Safe Water for Community, Income for Hand Pump Mechanics

JEN reported the beneficiary of “Lainya Hand Pump Mechanic Association” on 21st March 2013. Last week, JEN had a wrap-up meeting with the Association as a final meeting with them.  Through the meeting, I realized that the Association was deepening their connection with communities having boreholes, and with Rural Water Department, Lainya County. The members are generating income from not only repairing work, but also work of preventive operation and maintenance.



Then, I interviewed one of the members as below.   

“My name is Juma Martine. I am a member of Lainya Hand Pump Mechanic Association. My Boma is Lukurubang under Lainya Payam, Central Equatorial State, South Sudan. I am 30 Years old and married with 5 Children. Before I joined Lainya Hand Pump Mechanic Association, I was a volunteer hand pump Mechanic in Lainya Payam.



As a member of this Association, I am proud to mention that, my skills have been improved through trainings organized by JEN. I was made to know some of the hand pump Mechanics in the County whom I did not know before. I have access to knowledge sharing and information. My services as a hand pump Mechanic is recognized by my Community. Community now gets 24/7 water supply.

I am now able to get support from the Community which enabled me to pay the school fee of my Children and my family demands!!  Life is made easier than previous. Thanks and appreciation to the Japanese people for their greater support to this project and more others in south Sudan.”

JEN is to complete its support to the Association in May. However, I believe the association can continue long and people in Lainya can continuously drink the safe water.

Well Repair Training Course Completed

In South Sudan, many people rely on water from wells. However, quite a few wells remain damaged.

In many developing countries, fetching water from wells is considered work for women and children. Plastic containers holding about 20 liters, called “jerry cans”, are used to carry drinking water. They are carried by hand or on one's head, one or two at a time, which amounts to 20 to 40 kilograms.



When women and children go to fetch water with their sisters and friends, a crowd of yellow and white jerry cans forms around the well in no time, and they will have to wait to take turns. While children in junior high and the upper grades of elementary school work the hand pump at a steady rhythm, younger children play with it, hanging from it with all their weight. For children with few means of entertainment, the water well seems to serve as a good playground.





A properly installed pump moves easily, but when parts wear down or children keep hanging from it and put it under unusual pressure, it becomes harder to work, and could cause damage. Once a well breaks down, it is often abandoned and unrepaired, usually because there are no spare parts, no funds for reparation, or nobody with knowledge of fixing it.

When a well in the neighborhood is damaged, women and children may have to walk for several kilometers to reach distant wells and rivers. Moreover, water in the rivers is not suited for drinking, and may cause diseases. If damaged wells can be repaired quickly, people will be able to keep drinking clean and safe water, and it will also lessen the burden of household chores for women and children.

JEN assisted with digging wells in Juba’s school premises last year, but in order for local residents to be able to fix wells once broken, we held training courses of well reparation. Schools in South Sudan do not have along the ground peripheries, so local people living nearby come and use the well.

The training course lasted for ten days, including on-site training using an actually damaged well.
The photo below captures the ceremony held on the final day, giving out certificates of completion of the course.
Every participant looked so proud to receive his/her certificate for acquiring the skills of well reparation.

Safe Water for Sustainable living in Lainya

2 years ago, JEN assisted hand pump mechanics in Lainya County to establish Lanya Pump Mechanic Association. In this on-going project, we are following up the association to enable them to work sustainably.  Recently, when we visited a community in Lainya, we received the good comment from the villager.

Mrs. Hellen Manish, a member of Water User committees in Lainya payam is very grateful to JEN; she really appreciates JEN South Sudan for facilitating the formation of Lainya hand pump association in the County

She said “Before the association of pump mechanics was started, there were many boreholes that were broken down. The situation has changed as there are pump mechanics in each payam who are providing services.  One of the pump mechanics in her area is  Mr. Juma Martin.  As soon as a borehole develops a problem it is reported to the association members who are also in charge of repairs.  Recently, a borehole in the village broke down as seen in the pictures and no sooner had Mr. Juma been informed, he only took 3 days to arrive at the vicinity and conduct repairs

She acknowledged that the burden for travelling for long distance for 2km to look for safe water has reduced now she can use part of her time for doing other productive activities like cooking food for the children.

Mrs Hellen also mentioned that , the case of diarrheoal diseases in the communities here lainya Payam seems to have reduced greatly as people drink safe water .

(This project is supported by Japan Platform and JEN supporters ).

Road conditions to our project sites

It takes about six to seven hours from Juba, the capital city, to Morobo County and Kajo Keji County, where JEN ia providing trainings and monitorings. In order to explore the people’s needs for the assistance in Yei County which is located next to the two Counties, we have gone back and forth between those Counties for three weeks with Elizabeth, who is from Kenya and taking the role of project officer.
Since the road from the capital to the project sites was developed by the financial aid from Japan, we could drive very smoothly and comfortably for the first one hour by four-wheel-drive car.

For the last five hours, however, it was a very tough ride for us, driving on a chaotic and wide red soil road like above picture. The car was largely tilted to one side and we were bouncing in the car all the way. On the way to the destination, we could not find any shops except for a very small outside market at a village.

Sometimes when we passed villages along the road, we saw women and children carrying pｌastic buckets filled with well water on their heads.



We see young people traveling long distance on small motorcycles, but almost all villagers walk or hitchhike when they go somewhere.

There was a handmade bridge made of logs over a river, but when we were passing the bridge, one of our tires got stuck between the logs. (As you can see from the below picture, the tire actually got stuck in the middle of the bridge)



Sometimes when the bridges are too narrow for cars to pass, tires can get caught in the river below.



Even though we conduct regular check-ups of the vehicle and also check the car’s condition before every departure, because we drive over six hours everyday on bumpy roads, sometimes on the way back to Juba, the shock absorber would break down.
As described above, traveling by car, which is usually very comfortable in Japan, is not always easy here in South Sudan. Moreover, there are rarely alternative routes. Therefore, in South Sudan at times of emergency, it is essential to have secured some communication media, and always carry useful things like tools, fire extinguishers, first-aid kits, food and water.

Assistance that leads to self-reliance

On January 22, I was appointed to my current post in South Sudan. We are based in the capital Juba of Central Equatoria state. In Afghanistan where I was in charge before, I also implemented program support of improvement of environmental hygiene, or "WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene)". The key was how to promote autonomy of the local people throughout these programs. I feel that this is going to be a difficult subject ever in this country.
I'll show you an example. It was when I visited an elementary school in the city of Juba with local officials.

The principal told me that there was no bathroom, however, there were four pit grave toilets within a radius of about 50 meters in the school rear grounds.



The soil of the ground was of the type called “black cotton soil” , or black swell soil. The soil was weak and on the brink of collapse. The four toilets were sinking in the land and there was a big gap between the floor of the bathroom booths and the ground.



Behind the four-room bathrooms, there was a different type of toilets with three rooms. Not only these three-room bathrooms were leaning forward, but also were tipped to one side. There was another structure that looked like a bathroom even further behind. It was pit toilet with one partition, was obviously not kept in good condition, and the door was broken.

The principal told me that he had requested construction of new toilets to a variety of NGO.  It seems like as soon as there would be another support, these bathrooms were being used as if they were disposable bathrooms.
In order for people of South Sudan to build an independent nation with sense of sustainable autonomy, there needs an accumulation of small changes of consciousness. It seems a deep-rooted problem at first glance, but I would like to work on creating those “opportunities” that help people “wake” and realize the consciousness.

(Program Officer, Nahoko Araki)

Hygiene education in Illiangary Village: Towards a village without diarrhea

My name is Maliamungu Moes; I am a Hygiene Promoter at JEN. Today I will report on community-level hygiene education.

Our current project aims to let adults know the contents of hygiene education taught in schools, thus encourage children even more to change their daily practices.
Four hygiene education sessions are held in each target village.

【A hygiene promoter working in Illiangary Village】



The second session in Illiangary was held some days ago. The topic was “a village free from diarrhea.”
Illiangary, a small village with around 500 families, is located about two hours away in the east from Juba. The village does not have any toilets, and people are long accustomed to using outdoor sites. When we interviewed the village head, he only mentioned views such as that it would be helpful if the government installed toilets for them. The relation between diarrhea and toilets was not well recognized.

【The village head (in the center) explaining the lack of toilets in the village】



After learning about the relation in the hygiene education session, participants gained awareness about the importance of making toilet facilities. But then, there came requests for tools to dig holes…. We had to explain that clean toilets could be made with tools the villagers already had.

【Villagers gathered for hygiene education】



The situation in Illiangary Village is not special, but actually quite common in South Sudan. There are many things to be done before the conditions improve as in neighboring Kenya and Uganda.

(Maliamungu Moes, Hygiene Promoter at JEN)

Christmas in Juba

Happy New Year!

All of the staff here in Juba wish that 2013 will be an even wonderful year for you, who have been warmly supporting us, and the people of South Sudan.
　
For the first news blog of this year, we want to introduce Christmas in Juba summer. In contrast to Christmas in Japan with its flickering snow, it is seasonally early summer in Juba during the festivities. Even though the rainy season lasted longer this year, daytime temperatures around this time were well over 30 degrees.

There are more and more shops selling various kinds of goods here in Juba city. Many things that could not be obtained before are now on the storefront. Christmas goods are one of them. As the season approaches, storefronts are decorated, and lots of glittery Christmas goods are lined up.

 Shops that usually sell juices or snacks sell Christmas goods.



"Christmas is an important event for us. I want to sell pretty decorations so that everyone can pass an enjoyable time," the shopkeeper explains happily as he busily places the items on the store.

Shop keepers in big supermarkets wear Santa Claus hats to welcome customers. The storefront and the interior of the store are beautifully decorated.








Among those who live in Juba, there are many people who returned to their home villages and

Community Diversity and the implications of Hygiene Education

One of the most interesting activities that is fruitful and sustainable is establishing community structures that can address hygiene issues in the areas where JEN is implementing a water supply, sanitation and hygiene education.

[School Hygiene Education with various picture cards]



In the current JEN project 2012, targeting of communities is particularly important and critical as the huge investments made in installing WASH facilities finally pays off by having healthy communities.

Juba County has displayed a very interesting settlement pattern that we would like to share.  For an outsider, it is common knowledge that Juba County is inhabited by the Bari people.

While visiting these communities it was apparent that there is a huge diversity embedded in different cultures among the targeted communities.   Some of the tribes found in Juba County are Bari, Lolubu, Mundari, Lokoya and Nyangbara.   The distribution pattern presents agricultural and pure pastoralists.

[Illiangary Village, one of the project site]



Targeting the pastoralists in Juba County for hygiene education can be extremely challenging as during this season when the rains have subsided, they move with their cattle in search of pastures for the livestock.  JEN’s hygiene team recently found a group of men performing a ritual ceremony in Tijor payam. The ceremony was termed as initiation for men in a common age group seeking to get approval from the community to get married.   The age set ranges from 18 – 25 years old.  These men in groups of 20 or more gather together for 3 months, and are subjected to living outdoors, to show how they can protect the community from enemies or attackers.  During this time, they do not wear clothes and neither do they take a bath.   

In South Sudan, men play a very big role in the decision making process, hence the need to include them in hygiene education.  However, when they are met under such circumstances, it is imperative to still create awareness among them on importance of hygiene in their families.

JEN is seeking to continue including such communities that are basically marginalized and at times forgotten in order to improve hygiene practices.  To understand their cultures as opposed to ignoring them or terming it as backward is the key factor for JEN to eventually get such communities to adopt new hygiene practices.

【Water Container in Illiangary Village】



One of the beneficiaries from Illiangary village, Kiden Rose said ‘we are very happy that now we have a clean water source in our area.  It is the first time we are receiving hygiene education, and we are happy since JEN has provided water for our children’

(Project Officer／Elizabeth Mose)

Sri Lanka official trip report- northern area/part 1

This is Ueda, JEN’s Sri Lanka Program Manager from Tokyo Headquarters.  I visited Sri Lanka last October on an on-site inspection trip to survey the local situation.  Allow me to introduce the first half of my two part official trip report. 

On a map, Sri Lanka appears to be a small island.  In actuality, Sri Lanka’s land area is vast, about 80% of Hokkaido.  Hence, travelling in this country proved to be much more difficult than I had initially expected.

First, I visited Puthukkudiyiruppu DS and Maritimepattu DS of Mullativu District, 6 hours to the north by car from the closest major city, Colombo.  According to our local staff, residents of these areas had to escape to camp quickly, so were unable to carry a majority of their possessions, which they buried in the ground.  Some of the scattered living wares were exposed as time passed by, and some were dug up by the residents.  In fact, I witnessed families excavating the ground numerous times.

[Various things were scattered on the ground]


[Destroyed house which has been deserted]


Recently, few houses were constructed in an area where residents were allowed to return to.  These houses, which house several families under the same roof, are very basic and consist of wooden frames, zinc walls and plastic sheets, which were supplied by the UN.  Prior to my visit, I had imagined that many residents currently lead relatively stable lives, as the conflict ended 3 years ago, yet the reality of the situation was different from what I had imagined.  Despite regional differences, in most areas, residents still require emergency support in the form of water, shelter and food. 

[Displaced people are living in huts like this]


[In the absence of a local well, some districts are still dependent on water trucks]



I interviewed a 25 year old woman who returned to this village last August.  She was seven months pregnant at the time of the interview.  According to her, a hospital in Mullativu District had just started operating when residents resumed living in the area.  Yet as its facilities are inadequate, she gave birth in a hospital in the Jaffna District, which is 6 hours by bus.  Health and medical care is another field with a profusion of persistent problems. 

[Interviewed woman]




[A family who returned to the area in August.  They are anxious about their future.]



In the northern part of Sri Lanka, we have been repairing and cleaning wells destroyed in the conflict.  I could see the community workers engaging in the repair and cleaning work in cooperation with local residents.

JEN’s wells have unique details.  For example, in order to make their insides safer to clean, block-projections are constructed, so that it is possible to descend utilizing these stair-like features in a swift yet safe manner, in contrast to the conventional rope-only method.

[Community worker and JEN staff.  They are talking about this well]


[He is going down the well using the projecting blocks and a rope]



（continued in part 2)

Well excavation in Juba County

For this season we have scheduled the excavation of 10 wells nearby schools. After finishing the search for underground water on September, we began with the excavation process on October and we already have 8 of the wells excavated.

(Searching for underground water)


 (Well drilling equipment)



 (Drilling the well)



(Setting a pipe inside the excavated hole)



 (Building the well platform nearby Ganji Elementary School)



(Finished well)



After this task is done, we will inspect the quality of the water while the villagers built a fence for the well. (This project is being executed thanks to the support of all our members and contributors)

The preliminary survey for hygiene education

Here’s a report on the preliminary survey at the school where JEN provides hygiene education.

The school is “Aru Primary School” in Juba, holding 240 students from 1st to 5th grades studying here.

The preliminary survey is to check the conditions of their knowledge, attitude and practice for hygiene before hygiene education is provided. After hygiene education is finished, a similar survey is made to see how their knowledge, attitude and practice for hygiene change.

The preliminary survey was conducted to 10 randomly selected students from each grade. First, hygiene promoters explained about the survey, “This is not a test, but you may not peep at friend’s answer and copy it. You do not need to write your names, and you may not tell a lie.” The hygiene promoters repeated explanation in English and Arabic so children could easily understand.

Here are some examples of questions.
-Do you know diarrhea?
-How often do you get diarrhea?
-Do you have a toilet at home?
-How many times do you wash your hands?

These kind of detailed questions followed. Hygiene promoters proceeded questions cheerfully with humor so children wouldn’t get bored with too many questions and closed the survey.

After the preliminary survey comes hygiene education. We continue the operation with hope that this will provoke a change in children’s behaviors in the future.




*This project is conducted by Japan Platform and your support.

Starting from Lulu – Independence of women

Have you ever seen luxury cosmetic items sold in Japan, that its ingredients including “shea butter” ?

Many trees with nuts, that are ingredients of shea butter, are found in South Sudan. Local residents call them “Lulu”, and nuts is eaten as fruits, oil is extracted from lulu and used not only for the edible use but also for the skin care.

This week, we would like to introduce you a group in Kajo Keji county acting for improvement of  the status of women.  The group is called “Bile wate ki”, meaning “Liven up women” in local Bari-language.  Group of woman are engaged in activities to earn income from lulu in the area called Bibi Gore in Kajo Keji county where JEN is acting.  They received training from an international NGO to make soaps and body oils in around 2006, and now they continue their activities with support from churches.

Oil extracted from lulu is classified to ranks A through C.  If  extracted oil is high quality classified as “A”, it will be made into body oils, “B” for food oil and “C” for soap.  Soap with plenty of shea butter will wash up our skin moist and smooth.

[Lulu nuts]



[Cracked lulu]




[Wrapping up cracked lulu and squeeze out oil in the machine]







[Oil squeezed out from lulu is boiled with water to remove impurities.]



[Soap]



[Body oil]



[They also build houses for their activities themselves.  Building up rocks on wood-frames and make plaster walls with kneaded dirt.]




