Pole position

The typical manic day of mixed fortunes in Juba.

Various errands performed involving car batteries, printer cartridges, lamination and key cutting (the new one we cut didn't fit).

Various meetings with key government contacts as we try to keep up to date with changes in the ministry. All went well and our work continues to be supported even if there is a general desire that we'd be more present in Juba for this, that and the other. The Ugandan President Museveni is in town, and security concerns have led to multiple road closures for unspecified lengths of time. Nicolas and I had to go on foot to the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism for our meetings, running the gauntlet of armed personnel stationed on the street, some of whom liked to grill us for ID.

We met up with a contact working in the British government, who has been great to know over the last year. The Dutch embassy has been turned into a café, so we had a frappuccino with her there. Alongside her very useful advice and introductions, since late 2017 I've been working on a funding bid for UK government funding for the 'conservation and poverty nexus'
that would represent the first award of its type for South Sudan. We know the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has had reservations about the risks of working in South Sudan so we arranged a meeting for next week to address them.

However later in the day whilst bumping along the road to the Toyota garage I received the official email awarding the funding, with some caveats. Chuffed to nuts doesn't begin to cover it.

The usual characters were hanging around the bar next to our compound, where we have to go for food in the evenings. A jovial Zimbabwean chap is helping with some compound maintenance issues. However conversations here rarely end without a huge helping of sexism, making me glad I work with colleagues who mostly avoid being offensive.