First week in Wau

South Sudan Red Cross

 The first week here in Wau has been a peaceful one.  Pamela and I have spent the days both at the hotel and in the ARC office planning for next week and catching up on other things.  I went to the South Sudan Red Cross yesterday to see the room where we will be conducting our FP trainings next week.  Up until the independence, it was the Sudan Red Crescent, but like many things here, that quickly changed with the new republic.

 Silas is one of the bright RH officers who did TOT training with us two weeks ago as well as FP training in Juba last week.  He is responsible for setting up FP services here in Wau once we finish training.  I walked in the office this morning and saw him reading his Managing Contraception, I was pretty psyched!

 Mike, the ARC security officer who came to Wau with us, walked with me around the town yesterday.  You can kind of see in this picture how there are roads besides the roads.  Cars, tuk-tuks (the small 3-wheeled carriages), motorcycles, donkey-pulled water carts, bicycles and pedestrians navigate in and around each other.  The stores and markets are along the dirt road so traffic is a bit chaotic. 
The dress in Wau is much more conservative than Juba, some women cover their heads, the rest are draped almost completely.  English is not as widely spoken except for all the European expats.  I kind of feel like I'm in D.C.  People start off conversation with "who do you work for?" 

Water cart

Tuk-tuk

 Today I met Pamela and one of the midwives Leah at Wau Teaching Hospital.  Its an interesting complex of several small houses each dedicated to another field.  I was a bit lost when I got there and saw a few very friendly faces starting at me from one of the houses.  I walked in and they greeted me with hello and offered me a chair to sit down, so I did.  After barely speaking English to me for a few minutes, I realized I was in the pharmacy.  There weren't many supplies or bottles to give me a clue sooner.  So I thanked them for the seat and moved on to the next house, where I ran into Pamela and Leah.  I eventually met the medical director of the hospital, a general surgeon who just arrived two months ago from Kenya.  He was in his office, a one-room house with a corner separation for exams.  There is an OR but its not able to be used yet.  The hospital is undergoing several renovations to provide more services.  The good news is that there is a room available next to antenatal services which eventually will provide FP services.  Currently there are no FP providers in Wau, no commodities, no supplies, no speculums.  So Silas has a lot of work to do!  He is really committed and enthusiastic though and with Leah and Pamela's help hopefully things will get going in the next few months. 

 So now, to the highlight of my day.  We pulled up to the ARC office from the hospital and there were a couple boys playing soccer (or football rather).  I couldn't help myself, so I kicked off my shoes and told Silas I wanted to play.  He told the three boys something in Arabic, good enough to get them to pass me the ball.  We played around for fifteen minutes or so and I had a great time.  Its like word spread and eventually there were ten kids watching and each car that passed stared with big smiles.  My feet got pretty dirty but considering most people here walk around without shoes, I figured it couldn't be so bad.

 The rest of these shots are some I took driving towards the hospital.  There's a beautiful cathedral you can see the roof of along the main road in Wau.  And I couldn't help taking a shot of the goat hanging out in the shade of the roundabout.  I must say, its sooo hot here.  There's no AC in the office or my tent so I just have a kind of foggy feeling all day long from probably not sleeping so well and then being in the heat during the day.  Because there is no city power, the ARC office runs on a generator and for it to keep working, they have to shut it off several times a day, which means no fans during that time.  Today it was pretty dreadful. 
Luckily there is AC in the room we're using next week for training.  And this time next Friday I will be heading towards vacation and in two weeks I will be sitting in Amsterdam awaiting my flight home to JFK.  I'm looking forward to that, especially the mani/pedi I'll get during my layover.  My poor feet have withstood a lot these last few weeks--they deserve it!!

ARC field office

Wau Cathedral with brick walls seen throughout the city

Typical roundabout in Wau (with a goat)