[They also make honey.  Honey are sometimes sold in used plastic bottles in South Sudan,  but they use clean bottle for selling honey.]




We received a warm welcome with many smiles this day (though, they seem tensed with unfamiliar photo shoot).  Bile wate ki started activities among the first in South Sudan, where there still are very few industries. 
We would like to follow up activities of them.

A small bridge between the elementary school students of South Sudan and Miyagi Prefecture

In the past few days, elementary school students of Miyagi Prefecture, and those of South Sudan have enjoyed a small cultural exchange. Miyagi Prefecture’s Hirobuchi Youth Club (Ishinomaki City) and FC Impulse (Higashimatsushima City) participated in a soccer class held by former J-League player Teruo Iwamoto, and also paid us a visit at JEN’s Tokyo headquarters. Here at the headquarters, the children learnt about JEN’s activities, classes focused on sanitation in South Sudan, as well as performing the ‘Handwashing Dance’. Before the end of the visit, each of the children kindly wrote a letter to their counterparts in South Sudan.

[photo]



Everyone’s warm messages, all the way to South Sudan!! The letters were safely delivered to our friends in Jaba Primary School, located in Morobo County. Jaba Primary School is just one of the schools JEN has worked with in the past, with the excavation of a well, installation of toilet facilities and promotion of sanitation workshops; something which still continues to this day.

[photo]



We were then treated to a song about sanitation, performed by the students of Jaba Primary School. With the “hygiene club” leading the stage, everyone joined in the song.

The lyrics included messages such as “Let’s go to school. There, let’s learn about sanitation. Let’s cook and eat properly, and live healthily.”

In actuality, the sanitation song is a piece put together by the teachers and “hygiene club” members of different schools- therefore the lyrics and dance slightly vary depending on the school.

[photo]



In South Sudan, soccer is loved by children and adults alike. As expressed in the letters, should a day come where they could all enjoy a game of soccer as representatives of Japan and South Sudan, it would be a day enjoyed by all.

Everyday Struggles -Adliya’s Story-

In the last few days, as part of a look into the selection process of schools, we visited the village of Ganji. Here we came across a woman – and today, we introduce her story.

Adliya Poni is a 57-year-old mother of 6. Her husband passed away in a land mine incident 15 years ago (1985), and with many family members lost to war Adliya raises her 6 children by herself.

One of her children is married, another an unemployed university graduate, whilst the remaining four children still attend school –which does not come free. Adliya works as a cleaner in a clinic and earns £280 per month (approx. ¥4480), somehow managing to make this suffice.

[Adliya attending to the clinic staff’s lodgings]


Whilst speaking to us, Adliya was unable to control her tears. Despite surviving the war, it seems long-term emotional effects still linger, something which she has managed to endure. It felt like a typical day in the life of Adliya.

[Program Officer Haileseless Meles]

Energy Drink

This time, I would like to share the story about people in the village. After the research at Kulipapa elementary school which was mentioned in the last entry, we had coffee and tea at the tea shop right by the school.

[left black tea, right coffee]


The owner of this outdoor tea shop is Ms. Esther, 28. She served us a glass of coffee for 2 pounds (about 60yen) and a glass of tea for 1 pound (about 30yen).

[Ms. Esther is making tea]


Ms. Esther is a mom of 3. Their dad had gone to Juba to find a job but it is not going very well that Esther has opened the tea shop by the school since this March.

Here is how she boils water with the equipment.


After the water is boiled with this kettle, she pours the hot water to used tea leaves in the strainer. When it comes to coffee, she brew with this pot and done. Sugar adds some flavor to it.



Why she opened the tea shop here is that there are more people who work at the construction site and also there are more houses have been built around the school that many people from the village pass by.

[people from the village taking a break at Esther’s tea shop]



At 6 in the morning, she takes an hour to get some water for her business, then open the shop around 8 and works until 4:30.

It has not decided yet whether a well will be built at this school, but if it ever happens, mom who works pretty hard like her would not have to take an hour to go all the way to get water. Also they can relax a bit more while raising 3 children.

[Esther, shared a story about her business as she caresses her child.]



Each of us had a cup of energy drink by Esther then took a bumpy road for 2 hours.

(Head of Juba Office, Shu NIshimaru)

The current issue 2 hours away from the capitol –Kulipapa Elementary School-

As we reported last time, we have started working on the water hygiene campaign in 10 schools in Juba County since July. First of all, we need to pick up 10 schools out of 140 schools in Juba County.  After interviewing authorities such as Education Bureau, we recognized 25 public schools that don’t have wells in the area except Juba city and its neighboring areas.

[JEN staff interviewing teachers]



The other day, we investigated Kulipapa elementary school which is one of those 22 schools.  Kulipapa elementary school is located 2 hours drive on a bad road from Juba city.  There are 90 students from 1st grade to 5th grade and they study from 8am to 2pm.  They don’t get school meals and they would eat after getting home after 2pm.  It takes an hour for some students to get to school.

[Kulipapa Elementary School]



As we were informed from the administration, this elementary school have neither a well nor a bathroom. There is only one well which is an hour away from them. Water to use at school is brought by the janitor once in the morning. But it’s only one plastic water container filled up for teachers. Children can’t use the water, drink it during a break or wash hands before class. They need to relieve themselves in the bush backside of the school.

[Children are playing on the school ground during a break]



This school used to be an open-air class until 2007. Then residents started working together to build 3 school buildings with soil walls and tin roofs.  This year, the government started building 2 school buildings with red bricks.  However, they haven’t got to installing a well or a bathroom.

[Red brick school buildings under construction]



Since it is close to Juba city, we thought people would leave for the town. In fact, people who couldn’t get a job eventually come back to farm. That results in having more students at the school.

[from left, Mr.Koronelion, Mr.Kenyi, Mr.Ladu]


When we dropped in at the classroom around noon, it was filled with energetic students even though they can’t drink water during a break.


*This project is conducted by Japan Platform and your support.

[Head of Juba Office, Shu NIshimaru]

Start of New Project -Juba-

Monitoring by the Japan Platform (JPF) was ended without incident at the end of June, and the new project supported by the JPF began since 6 of July.
This is another water sanitation improvement project which remains in high demand. The activity includes construction of well and toilet facilities, setting up committee to manage those facilities, sanitation education, developing the system for residents to check their wells regularly by networking local repairman.
　The project site is Juba County, where the capital city Juba locates. You may think the County is more developed than other areas, but except for Juba City, there are many villages like other areas where people live in very difficult conditions.

-Map of Juba County, Central Equatoria Sate-



Penetration rate of toilet at schools in Juba County is 46%, which makes a little difference with national average 49%. There are nearly 140 schools in Juba County, and we will provide support to 10 schools in the areas except for Juba City precincts.

All-day project commencement meeting (kick-off meeting) for JEN’s staff was held on 13 of July. JEN’s Vision for Mission was shared, and the participants discuss about teamwork necessary for the project. Agenda for the project was shared, and precautions were explained by the administration and accounting department.

We had lunch at a South Sudanese restaurant.


For this project, about 20 staff will work as one for the people in South Sudan to live better life and become happier, by making best use of the support from people in Japan.

[Head of Juba Office Shu Nishimaru]

The Villager who understand, Monitoring by Japan Platform

The programs conducted from last May to this April were supported by Japan Platform and all of your support. The outcome of the program was inspected by the monitoring team of Japan Platform on this June 30th.




We headed to Lainya from Juba under the bad road condition which took three hours and interviewed the director of Lainya county to exchange information about the activities of JEN. Afterwards, we then drove to Kenny village, a hinterland under the bad road condition and confirmed the well which was maintained by the repair person.

【Interviewing the Mayor by the Member of Japan Platform and the Staff of JEN】


The mayor of the Kenny village said “we learned that daily maintenance and checking is necessary instead of repairing after being out of order”. Presently, the well that JEN supported is being inspected trice a month and the maintenance fee which is 25 dollars a month is paid to the Repairs Association where the repair person belongs.

【The Mayor explaining the situation of the well (center)】



Other than that, the Mayor asked” there are parts that needs to be exchanged and we would like to ask to provide these parts if it is available”. So we asked the number of household of the villagers and proposed” Why not ask the villagers to share and buy the parts?” and then “we understand that this is to be depend on your own however, we just asked if it is possible to ask it from the Japanese” explaining while laughing.

The villagers are becoming depend on themselves, it was a moment to feel that they are also being clever to achieve more support from the supporting group.
We express our special thanks to the Monitoring Team of Japan Platform spending 6 hours back and forth to inspect.

[Head of Juba Office, Shu Nishimaru]

Sustainability of water through maintenance of hand pumps

JEN has been working in South Sudan since 2007 with the mission of ensuring safe drinking water for the community. Right now, more than 65 boreholes have been drilled. Although the target beneficiaries are school children, communities living in the neighborhood also gained the benefits of clean water.

However, the rate at which the boreholes break down is a problem.  Boreholes in the rural areas have fallen into disrepair, depriving poor communities of clean water. The boreholes have been installed by either government or nongovernmental organizations but have not been maintained by them. Maintenance has been left to communities who have neither the capacity to repair and maintain hand pumps nor have access to spare parts. Water management committees existed and functioned for all the boreholes in Lainya but, in 90% of the cases, the community made contributions for operation and maintenance only when the boreholes broke down.

In Lainya, JEN found that 35% of water points, or 208 boreholes, needed repair, Out of the 208 boreholes, 15 hand dug wells are abandoned, 63 are non functional and only 145 are in good working condition but likely to break down more than 3 days (or 3 times) in a year.

It seems simple and obvious, but there is little point in drilling boreholes if the is no system to maintain them.  Every day that a borehole does not provide safe water, people are obliged to drink from unclean pools and rivers, exposing them to water-borne diseases.

That is why JEN commenced an initiative termed PPOM – Public Private Operation and Maintenance to improve rural water service delivery by moving from project based, one-off construction of water systems to delivering indefinitely sustainable rural water services.

JEN brought together interested pump mechanics in Lainya who have been trained earlier by JEN and other NGOs and taught them about operation and maintenance. Furthermore, the pump mechanics have been taken through the business development of the water sector.  As a result, the pump mechanics realized the need to engage the communities in ensuring preventive operation and maintenance from a private perspective. Communities, on the other hand, are required to contribute a maintenance fee on a monthly basis. Currently, the pump mechanics are working under the supervision of the Rural Water Department.

The project is still under progress but the results seem positive for numerous pump mechanics have shown interest. JEN will continue to give support to these pump mechanics in order to improve their skills to attain sustainable water supply for rural communities.

Putting clean water on top of the list.

In a country that is struggling with humanitarian needs ranging from poor infrastructure to poor health, access to water still remains a challenge in southern Sudan.

In all sectors, water seems to be the most vital missing link. JEN has been working since 2007 to alleviate this problem and ensure that returnee communities are able to settle in well and set their minds for development.

JEN focuses on provision of WASH services and facilities in schools. It has been said that every 20 seconds, a child under five dies in the developing world from a preventable illness. JEN believes that clean water is the solution that makes the biggest difference to the lives of the locals..

JEN drilled a total of 11 boreholes in Morobo County of Central equatorial.  While on a monitoring visit to some of the facilities, it was apparent that at least three communities received a community borehole for the first time. These are Okollowa, Dongoda and Asumuko primary schools in Morobo County.

"We always used to drink from streams and all our children had diarrhea. This meant high medical bills because we didn’t understand the causes; the new borehole is a huge gift as our children are now feeling better" said Headman Justino Bubuge Yoani in Okollowa village. 

Elsewhere in Dongoda, Rose Kaunda, a 53 year old mother of 11 children, said, "It is the first time we have seen a borehole in this community. People used to fetch water in springs that are far away, sometimes taking up to 4 hours. Now, as a mother, I am left with more time to farm and tend to my children because the water is nearby."

In the same community, a man had come to the borehole with a small 10 litre jerrican, which is unusual. When asked, he said he was fetching drinking water. Luate Muzame is 27 years old and married with one child. He said that since he grew up he never saw an organization visiting his area for humanitarian support. "I always thought we are the forgotten people" he said. JEN is the first organization to work in the area and now they have a new borehole!

In some ways, all the statements above may sound obvious. We all reach for the bottled water when in unfamiliar territory to reduce the risk of picking up diseases.  However, in communities where access to clean water is a big issue, this makes a huge difference in the people's lives.

Issue of Price Boost in Juba

JEN was currently proceeding budget for projects in next tern at Juba office. We suffered from the recent price boost in Juba for the budgeting. The conflict near border of South Sudan and Sudan is escalating this year and abeyance of oil export and expense of war triggers the price boost.

People’s life suffered from this price boost. For instance:
　Ｃｈａｐａｔｉ　introduced before as “Street Gourmet” used to be 2 pounds with egg and toppings, however, it is now ２pounds (applox. ３５JPY)without egg and toppings. It is going to be 4 pounds (applox. ７０JPY) with egg.

4-５ ping-pong ball sized small onions are １０ pounds (applox. 177JPY). A large onion is １０pounds.




　A egg is １pound (１７JPY)



Average price for a meal at local restaurant is １２-１５ pounds (applox. ２１５-２７０JPY). It was ５pounds (applox. 90-120JPY) a year ago.
（For 2 people）

Motorbike-taxi

The fee of motorbike taxi starts changing, although it is popular means of transportation for citizen. At this moment, the price of fuel is deferment, however, many petrol stations are closed as it is extremely difficult to obtain fuel. There are very long queues in front of open petrol stations. Cars, motor bike and people’s queue. It is extremely chaotic like we cannot find the exit for fed cars.
When will the price boost in South Sudan stop? How will the conflict’s conclusion be? There are lots of issues for new-born South Sudan. People just started taking a step toward solutions of many problems.

Please kindly keep supporting us.

Gourmet food on Morobo’s street-corner

Continuing from last time, I would like to introduce local foods in Southern Sudan, especially those in the village.

These are made from cassava which is first mashed, then salted, knead and deep-fried.





The texture is something like slightly hard dumplings. There are round, flat types, as in the photo, and also types made long and thin before being fried. You can see them being sold not only in the markets of Morobo, but also on roadsides rather deep in the mountain areas. Five pieces cost 1 pound (about 25 yen).

Boiled sorghum and beans




Boiled sorghum and beans are eaten topped with scallop oil, which has savory aroma. The locals love this fragrant oil and put plenty of it on their meals. One dish costs 1 pound (about 25 yen).

This is the fruit of a shea-butter tree, which is known in Japan as an ingredient for luxury cosmetics.

Shea-butter trees, called Lulu by the locals, can be seen bearing lots of fruit in the village in which JEN operates its activities. In order to be used for cosmetics, the seeds are dried and crushed to extract shea-butter, a kind of oil.




The villagers use this rich and healthy oil for cooking. Covering the seed is some fruit pulp, which is sweet and has a unique fragrance. It is edible when ripe and yellow.



These are the favorites of South Sudanese people. People look forward to the end of April, when the rainy season starts. This is because it is the season for termites. (They are bigger than the termites in Japan, and look like caterpillars when their wings come off).
People gather the termites when their wings come off in the breeding season. They are eaten deep-fried, or boiled in stew or soup. The milky-white soup is especially delicious – eaten with dumplings made of sorghum powder, called Ugari, soaked in it.




At the end of April, villagers came with treats for the members who were working since morning. The expressions of all the members, which previously looked a little tired, became bright at once.


There are big anthills here and there in the village. See the size compared with the 4WD vehicle? Sometimes they offer a beautiful sight with various plant roots tangled around them.

Gourmet at street corner in South Sudan

I will introduce the gourmet at street corner of Juba, capital of South Sudan.

This burger shop in Juba town is always crowded with people. It is closed in the afternoon because the burgers are sold out. This shop serves a variety of taste, chicken, beef, liver, fish, beans and vegetables. It may be one of the reasons of the popularity. Meats burned over the counter are very nice fragrance.

Fish Burger: lower left, chicken burger :lower right, Beef Burger: on the center


There is also fresh juice, lemon, orange, pineapple, Guaba etc.. Those are served in daily
Lemon juice



On the streets, thin-baked bread, called chapati, are sold. They stuff thin-baked egg into chapati deftly.



Topped with tomato slices and raw onion



It is easy-to-eat dish for breakfast, lunch and evening snacks.


In the market, there are a lot of household goods. Food is one of their representatives. In front of a shop which provides delicious cuisine, lots of people get together.
Crispier chickens are faintly spicy.



French fries to fried chicken



Fried bread, called Mandaji



Here is snacks, called Tamiya. Exquisite seasoning, crispy coat and the fragrant is very addictive. It is the food like pork cutlet without pork meat.


Women are frying Tamiya in the streets, giving out flashes of Tamiya aroma.

Various topics – Through monitorings -

Last week, we visited project sites at Morobo county to check progress. The project was at a final stage at that time and wells had been installed in each site. We will close up people we met there.


David Baiga（right/ ３０ y/o） works for Ududｒa primary school as volunteer latrine construction staff. His wife, Jessica (２０) visits his work almost everyday to see him.

