Lord Jim of Dilling - Diplomat Magazine

Di spatches|sudanA sandstorm approaches.June 29, 2008At school in SudanIfinally hand out school supplies todayto impoverished elementary schoolgirls, near Dilling University. It’s adirty school that’s falling apart but smiling,laughing girls look at us from thewindows and mill around us in theyard. I hope we can help them with moresupplies. Is this the correct way to goabout helping? I’m not sure. But it feelsgood. The principal is pretty emotional.I am embarrassed because he thanks meas if it’s all my doing and it isn’t. I haveto go back this afternoon to hand out thesupplies. I don’t want to – do not wantto hand out one little crayon or pencil orsomething to one kid. They should keepthe supplies in a cupboard and dole themout as needed. We give them painfullylittle. It hurts to watch their gratitude. Ihope my friends will help out.22These first supplies, probably threeto four cardboard boxes, consist of thesimple things needed by students: paper,pens and pencils, erasers, and so forth,and were left in our storage container by,I think, the previous Canadian UNMOswho had run out of time. In our militaryobserver team, only the Canadians andthe Dutch are fortunate enough to havehad their militaries organize mail deliveryservice and it’s huge for morale. However,the Canadians are restricted in what canbe sent via the Canadian Forces postal servicebecause priority is given to militaryequipment over personal things. So humanitariansupplies are a no-go, althoughwe are able to sneak some through, thanksto family and friends. Success.Every day, we see the children walkingto school. Every school – boys and girlsare segregated – has its distinct uniformand always these uniforms are clean andpressed. I see multiple children on onebicycle. I see little girls walking to schoolwith plastic chairs from home balancedon their heads, because their school hasno furniture. I see older girls laughingand giggling with their heads together. IfI close my eyes, these could be the soundsof children in any school in Canada. Theproblem is, I can’t close my eyes.A marked difference is the family ofnine that hangs around outside our campfence. Every morning, as the sun rises,they arrive, ready to collect the emptyplastic bottles we’d thrown over the fencefor them. Occasionally the mother is withthem, always pregnant, always smiling.Where do they live? What do they dowith the bottles? How can they stand theheat out there in the open? Why are theyalways laughing and smiling? Why arethey so amazed that I befriend their dog,Boutros? We give them old clothing andother items, which we are fairly certainthey will sell in the market.Back to the plastics, that wonderfullegacy left to the Sudanese from the west-SPRING 09 | APR–JUN