Eid Break

So the last week has been pretty quiet, mostly because I was sick at the beginning of the week and taking it easy, and then that led me right into the Eid break.  We didn’t know it until Wednesday afternoon when the government declared Thursday and Friday off (they’re not big on advanced notice here).  It’s nearly impossible to get anything done on public holidays here, so I’ve just been at the hotel for the most part working on typing up notes, and organizing myself to start the actual writing of the report.  

I’m happy to say I’m fully recovered as of Tuesday and am once again extremely greatly for access to good medical facilities and antibiotics that helped me get back up on my feet in just a couple of days.  My boss tells me it was very mild case of malaria, despite the fact that I felt pretty awful Saturday/Sunday, but the anti-malarials (while only 60% effective at actual preventing malaria) often make bouts of it less severe then they might otherwise be.  I hope to never experience a bad bout of malaria. 

Our team arrived from Israel on Wednesday (just in time for the unannounced public holiday of course) so I got them caught up on my work so far.  They have great insight and questions and are making me think really hard about my underlying assumptions, expectations, and the things I should be looking at as I write the report.  It’s great to have new eyes on the project.  I think they’re going to be really helpful in terms of crafting the recommendations that the report will offer. 

Our weary travelers returned from the trip to the outlying counties that I couldn’t go on with all sorts of interesting information.  I’m excited to sit down and look at what they learned over their travels and how it lines up with what service providers I’ve been talking to here in Juba have been telling me. 

Anyways, I’m afraid this blog might get a little technical as I get totally into the writing of the report and finally analyzing all the data I’ve been collecting for the last two months.  I’m just about two weeks out from coming home, so time is getting tight, but I’m hopeful I can pull together a good final product in the next couple of weeks.  I present on the 22^nd to the newly formed GBV Working Group for Central Equatoria, which will be my big finale, so T-minus 13 days!