He had ever worked as a farmer or daily employed staff but he obtained constructing skills. It makes Jessica positive for everything. David also said that he was glad that Jessica visited him everyday.




She is Grace (16) wearing blue shirts and drawing water from newly installed well at the primary school. She moved out her home and helps her aunt who has a family of 12. It used to take 40 minutes there and back to draw water but it now takes only 15minutes. They now can complete cooking and washing in short time and can have a relaxed time.

Children drink water happily  Lujulo West　primary school.

At Wongoboro primary school too.

Hygiene education at the school. JEN staff performed a puppet show. People who just passed there also saw the show.

JEN staff performed in an enthusiastic way at back stage.

In the end, everyone joined a photo taking.
(This project is supported by JPF and everyone.)

School Latrine Construction with Community

Samuel Ayume Agostino (29yrs) is a trained slab maker/latrine construction from Lujulo West Primary School in Morobo.  Lujulo West is one of the schools where JEN is implementing school latrine construction through community participation. The school also benefited from JPF 4 water supply for schools in 2011/12.

I found Samuel working at the latrine construction site together with his team of other constructors.  I asked him how they were able to complete the project while ensuring total support from the communities.

He said:’ The first thing we did when JEN trained us was consult the communities. We did not do this on our own but with the support of JEN staff.  JEN was clear that they did not want to do anything that could create a dependency culture especially with a new nation and communities settling down, instead they emphasized the need for us to make the most of the skills, coping mechanisms and strengths that people already have. We were sure that our community will be able to do it, especially when they were confident in our newly acquired skills.  I was very eager to show to my community what I am able to do’

The approach has definitely paid off.  We are now at the completion stage of latrine construction, roofing begins today and by the end of this week, we shall ensure remaining tasks are completed.  Altogether we have helped in the construction of 2 blocks of 2 stances latrine.
Samuel who is a father of 3 children said that earlier on there were no clean water sources in the village.  The community relied on water from a nearby stream.  Now they have a new borehole which is within the school compound.

When asked how the community supported the latrine construction process, he said that all the bricks used in the construction were burnt by members of the community.  Additionally they collected sand and aggregate.  They also ensured that workers at the site got food on a daily basis.  This was all done through the support of area chief, religious leader, teachers and parents of school children in Lujulo.  The children were equally not left out as they also made sure that there was adequate water for the workers at the latrine construction site.

Ultimately, Lujulo west has demonstrated that communities can take action towards restoring dignity and becoming self reliant. With the new latrines, sanitation in the school will greatly be improved.   The school has become a role model for other villages in the locality.

(Project Officer: Elizabeth Mose)

Electric Generator Recovered – Thank Japan Self-Defense Force –

In Juba, the capital city of South Sudan, Electric Public Corporation provides electricity to people. However, black out has frequently happened and the electricity is provided only 2-3hours in a week in recent one year. Thus JEN produces necessary electricity for the office by our own electric generator. Neverthless the electric generator worn out and did not work properly those days.

One day, some members of Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) visited JEN office. We just mentioned the unwell generator and a mechanic in JSDF offered check up the generator at that time.


   
They skillfully took off very small parts. They disassembled parts which had not been broken up when local mechanic had checked up for the failure those days.

The cause of the failure was dirty detailed parts which had not been checked up by local mechanics. JSDF mechanic polished very well the detailed parts exposed to fugitive dust every day.

After the maintenance, the power generator started working very well again.




(From left: Mr. Miyake, Mr. Ohno, Mr. Kimura, Mr. Shigekago and Mr. Urakami)

We highly appreciated JSDF for working under the scorching burning sun. JEN would use this power generator carefully from now on.

HOW JEN is restoring people’s dignity in South Sudan.

The world’s 193rd state faces a difficult start. Now only seven months since it was born, poverty is widespread and there is little decent infrastructure, such as schools, hospitals or sanitation. One in ten children die before their first birthday and more than 80 per cent of southerners don’t have access to any kind of toilet.

South Sudan has a record of un-imaginable suffering with decades of conflict taking the lives of 1.5 million people.

The existing southern population faces added pressure in that many thousands of people are joining the country from the north, most of which originally hail from the south and this has contributed to pressure on the existing meager resources in the country.

JEN has been working in the south for  slightly over 5 years, primarily through implementation of water supply, hygiene education and sanitation for schools. Watch our interview with one of our beneficiaries from Kajo Keji, to learn more about the role of the JEN in South Sudan……

Kajo Keji is home to an ethnic community known as ‘kuku’, who are primarily farmers.  Juan Esther was recently interviewed by JEN’s teams in the field regarding what has changed since JEN started implementing in her area.

Juan who is 26 years old and a mother of 5 said that she settled in Kajo Keji in 2006 as a returnee.  Life was unbearable as she had to walk for over 4 kms in search of ‘safe water’.  She would spend her entire day making two trips only to get enough water for cooking and drinking.

This left her family quite miserable as the children had to fend for themselves.  The younger son suffered bouts of diarrhea so frequently that she almost lived in and out of hospital all the time.  JEN drilled a borehole in a nearby school only 600m from her home.  ‘ I have never been happier as now I have enough time to take care of my family and don’t have to worry about water.  More over, the yield of the water is quite good hence I don’t have to queue for my turn’ she said. 

Juan  is a member of the water management committee says :  Sanitation in my household has improved tremendously.  I am now thinking of constructing a hand washing facility, as I don’t have to worry about the source of water any more.  She said that as a committee member her role is to ensure that the borehole is maintained and is clean at all times.

Juan is among many beneficiaries across Kajo Keji where JEN has recently drilled 10 boreholes.
JEN’s efforts to impact on people’s lives are also geared towards ensuring that they have restored dignities as well.

(Program Officer: Elizabeth Mose)

Beginning a new project ～State of North Bahr el Ghzal～

The project that we are undertaking since May of last year in Central Equatoria  State is at last reaching its final steps.

On the other hand、the preparations for our next Project are also in progress. As a part of it, since February we are conducting a field survey at the relatively safe zone of the State of North Bahr el Ghzal in South Sudan.

The State of North Bahr el Ghzal is situated on the Northern part of South Sudan, and is right near the frontier with Sudan. There are many returning citizens from outside and inside the country trying to go back to their hometowns since last year’s voting, which made South Sudan an independent country, and from all the 10 states that the country has, this is the second state that has the most returning citizens.

　It takes us 3 hours from the capital of Juba inside the state of Central Equatoria and stopping at the city of Wao. The place at which we arrived was an airport constituted only by a runway.
（Photo of the plane, used by the United Nations）

The Southern part of North Bahr el Ghzal State, due to the raining season from June to December that makes going from the main road to the villages by car difficult, has been always a region avoided by the support groups.
We took a look at those villages.




At the village of Manga Gier, we visited the family of　 Magd Muwarel. It was midday, when the kids had just returned from getting water. It takes 40 minutes to go and get the water and another 40 to come back.　It is the work they do in the morning and in the afternoon. 
That day, they had just returned from getting also some extra water with a small recipient for a sick kid.




This little kid washed a cup, poured some water in it and gave it to the sick kid. Although it seems that he does not wash his hands before eating or after he goes to the toilet.
We hear that the not knowing the importance of hygiene and being unable to get clean water through the raining season provokes diarrhea on both kids and adults.




A normal day for them goes like this: they cut grass (check the photo below) from the forest and they make them into bundles to sell for about 10 pounds each (about 300 yen).　Apparently the father goes to the capital which is hundreds of kilometers far from here to work, together with the brothers that also study there.




Later we visited the nearby school to which the kids go to study, the Elementary School of Manga Gier. As we were on the holidays of the dry season（from December to April）we could not find any students, but we managed to meet vice-principal and talked with him.
（vice-principal is on the right side of the photo below）


He told us about the conditions of the well and the toilets, and also about hygiene education. There are near to 800 students studying here, but there are no school buildings or teachers.　The classrooms are the shadows under the big trees on the surroundings of the training field.


There is also a toilet made by the community.




Inside there is a hole made with rocks.

It felt quite small for an adult.



There are only 2 toilets like this one. We hear that the female students use them while the male students do their necessities where the grass is abundant.　The below item is strongly needed in that kind of moments.



 
It is just a tree branch, but they use it as toilet paper. Apparently there are states where people use rocks. They throw them inside the hole after.
As there is no well in this school, the students can’t wash their hands after they are done. As it takes 40 minutes by feet to the nearest well, they cannot spend their precious school time on going to get water.
Commemorative picture with all the family.



We have just begun our survey in this prefecture、but we plan on comparing the results from this field survey with other regions and public data from organizations such as the UN, discussing with local administrations etc. so we can understand this problem better.

Community Unifies for Well Maintenance

JEN establishes the management committee for borehole maintenance at each school when it comes to build wells so that the local residents can fix or maintain the wells by themselves.

Therefore we have found some issues for the past several years:
1.The committee is able to fix only small problems but when it comes to a big problem, there is no choice but to ask the local waterworks department.
2.It takes time for the waterworks department come to the site due to lack of staffers and budget.
3.The department does not have spare parts in stock and the parts are difficult to get in the area.

Therefore, JEN is trying to organize the experienced local repairmen who are getting to have better skills in Lainya County. We are also making a system so that the local residents and private repairmen cooperate to maintain the wells, not to depend on the government. Regarding spare parts, the repairmen association manages the stock so as not to be out of stock. At the same time, we encourage the government to support the communication between the highly public association and the residents.

The other day, we offered training for member repairmen to reconfirm their skills.

(They are reconfirming their skills.)

Mr. John Rado said, “I reaffirmed through the foundation of the association that we repairmen are responsible for the borehole maintenance, not the government. Some communities are thinking about asking the borehole maintenance to us so now I am studying about the contract with my collegue.” He is an original member of the foundation as a repairman.

(Mr. John Rado on the left)

JEN is promoting independence support for communities in order that they can maintain their wells for themselves by making a private association centered in the “housing-public-private” network, not depending only on the government.

New Year in Yeitown

Yeitown is located at about three-or-four-hour drive to the south from Juba, the capital city of South Sudan. It is a hub of JEN staff members working in Morobo County and Lainya County, JEN’s project sites; Staff come to Yeitown to feed their cars with oil or stay overnight when necessary.

I asked Samuel, a staff member who spent the year-end and the New Year in Yeitown about New Year’s Day here. Let me share what I heard and experienced.

New Year’s Day is as important as Christmas. They usually go to church as they do on Christmas. So I went to a church at six o’clock on the morning of New Year’s Day. Hundreds of people came to the church despite it was cold in the early morning. It got warmer later.

Finally, around 400 people were at the church built in 1980s, and another hundreds were outside the church. We congratulated ourselves on being able to start a new year for the first time after the independence.

(Those who came to church)

(They came to greet the New Year even during the church service.)

Meals are also important on New Year’s Day. They prepare boiled or grilled meat --beef, pork or chicken -- and vegetable dish for the New Year. Women and girls usually join the church service in the late morning because of the meal preparation.

After the church service, they ate all day at their friends’ house or at home inviting their friends.

They have to spend less money in the rest of January and February because they spent so much on New Year’s Day.

The year 2011 saw a lot of events such as the referendum and the independence. The commodity price increased and conflicts have continued in some areas. On the other day, thousands of attacks occurred in the northern part of South Sudan, and tens of thousands of people were evacuated.

I hope the year 2012 will bring fruitful lives; Economy is stabilized and conflicts calm down which leads to stabilizing peace.

The favourite ingredient South Sudanese

Today, we will introduce a vital ingredient for every day’s dining table in South Sudan.

We visited a small factory in central Kajo Keji county.

Firstly, we put the ingredient into the machine.



It seemed that the ingredient was grained by the machine with motor.



What was squeezed from edge of the machine was peanut butter.



Peanut was grown in Kajo Keji county, a JEN’s project site. Each family makes peanut butter, however, the peanut butter produced at the factory where we visited is popular for the villagers. On that day the fragrance of peanut was spread around.

People love the peanut butter and they use it for variety of dishes such as soup, beans stew, vegetable stew and grilled meat and vegetable mixed with peanut sauce etc..

Although common types of peanut butter are sweet spread for bread in Japan, there are varieties of cooking methods in not only South Sudan but also many place in East Africa.

Latrine Construction by Community – the Digging

Local people would construct school latrines and JEN would provide trainings and material for it. The project was actually launched.  Latrine construction would proceeded digging holes for dirty water tank, wall construction of the holes, floor construction and wall and ceiling construction.

The digging hole needed manpower. In one of the areas, community made three groups and they were digging holed as a competition. In another area, most people were busy thus volunteers raise fund and hire the local people to dig the holes.




What the most important is for the project was not the method of digging but the process of how the local people discuss by themselves and make the decision.
They discover the problem, discuss and solve it. JEN provided self-reliance support in which local people are able to take those set of actions regularly and providing the construction material is just a catalyst of it. Though those process, the local people earn their experience as community.

James Doki,  a security of Boli  primary school in Kajokeji county said “In results of JEN’s hygiene education, students started cleaning the small old latrines which already exist. JEN was the first organization to come to such a back country. We never forget being supported by Japanese.”



We sometimes had to stop digging due to the water filled with holes by unusually continuous rain this year, however, the people were highly motivated and wished that it stopped raining immediately.

This project was supported by JPF , “Chabo!” and everyone.

First Female Instructor of Repairing Hand Pumps

Here is an extra story of the project. Let us introduce a South Sudani female instructor from Water department who has been playing an important role on trainings for engineer of repairing hand pumps. We had reported about her at our news flash, which had been published 2 times before. The reason why she was focused on was that female instructors are absolutely rare in this country.

Her name is Christine Proidencio (39), an instructor mother rising 5 children.


She started working for Water Department as an office staff in 1992 and received a training of repairing hand pumps in 1993. There was no female except her in 31 trainees.

Her mark was excellent and she was chosen as a repairing engineer of Water dept. She had been a first repairing engineer in Central Equatoria State and probably in South Sudan area too. We could see it from the fact that all visitor of Water dept. from other states was surprised at female repairing engineer.



Nowadays, there are 2 female instructors (for repairing hand pumps) in Central Equatoria State Water dept. including her, and we hope they shine with their profession.

In addition, there were three women in 33 participants from other area in JEN’s repairing engineer training. We would like to have interviews with them in near future.

This project is supported by JPF and Chabo! and all supporters.

(Article by Hileserasse Melesse )

Hygiene Education in Sudan: Issue Discovery through Group Discussion

JEN’s hygiene education in Sudan this year is provided to the communities, especially schools. The teachers and students had been participants until the year before, however, adults became leading player from this year. The method was not one way lecture style but participatory like the lessons held in the past. Here is an explanation by using the example of Adile primary school  in Kajo Keji county.

In October, each village had issue discovery sessions through group discussion. 15-6 villagers, not all, were gathered. Chief of the village helped to gather women and men, young to late middle aged people with good balance.

Then, they discussed what the problems are using picture cards. Some people had already knew the life with hygiene so that they detected toward the solutions by sharing information each other. This time, they discussed what is led if they did the business not in toilet but in the river or garden.

The picture cards helped the explanation and discussion which is difficult to express only by words. The session were progressed in a friendly atmosphere.




Mr. Bonny Loase (28)  rising 3 children said “If my youngest child did the business in our house or in front of the house, I will be clean it up as soon as possible to prevent from disease. I would like to attend next hygiene education session and learn more.”



At the edge of eaves at the rear of the group, people watched the session with their curiosity although they did not attend the discussion.



It took 90min by car from the town centre of Kajo Keji county to Kaiba  village which has the Adile primary school. We had to walk for 10 min to the village as we could not use cars due to the increasing of river water amount and the flow.


Due to the increasing the river water, JEN staff used wood combined bridge made by local people.



We arrived at the village by 10 min walk glancing sorghum farm at both sides of the road.

At the centre of the village, there are some buildings like below made by clay wall. The group discussion was held in the middle of there.



 
It took 10 min walk to the school to install wells and latrines from there. The inner garden of the school was beautiful. JEN and school staff checked together the place of installing the latrines. The candidate site was tussock at the edge of the school. Installation of the latrines would start next month led by local people.


It was a lunch break, when we visited. In the inner garden, the boys were enjoying playing football, girls were enjoying hit-ball game, in which they threw a tennis ball size ball from both side about 20m distance to the girls in the middle. If the ball hit one of them, they have to change the place. They enjoyed the lunch break.








(This project is supported by JPF and every one.)

Trainings for Repairing Hand Pump have been started

Training for repairing and maintenance of hand pump installed to deep-wells this year were started at Kajo Keji county. There are three targets to achieve.

1)Regular pump inspection skills
2)Simple repairing skills
3)Supervise skills for complicated repairing

Those aimed that people can keep using well-water by using the pumps installed by JEN as long as possible.

This is a hand pump for trainings (India Mark-ＩＩ)



There were 15 participants in which three of them had helped repairing hand pumps, four of them had repaired bicycles and one of them had repaired motor cycles. None of them had experienced mechanic training. They had to learn at least simple repairing skills in 10 days training.

