He says, "Life on the outside..."

Everyday is much the same. I wake at 7:30am and open the curtains. Outside the weather is cold, grey and uninviting. People wearing brightly coloured jackets pass by on bicycles (no one wears helmets) on their way to work or school.

I make my way from room 221 down to the breakfast bar. The coffee is weak. I have to make a cafe latte and then an additional jug of espresso to reach the required strength. For a country so obsessed with coffee, they make a lousy brew. Someone really needs to make a visit to Melbourne or Wellington to learn how to make a decent flat white. I am proud to be an antipodean coffee snob.

After breakfast, a mix of cold scrambled egg and soggy bacon, I make my way to work. It is a 3.7km walk through beautiful gardens and rows of antique homes straight out of Home and Garden Magazine. The daily walk to and from the hotel has become the highlight of my day. A time of good physical exercise but also time to think and survey the situation.

To be honest, from where I stand, things look pretty ordinary. That's ordinary in the Australian sense. In other words, things look pretty bleak, just like the weather.

I have come the office each day this week except for Monday which was a public holiday. Something called Easter, apparently. I am not sure why I bother as there's no real work to be done? I think it is the free lunch, coffee and unlimited Wi-Fi.

I have been told that for the good of the organisation, I should take a step back from my role as Country Director for Siberia.
 
After we left for South Africa, the good people at HAC (the Humanitarian Aid Commission) put the clappers on my colleagues. Scared them into the naughty corner and told them to behave or face the wooden spoon. The thing about HAC is that they are more bluff than bite. Lots of smoke and mirrors but very little fire.

Unfortunately my colleagues aren't regular poker players and fell for the bluff; far too easily in my  personal opinion. They're a little raw, a little immature and without good leadership looking like a herd of lost sheep heading for the proverbial cliff face. I'd be a little worried, but it's not my problem anymore.

In effect, HAC and some of my senior colleagues staged a coup in my absence. They decided that the organisation would be better off without me. Sad, disappointing and left  feeling a little betrayed. Still these are good people and I wish them no ill. They've got caught like a kangaroo in the headlights and didn't know which way to hop.

So, I am a Country Director without a country. Like being a teacher without a class of ratty kids or a Doctor without any sick patients. It's kind of boring and unsatisfying..

She is back in Siberia sorting out our four legged friends and making final preparations for our move to Nairobi. It's not nice being apart, with crappy internet and some friends/colleagues making their displeasure at her being back in Siberia rather obvious. They somehow think our very presence will spur HAC into action. A little paranoid in my opinion.

Next stop, on the Siberian Express, is Nairobi....

After Siberia, life in Nairobi will feel like paradise. Good coffee, nice restaurants and cafes, alcohol. bacon and the promise of regular camping trips to Lake Naivasha, weekend safaris and trips to the Indian Ocean at Mombassa and Diani. Hopefully a garden for the boys to run around in and take a dump. Some weather cold enough to justify an open fire... All good things to look forward to

I have no concrete plans workwise as yet, but there is the  possibility of some consultancy work with a few private companies and the establishment of my own small consultancy business. It would be nice to have a guaranteed role and job, but for now it's not a bad thing to have some space to look at some different opportunities. I'd also like to write a book, but as I'm finding, it's easier said than done...

She will continue to nail the study (so far straight High Distinctions) and look for meaningful work. We will not be flash with cash, but hope to have some time to settle down as a family and push forward with the adoption process.

Things might look pretty bleak right now, but as the saying goes, the darkest hour is before the dawn. I hope they're bloody right. It can only get better, can't it?

















 

He & She say..."You can't stay in Sudan but we won't let you leave".

*before you all send panicked messages about declaring our location, we have deliberately exposed it. We are not at risk of physical harm, and we certainly don't mean to belittle the more severe trials of others in any way...but no country should be able to act invisibly against expatriate residents as is described below.

Most of you will know that He is the Country Director (hereafter CD) of an international non-government organisation (hereafter NGO) with European headquarters. He is working for this organisation here in Sudan*, and we have been here for just over 2 years. It is well known that there is significant friction between international NGOs and the Sudanese government, but perhaps it is perhaps less well known how this affects the expatriates working for those NGOs.

He replaced a CD who was given persona non grata status in this country for a personal connection with an international church (nothing to do with his work or the organisation). We came here with an understanding that the situation between NGOs and the government is fragile, and that we, as part of an organisation who had suffered the expulsion of a CD,  would be under even more tension and scrutiny. There has been a constant level of tension, stress and threat since our arrival two years ago, about which we have written on other occasions. The purpose of this blog however relates to our current visa-less status here, the corruption within the government, and the personal impact it is having on us.

