Classes in Malakal, South Sudan

I'm here to support two UN led training courses, focuses on capacity development with the prisons. First week (bottom two pictures) was junior managers, second (top two) was middle and senior managers. Significant Arabic influence here, much more so than further south in Juba. Learned a bit more Arabic, made some new friends, and we all learned lots from each other. We gave everyone in the second group (future leaders) t-shirts with the prison logo and "A professional prison service" under that on the front. They all wore them for the informal class photo. Got a lot more serious and formal when the uniforms went back on. If you click on the pictures, you can enlarge them.

State Prison - not a place you want to find yourself in

Another trip, another tour of a legacy of colonial times. This prison, originally English, is over 100 years old. The goat out front wandered in the front gate as I was taking the picture. Bit of a ruckus getting it to leave. This prison is situated on a fairly large plot of land, so there is plenty of room to sit outside, and a few shade trees. Those are the only good points. No beds, mattresses, sleeping pads or mosquito nets. A few use old burlap bags for blankets. Wash is hung on the barbed wire to dry in the sun. The building with corrugated tin roof is the kitchen, where everything is cooked over a wood fire. Notice the pots cooking on fires dug into the ground. The larger room is a communal cell. The bank of cells are for the 8 condemned prisoners. They're usually not out during the day. All in all, typical of prisons here. Associates assure me conditions are far, far worse in some other countries in Africa.

Malakal - port on the White Nile

Jacob was kind enough on Saturday morning to take me down to the river and walk me about. Going up river, against the current, it can be up to 14 days to Juba, and only 4 or 5 down river to Khartoum. Amazingly busy place. Absolutely fascinating to watch. Everything imaginable being off-loaded from motorized river barges - tractors, mattresses, sacks of food from the UN World Food Programme. We went to a sidewalk coffee place afterwards. Total opposite from the sanitized, cookie-cutter sameness of Starbucks. Water boiling over charcoal, a wooden bench for the customers, broken plastic chair for the woman making the coffee, bucket of river water to rinse glasses in, hose to fill the kettle, and a small table to work on. That's it. She wouldn't let me take her picture, so Jacob sat in. Coffee like I've never had before. Incredibly hot/spicy.

Malakal, South Sudan

This i s my hotel in Malakal (yup, it really is the "best" place to stay in town) and the street out front. This is the Upper Nile Region, and I'm about 500 km north of Juba, 800 km south of Khartoum, and Ethiopia is about 300 km east of here. Malakal is on the White Nile.

The grazing goats are amidst a garbage heap right beside one of the town markets. Snapped it while holding the camera by my waist. As the only foreigner around, didn't want to be seen pointing a camera. I did manage though to get a shot of my buddy Lukudu and I taking a break in one of the stall-sized bars in the market. Corrugated tin shed, dirt floor. The most important thing? The beer was ice cold.

To see some fairly representative pictures of Malakal, taken by somebody else, go to www.flickr.com/groups/malakal/pool/ There are 3 pages of pics there.