Here is a photo of the participants


The trainers were engineers from Water dept. of county and state. They were used to teaching the skills with questioning to trainees skillfully. There were lots of things to remember such as pump parts, repairing tools and method of repairing. 

Repairing tools

Here is a brief explanation of dismantling and assembling of barrels which has the most complicated structure in the hand pump parts. This barrels are important parts of sending water to the pump.



These consisted of metal parts and rubber packing like the photo below.

Firstly, Christine, one of the trainers, shows actual dismantling and assembling of them. 

Then, the trainees practiced those in pairs.

They processed it with many tries and mistakes such as fixing the parts upside down or putting wrong amount of packings since it was their first experience to do it.

They fixed the parts firmly using repairing tools which they were taught the day before. When they practiced dismantling and assembling them within 10min, the participants who were not engaging in assembling were not only observing but also pointing out when the colleague made mistakes.

Lastly, they checked if it sucks water in a bucket.

Completed!!

After the practice, it is time for delicious lunch.

The lunch was Liro  (Balinese: Ugari in Swahili) made with corn flour and goat stew.

After lunch, everyone was eager to review the lesson to prevent from forgetting the contents until afternoon training began without break.

JEN would provide the well maintenance and management training one more time for another group in Kajo Keji county and two more times in Morobo county after the training for this group was completed.

This project was supported by JPF and supporters.

Construction of Latrine is led by Citizen

School latrine construction this term would be led by the community. It made that small breaks would be mended by community members and they would also be able to construct additional latrines by themselves as needed.

In middle of September, young people in the villages gathered and were trained of necessary skills. Three people form each village, in total 18 people participated in the training from Morobo county. There were lots of things to learn such as the method of piling bricks, making cement floor of the toilet and distinguishing stoned which can be added to the cement.

When they returned to their villages, they must lead the latrine construction, therefore they made their best effort to learn those.

This photo shows the work of tying up the wires of reinforced concrete for toilet floors.



It is also a part of training to crash stoned in large pieces for suitable size to adding cement.
It was roasting, however, everyone made material for practice by themselves with their very best.

Here is a result of the work in which they mixed cement and gravel and cast them into types. The latrine would be crouching down type thus a hole in the middle was needed. The things easily obtained were used as material for instance  the front in the photo is rolled paper bags of cement, the middle is plastic containers and the rear is soil bricks, although it is difficult to see.

The work below was surprising. They set a spade under the net and hit by hummer. This is for cutting the net. We were told that we can cut nets in that way if there are no tools to cut it such as nippers.



　
At the back of the training center, a lady chef cooked lunch. Beans stew, looks delicious
.

This project is supported by JPF and every supporter.

Water Environment in South Sudan will be Introduced in “Chikyu VOCE” Part 2

JEN staff went to Morobo county with the crew of international co-operation TV programme “Chikyu VOCE (Earth VOCE)” produced by TV Tokyo for coverage.

Kanjya  primary school　which we visited this time is one of the schools in which JEN provide hygiene education last year. Wells and latrine construction has been in progress this year.




When we arrived at the school, all students in the school had got together as it was time for the beginning of hygiene education. When the JEN Japanese staff made a short speech in local language, the students cheered. It was a time for hygiene education.

A hygiene club was established in the school and there are 15 members at the club. They introduce correct hygiene knowledge to the students in the hygiene education class which is held twice a week.




At the hygiene education class, the club members perform a drama for telling correct hygiene knowledge and do some quizes using picture cards to choose whether the illust is correct.




The latrine and well construction has not completed yet. The students normally use the toilet in a church in the school’s property, however, apparently they sometimes use the bush in the school as a toilet.




The task of hygiene club member goes on since it is also their role to encourage students to use the new toilets when the toilet construction is completed.

The aspect of passing correct hygiene knowledge from students to students will be broadcasted on “Chikyu VOCE” in October. Please check it out.

Received TV Coverage

JEN’s water sanitation project in Sudan  was requested to have TV coverage of an international co-operation TV programme “Chikyu VOCE (Earth VOCE)” produced by TV Tokyo. The guide is Mr. Lou Oshiba.

At first, JEN covered water condition in South Sudan with Mr. Lou Oshiba.




Even in capital city Juba, many people scoop up water from the Nile and drink straight away. People do not mind if others are washing their cloths, cars, and motor cycles and bathing, when people scoop up the water at the same time and place.




According to the man kindly interviewed by us, he comes here to scoop up water six times per day. He uses the water for his house and makes his living by selling the rest as a pound per tank.




JEN has a water sanitation project in South Sudan.
The day after we covered at the Nile, the programme covered JEN’s hygiene education at schools in Morobo county.

　
How have the children been learning correct hygiene knowledge, and the daily life of the children who have built correct hygiene knowledge.
　
Wait for a next news flash of South Sudan.

Hygiene Education through Radio

JEN’s hygiene education in South Sudan this year is different from the one in the past. Importance of hygiene is insisted not only by hygiene education at schools but also through radio to many people in the project site. It aimed to children who could not go to school and adults who had not had an opportunity to receive hygiene education.

It is not interesting if the contents are simply educational staff. Therefore we decided to produce radio drama and broadcast it, however, JEN staff had no experience of producing radio drama. Then, we asked experienced staff in another organization to train JEN staff.

　The training was held for seven days. Eight episodes and drama song were produced in the training. Although JEN staff was completely confused to make eight episodes in such a short period of time, they made their best effort.

　The main message of the episodes is “How to prevent stomach ache”. The drama covered the topics such as needless to say importance of washing hand, the knowledge of what kind of water is insanitation, method of storing water and dealing with bodily waste, necessity of installation of latrines and hygiene of cooking tools.

　We hope that not only children who learned at school but also their parents understand the importance of hygiene after this radio drama is broadcasted. We also hope that the number of people who suffer from diarrhea etc. will be reduced by practicing washing their hands at home.

One year in Sudan

It has been a year since I started working at Juba office in September 2010.

Juba city had been dramatically changed in one year.

A year ago, there were much rubbish in the city and dirty cracked plastic bottles were abandoned in all streets.
These days, rubbish bin for separating in 5 kinds were installed, number of paved roads were increasing and over 2 storied building had been constructed

On the other hand, there were many things which had not obviously changed.
I had been impressed that Africa had a lot of issues to be solved since I had come to Africa.
South Sudan, an inland country in huge continent, had many issues. Co-operation with neighbour countries was necessary to live in peace for people as some issues were not able to be solved by South Sudan itself.

I would never forget the light of people’s eyes after the independence. I strongly hoped that JEN support people not to be faded the light of that day.

I thanked for the fact that I am able to work with them and I would like to continue this work to let many people smile.

(Michi Ito, Administration Finance Officer)

======= Information===========
JEN received an award from Minister of Foreign Affairs

Generous South Sudanese

I will introduce a case which shows how generous South Sudanese are.

Banks are always packed by many people. There are so many tall people in South Sudan. My height reaches only to their chest. Just after I arrived South Sudan, I put maximum effort to queuing long time with avoiding being cut in on and protecting myself.

It is permitted to leave the queue while we waiting out turn here. Sometimes, we have to wait more than two hours at banks. While we are waiting, we can leave the queue and come back by getting permission of the people queuing previous and behind us.

　
So that, it happens regularly that when I thought my turn is coming soon, a person who had left the queue came back and I have to wait more. I am not really happy to accept this as I have been waiting for long time, however, every one welcomes the person. I am always impressed how generous they are!

(Michi Ito, Administration Finance Officer)

======= Information===========
JEN received an award from Minister of Foreign Affairs

JEN is deeply grateful to your kind support to our projects.

Independence Commemoration for South Sudan – Scenery of Celebration in Yey

On July 9th 2011, 10 states in South Sudan achieved separatist and was newly admitted as a country “Republic of South Sudan”.




Whole town of Yey county in Central Equatoria State, located 2-3 hours away by car from south–west of the capital city Juba , had a revelry. People from variety of tribes gathered at Freedom Square and celebrated the independence　together. 9 tribes which participated in national election on January 9th this year live in Yey county.




An officer in Yey county Mr. Area Waiwai  insisted in a speech at celebration that South Sudan was able to be independent because every one participated in the national election. In addition, he expressed his gratitude to continuing support by citizen group and NGOs during unforgettable conflict period with Noth.




What is more, he mentioned that it was important that each area in South Sudan develop all together. Yey county consist of variety of tribes so that each tribes dance their tribes’ dance using drums, bows and arrows and shared the delight with lot of colours at Freedom Square where the celebration held.




Mr. Uga Moses, an dancer at Avokaya  tribe, said “I am very happy with independence of South Sudan. From now on, let us clean this dust-covered area by the conflict without any confrontations among the tribes.”




Yey area has history which the area was one of the battle field and many thousand of people damaged by the aerial blitz during the conflict in 1996, the second civil war.
JEN will support and keep an eye on people in Yey who do not forget the past and are restored the area more powerfully as new country.

(Samuel  JEN Juba Office staff )

Independence Eve, South Sudan

The head of Sudan office was changed on June 1st 2011. Shu Nishimaru was assigned to the position instead of Michi Yamanakajima who had been assigned and made good result in Sudan from February 2010.




South Sudan had been a part of Sudan and it would be independent as a country on July 9th. In the capital city, roads and airports were rapidly developed, roadside trees were planted and atmosphere of celebration was gradually growing. One of the junctions in the city, electrical bulletin board showed remaining time to the independence day, not only how many days left but also how many hours and minutes as the photo indicates

　
On the other hand, to have the independence day safely, police and army were stood in Juba city and often check the safety. The roads were closed off near main site and peace keeping force also getting nervous. The NGOs discussed and agreed on avoiding going out after 11pm not to stimulate them unnecessarily.




JEN international staff thought about experiencing this celebration atmosphere and tension at actual place on the independence day, however, we decided to stand by in Kenya , the neighbour country, as among NGOs, it was recommended that the staff stand by at home and keep food and water around the independence day. 　

After the independence day, we would restart the project. JEN will support more to build society in which people are able to feel more happiness. In next news flash, local staff would report independence atmosphere. 

Water We Protect – Voices from Well Maintenance Training Participants -

　A training for “sustainable wells management” was held in Central Equatoria State Lainya County in South Sudan for 5days from June 13th to 17th.



From 2007, JEN carried out well digging project for obtaining safe water in South Sudan at schools where many people use. At the same time, JEN trained engineers who manage and maintenance the wells when those broke down by each school community. In this project, those engineers in some communities in the county work together and a network in which prompt response for repairing request from community and government was possible planed to build.



10 government officers from the county and Bayam  area and nine JEN staff participated in that training and learnt the method of spreading maintenance and repairing method to people. The government officers and JEN staff who received the training would be facilitators to develop the engineer network of obtaining safe water in each place.



Poni Silvia  who participated in the training said “I could learn methods of problem　solving by using resource in the community in case of problem occurs. When problem occurs in the future, I would like to encourage solving it by our self.”




　Government officer Moro Wilson  commented “I could learn hoｗ to solve the issue of well maintenance with local community. By proper maintenance of the wells, we would like to use the wells 10 or 15 years.”



JEN staff is now building co-operate relation with local community with not relying on supports but keeping mind of self-reliance, in which community maintain and manage the wells by themselves.

(Project Officer: Elizabeth)

(This project was supported by JPF, Chabo and other supporters!)

Well Delivery Ceremony (Morobo County)

On April 29th, a ceremony was held for delivering deep well with hand pump to local people at a school in Morobo county. JEN had provided some training to local member in facility management committee as engineers to use the well for a long time. It also encouraged self-reliance mind of the community itself. At the ceremony, certificates of training completion were issued and the member was recognized

County public officers invited to the ceremony showed thanks to JEN and they asked the committee members for contribution to the community. What is more, people related to Educational section were impressed that the bush was no longer dirtied by children’s excretion. We recognized the custom of the people changed to better way on that day.
(Programme officer  Haile)

（This project was completed in the end of April supported by JPF and other supporters. JEN started new project as we reported on May 12th. ）

Rocketing Oil Price

South Sudan recently suffered from rocketing of oil price and shortage of it. JEN team which had conducted researches at project sites had not been able to obtain fuel for cars and they had to stop the research once in order to go to buy some fuel to further area. We of course stocked some fuel for emergency, however the situation was serious that few days.

Not only fuel price, but also daily essentials’ price, included price of food, rocketed. For example, 25kg of corn flour had used to be 58 pound (applox. 1,600 yen), but it was 78 pound (applox. 2,150 yen)at that time, we could have bought 8 small breads by 1 pound, however , we could only buy 4 breads at that time. Recently many people cued in front of local bakery for buying breads.

According to local people and media, this was not only a problem of Sudan. The same situation applied to East African countries. South Sudan relies on imported fuel and flour from Khartoum、a capital of North Sudan, and Uganda, nevertheless people in Uganda participated in some demonstrations against rising price and it caused stacking up the supply.

There were large number of issues which they had to face before their independence on 9th July.

New Project Launched

JEN launched a new project at Central Equatoria State.

This project aims to improve the sanitation condition through digging wells and construction of latrines as same as JEN’s past projects. It also focused more on working with the community than the past. The community members mainly worked for construction of latrines this time such as manufacturing cement, and JEN supported that.

In addition, we learned through our experience that when the wells in existence went out of order, those were left without repairing due to shortage of the parts, engineers and money. JEN aims to organize a scheme for maintain and management of wells in the community by building core team of engineers and supporting building business model.

Through those projects, JEN will support self-reliance of South Sudan and engaging locally in the establishment of the country with people in South Sudan　for the independence on July 9th。

48 engineers to meet self-reliant!

JEN had provided a training for the local community "how to use hand pumps" as one of the water sanitation improvement projects at primary schools in Central Equatoria. This project is supported by you the individual partners and Japan Platform. 

We had organized a completion ceremony for 48 participants from the facility management committee who completed the training in Kajo Keji county.

The training officers and irrigation and water supply officers and so on from the government had attended the ceremony, and certifications were handed in every trainee.

One of the trainees, Ms Alice Edward, told us she wanted to let other villagers know the knowledge she gained at the training. At the last part of the ceremony, tool kits for repairing wells and spare parts were presented to each committee and the members were filled with delight.

JEN would like to be in touch and wishing them for great success of new 48 engineers.

Introducing JEN staff in Sudan

We would like to introduce our staff in Juba office.

Gale Samuel Kenyi is 28 years old, from Kajo Keji. He has a wife and a child, but he is now living away from his family to work with JEN. He first started working with JEN as a Project Assistant, but because of his strong sense of responsibility and accuracy in work he is now in charge of administration. “I am motivated to learn about administration and accounting. I would like to gain more experience and improve my skills in accounting and management, and contribute to peace and development in Southern Sudan,” says Gale who is reliable and makes suggestions for improvements in office.

Justine Lasu James is 42 years old from Juba. He has a wife and five children. “I am very interested in the work of JEN which leads to my motivation,” he says. He is hard working, and is always looking out for work he could do. He fixes things that have been damaged from the heat and dust in Juba, and monitors our office space for safety and security. He is learning mechanical repair from a mechanic, wishing to be able to repair cars and generators in the future.

Kim is our watchdog in Juba office. He is on duty day and night for the safety of our staff. He can also predict weather. The rainy season started in March, and Kim takes shelter at office when it’s going to rain. Thanks to Kim, we can collect laundry from outside before it starts raining.

Team JEN in Juba

Let us introduce staff working at Juba office.

* Gale Samuel Kenyi　from Kajo Keji, 28 years old.

Gale has a wife and a child and he is currently away from home for working at JEN. He is originally started working at JEN as a project assistant and nowadays in charge of administration work because of his efficiency and strong responsibility.

He said “I feel fulfilled to get some knowledge about administration and finance work. I would like to gain more experience and improve my accountant and management skill. I want to contribute to peaceful development of South Sudan continuously from now on.” He enthusiastically gave us many suggestions and very committed.

*Justine Lasu James　from Juba, 42　years old.

Justine has a wife and five children. He told that he is interested in JEN’s project and his interest keeps his motivation high. He is really hardworking and always looking for some tasks he can do. He repairs many things which were damaged by heat and dust in Juba. He also monitor inside the office environment and checking the security. He wants to be able to repair complicated machine such as cars and generators in the future.

Therefore he learns things by engineer with full of passion when generator needs to be repaired. 

* Kim

A famous guard at Juba office. He (actually "it") keeps watch his eyes very carefully for security of the staff whole day. Recently he became a weather forecast guy. In March, it often quite accurate especially in the evening. He evacuates to the office before rain or when sun sets.

We thank his prediction as we could take our laundry back into the office before rain.

A Message from a Local Staff

I am thinking of people who suffer from considerable difficulty at the disaster site of Tohoku Earthquake in Japan. As a member of JEN engaging humanitarian assistance, although I am actually not able to go to the disaster site, I would like to pray for people who suffer from water and food shortage and get engaged to control the damaged nuclear power plant despite their risks.

We believe that Japan will overcome this difficult situation and stand up again.

We sincerely pray for Japan that the nuclear power plants will be under control again and peaceful regular life will be back to you.

