When I arrived into Khartoum, the first thing I noticed was how bad the mosquitoes were. Must be the Nile thing. My room has a mosquito net hanging above my bed but it looks very feminine draping down overhead so I ignored it for the first few nights. After waking up several mornings in a row, poka-dotted on arms and legs with new mosquito bites, I thought otherwise and began using it. My predecessor says she used to tuck it in between the mattresses it became so bad.
I know Malaria takes a couple of weeks to kick in, and I’ve only been here a week and a half, but yesterday morning I woke up in the middle of the night feeling terrible. Headaches, chills, achy body, and fever, I began to think to myself, did I get this damn disease? I thought about a girl I work with from Kenya who caught it several weeks ago. She said she felt like she had physically gone to hell. It was so painful she thought she was going to die. Apparently the disease attacks your joints, which all scream in your body at once. I wasn’t at that stage yet, but was also thinking, I’m more tolerable to pain, aren’t I?
I went to work the next morning hoping it was just a temporary cold and asked our medic about my symptoms. He said, ‘We’ll I’d probably go get that checked because folks from the North American continent tend to be more susceptible to the deadly version of malaria.’
Reassuring as that sounded, I decided to head to the hospital, Khartoum’s best, Al Faisal, to get tested. Fortunately my driver navigated the bumpy uncomfortable streets and hospital lines to get me inside and up front. It was packed with people, inside and out. Everything inside the place, once white, felt like it had a yellowish tone to it. I was feeling deep warm and fuzzies about its cleanliness. There were three people behind the check-in desk and all were occupied with discussion amongst themselves and ignoring the lines. (I’ve come to find out in this country there really are no lines; it’s more like who puts the money in their face the soonest gets served first.)
After about 30 minutes, I went back to the ‘emergency room’ to get checked by a General Practitioner and then blood tested. Fortunate for me, my tests came back Malaria negative. But I did have elevated levels in other medical stuff, which I think meant I had a severe bacterial infection as my blood count was off. They said, alright Mr. Matt, we’re going to check you into the hospital because we need to run some heavy medicines intravenously and monitor your status for several days.
I laughed and said, ‘Is this something that’s life threatening?’ They said ‘No, but it would be best if you stayed with us so we can ensure the bacteria is killed quickly’. I said ‘No thanks, how about I take your strongest oral drugs and I’ll ride it out in my bed at home’.
I kept thinking to myself about all the conversations I’ve had with my nurse friends…’Never go to a hospital unless you’re dying’ ….kept resonating through my head, compounded with the fact that I’m in a third world country medical facility, compounded with the fact that I’m a white person and rich to them, compounded with the fact that I’m young and have a healthy immune system. It was really a no brainer.
So I regretfully declined their offer, came home, pilled up, and slept it off. One day later and I’m doing fine.
I’m staying in the top floor apartment in one of our two villas in town and I keep hearing the pigeons outside my windows making morning cooing noises when I awake, similar to the donkeys’ eyy awws in Darfur, and even though they’re different noises they’re still distinct reminders of Sudan. I guess I relate to the pigeons more than the donkeys, because they have the ability to fly away, but just haven’t for some odd reason.
On a secondary note, this post is a celebration of sorts. A centennial celebration (unrelated to time) in that this is my 100th post on the website. I’ve been in Sudan 452 days so that means I’ve averaged a new post every 4.52 days…which I’m happy with, considering the bore factor and trying to keep you interested in ‘Life in Sudan’ as an outsider. I’ve had just under 33,000 page hits on this site, so that tells me you’ve enjoyed some of what I’ve written. Thanks for being a loyal reader to those who are, and to those who infrequently visit, there’s always a new beginning. Although I may be premature in saying that my time here is nearing end and unlike that pigeon, I will fly soon. More to come on that and what future writing is in store. In the meantime, toast this weekend for me as my Red Bull is about as close as I can get right now to a worthy celebratory beverage.
I’ve been in Khartoum a few days and plan to be for several more weeks filling an open position we need staffed. I’ve been reading alot about the growth of Khartoum into a robust and growing capital city. I’d like to give you my understanding of the cause and effects of this growth, as it’s fascinating to witness how it’s happening.
There is no doubt that Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. I’ve seen numbers that direct foreign investment has shot up from $128mn in 2000 to $2.3bn this year in Khartoum. Because of Sudan’s stance of harboring terrorists, sanctions were placed in 1997 on direct foreign investment from the US and other western countries. As the numbers show, this hasn’t deterred Asian and other Middle Eastern investment in Sudan, resulting in a booming local economy with its corresponding imports of products and expats. It looks like the only losers were the countries which enforced the sanctions, as they have been left out of the growth.
