and ICRC staff in their head quarters in Khartoum and given introductions to our movements work through all these levels and parts.
We have participated in a UNDP initiative to collect information from all organisations in Sudan called 4W. This software might be adapted by UN to all post-conflict zones in the world if the program continues to succeed.
Picture: This is from a rural community north of Port Sudan city called Arba`at. The community is facing severe dessertification.
Within a year or two it is said maybe volunteer elections will be held for the boards of the Red Sea State branch. This means new general assembly, which currently hasn`t been held for 6-7 years now. Creating a room for volunteers to make agendas, common goals and take charge of their organisation again. The documents I helped with on strategy and structure are the basis for such a general assembly and elections. Right before christmas these documents where used to train 60 volunteer community leaders. I wish the volunteers and staff at Sudanese Red Crescent Red Sea State good luck in realizing this ambition.
Picture: Volunteers having fun with my devilsticks (juggling) at Kilo Beach in Port Sudan.
Also the two foreign volunteers who joined us during this year: Our good friends Celine and Guillaume. Celine helped us train the volunteers in english and Guillaume provided computer skills, a private generous donation to the street children centre and helped us get a computer engineer (who helped us do maintainance on all office computers). Thank you so much for all your help and continued volunteering.
So when we look at our rules and the fact that we were not supposed to start new activity, but rather support the existing activities and democratic structures inside Sudanese Red Crescent Red Sea State, we brooke the rules when establishing the street children centre. Any work we did had to be sustainable, rooted in the volunteers and financed from somewhere other than the youth delegate program. The street children centre is currently running on temporary donations and a single donation from Ullensaker Red Cross in Norway (not very sustainable), its volunteers are few and unexperienced (also not sustainable, but they are growing quickly in numbers and they will be trained).
So with the street children centre I learned my most valuable lesson from my time in Sudan. A street child said it very well to Anine: "If you have money to feed me for òne day, why do you not feed me?". One less day for him to be hungry. My lesson is that our rules and procedures are there sometimes in the way of the point. That when we want something done we have to just take the first step and see what opportunities arrives along the way.
If we followed all the rules from our national society the centre would still be closed.
Picture: The beautiful sunset from our house (Bathroom window :p )
So that is all I remember for this little description on our work. There might be something I left out, but this surtainly covers the most important issues. So now the time is really drawing near for the time to head for home again. But not quite yet. We still have some things to do and places to see. Home ticket is currently set at 13.june.
The 15th of September 2009 two new youth delegates will arrive in Sudan and continue our work. I wish Anniken Førland Schwamborn og Ingvild Rørholt the best of luck.
So stay with my blog for the final words on my mission.
All the best
Thomas
The latest norwegian newsupdate on sudan:
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