( Project Officer / Elizabeth)

“？” in Sudan

“What do the local people use instead of toilet roll?”
↓



“What do they use as an iron? (It is surprising　for us.)”
↓



“What do they use for charging mobile phone battery?”
↓



“What do they use for seasoning in the region where it is difficult to get salt?”
↓



These answers will be told at “MOTTAINAI x JEN the First Project Debrief Session- ‘Your Dormant Books Will Be a School! –Sudan’ Anyone can immediately make a contribution to society” which is held today. You will be most welcome to join us!

Please click here for details.

A Hygiene Education with Puppet Play would Start

Water sanitation improvement project provided by JEN prevailed the information related to hygiene issue by using puppet play. Although the puppet play mainly targeted to children at school, the benefit spread not only the schools but also around the community.

Recently, 10 staff at JEN had a puppet play training by 8-day intensive course.  The training was held with corporation by a NGO whose activities are specialized in health and hygiene in Africa.

Making puppets for the play required high skill and knowledge and it is formidable work.  A woman in the community saw when we were chopping a mattress for the material of puppet, and she said that ”You are wasting the mattress. If you could have given the mattress to me, I and my 6 children would not need to sleep directly on the ground…”. It was difficult to explain to gain the understanding that a little cost is needed to produce a big result. The puppets and the puppet play were made through those processes.

　
A rehearsal of the puppet play in Kendira  village at Morobo county was not only to inform people but also great fun. It was hot day, however, many people came to see the play.

JEN thinks that warm heart communication with people is important , and makes an effort to set an environment in which people can obtain new knowledge with opening their heart. The script of the play is simple and the audiences are involved to solve the problem in the play. It must be the most interesting way of learning!
　
Project Officer / Elizabeth

Keystone of JEN’s Support

Referendum for independence of South Sudan was held and the results per area were published without big trouble and deterioration of security which had been concerned.  More than 3.8 millions of people voted and 98% of them supported the independence.  After the legal procedure, the final result will release on Feb 14th.



It was greatly appreciated that the referendum was held peacefully, however, the deterioration of security had also been expected so that JEN had built a system in which local staff had initiative for the supporting operation from last summer. For instance, we delegated the authority to the local staff and they were in charge of most operation including some management.  In addition, international staff recognized the check points for the operation thus they were able to monitor from a distance whether the operation was appropriately carried out.




This time, although the international staff ran and controlled the project from Nairobi in Kenya until the final result was released, the preparation led success of smooth operation by local staff. The delegation of the authority let the local staff have stronger responsibility and work more independently, such as suggesting a practical plan.  We put great confidence on them.

Success in Morobo district

Students of the school which is located far away from central part of  Morobo  have problems in securing safe drinkable water.
Morobo district belongs to Green Belt of Central Equatoria State
and is relatively rich in green and water in South Sudan. However, there are many cases that undrinkable lake water is used for drinking in communities.

Richard Modi and his brother go to school always with little 1-2 liter water bottle. When they share this water with their friends, they have to draw new water from water source, which is far from their school and is not safe enough to drink.
Because of this undrinkable water, Richard’s young brother often get sick or have diarrhea.

JEN has been improving the access to safe drinkable water for children in Morobo district from 2009 supported by Japan Platform, supporters like you and people in communities.
We had already bored thirteen wells in elementary schools in Molobo  and we are now digging two more wells.

John Moro said, ‘Our life got better thanks to the wells. Before wells had been bored, we needed to spend almost all day to obtain drinkable water. ’




People in Dudulabe community also feel glad because the new well had bored few days ago. Darios Mawa, who is bringing up six children, told ‘The things what JEN did for our community is satisfactory enough for us. Not only the well was founded, we are also participating in the training of wells management. Now we don’t have to worry about ensuring drinkable water and also about accidents of the well because we had acquired the technique of repairing it.’

The wells repairing training offers chances for people in communities to think about the value to work cooperating each other, as well as technical knowledge of wells management.

(project officer/ Elizabeth)

National Election 2011

2011, this year, would be historically important year for Sudan. There were 2 large-scale wars since Sudan had been independent from the United Kingdom (Egypt)  in 1956. During the wars, it is said that there were 2millions of dead and injured, and over 4 millions of internally displaced persons who evacuated from damage of the conflicts. Moreover, there were refugees who had evacuee life outside Sudan.
 

In 2005, politicians of Southern and Northern Sudan reached a peace agreement which mentioned that they would have national election to decide whether Southern Sudan would belong to the North or been independent.

Southern Sudan started a national election from January 9th.  If the turnout rate is more than 60% and separatist and independent obtain more than half of votes, Southern Sudan will be independent. People in Southern Sudan were highly motivated for the election as they legally got an opportunity for their independence which they had been seeking for.   

Whichever Southern Sudan is independent, or belongs to Northern Sudan, there are large number of issues to solve for both governments. They have to solve important issues such as oil resource related issue and border of North and South related issue etc.

JEN will continuously supply  the supports which let people in Southern Sudan be self-reliant with more long-tern purview in 2011.

Year 2011; New Era for the people of Sudan

Year 2011 would be historically important year for Sudan.

There were 2 large-scale wars since Sudan had been independent from the United Kingdom (Egypt) in 1956. During the wars, it is said that there were 2millions of dead and injured, and over 4 millions of internally displaced persons who evacuated from damage of the conflicts. Moreover, there were refugees who had fled outside Sudan.
 
In 2005, politicians of Southern and Northern Sudan reached a peace agreement which mentioned that they would have national election to decide whether Southern Sudan would belong to the North or been independent.

Southern Sudan started a national election from January 9th.  If the turnout rate is more than 60% and separatist and independent obtain more than half of votes, Southern Sudan will be independent. People in Southern Sudan were highly motivated for the election as they legally got an opportunity for their independence which they had been seeking for.   

Whichever Southern Sudan is independent, or belongs to Northern Sudan, there are large number of issues to solve for both governments. They have to solve important issues such as oil resource related issue and border of North and South related issue etc.

JEN will continuously implement the support which let people in Southern Sudan be self-reliant with more long-tern purview in 2011.

Working with the Community … It is Tough

I was afraid of water and I could not swim at all. However, I became able to cross River Nile by canoe when I went to an island near Juba to conduct a survey for a project needs.

Firstly, I got on the canoe, which was only one mean of transportation for the island, by using all my courage to check living environment of people in that island.  I saw that children are swimming in the river and my fear was gradually increasing. After 10 minutes, I finally calmed down and enjoyed the guide by the boatman.

Apparently, there is no “toilet” in Gondokoro Island at all! In spite of the fact that it was only 2 km away from Juba which was a capital city of Southern Sudan, this big island had been isolated because there was no bridge to that island and it was not able to take supply to that island.

I was told that the island was used as a hub for slave and ivory trade for Arabian invaders. Children in the island told me about a rich British couple who move into that place in 1940s. The children enjoyed having local mangos while they were talking.  That was true that that island was perfect to live.

Most people who settled in the island were engaged to agriculture or grazing. The food harvested in that island was counted on food supply of big city Juba. The livestock they had was used as marriage gift from gloom’s family to bride’s family.

Although I fought to fear of water and arrived to the island in the end, we were not allowed to have a discussion with community members and take pictures since it was in the middle of election campaign for local referendum.

That is all for the news flash this time.

Working with the Community

I was afraid of water and I could not swim at all. However, I became able to cross River Nile by canoe when I went to an island near Juba to conduct a survey for a project needs.

　 Firstly, I got on the canoe, which was only one mean of transportation for the island, by using all my courage to check living environment of people in that island.  I saw that children are swimming in the river and my fear was gradually increasing. After 10 minutes, I finally calmed down and enjoyed the guide by the boatman.

Apparently, there is no proper “toilet” in Gondokoro Island at all! In spite of the fact that it was only 2 km away from Juba which was a capital city of Southern Sudan, this big island had been isolated because there was no bridge to that island and it was not able to take supply to that island.

I was told that the island was used as a hub for slave and ivory trade for Arabian invaders. Children in the island told me about a rich British couple who move into that place in 1940s. The children enjoyed having local mangoes while they were talking.  That was true that that island was perfect to live.

Most people who settled in the island were engaged to agriculture or grazing. The food harvested in that island was counted on food supply of big city Juba. The livestock they had was used as marriage gift from gloom’s family to bride’s family.

Although I fought to fear of water and arrived to the island in the end, we were not allowed to have a discussion with community members and take pictures since it was in the middle of election campaign for local referendum.

That is all for the news flash this time.

A Magic Tree in Sudan

When I saw the tree was on the way to a project site in Morobo county, from Juba. That area was covered by trees of the woods like other areas of southern Sudan. However, the tree was far taller than others in the area so that I wondered why only this tree grew like this.  That was Mahogany. Mahogany was highly prized as timber but there were no Mahogany tree around.

After a while, I passed that road again and asked a local staff about that tree. The local staff told me surprising story.

This tree was old and perfectly suitable for timber therefore some people had ever tried to cut down the tree and never succeeded. Some people tried to cut it down by using heavy machinery. The tree fell, however, it stood there next day as if nothing had happened.

Do you believe this? It was completely unbelievable story for me. Might it have magic power? Tree of Buddha in Sudan…. “Banyan Tree” in Asia and “Baobab” in Africa, especially in Madagascar, are famous for that kind of story. I wish someone could find the truth about it….

A Magic Tree in Sudan

When I saw the tree, on the way to a project site in Morobo county, from Juba. That area was covered by trees of the woods like other areas of southern Sudan. However, the tree was far taller than others in the area so that I wondered why only this tree grew like this.  That was Mahogany. Mahogany was highly prized as timber but there were no Mahogany tree around.

After a while, I passed that road again and asked a local staff about that tree. The local staff told me surprising story.

This tree was old and perfectly suitable for timber therefore some people had ever tried to cut down the tree and never succeeded. Some people tried to cut it down by using heavy machinery. The tree fell, however, it stood there next day as if nothing had happened.

Do you believe this? It was completely unbelievable story for me. Might it have magic power? Tree of Buddha in Sudan…. “Banyan Tree” in Asia and “Baobab” in Africa, especially in Madagascar, are famous for that kind of story. I wish someone could find the truth about it….

A Big Achievement of Hygiene Education Workshop

　We visited the project site in Kajo Keji county with members of JPF, who came for visitation of JEN’s water sanitation improvement in Southern Sudan. We could confirm the big achievement of the hygiene education workshop for teachers, which was previously picked up in this section, through this visit.

　In the workshop, the teachers made an action plan in which they would provide the education to the student s in their school. Surprisingly, the action plan has been implemented in many schools! In one school, hand washing facility has been installed in front of the toilets with the initiative of the teacher who participated in the workshop. We could see the children are washing their hand after using the toilet there. In another school, message plates about hygiene and health were installed. JEN’s role is to provide a chance to make a positive change. We are so glad that we have successfully played the id eal role.

　In Morobo county, installation of the latrines and excavation of wells are steadily in progress. The site which has quickest progress is in the stage of water amount test. It will be informed in near future.

Head of Office in Juba/ Michi Yamanakajima

Achievement of Hygiene Education Workshop

We visited one of the project sites in Kajo Keji county with members of JPF (Japan Platform), who came for view JEN’s project in Southern Sudan. We could confirm the big achievement of the hygiene education workshop for teachers, which was previously picked up in this section, through this visit.

In the workshop, the teachers made an action plan in which they would provide the education to the students in their school. Surprisingly, the action plan has been implemented in many schools! In one school, hand washing facility has been installed in front of the toilets with the initiative of the teacher who participated in the workshop. We could see the children are washing their hand after using the toilet there. In another school, message plates about hygiene and health were installed. JEN’s role is to provide a chance to make a positive change. We are so glad that we have successfully played the ideal role.

In Morobo county, installation of the latrines and excavation of wells are steadily in progress. The site which has quickest progress is in the stage of water amount test. It will be informed in near future.

Head of Office in Juba/ Michi Yamanakajima

Once Nervous, Now Happy. A tale of Teacher

We conducted the monitoring visit of hygiene education at Kajo Keji county. JEN uses an interactual method called PHAST for hygiene education. JEN's support is carefully organized to let the participants, children at the primary schools, notice the problems related to hygiene, find the solutions and take actions for these.

In addition, JEN has been providing some trainings which enable the teachers to provide hygiene education to new students after JEN completes the project at that school. 25 teachers from 22 primary schools took part in the training held at Kajo Keji county.

This was the first time for the teachers to participate in this kind of training so that they seemed slightly nervous. However, they started to be familiar each other through the group works and exchanged ideas in a enthusiastic way. The photos show the work for the technique used for telling the actions related to hygiene issues happened in the communities near the schools by picture. A plenty of unique pictures were showed at the time. After the classroom lecture for 3 days, they visited the community to have some practical training.  In the end, the teachers returned to their schools with confidence after they completed the training.

We can imagine how the teachers provide hygiene education to children next year after JEN complete the project.

Michi Yamanakajima, Head of Office at Juba

Children Plant Trees

In Sudan, very few schools have cleaners or caretakers. Instead, the children themselves must keep the school tidy.

They cut the grass to drive away snakes and mosquitoes, sweep the classrooms, and even clean the toilets. However, last week JEN came up with a slightly more interesting way to make over the schools that JEN has nearly finished constructing: to plant trees. Each child was given a seedling that they themselves could plant in the school garden. There are eight different kinds of trees to choose from and 120 were planted at each school.
The idea is to have each pupil keep a pet tree to look after and watch it grow. Every year as they prepare for exams, they can look out of the classroom window and see their own personal trees enjoying the sunshine and growing taller every month. Perhaps one day they will be able to sit with their friends in the shade of their tree during lunch break. If they are really lucky, in a couple of years they might even be able to feast on mangos from their own trees!

Nonetheless, as people struggle to cultivate a  peaceful future, there are many reminders of the difficult history that the previous generations have endured. At one school, as we dug a hole to plant a mahogany seedling, we unearthed an empty AK-47 magazine.　
Philip, Project Officer
In cooperation with the UNHCR, JEN  is constructing three elementary schools in Juba.

When Action Speaks More Than Words

On the 29th of June 2010, I visited the Bright Unity School in Kajo Keji County, Kajo Keji town, where we conduct hygiene education. It is a co-ed school, and is the largest school in the county with over 1,000 students. The campus has both brick buildings and the traditional mud houses called Tukul.
Thanks to all of our supporters and Japan Platform, JEN is conducting hygiene education and constructing wells and toilets at schools in the Kajo Keiji and Morobo Counties. We have been working in the Kajo Keiij County since 2008, and JEN is very well-known among the locals there. When we visited the Bright Unity School, children there warmly welcomed us, knowing that we are from JEN. It was a living proof of JEN’s success in the community.

Haileselasse, Program Officer

KAP survey has started!

Thanks to all of your support and Japan Platform, the School Water Sanitation Project is ongoing as planned.

In this project, we construct latrines and wells at schools, establish school committees for their maintenance and management, and provide training with regard to these facilities’ maintenance and management.

Furthermore, we are providing hygiene education at a total of 51 schools. At this moment, we are conducting a KAP survey, in which we conduct a pre-education survey on children’s level of hygiene knowledge(Knowledge), their attitude toward changing their behaviour (Attitude) and their behaviour practice (Practice).

Based on this survey, we are trying to make the hygiene education as thorough as possible.

The Life in Morobo is Keep Changing

I met Ms. Betty Ayozo pumping water from the new well at Onbatikiriko primary school. Mrs Betty is 23 years old and she has 2 children. She had to walk more than 1 kilometer to pumping water.

This is the only place where people can obtain safe water. Sometimes there is long queue and people have to wait more than one hour. She used to use river water for cooking and the food was stained by the water　at that time.

The family using the well at school has to pay 1 pound per month per family to Well maintenance committee. The well is placed in the school site therefore the students at the school have a priority for use of the well. However, people have a recognition that the maintenance of the well need to be managed by society.

Challenges in School Construction

Studying in a Sudanese school is often not easy. There are no quiet libraries. Instead, 50 students share a noisy mud hut. Other less fortunate pupils have trees as their roof. On rainy days, school is cancelled; otherwise, children and their textbooks will get soaked!

That is why schools that JEN is constructing will be so helpful. Each class can have its own room, and students can finish their homework at more peaceful and dry places.

  However, while Sudan is not an easy place to be a student, it is also not an easy place to carry out construction. Problems like violence during election times, tribal conflicts, and flash flooding are obviously serious issues. But sometimes challenges are less formidable. This week, we had to make sure someone was guarding our construction sites even during the night – not because of the threat of thieves, but to protect against roaming goats that like to walk on freshly paved cement, leaving their footprints on it and spoiling our progress!

  Not only is it difficult to go to school in Sudan, it is also difficult to construct one.

Unexpected Intruder

It is not easy to learn in school quietly in Sudan.

Needless to say, there is no quiet library, and the noisy huts with mud wall are packed by 50 students. Unfortunate students have to study under the tree. It is the open air school. When it is rain, the school will be closed otherwise the students and the text books will get soaked!!

In this situation, the schools currently being constructed must be very useful. All classes are able to have own classrooms, and the students will be able to some homework in the rooms without getting soaked.

