Yambiology

Yambio life can be enjoyable because of simple pleasures such as finding out there are potatoes in the market and asking Rosetta to prepare chips for lunch. Or playing with a kitten called Danger, adopted by Ivan to be the rodent control house cat, fed with leftover chicken livers that UNICEF are putting aside in their freezer, and who has somehow reversed my dislike of cats overnight. The greatest pleasure we find at the end of the working day is hanging out here at the lakeside at a simple bar called Green Beach. It has a rickety wooden jetty where we sit on plastic chairs falling through the slats, enjoying the late sunlight and watching a fisherman slowly raise his net, checking his catch. The bar manager Moses, who is also PA to the State Minister of Information, is a good source of local happenings, much of which reminds you that South Sudan's recent history is very dark. In late 2016 this place had only just reopened after a period of insecurity. Beyond the lake Yambio melts into forest and scattered villages, and at this hour, people used to move towards the safety of the town because of well-founded fears of rebel activity in the surrounding area. At dusk the bar staff used to lock up and flee home. Now the scene is altogether more relaxed, which is fantastic to witness.

Although working here brings its unique challenges, being in Yambio is better than elsewhere when it comes to letting background stresses disappear away. Usually I'm always worrying about loose ends I haven't tied up on various projects and while I don't manage to forget about things completely, I develop a useful 'out of sight, out of mind' phenomenon, which adds to or is because of the immersive experience of being here.

Life in Yambio can also be ridiculous. At dinner we were joined by an expat woman from Morecambe whose accent has turned Scandinavian after a career spent away from Lancashire. She'd lived in Maputo so she was a useful source of information as I'll be there before the month is over. The Ugandan waitress, called Skylar, told us about a TV show where the ugliest and most deformed men in Uganda are paraded alongside chimpanzees in front of the audience, who howl and laugh at the men's misfortunes. Then she showed us a video of an obese naked woman on a sofa allowing a dog to explore her body. It was extremely bizarre.

I hope this isn't my last evening in Yambio, but it may well be. My involvement was only supposed to be temporary so I'm privileged it has lasted this long. As someone new has come into the organisation whose role encompasses management of our South Sudan work, I will have to be refocused on other organisational risks that are floating on the horizon: Liberia, Mozambique and Romania. If issues in these places are ironed out I hope I could be called on again to advise and assist on our work in South Sudan. I will miss the various Yambio characters, our great relationships with partners and the adventurous nature of our work here.

It's been an incredibly enriching experience to visit here regularly over the last eighteen months, overcoming challenges and seeing our project develop and the town become less insecure. The South Sudanese, especially the Zande who I know best because they are the dominant tribe in this region, are some of the most resilient on the planet and I admire their humility, patience and good humour.