Although I have travelled around southern Sudan a number of times in the past, this was the first time I had visited Kapoeta and Eastern Equatoria.
Earlier on this trip I worked in Juba and Wau further to the west. From Juba I flew to Lokichoggio in northern Kenya and then drove north across the Kenyan/Sudanese border and then for three hours up to Kapoeta.
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| People from the Toposa tribe looked amazing |
Kapoeta is very spread out and much of it is hidden from view by dense bush. As we reached the town in the late afternoon I noticed many people from the Toposa tribe lugging bags of flour and other goods on their heads.
They were heading back to their villages after trading in the market. They looked amazing, decorated with thick bead necklaces and armbands and many of the men carried spears.
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| MAG teams working for World Food Programme (WFP) have surveyed and cleared over 240km of road between Wau and Abyei. The road is now being built and will open up the area enabling refugees and internally displaced people to return home, and for commerce to develop |
The centre of town was busy. Groups of soldiers sat, chilling out with their AKs next to old crumbling buildings. Music blared out from shops as goods were carried to and fro. Old land cruisers and trucks belched black smoke as they chugged around.
On one side of town, dozens of corrugated iron buildings were being erected. A new market was being built on land that was, until recently, a minefield.
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| A market being built on a former minefield cleared by MAG |
A couple of months ago MAG handed over to the community 86,000 square metres of land it had cleared and made safe. This was part of the minefield surrounding the town. Teams are still working on adjoining areas. It is a huge task and will take some time yet to complete.
The MAG camp in Kapoeta is known as the ‘MAG Island’, because in the wet season it is virtually cut off from the town by water. It is near the end of the rain season now and the water has subsided, leaving the camp surrounded by thick mud. Driving though it was ‘interesting’. Trucks are used regularly to pull out bogged Land Rovers and Toyotas.
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| Many roads are impassable in the wet season. MAG is working with WFP to survey and clear roads of landmines and unexploded ordnance so that they can be safely rebuilt by construction companies |
The camp is nicely laid-out under shade provided by huge mango trees. There is an office and a cookhouse built from brick and dozens of tents set on concrete slabs for accommodation.
Much of the compound area is taken up with vehicles – mostly Land Rovers and Land Cruisers, but also trucks, a Bozena remote-controlled flail machine and a Rhino mine-proof vehicle.
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