The school construction is prevented by not only some big issues such as the troubles caused by the election, the conflict between the nationality and the flood. We had to watch the schools all day this week. It was not for guarding from burglars. It was for protecting the schools from the goats which had spoiled our work by walking on the unfixed cement and making their foot prints on it!!

In Sudan, it is difficult to go to schools, but it is difficult to construct schools itself, too.

Water Sanitation assistance in Morobo county has been successful!!

JEN’s water sanitation programme for schools brought some changes to people’s life in Morobo county, remote area.

A person who lives in Ryokapoto said ”Well equipped hygiene facility and safe drinking water brought us fantastic development.” Ryokapoto is a local town in Morobo county.

Alhaji, a chief of water department in Morobo county, said "This is absolutely fantastic for people in Morobo. We did not expect that we achieved such a many things in one year".

By stocking rainwater from roofs, 1000 children learning in 6 schools in Morobo county became able to use lavatories.

Wani, a chef of Ryokapoto said “We had not used these kind of facilities before. We did not know JEN, neither. It has been a year since JEN started the projects here, there are many changes. We cannot talk about these changes without  JEN”

Changing Seasons

In Japan, most people recognize four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.
In Sudan, however, there seems to be some extra ones. For example, last month was the ‘election season,’ which has now passed and given way to the ‘rainy season’. Occasional bursts of torrential rain have benefits as well as disadvantages. Their main perks include cooler temperature (down from 48 degrees Celsius in February), which allows us now to sleep at night, and pretty clouds, which give way to beautiful sunsets. The downside includes roads being inundated, suddenly burgeoning mosquitoes, and disruption of work.

For example, some of the local people who were helping to construct primary schools in the Juba County literally had their work washed away. When I found out about their problem, I tried to visit them to see it in person only to find myself stuck because the bridge on the way had also been destroyed in the deluge.

It was not a typhoon but still another unexpected challenge to overcome. Bring on the ‘dry season’!

Now I Feel More Secure

JEN’s Sudan Office and Residence are in the same compound. A Tukul was constructed in the compound to serve as a store. A Tukul is a hut made with mud bricks and roofs covered with hay leaves.

The Tukul

It’s more or less better than the rest for the room is cooler, except for one problem; security-wise it is not recommendable. It can be easily attacked but thank God nothing has happened yet.

After a long discussion with the JEN Headquarters, we now reached a decision that I deem was wise; a permanent construction of two rooms that are connected to the old building is ongoing. Thank you to all who were involved in making this decision!

Election in Sudan

From April 11th to 15th, an election was held in Sudan.

It was a historic first in the last two decades, during which election could not have been held due to war. As a result, many people voted for the first time in their lives at this occasion. As part of the election campaign, candidates’ posters were posted on walls, while election bags, T-shirts, and skirts were distributed free of charge. Children received free T-shirts for not being able to vote.

On the day of election, the community where JEN is constructing a primary school was used as a polling station, and the chief of the community proctored the election process. Since the school was still under construction, voting was held under a tree. For the next election, however, we hope that the school could be used as their voting site.

It is amazing that schools can become a community center.

Water Hygiene Education ~Puppet Show~

JEN is constructing wells and toilet facilities in schools, and conduct hygiene education for school children to prevent water-born diseases, all in line with the aim to improve the water hygiene environment of the Sudanese repatriates in South Sudan. This time, we will take the opportunity to explain our hygiene education program.

In Japan and other so-called developed countries, we understand why washing hands after using the bathroom is important. It is now a normal custom for anyone to wash their hands. However, this does not apply to the Sudanese repatriate children, who have never received proper hygiene education. We start from zero- first we explain why we must use toilet facilities.

When we explain hygiene, sometimes the effect is not maximized by just talking and explaining. In Kajo-keji County, JEN is carrying out Hygiene Education in primary schools, where we use different tools to pass on the Hygiene massage to young school children. Puppetry is one of the tools that JEN Sudan has being using since 2007.

What is so special about a “puppet show”?
-It is the puppets (third person) playing the role.
-And thus the children can observe the play rather objectively.

If it were real people who did a play, it bears the risk of being too realistic. It is better to have puppets convey the message, so that the audience – young children – can take in the message easily. They reflect on their daily lives, they see themselves with the puppets.

The school children watch the puppet show with great attention. Speaking to one of the pupils in the school after the show, she said “I am going to tell mommy what I watched”. We sincerely hope that the knowledge spreads, from mouth to mouth, and in the end improve the sanitation of the whole community.

Community’s Real Strength

One of JEN’s principles is “assistance to assist, not assistance to provide”. What is important in order to realize this principle is the ‘process’ by which we communicate with the local people. Today, we would like to share with you an episode from last December during reparation of agro wells.

Reparation of wells is one of the most prioritized issues in the water hygiene sector of South Sudan. In particular, it is of utmost importance for the communities themselves to learn and acquire the skills to repair the agro wells themselves.

The community that JEN was assisting in building schools originally had 4 wells, of which 3 were already broken. JEN had a meeting with the people from the community about these broken wells. It seems that the community had somewhat expected that JEN would repair the wells for them.

However, JEN’s mission is not only to assist people, but to ensure that they can learn to look after themselves in a sustainable way. JEN asked the community how they intended to cover the cost of the necessary reparations. This was something that they had not thought about. In appreciation of JEN they managed to raise enough money for half of the cost, so JEN provided the balance. Even though this was a new attempt for the people, they bought the idea.

It is this decision, “we can repair the wells ourselves, in fact it is us who has the responsibility in repairing our wells” that marks self-reliance. It is not the details- taking on half of the expenses etc- but it is the fact that they can deal with the problem independently.

So following the successful reparation of the boreholes, the whole community had a big meeting and decided to start a borehole management fund. From now on, the community members will contribute a small amount of money every week to the treasurer who will keep it for use in case where maintenance is required.

The Footstep of my Father and my Uncle (Part 2)

People in Eritrea nowadays are surviving with the financial remittance from relatives in the Diaspora. Like the rest, I also shared my small income with my relatives and finally, since it was not enough, I asked my brother (third follower), 48, to come all the way over to Juba. He accepted it, risked himself to cross the border illegally, but thanks God; he was safe and is now employed by one of the biggest hotels of Juba. Now the whole Meles family is able to live much better economically than ever, putting behind the curtains, how difficult it is to live in different countries, especially when one is not able to visit his/her country, because of illegal immigration.

My brother, Berhane, in Star Hotel, Juba

Now, this reminds me the way my father and his brother (my uncle) migrated to Ethiopia. They were suffering of severe poverty at home. The only good asset they had, which their villagers still witness was strong love and cooperation of each other. But because of the poverty my father went to Ethiopia; started helping both families; but was very difficult for him and finally he found it better to call his brother and both families all over to Ethiopia where they lived conveniently for more than 40 years until they were deported after the independence of Eritrea.

So far, as far is my father’s and his brother’s history is concerned, I can say history is repeating itself but I hope and pray the repatriation to be sooner and with our own consent.

The Footstep of my Father and my Uncle (Part 1)

We would like to introduce one of the JEN Sudan staff two two-report series. He is Mr. Haileselasse Meles, an administrative assistant in JEN Sudan’s Juba Office.

“I had no dreams at all that neither my relatives nor I will go out elsewhere than my country, Eritrea, especially at this retiring age. After all, all of us were living in Ethiopia until the independence of my country. By the way, all of us are civil servants and hence are working for different companies and organizations.
Me, after having worked for different private and governmental organizations, fortunately I joined JEN in 2002, in Eritrea. But following its withdrawal in 2006, since the employment opportunity was so low, I had to apply to work in JEN Sudan and thanks to the management; the response was prompt and positive.
To the surprise of the reader, I had no passport until then and I was asked to report in Juba in less than a fortnight.  But to my satisfaction, I acquired the passport and the visa and reported in Juba within the deadline.

Some part of Meles Family
My stay in Juba working for JEN was really a pleasure not only to my family and me but also to my close relatives.”
(To be continued in the next report…)

A trip to Terekeka…

A recent assessment mission took me to one of the most underserved areas of Central Equatoria named Terekeka.

Terekeka is mainly predominated by nomadic communities whose main source of livelihood is cattle keeping.  JEN has implemented a school water and sanitation program in this area in the past.  It was very interesting to carry out our assessment in one of the hot spots in Sudan after reassurance about the now existing peace and security in the area.

There were lots of interesting things going on in Terekeka: fishing, marriage ceremonies (by the way you need at least 50 cows to announce that you want to get married to a girl.)

Aside from all these interesting phenomena and the fact that the town lies just beside the Nile River, I was thrilled to see women walking along carrying what appeared to be hand bags…

Picture 1: a newly married gal attending MCH clinics in Terekeka PHCC

Take a closer look at this picture…Looks like a girl carrying a handbag! But look closer…perhaps you missed it.  Yes there is a baby in it!
In this part of the Southern Sudan babies are carried in hides and skins of goats…very innovative!

A Happy New Year!

JEN is going to keep working on our project sincerely and carefully, assisted by warm support by all supporters.

How was the last year for you?

People in Southern Sudan suffered from many problems. Conflict in opinions between the South and the North Government caused further antagonism concerning the result of the national census. Even in the South, many armed conflicts occurred between tribes and fought over domestic animals. In addition, unsteady governmental situation of the neighboring country made the lives of returnees even worse.

The first general election will be held in April this year, which is very important for the referendum to be held in 2011. JEN will try its best to prevent further confusions and to assist many people to lead peaceful lives.

Cutting one’s hair means….

With the support from Japan Platform and all supporters, JEN has been assisting the hygiene education to school children in Southern Sudan.  Here is a story about a child who has received the hygiene education.

“I did not understand why my parents were eager to cut my hair” told Robani Dada, a 14-year-old boy. “I misunderstood that my parents try to do something with bad intentions, but now I understand the reason.  It is not hygienic at all to leave my hair uncut and long, as it might breed worms and dirty.”

Thanks to the hygienic education offered by JEN, children have learned the meaning of cleanliness, such as cleaning a house, cutting one’s nail, washing one’s clothes….
　

My Reflective Experience since October 2009

The past two months of working with JEN has been an extremely enriching experience for me as well as a reflective account of my recent work experience in South Sudan.  I could not help but marvel at the huge difference of culture and environment among the Sudanese people.  Having lived and worked previously in Wau/Raga Western Bahr El Ghazal, it was the use of Arabic that stunned(?) me.

Communities in Central Equatoria rarely speak Arabic, instead preferring to use local language ( mainly Bari)  or English. Surprising for me equally was the fact that everyone seemed to understand and  speak English, which makes communication a lot easier.

This is also reflected in the quality of JEN’s activities on ground. During one of my field visits, I came across young girls fetching water at a water point in a school (installed by JEN but serving about 700 households in 4 nearby villages) cleaning their Jerry cans with sand.  They did it so vigorously as though in competition I was prompted to ask them why.  They told me that this was meant to ensure that water was not contaminated and that it reached home in the same safe condition as it was when collected at the borehole.  They said they learnt all this from JEN’s hygiene education programmes.

Field work and especially movement from one place to another can be complex, tiring, and stressful, but by realizing the impact our projects are having on ground, it becomes motivating, challenging, and renews my energies to want to do more.

Working with  Japanese people for the first time has equally made me adopt the culture of hard work hence I am slowly but surely becoming a Japanese!

A former mine-detector dog at work

Let me introduce a dog, who used to detect and remove mines, as a member in the JEN Sudan office. This dog  has shown her remarkable capability as a guard.

Her name is Kim, a former mine detector, and used to belongin an American company named "RONKO" in the mine detecting business. .  She was probably born in Europe (perhaps Belgium), and chosen as a mine-detector dog, thanks  to her intelligence and amiable nature. She underwent a special training for 2 years and was brought, together with other mine-detector dogs, to Africa, several thousands miles away from her home country.

Food supply to Kim offered by "RONKO" is lessening recently, but she still works very hard for JEN, both as a guard and as a moodmakerto cheer up JEN members. In addition, it seems that she doesn't confine her job to a guard only recently.  We can see her work at a desk, as shown in the picture.

At present, 4 people including the local staffs, live and work in the office both day and night.  Office staffs have to keep mental stability to achieve hard work every day, under circumstances where security is not fully assured.  Therefore, Kim's role to cheer up staff members is indeed very important.

Unusual excuse to avoid a meeting

Hello everyone. My name is Philip and I have just transferred to the JEN office in Juba from London England.

One of my first assignments was to visit our school building project sites and meet with the local community leaders. As JEN is working hard to make sure our projects will benefit local people for a long time, it is very important to make sure that they are involved in all decisions and participate as much as possible so that they feel the school really belongs to them. But for me, this means lots of meetings.

In Sudan, we must expect the unexpected to happen. So when I arrived at the village for the arranged meeting, I was not completely surprised when some of the people were absent from the meeting. However, when they told me that the reason was because they had gone to battle my mouth must have been wide open in astonishment! In fact, they had simply gone to protect the area where their land borders another community, as there had been some disagreements between young people from the neighbouring district. I am pleased to say that nobody was hurt. However, when I had arranged the meeting, I had not expected to see bows and arrows. Indeed, it was the most unusual reason for cancelling a meeting that I have experienced so far.

At least our job here is Juba is never boring.

New Members at Juba Office

JEN has been centering its activity on the main projects, water sanitation project and education project.  In developing these projects, the role assumed by local staffs is indispensably important.  It is very difficult for a very few Japanese staffs to accomplish such big projects solely by themselves.

Recently, JEN received new members coming from various countries.  Elizabeth from Kenya, is now in charge of Water Sanitation project.  She has had a long-term experiences of working for NGOs, and has been a specialist in the field of hygiene education.  Another new comer is Philip from the United Kingdom, and is now in charge of Education project.  He also has rich experiences of working in various areas of the world.

JEN office members, reinforced by new reliable members. will continue to do our best to carry out our the projects fruitfully.

Five days before leaving office

  Sudan's bitter, 22-year long civil war ended in 2005. Many people returned home from both domestic and overseas areas, and have started restoring and rebuilding their old lives.

  JEN has developed the support activity in Lainya, where intensive battles between the Governmental force and SPLA(Sudan People Liberation Army)were fought. The SPLA  also had its strategic base here, and most of the streets and town areas were turned to battlefields. Many had to evacuate the town, so as not to be involved in the war.

  Since 2007, JEN has supported returnees to restore thier lives.  The number of people in Lainya district has increased over these two years, and many newly opended shops can be seen all over the town. An improved distribution system has brought about increase in commodities in the market.

  In addition, conditions on the streets has gradually improved, as well as hinterlands have being cultivated for agricultural use.  Many tucles (houses made out of local materials) have been built on areas where there were no houses.

  I have had a very satisfying but challenging experience, working with local staff and people through sharing the thoughts and working with them for these two years since I  took charge of the progmamme.  Now I have only five days left before leaving the office, and it feels very odd when I think about my time here, and that I will never again see any of the places, roads and faces that I have come to know so well.
(By Ayako Wakano, Juba Office Programme Office)

A Night in Africa

JEN has been providing school children with hygiene education by visiting some schools in Morobo, located in the border region of, Southern Sudan.

Morobo is full of nature, and people in this region have lived simple and peaceful lives for many years. They use sanitary facilities comprising of various grasses and reeds, as well as drinking the river water.  Locals claim it is safe to do so and does not taste too bad! If outsiders were to drink　it everyday however, they might suffer from a stomachache problems!

Here, time seems to pass as gently and slowly as the Stream of Nile River.  It contrasts strikingly with energy and movement shown of the Sudanese people!

At night, the sky is so clear that it is lit up by the stars. You can see The Milky Way as if it were a cloud floating in the sky.  In the middle of the night during summer, summer star, the Scorpion clear, and at dawn, the winter star, the Orion and the Cassiopeia are very visible.

The beauty of nature is not something to be taken for granted、 ,　and　JEN feels　that　it　is　an　important　part　of　its　mission　to　educate　those　it　has　access　to　about　the　virtues of respecting and protecting nature.

JEN’s Secret Mission

JEN has assisted returnees that after the 20-year-long exile throughout the civil war.

Participants of the project and local staff have worked for returnees from the neighboring countries and other parts in Sudan.  Persevering efforts made by the local staff is essential to the eventual success of the project.  All staff have worked very hard, and especially Mr. Haire, who has been working in the area with JEN since the Eritrea days, and a truly inspiring leader.

The number of people who flee the strife in Eritrea has increased.  Here in Juba, we meet many people who are from Eritrea. There are restaurants that serve injura, the main staple of Eritrean people.

JEN employed an Eritrean as manager of the School Construction Project.  The artisan, who will turn sixty very soon, spreads his knowledge and skill to young workmen in Sudan.

In fact, this workmanship provided by people from Eritrea is the main part of the Project. Thus, the secret mission of JEN Sudan is to contribute to the development of Southern Sudan, through integrating capacity and knowledge available in Sudan.