I highly recommend this quick video by the NY Times, Khartoum Propers Despite Sanctions, as it gives you an idea about the bittersweet feeling of polar lifestyles in this country. Back when I imagined what Sudan looked like before I came, I visualized the National Geographic scenes of poor people with buzzing flies sitting in huts and tending livestock in remote desertic areas. Maybe in the war zones you’d see an armed and camouflaged rebel, all images of disparate and colorful extreme. Sadly, this is a correct visualization. But the 5 minute movie by NY Times, as well as this article, War in Sudan? Not where the Oil Flows, begins to show the extremes of the prosperous and growing capital city versus the stagnantly poor rest of the country.
You can attribute Khartoum’s growth to Sudan’s president, Bashir. He has done wonders in ignoring western sanctions and building an economy in Khartoum with phenomenal growth. Unfortunately, the rest of the country has been ignored. In fact, this unequal growth is the primary reason for the rebellions in the East, South and West.
The East, until just recently, was in border battles with Eritrea and Ethiopia. The South is still struggling to rebuild itself afterresource sharing battles with the Khartoum government. And Darfur is still considered the Wild Wild West and completely ignored with regard to any infrastructure development and resource sharing. It’s almost as if Bashir is content in building up the bubble around him while the rest of the country suffers.
The impact of the growth in Khartoum is that Sudanese and other expats are gladly returning to the country. As Stated on The Sudanese Thinker -
“The slowly returning Sudanese Diaspora in Khartoum is bringing along with it tons of money and lifestyles foreign to Sudanese culture. Much of those lifestyles present a huge opportunity for business people. The consumer market is big and investors are pouring money into it while in the process reaping back big profits. People have extra money to spend on leisure and entertainment. They want to be able to live the same lifestyle they had back in America, London, Europe or Dubai. They want to be pampered. The demand is high but the supply is low. Ozone Cafe (featured in the video) is just one of those things that the returning Sudanese Diaspora wanted but couldn’t find. It’s one of many expensive hang out places and shisha bars mushrooming everywhere catering to the privileged Sudanese in the capital and also the increasingly big number of foreigners there. 10 years ago, a Chinese man walking around Khartoum would have been like a giraffe roaming around Antarctica. Now there are foreigners everywhere in the capital. This also presents a big potential market for business people. We’ve got our own mini China-town now for God’s sake people and it’s expanding steadily!
One of the signs of Khartoum’s boom has been development of the land which brings the White and Blue Nile together. The infrastructural investment on this peninsula will be groundbreaking for this economy. Due to be finished in several years, called the al-Sunut, projects taking place include shopping malls, luxury hotels, spas, office towers, Sudan’s first golf course, and villas with swimming pools along the Nile among others.
This development is surely misleading and a bittersweet feeling for the overall economy nationwide. It’s a sign that Khartoum is a thriving capital city and global player. But this isn’t Sudan. It masks the chronic problems, the genocide, the poverty, the national geographic images that stereotype the country which are still taking place outside of Khartoum.
Sudan has about 30 million people. 5 million of those reside in Khartoum. That means 25 million, or 5/6th of its total population are still living in these impoverished conditions. And even in Khartoum, only a tiny fraction of its population would be able to utilize the luxuries that al Sunut and other development like it is providing.
It’s an interesting growth, and China is the catalyst behind most of it. On the markets you see mostly Chinese and Asian products. I read a funny story recently about when the Koreans arrived in Khartoum all of the stray dogs disappeared. Dog is an alleged delicacy in Korea. So this Sudanese guy saw a van full of Koreans race by, then stop suddenly in front of him where two of them jumped out, grabbed a stray dog off the street, threw it in the back of the van, and then raced off. He was eternally grateful to the Koreans for this very reason. You do not have the nuisance of stray dogs here in Khartoum, whereas out in the bush, they’re everywhere.
Asia, and China specifically, has played a major role in direct foreign investment in Khartoum. Sudan has multibillion-dollar contracts with the Chinese state-run oil companies CNPC and Sinopec which operate in Sudan. Oil and other business and land development investments have proven to be both lucrative and essential to sustaining the Chinese economy. China is basically the big daddy of Sudan’s growth and its influence is apparent everywhere.
The West has tried to exploit this relationship, having struggled with Sudan diplomacy themselves. The US has put diplomatic pressure on China to help influence Khartoum to better stabilize the rest of the country, but China seems to weasel past the requests, claiming it will never be a “tool for US pressure on Sudan”, showing only self interest in its large investments in Sudan and carrying little to no globally minded responsibility. China believes no government “should interfere with other country’s human rights and internal affairs”…..damn that ideological baggage.
So you won’t see China sacrificing oil rights or potential profit for a good cause. And because of Sudan’s large oil reserves and China’s rampant population and requirement for this oil, I would imagine very few things would warrant the cause for a rift in their partnership.
But of course, stable regions do booster sound investments so it is in China’s interest to help Sudan.
