So where to begin, firstly apologies for not blogging sooner however as many of you may have seen on the news the situation in south sudan is rather tense.
This will just be a very quick blog to let you all know i am safe and once I have time I will write up as much as I can about my time since the last blog.
As you may have seen on the news the political/tribal situation in south sudan is extremely fragile. Sadly on sunday last week extensive fighting began, tanks were seen rolling through the capital, heavy gun and artillery fire was experienced across the country. Shelling shook houses so hard there were reports of damage to the structural integrity and devastatingly hundreds of nationals and non nationals have been killed, some reportly in extremely brutal fashion. Hospitals are overwhelmed and mass graves are planned.
At the beginning of the week US pulled out its embassy staff and subsequently other nations have followed, evacuations occured via juba however where I live in yei, we can only access juba by at least 4 hour dirt road, which we were told we could not travel on due to the security risk of passing so many army barracks, so we had to make alternative plans.
However in the meantime sadly an expat friend, Cecilia, fractured her ankle and required medical evaluation and evacuation, with the amazing help from colleagues at yei civil hospital, other expat medics and the friendship and kindness of UN personnel we managed to get her xray'd and ankle immobilised, however getting out of south sudan was going to be hard. There was seat arranged for me on a charter aircraft out of yei at the end of the week however they could not take a patient, so I surrendered my seat to another expat who did not have any other means of getting out and I waited with Cecilia.
Many many emails and calls ( thank goodness for smart phones and our sense to stock pile phone credit when crisis started) later and we left on a flight out of yei to uganda on saturday. It was a terribly emotional time, I am still in a haze of disbelief and disgust that I have left behind my wonderful friends and colleagues in the place that will always, in my heart be, home, Yei.
To all of those who are left behind, south sudanese nationals and expat UN personnel, I am thinking of you all and I hope for peace and that I can return as soon as possible. My short time in south sudan has been some of the happiest and most rewarding times I have had in many years and I am empty at the thought I can not return.
I am planning on riding out some time in east africa hoping I can return to south sudan soon.
This is all for now, I will write more soon.....