Various Types of "Witch Doctor"

This is a story I heard in an elementary school in Central Equatoria, Southern Sudan. As part of hygiene education introduction, students of upper grades worked on research and mapping of their neighborhood. Through the work with the students, I learned, interestingly enough, that in the neighborhood there were people called "Witch Doctors", who are said to cure a sick person with the local medicinal herbs.

All 20 elementary schools that have received JEN's support are located far away from the main roads, and we must drive very bad conditions to get to those schools.  It is almost impossible for people living in those school neighborhoods to go to public clinics and to buy necessary medicine in case of sickness. Given such a situation, generally people take medicinal herbs, and "Witch Doctors" are believed to be professionals in prescribing medicinal herbs.

According to the local JEN staffs, it is said that those "Witch Doctors" can also fix fights between husbands and wives by using the herbs, that they pick up some special herbs to stop the flirtation of a lecherous husband.  Therefore, some think that those "Witch Doctors" as trustless, weird, and they even disregard such people who depend on "Witch Doctors" for remedy.  A driver working for JEN told that he would divorce his wife if she saw a "Witch Doctor".

It was interesting to know that there is a big difference in impression people hold toward "Witch Doctors".

Hardship of Field Work

  I have been in charge of the Admin and finance in Juba office.  In July, I had a chance to visit Kashokeji district, where JEN has been working for and with the local people. I left for the district with the following purposes and anticipationsin my mind:to see hygiene education promoters, who were recently employed, to take part in the preliminary research for the hygiene education in school, andto visit the region near the Ugandan border

  On the very day of departure, however, many unexpected accidents occurred, such as the necessity to arrange the substitute car and the accommodation on the way, because the car got out of order in bad road conditions. Early departure on the next morning enabled me to get to Kashokeji at noon.  After an exhausting trip, it was a great pleasure to see the hygiene education promoters, who seemed so happy to offer hygiene education to school children.

  (picture: A road to Kashokeji, looks like just a grassy plain,    Taken from the car,  July 2009)

  This trip turned out to be a good opportunity to know the hardship of field work. I will keep supporting the local staff working in the field, and will work hard in Juba office so that JEN can give effective support to people in Sudan to improve their lives.

Dance And Frog

  Assisted by supporters and Japan Platform since April 2009, JEN has continued with hygiene education at elementary schools in Morobo district and Kashokeji district, located in Central Equatoria State. Let me show what children can learn through the education.

  As a first step to introduce the hygiene education, children were encouraged to find problems in their daily lives that relate to hygiene education.  For students in 4th grade to 6th grade, they were asked to draw any one scene in his or her daily life. Then, they talked about their drawings, and made a story with 4 drawings.

  The purpose of this work was to let children find the problems concerning water hygiene in their lives. But drawings and stories, written by the children, were full of fresh new ideas, not influenced by the hygiene problems.

  For example, some students drew frogs as main characters in the daily life, and others drew scenes like " catching bees" and " cutting trees ". These are scenes that children feel the most familiar in their daily lives.

  When asked "What do you think is the problem in your everyday life?", a student answered "dance". His reason was that he thought "dance" was closely related to drinking alcohol.

  Though this kind of answers seem at the first place irrelevant to the concerned question, it shows that children think about problems in their daily life very seriously. It was actually a great relief that there were less model answers of hygiene education.

Bacteria Are Spread By Flies....

  Assisted by supporters and the NGO Japan Platform, JEN has continued, since April 2009, hygiene education at elementary schools in both Morobo district and Kashokeji district, located in Central Equatoria State.  At present, we are carrying out preliminary research checking the "hygiene  level" of children and clarifying the reasons why children are reluctant to follow hygienic rules.

  The research results showed that children have their own idea of hygiene manners. For example, some children, who have no toilets in their house believe that "they will not be sick if they leave faeces in the bushland"  This idea might be a combination of things taught by adults and the knowledge that Bacteria is scattered by flies, which they have learned in school.

  Concerning how to relieve diarrhea, the local people have their own beliefs. Diarrhea is very dangerous for them, especially for children, as it might sometimes cause dehydration.  It is said that a patient, in case of emergency, should take water which has similar ingredients to body water. The water is a mixture of a certain quantity of water, sugar and salt.  But some people think that water would not relieve diarrhea. Others think they should add coffee, soil, and mud to the water mix.

  The purpose of JEN projects is not to teach the local children the right knowledge and rules of public hygiene, and to make them follow the rules. Rather, JEN aims to let the children identify problems facing them and solve and analyze those problems independently by themselves.

Solving problems using local materials and methods

  In southern Sudan, we can find a tree named “Neem” everywhere.  A tea made from its leaves is believed to help cure all kinds of diseases because it helps boost the immune system.  It is said that the tea works especially as a prevention and cure for Maｌaｒia which many people in Sudan have often suffered.

  It is said that diseases breed more easily in the rainy season.  Therefore we asked local staff to bring Neem leaves and make tea from it. We took a sip, it was much bitterer than we imagined.  It is no exaggeration to say that the taste was the bitterest we have ever tasted!  When we took one more sip, the strong taste was spread in our mouth again and we feel like needed something sweet immediately.  We thought that the Japanese saying “ a bitter pill has the best effects” truly describes this.  Local people drink this with sugar or honey as it is too bitter.

  Since we know Neem can be easily obtained, we have regularly kept Neem tea in our fridge.  When we feel under the weather we drink Neem tea.  We look after our health following JEN’s policy of solving problems using local materials and methods.

Feces on my face

   JEN organized a ground-breaking ceremony at Somba Primary School on June 10th where we have been assisting their school building construction.

  The construction had started before that day, but people from the Bari tribe, who were among the indigenous ethnic groups in Southern Sudan, suggested JEN to organize a traditional ceremony as something special for the construction workers. Local tribe chiefs, staff from the Education Ministry of the Government of Southern Sudan, and a representative from UNHCR, which is JEN’s partner in the project, all joined the ceremony. 

  The ceremony was held to make awareness how to ensure the safety of the construction workers and the health of the people involved, and it involves animal sacrifice. JEN contributed one goat, corn powder, cooking oil, salt, tomatoes, and a barrel  of locally brewed alcohol as the Bari people are well-known as heavy drinkers!

  Soon after being handed over the goat and other food stuff, the local chief inaugurated the ceremony by offering the animal in sacrifice. He took all the blood from its neck and seeped it into the ground. He also took its feces and urine, add cooking oil onto them and mixed them before placing them on the school building site. Local women kept shouting loudly throughout the ceremony, so as every creature on the ground could hear.   

  Later the tribe chief stopped in front of me, and uttered an incantation. I closed my eyes to listen to it. I opened my eyes when I felt something warm put on my face to find he was putting the sacred feces and urine on me! 

  A government officer told me that the feces on my face would guarantee my safety and good health. Would this animal poo bring me luck? I must admit I was in shock, I was out of my mind while attendants gave their speeches. All I could remember was the unusual smell!.

  It was such an unexpected experience that I was totally at a loss. Gradually, I became happy that my good health was now guaranteed.

Local Residents and Supporters Meet

Ms. Kazuyo Katsuma, a member of “Chabo!” writers group together with the JEN’s Bord members, visited the project sites. For the people in the field, it was their first time to see so many Japanese people at once. Children greeted them with songs of welcome, and enthusiastic messages were delivered from the teachers to Ms. Katsuma and her party.

Roads to the sites are in bad condition and its location is where the assistance is difficult to reach. The local people were able to feel the warm support from Japan more directly by this visit of these Japanese supporters.

Ms. Katsuma’s message of “Let’s plan what to do together ”, hopefully became a  symbol of the first step supporting the peoples’ self-reliance.

Elsewhere, “Else-wise”

Hello everyone.  I am Emi Yamada  and I have just transferred to Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan, after working　for JEN in Pakistan.

In Pakistan, I used to wrap a scarf called the “dupatta” around my head, according to Islamic customs. I thought that in Juba I would be able to dress as I pleased, but the other day, there was an incident where a young woman wearing trousers was arrested. It turns out women living in Juba should wear long skirts . I guess I must give up fashion until I am back in Japan.

Living overseas, during work, what is always  in my mind is  the importance of showing respect to that country’s culture. It is important to readily accept different things and to try to understand and adjust to the culture.

I can’t help but express my surprise at the amount of dust, which is well over my expectations as well as the brown water that runs out of the faucets. But I am trying to gradually adapt myself to this environment and to   put my energy into the projects in Sudan together with all of our staff and I would like to  take this opportunity to request your continuous warm support.

Handover Ceremony

The water and sanitation improvement project carried out since February 2008 for 3 elementary schools in the Lainya County have now been completed, thanks to the Japanese Government and many other supporters. We had a ceremony to handover the borehole and toilets on August 16th. 

During this handover ceremony, 15members of the management committee for the facility maintenance of boreholes and toilets in the 3 elementary schools, as well as the education officer of Lainya County and the official for restoration and development of Southern Sudan, all participated. 5 participants including members of the committee, the education official, the water official, the Central Equatoria State's department of education, and JEN signed official handover documents. 

The education officials of Payam, a smaller administrative unit than a county, as well as administrative officials of Boma, much smaller unit than Payam, were also present at the site.  

From now on, the operation and maintenance of facilities at each school will be assumed by members of the committee. In other cases, where repairs are unable to be addressed by the committee, the local administrative official is responsible. . 

We ended the ceremony wishing the facilities to be operated and maintained properly for a long time to come. 

From Dusk till Dawn, @School

   - Training of the management committee for borehole maintenance (1) -

Currently, the project of Improvement of School Water Sanitation and Hygiene implemented with the cooperation of the Japanese government is reaching its peak. 

Installation of the wells and latrines in the three targeted schools was completed according to schedule, and training for members of the “the management committee for facility maintenance” on the borehole maintenance is now in operation.

When staying in the field, it is necessary to decide where to stay at night.   

Although it isn’t hard to find a lodge in the middle of the town, things aren’t as easy in remote places. 

As the location of training, this time, was at an elementary school about 2 hours from town, we were able to lodge in the school’s classroom. 

The 2 Sudanese staff decided to set up a tent in the classroom and spend the night there, but since I had been suffering from the staff’s awful snoring, I decided to sleep in the car, in a sleeping bag.   

Although it gets pretty cold in the field at this time of year, sleeping in the car turned out to be warmer than I’d expected, and comfortable as well.  I might develop a habit of it!

Farming at the Juba Office

One of my minor joys amongst the busy daily duties is to watch the lettuce, okra and local spices which we planted 3 weeks ago grow. All of our staff had participated from very early in the morning weeding and sowing the seeds of local spices and the seeds of lettuce and okra which I had brought from Japan.

A large portion of vegetables in Sudan are imported from neighbouring countries, such as Uganda. A variety of vegetables (mainly tomato, cabbage, onion and potato) available in Sudan is not as wide as in Japan. In addition, not only is the variety limited, but also the price of the vegetables is similar to that of Japan.

We hope our vegetables that are now about 10cm in height will grow well, so that we can all enjoy beautiful dishes together after the harvest, such as okra curry and lettuce sandwiches.

This is a picture of our staff ploughing the backyard of our office in order to transplant our vegetables.

Traces of War

The road from the Juba office to the project site in Lainya County is often blocked. This is because an international NGO is overseeing the removal of landmines that have been planted in the roadside during the war. Lainya is an area where there were intense battles between the Sudanese army and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Therefore, even three years after the end of the war, the people’s lives are threatened by the innumerable neglected landmines and unexploded bombshells that remain hidden. 

In the past, when such road blockages occurred, I was impatient thinking ‘The meeting time at the project site is drawing nearer!’ However, the removal of such landmines is an indispensable component in the revival of Sudan. Therefore, until such tasks are completed, I drink juice, taking a break with the driver and other staff members, waiting patiently until we can drive through again.

New Days

Hello, my name is Etsuko Inomata, and I am in charge of the affairs and management of the Juba office. It has been almost two months since I arrived in Sudan, and I am doing well although I am spending my days in the midst of the unfamiliar intense heat of the afternoons.

Here is Juba, dust covers everything, even my nails, nose and ears. My white clothing has turned brown. My room is also covered in dust and I have had to grow accustomed to this aspect of life.

Before the beginning of the rainy season, the intensity of the heat abated. Time is passing incredibly fast as I am surrounded by cheerful staff. From this point on, I will continue to explore Sudan and report my findings to you.

(PICTURE: Nakamura, a JEN Supporter, visiting the Juba Office)

The Ambassador Visits Juba

Last week, Ambassador Ishii and First Secretary Hasegawa visited the JEN Office in Juba. Presently, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, JEN is implementing Water Sanitation Improvement projects in Lainya County. In this project, well construction, toilet installation, the establishment of a Water Sanitation Improvement Committee and training for operation management are being completed in three schools in Lainya.

During this particular meeting, the Juba office reported on the progress of the project, and explained related matters of security. In addition, there was an explanation on the life in Juba and opinions were exchanged with regards to future plans in Sudan. JEN would like to continue to continue our projects in Sudan by continuing to interact with people and organizations from the embassy or Ministry of Foreign Affairs and would like to thank them very much for their visit.

A Heartfelt Ceremony

Thanks to both the support of you and the Japan Platform, our project that started in April last year was completed on January 31st, 2008.

By the end of January, we had been able to install wells and school sanitation facilities in five schools, which had the highest needs. To celebrate we conducted a handing-over ceremony in which community members, facility management members, the community chief, the school principal, local water/sanitation workers, education affiliates, and the Commissioner of Lainya were all present.

The Commissioner stated, ‘There have been many NGOs active in Lainya, but JEN is the first one to formally hold a handing-over ceremony such as this one. This is truly appreciated’. He continued, ‘we are extremely pleased that you have completed the work we agreed on together without abandoning the project partway through. While we hope JEN will expand and continue their activities elsewhere, we also hope JEN will return to Terekeka!’ We were overjoyed to receive such kind words; it was a special day and these positive comments filled my heart with joy.

At the Height of the Dry Season in Sudan

The JEN Overseas Office strives to assist those returning to Southern Sudan by improving the hygiene and sanitation conditions in two counties in the Central Equatoria state, where there are a large number of returnees. In addition to this, there are also hygienic education initiatives in place to further spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation issues.

It is the peak of the dry season here in South Sudan. However, in three months time, the rainy season will arrive and will continue for the following six months. We are only able to advance our construction efforts during the dry season when the ground is stable, and therefore it is a very busy time for our local engineer.

Early Monday morning, the engineer travels for three hours to the project site. He returns to the office in Juba on Saturday, only to depart for the project site again on Sunday. Day and night, the engineer monitors the progress of the construction, overseeing its progress to completion.

Unfortunately, this is the life of the JEN engineer; he is rarely able to return home even though he was recently married!

(PICTURE: Upper Left: Holding discussions with the community, Lower Right: The Community Leader with the JEN engineer)

The ‘Well Machine’

Hello everyone!

JEN has been digging water wells throughout our project sites around the world, but one aspect of this that has not received widespread attention is the ‘well machine’ that installs these wells. I would like to take this opportunity to explain how this machine works.

  All the water wells that JEN is presently digging in Southern Sudan are 80m to 100m deep. In order to dig to such depths, the machine often comes across extremely dense layers of rocks and clay. The machine crushes through the layers of rock and clay, and like a rocket taking off, lifts massive amounts of sand up into the air. Water then floods into the dried layers of clay.

However, at this stage, the water is undrinkable. The machine must continue to crush further through layers of rock and clay until it reaches depths of more than 100m underground and finally arrives at water that is clean enough for use.

Today is Cleaning Day

On the morning of 14th Jan 2008, our office security guard suddenly started cleaning the area in front of our office.  He was unusually serious when he explained: “If the army comes and I am not cleaning, they will pick me up!”  Since it seemed so urgent, I gave him a broom and a plastic bag and let him clean up around our office. I did not dare to ask for more details at this point.
(Picture; the rubbish everywhere in the town of Jubbah)

Later I asked the guard the reason why he had to clean today.  He told me that the day before there had been a radio announcement informing everyone that tomorrow would be ‘Public Cleaning Day’. That morning, some of our local staff were also stopped by the South Sudanese Army, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), and asked: “Where are you going?” “Why are you not cleaning?”  If they had not had any excuse or business to do, the army would have taken them to the town market directly where they would have had to join the cleaning event.
(Picture; The guard, cleaning up) 

  I was impressed, because this Public Cleaning Day was done thoroughly using combined efforts even with the army. Thanks to this day, the road in front of our office is now very clean.  In fact it is the cleanest I have ever seen it since I came here 4 months ago.
(Picture; the clean road in front of our office)

New Year in Africa

Happy New Year!

Thanks to your support, we were able to start the New Year with our newly established JEN office here in Sudan.

Last year, we were able to both improve and spread awareness about water and hygiene conditions.

By the time we complete our projects, wells and bathroom facilities will have been installed in five schools, which had the highest need, in the counties of Terekeka and Lainya in Central Equatoria in South Sudan.  Through water sanitation and hygiene education in both these states, we were able to promote healthy lifestyle practices to 3,000 people to prevent waterborne diseases.