They have recently signed several agreements of an economic and technological nature, implementing two schools in the rural areas in Sudan and another one for establishment of a centre for agricultural technology, which is a step in the right direction, but a far cry from the assistance that’s really needed to stabilize the country outside of Khartoum. (Did I mention the agreement included a bonus “Thank You” Presidential Palace for Bashir, built and paid for by the Chinese government?)
Chinese president Mr. Hu is sneaky in answering criticism regarding his relationship with Khartoum. He’ll say things like “Beijing is trying to help Africa to build infrastructure and alleviate poverty.” At one point, China had said their solution to Darfur would be to replace the struggling African Union with its own Chinese Peacekeepers.
This initial thought is slightly concerning because China is strategically aligned with the Khartoum Government (who directly supports the campaign of ethic cleansing in Darfur). So, if this proposal were to occur, we would see the possibility of having politically motivated troops (for the wrong side mind you), leading an allegedly neutral peacekeeping mission. That could spell further disaster. Thankfully it has not materialized and the focused solution is still on UN oversight of African troops.
Anyway, what I’ve learned from reading about this place and other African leaders is that Sudan’s President, Al Bashir, is a remarkable man. He’s hardly selfless and far from an altruistic president. But he’s extremely effective at retaining power and leading his people (the arabs mind you, not the blacks) to believe in his plight. During his tenure, he has centralized his power and financial freedom by turning Khartoum into a global player and economic force. He’s allied and partnered with powerful and dark countries that will turn their head in response to his blatant neglect of human rights issues and exploitation of ethic differences in all other regions outside of Khartoum. And he’s successfully allowed a (alledged) genocidal campaign and umpteen wars to take place under the noses of the entire international community through whippy deflections of responsibility and smoke and mirror campaigns.
There are established techniques that African leaders use to retain power. Bashir follows these to a tee, and has an even stronger advantage with a good supply of natural resources as leverage. It’s amazing to think that this kind of stuff can take place. It’s amazing to see the effects of his methods, Khartoum’s growth, Chinese influence, regional poverty, and genocide, among others, as you live in this place.
Yep…my eyes are wide open in witness. And that’s about all I have to say.
You know when you say something and shake your head in disbelief at the thought or image in conjures. I continually do that here. I’m sitting in my room right now doing it. I often ask myself, what am I doing here? What kind of life is this that I’m living? I’m in isolation, living in a war zone, surrounded by chronic poverty, always in constant extremes, and doing so under my own free will. Nothing about Darfur seems normal, unless, I guess, you grew up here. I continually try to reprocess this situation over and over in my mind.
There are a lot of troops/rebels/African warriors, whatever you want to call them, out on the dirt roads these days. I was thinking what kind of government allows (basically) anyone to carry a gun. There must be an unspoken understanding that if you wear camoflague you can carry a weapon – and I don’t just mean a weapon, I mean RPGs and big tank piercing guns, and grenades, really anything they can get their hands on. I see these guys all over the place, both Sudanese Military and random rebels lined in their (blue/beige/green – any color really goes) camo, armed with their AK’s, and squeezed tight in the back of their Toyota Land Cruiser single cab pick up trucks (coincidentally the same type that get stolen from us), speeding down the tarless roads.
I wonder to myself when I see convoys of them racing past, where they’re headed to? Where have they come from? Sometimes I’ll brush up next to them while picking up a coke at the local stand. There I am, standing next to a Sudanese fighter. His look is intimidating, but his eyes are weak. “How’s your day going? Well? Killed anyone today? Thirsty from all that action? Alright, good, well, enjoy that coke, take care.” Sometimes I wonder what death smells like out here. I figure these guys are it.
I figure it would be quite a story to hear about their past. I sometimes wish I could get into their mind and think what they think. Are most of these guys driven or are they simply told? I wish I could understand in words the specific events that have plagued them over the course of their short life.
Yesterday I got into a vivid imagination/what if scenario with myself because I was driving and making a turn around this house and one of the rebel trucks, packed 20 guys deep in the pick up bed, was coming in the opposite direction around the corner. We almost ran into each other head on. I can only imagine the scene if I had hit the truck and 20 of these guys went flying out of the back of the truck into the sand from the wreck.
What do you do? Apologize? So sorry…Oops? Didn’t mean to run into you, Mr. Rebel? We’re supposed to get one ‘take back’ each day, right? Can this be mine? It’s just a little scratch. Don’t mind your men sprawled out in the sand.
I suppose I’d just flee the scene with my head down, letting my truck autopilot the ruts in overdrive back to safety.
Imaginations….As a kid I used to lay in bed at night and have these fantastic scenarios with me as the super-hero, or in sports, or approaching girls at school. Now I have them about rebel interactions. I guess all I can say is, this place…