Our annual residence permits and His work permit expired at the end of October 2015. We began the process of renewal formally in early October, and as of 8 February 2016, we have not received a response to the request, ether negative or positive. 

Along with our residence and work permits, our multiple exit/re-entry visas also expired, therefore we have been and remain unable to leave the country since the end of October, and He has been unable to travel domestically for work.  In effect, we are being held hostage in Khartoum, with the freedom to remain in our home and move around the city. A fine of 50SDG per person per day is accruing for over-staying our previous visas, now at more than SDG12,000 (approx. USD2,100)…yet we cannot legally leave the country.

Over the course of the 4 months since our permits expired, we have petitioned for a response many times to both the Humanitarian Affairs Commission (hereafter HAC), and National Security (hereafter NIS). There has been a clear indication by the Labour department representative who sits within HAC  (hereafter HAC-LR) that a “cooperative off-the-books payment" would hasten the decision. The HAC-LR filed a petition letter to NIS to have my husband expelled. Following an investigation by NIS in January 2016 (including a lengthy interview), He was cleared and a letter sent to HAC explaining that there were no grounds for expulsion and that our permit should be issued until October 2016. There has been no response despite NIS calling for a meeting to push the recommendation. 

Excuses we have received for the failure to issue our permits include:

1) The HAC-LR  claimed multiple times that the paperwork requesting the permit renewals was never received, yet the paperwork has been re-submitted in full 3 times by the organisation's liaison officer. At one stage, this excuse was because HAC-LR had locked it in a cupboard and then went on holiday for 10 days. As soon as he was back at work, he went on sick leave. Obviously HAC have never heard of leave cover, and no one person being indispensable.

2) There is allegedly a letter (on the organisation's letterhead), signed by Him, reporting that He was fired as CD by headquarters. Yes, as ridiculous as it sounds.

3) Organisational labour issues. The issues faced in the past year or so have all been won by the organisation so Mr HAC-LR has not got his cut. He is less than happy about that. The one unresolved issue has been thrown out of court twice due to lack of evidence.

4) Allegedly poor communication between the organisation and both HAC and NIS about projects. The requested information has been provided, but has not resulted in an outcome for us.

5) They don’t want to issue the permits but refuse to expel us, so they are hoping we will leave “voluntarily” through the attrition of our patience and sanity. 

This is just a single example of the systemic corruption existing within HAC, of which even NIS are aware since they questioned Him about it, in great detail. The Sudanese government has been attempting to re-engage with the international community recently, including pushing the US to remove existing sanctions. Despite this, they are systematically removing iNGOs from the country. After broad condemnation of the proposed expulsion of Tearfund UK in late 2015, their offices were closed down by the Sudanese government and all assets frozen. The expatriate employees of Tearfund UK are, like us, stuck in the country, despite having requested their final exit visas (the formal means of closing their files as expatriate employees in Sudan and leaving the country). The final exit process should take a few days, or a week at most to complete. In late 2015, another CD was also kept waiting for 5 weeks before his final exit visa was issued. A third CD was in a similar situation to us, pushed hard to be permitted to leave for a Christmas break and was then unexpectedly expelled. 

Alongside the personal and work-related stress of being stuck here indefinitely, my chronic health issues cannot be sufficiently assessed or managed within Sudan. Some of you will remember that I was medivacced to Nairobi in mid 2015 following a back injury. In November 2015 we submitted a request for an emergency exit/re-entry visa to attend a specialist review of my back (with a supporting written recommendation) and this was not granted. We also both have broken teeth for which we wish to seek treatment abroad. #fallingapartattheseams

As foreigners, the concept that a government could want us to leave their country and yet not allow us to leave is simply outrageous. That they have the power to prevent us leaving Sudan when we have done nothing wrong, let alone illegal, is mind-boggling. So where to from here? This blog is part of our campaign to force them to make a decision either way. We may still end up leaving "voluntarily" if our patience runs any thinner. And whilst He is working well and hard, there is only so long that He can persevere with his work while facing the travel restrictions. We don't know that if we choose to leave "voluntarily" if they will be happy to get rid of us and issue our final exit visas straight away, or if they'll choose to prolong it and cause us even more frustration. 'Not knowing' is also a good reason to try and avoid that course...let alone us not wanting to let them "win".