Just as in 2007, we hope to continue our efforts to improve water sanitation and hygiene conditions with your assistance, as well as that of the local people here in Sudan. Throughout this coming year, we hope to be motivated by your kind generosity that reaches us here in Sudan, where it is warm all year round. 

I would like to extend my warmest wishes to you for the New Year. Thank you for your support, as always.

The Water Project is in its Final Stages: Part 1

Hygiene education that we have been conducting in Terekeka and Lainya County of Central Equatoria state is coming to a close. At the same time, we are starting a training program to discuss with the community members on how to maintain and repair wells in areas where JEN is constructing wells and latrines. 

From December 9th, JEN went to Terekeka County to prepare for the training on wells, and met ten of the local community members, in addition to those who generously provided us with space for training.

Mr. Cosmas who has put together an NGO in Lainya County, and is also a government water sanitation official and Mr. Amule, a member of that NGO, will be conducting the training.  These two people are very knowledgeable on wells, and have work experience in NGOs that work closely with water related issues.  The training started from Monday the 10th in Terekeka County. 

The Water Sanitation Management Committee Training has Begun!

Training has started on November 19th for the “Water Sanitation Management Committee”, which was formed recently. 

This committee will undertake a supervisory role in the operation and maintenance of the wells and toilets of the five schools currently under construction.  

The water sanitation officials of the local administration will be teaching mechanisms and maintenance methods of the pumps used to fix the wells, as well as teaching the importance of maintaining sanitary conditions in the surrounding environment.  In addition, they will start building fences to keep animals away from the wells, as well as a cleaning duty system of the toilets at each school. 

From now on, various meetings will be held among members of the Water Sanitation Management Committee in order to maintain better sanitation of wells and toilets. 

Well-Digging Has Begun

  JEN started well-digging operations in Lainya County on November 6th.

That day, the latest model excavator, owned by a Kenyan vendor, arrived at the target school: Loka Round Elementary School. Excavation was started at the point that had been assigned and checked by the management committee.

With the local people and students watching, water was found on the very first day of excavation, and everyone cheered!  Tests will be conducted to determine whether enough water can be drawn from the well, and hand-pumps will be installed if the results are good. 

Increased Demand for Engineers

   Currently, as a part of the project to improve sanitary environment, construction of toilet facilities are now underway at five elementary schools.

Skilled and capable engineer is a must in these types of projects.  While the actual construction will be taken care of by the construction companies, engineers from JEN play a critical role in making sure that the construction project is proceeding as planned, including whether or not (1) the facilities are constructed strictly following the plan, or (2) the quality of the materials are satisfactory. 

After the construction of toilet facilities has started, the engineers from JEN are working hard to monitor the progress by going around each of the five schools at least once a week. 

A busy week is expected to continue until December, when the facilities are expected to be completed.

A Borderless World in Sudan

In Southern Sudan, which has experienced the longest period of internal war among the African nations, it is more likely to see goods and products from surrounding nations rather than those originated from Sudan itself.

For instance, currency.  We often see currencies of neighboring countries used in Sudan’s markets; in Lainya county, which is close to the border of Uganda, the currency of Uganda is widely used.  Also, states near Ethiopia use Ethiopian currencies, and the same is said to be true for states near Kenya.

Another example is the use of mobile phone.  The most popular and most accessible mobile phone company in Juba, Gemtel, which has its origin in Uganda, uses the international phone code of Uganda for its cell phone numbers. 

Therefore, if you wish to communicate with a Sudan person having a cell phone number with Sudan’s international phone code, the communication will be considered as an international phone call even if the two persons are physically located inside the same city of Juba.

A Committee to Manage Wells and Toilets Has Been Established

A Committee to Manage Wells and Toilets Has Been Established

Here is the update on the project to improve water sanitation conditions at schools; this has been fully supported by the Japan Platform and other supporters.

JEN will be undertaking the construction of toilet facilities and drilling of wells at five schools at Lainya and Terekeka counties.  Prior to this, in three schools at Lainya, a committee to manage water sanitation facilities has been established consisting of school staff members and local residents.

The committee will be in charge of holding meetings between the school members and local residents with regard to the determination of the location of drilling and construction sites and providing necessary services to local construction/drilling companies.  In addition the committee will also be responsible for maintenance of the facilities after the completion of the construction.  JEN will be in charge of undertaking training sessions for the maintenance of toilet facilities and fixing of wells.

Upon the establishment of the committee, a cooperation agreement has been signed between the committee and JEN.  The officers from the education and water department of the County also attended the signing ceremony.  Immediately following the signing, a discussion has been held with regard to the location of well drilling and construction of toilet facilities.

That’s “Made in Japan”

In Juba, there are a lot of Japanese cars.  Not only the cars of UN institutions and NGOs, but also the buses and other vehicles in the city used by Juba citizens are secondhand cars imported from Japan. 
It seems that for a car to be imported from Japan is a kind of status symbol.  There are many cars with the names of the organizations and shops of the previous Japanese owners, printed on the side of the car. 

For example, “xx-pre-school”, “xx-swimming school”, “xx-glass store”, “xx-transportation” etc…  There are also trucks that make announcements in Japanese such as “Back Shimasu (this truck will reverse),” accompanied with electric noises when they reverse.
Just think: cars previously owned by people reading this blog might be running through Juba right now, supporting the lives of its citizens. 

A Soup Based on Kelp or Bonito?

Hello everyone.  This is Wakano from Juba office in the Southern Sudan; I came to this office on September 5th, and one month has passed since then.  Southern Sudan is now in the wet season.

Although I did expect this before coming to Sudan, what was most shocking was that even the water in this office is not transparent.  The degree of intransparency is such that it is as if we were looking at a kelp or bonito soup in Japan.  This is because the water used for showers, toilets, sinks and other purposes are all taken originally from the Nile river.   

Once every week, a water tank truck comes to the office.  We use the water transported by the truck.  Water is a must for our lives; we need to take a shower, wash dishes, wash toilets, boil the water to drink and to cook food.

The activity of JEN at South Sudan is to prevent diseases arising from water through the construction of toilets, drilling of wells, and general education about sanitation.

In Japan, we can safely use waters as it is.  The safety of water is taken for granted by all Japanese people.  This, however, has not been the case for Sudan.  Fully understanding the hardship that the Sudan people had to undergo without the safety of water, I am determined to lead the project as much as possible.  I will do my best to improve the quality of live using safe water, and to encourage people to know more about the necessity of having a good quality of life with safe water.

The Economy of Juba: Part 2

Last week, we reported that the majority of goods in Juba are imported from Uganda, which has its border with Sudan in the south.   Because of this, the prices of goods go up as we go from South to North.

Our project location, Lainya, is located south of Juba, and Terekeka, is located north of Juba.  Therefore, the prices of goods go up in the order of Lainya, Juba, and Terekeka.  For instance, the price of a bottle of Coke will cost two Sudan Ponds (SP) at Lainya, while three at Juba and four at Terekeka. 

However, there are some exceptions such as sheep and goats.

Since people at Terekeka earn their livelihood by nomadic herding, there are ample sheep and goats in the place.  Therefore, sheep and goats can be bought at around 60SP in Terekeka, but in Juba, these cost 100SP on average at Juba.

The Economy of Juba (Part 1)

In Juba, the prices of goods are rising.

The reason is roads.  The majority of goods in Juba are from Uganda, which has its border with Sudan in the south.   In a wet season like now, the road condition gets worse due to series of rains.  This prevents large vehicles such as trucks from using main traffic roads.  Therefore, we can see a severe shortage in the supply of goods, which in turn results in rising prices.

The county of Lainya, where JEN has its project sites, is also along one of the main traffic roads.   Because of the bad road conditions, accessing the project sites has become increasingly difficult.

As you can see in the picture, a large number of large trucks are making long queues.  Sometimes we meet a driver whose truck has been stuck for more than two weeks.

The government is trying to cope with this situation by making efforts to pave the road, but because of the weather condition, this seems to be in a deadlock.

We hope that the road condition will improve as soon as possible for the benefit of the stability of Juba’s economy.

The Puppet Show

With regard to the sanitary education that we are currently implementing, we are trying hard to make the students learn about sanitation through fun.  One effort is the puppet show.

The dolls that are used in the show are hand-made by the teachers themselves using sponges of mattresses and old clothing that they can get from nearby places.  The same is true of the story; the teachers create their own story based on the experiences learnt from the students, and focus on the points where the students seem to understand least.

Since the puppet show is somewhat special and not usual here, not only the students, but also people from the community enjoy watching the show.

By doing these shows, we believe that the important messages regarding sanitation will be spread to the community with the school being the distribution core.

The Fashion of Mundari Women

  Mundari women living in Terekeka county, unlike others who live in the South of Juba, still enjoy daily dress ups wearing traditional clothes, as most of them spent their days inside Sudan, even while internal conflict was taking place.

For instance, the cloth that they wear is a mixture of bright and unique colors such a red or black, and they wear skirts with various patterns.  On their elbows and necks, both men and women wear black rings made of rubber, and they wear colorful earring made of beads.  Also, all of the babies have a “V” shaped character carved intentionally into their forehead, and at the age of ten, all children’s lower front teeth will be removed.  Because of these physical characteristics, it is easy to distinguish Mundari people from other people. 

In other parts of Sudan, with the end of the internal conflict, they are observing a return of refugees.   As a result, less and less people now are capable of maintaining traditions that have been passed over generations after generations for a long time.  While peace has returned to Sudan, it is sad to see that the traditions are now disappearing.

Take Your Hands and Let’s Go for a Walk

I visited a school called Nyengele in the Lainya county the other day.

To reach Lainya, it takes approximately 3 hours by car from Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan.  The school is located about 1.5 hours from Lainya following winding roads in the mountain.

Since we are seeing much rain these days because of the wet season, the car I was riding in actually got stuck, and I had to walk the last thirty minutes to school.

The local staff I went with stayed together to free the car, so I went to the school by myself.

After some struggles, I reached the school.  Everyone was so surprised to see a foreigner like me walking alone to the school, and they welcomed me with loud voices and songs.

After I finished what I had to do at the school, and was about to return to the car by foot, the teacher said to the students “Let’s walk and sing together and send him off!”.  Thereafter, the students were kind enough to walk along with me singing for twenty minutes.

It was a very happy moment for me to be surrounded by the songs of the students.

The Sanitation Song

  For the sanitation education currently being employed, JEN is teaching the importance of sanitation to children using a ‘Sanitation Songs.’ 

Here, I shall introduce one song written by JEN’s sanitation promoter. 

“Let’s all use toilets!
Let’s all drink clean water!
For your health’s sake don’t ‘take care of your business’ in the fields!
Let’s wash our hands before we eat!
Let’s wash our hands after we use the toilet!
Let’s work together to keep our surroundings clean!” 

It is a pity that I cannot deliver the melody to you at this time, because the message gets through better when it’s sung!!   

Now it’s common to see children singing JEN’s original Sanitation Songs in villages where sanitation education has been implemented. 

Language through the history of civil war

   JEN operates in Central Equatoria State where many languages are spoken. 

First, there is the local language, Bari.  Depending on the tribe, other languages such as Mundari, Kuku, and Kakuwa are also spoken in this state.  These languages are so similar that in Central Equatoria State, even tribes speaking different languages can communicate with each other. 

The second language is an Arabic language called Juba Arabic.  Because during the civil war, Juba used to be under control of the Sudan government military forces from Khartoum, many people speak this type of Arabic which has its origins in Juba.  However, there are very few people that can read and or write this language. 

The third language is English.  Many people speak English after having fled to Uganda as refugees during the civil war, and receiving education there. 

It is very useful for us that many people can speak English, but it also gives us strong mixed feelings to think that this results from the people of Southern Sudan been turned upside down through their histories of civil wars. 

Toothbrushes

In Southern Sudan, I have learnt that some of the common items used in every day life for me are not so common, and are only available in the big cities.

"Toothbrushes" are just one example.

Away from the cities many people use branch sticks as their toothbrushes, just as shown in the picture.

By biting the tip of the branch stick, fibers like a brush come out and the natural toothbrush is ready for using.

Such is the wisdom of the local people.

My Birthday in Juba

A few days ago, I celebrated my birthday in Juba.

I was doing my normal daily work at the office, when I suddenly heard from behind me the local staff and the head of the office in Juba start singing Happy Birthday. They also surprised me with a cake, which I thought to be impossible to get around here!

They looked all over Juba for a cake, and found the only restaurant that can make it. Since they couldn't find any cake candles, they stuck a thick one like those used when there is a blackout in the town.

This homemade-like birthday present will make this day a very memorable one for me.

A long way to work. Part 3

When our four hour boat ride ended, we learned that we still had another six hours to go to Juba. We rapidly changed our plans. We got off the boat, and decided to go by the passenger bus. So, after being tossed around in the bus for about two hours, we finally arrived in Juba.

This field trip has been a demonstration of the difficulties we often face just to access Terekeka. At remote locations where access is difficult it is hard to deliver assistance, and thus it is in such places that JEN has taken on the mission of providing assistance.

We guarantee the delivery of our assistance but also deliver it with safety.  We place our staff’s safety as our top priority and we design our operations to deliver assistance in a flexible way. For those who are in need, we reach out to assist.

A long journey to work. Part 2

After we returned to Juba, we hurried to come up with a back up plan. We decided to try to reach our target by chartering a speedboat along the Nile River.

We departed Juba early the next morning, and after an uninterrupted three hour trip on an express boat we arrived in Terekeka. On the way there we were relieved as the charter speedboat proved to be a great idea; however we had a bit of trouble on the way back as we chose to ride on a passenger boat.

Even after the departure time, scheduled for 8:00 in the morning, there was no hint of departure, and we were left waiting intently. The boat finally departed after 12:00 but unfortunately, it began to rain only thirty minutes after departing.

After a while a storm began with thunder and strong wind, and our boat was rocking badly. We were desperately trying to avoid the rain, and at the same time not capsize the boat! After a long struggle, we arrived in a town along the way and realized that four hours had already passed. It honestly felt like we were lucky to be alive.
It seemed likely that it would still take another six hours from this town to Juba

To be continued.

A long journey to work. Part 1.

The other day we visited Terekeka, one of JEN’s operational locations. The road between JEN’s office in Juba and Terekeka is in a very poor condition, and with the rainy season underway, we anticipated difficulties on the way. We were right. The road to Terekeka was very bad, and misfortunes followed…

On the day we left, the car we had planned to rent had not returned from a previous trip to Terekeka, so we could not use it. Hurriedly, we tried to find another car instead so we could continue (at this time, JEN’s cars had not arrived yet, so we were relying on rental cars).

Unfortunately, rental cars are not widely available here. By the time we had found a car strong enough to stand the road conditions, and we were ready to depart from Juba, it was past midday, and we were already half a day behind schedule.  On that day, the road was in a really bad condition, and on the way there were news reports that many cars had got stuck in the mud. We decided that continuing by land would be dangerous, so we turned around and headed back to Juba.

To be continued…

Heavily Viewed Billboards, Part 1: Job Advertising Information

A few days ago I have arrived in Sudan, and the search for new staff began. 

In Japan, we would normally inform applicants of this via phone, mail or Internet.  However, exchanging information in Southern Sudan, which lacks regular telephone and Internet services, is quite, in fact almost, 180 degrees different.

The billboard in front of the UN Office is the most popular, and therefore it will be used.  The process begins by placing a job advertisement on this billboard.  Those searching for jobs come by everyday to check the advertisements. 

When they find an advertisement they like, they tear off a strip of the ad containing the job information and return home. 　So, we keep making and posting new ads on the billboard.

Once the selection of applicants has been completed the most suitable candidates are called in for an interview.  Again, to do this, we will inform the candidates who are to be interviewed via a notice on the billboard advising of the interview date and time. 

Using this process the candidates will come in for an interview as per the notice.  The billboard is extremely valuable in that it allows us to communicate effectively with people.

Opening Operations in The Sudan

From April 2007, JEN started school sanitation projects in the South of Sudan funded by the Japan Platform.

After twenty years of civil war, the peace agreement in January 2005 granted the autonomy of the South Sudan.  Consequently, 3.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 350 thousand refugees started to return to their place of origin.

Many refugees from Uganda and The Congo are returning to the State of Central Equatoria in the South Sudan.  JEN has decided to start school sanitation projects in Terekeka and Lainya, two counties in that State especially in need.  Our team will distribute original teaching materials on hygiene education to 78 schools (10,675 children).  The staff will then use the materials for children’s lessons and teacher training.  We are also planning to organize theatre workshops that involve both teachers and children to learn through active interaction.  To set this up successfully, follow-up training for teachers is essential to our principles of community-wide development.       

Furthermore many schools in the State of Central Equatrea do not have proper school buildings.  Children are frequently infected with diarrhoea due to unclean water and a lack of toilets and water sources in their school.  JEN will set up basic sanitary systems (drinking wells, water pumps, toilets and drainage gutters) in schools in order to improve the children’s health.  We will also establish a management committee at each school for sustainable maintenance of these systems by teachers.

JEN appreciates your kind understanding and contributions for our new project in The Sudan.