Roadie to Nabia Pai

In co-ordination with our UNMOS (UN Military Observers) and the BANBAT (Bangladesh Battalion), myself, the R&R (Reform and Restructuring) officer, and the GCP (Gender and Child Protection Officer) went on a Medium Range Patrol to a place called Nabia Pai. Nabia Pai is a village on the outskirts of Yambio County which is close to the Congo border. They recently have had a lot of LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) movement in their area so we have not been able to go there for some time.

Nabia Pai is only 21 kilometres from our UN base, however it takes about 2 hours to get there given the rough terrain. I wish I could post video clips so you could get a true picture of what it is like. We arrived at an SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) outpost about 5 kilometres from Nabia Pai and spoke with the SPLA there. They told us that they had not had any LRA movement for about a week so we continued on to Nabia Pai.

The Community Policing officer, Gender and Child Protection officer, language assistant, and I met with the local village head, Chief Samuel BATITI and his council and we sat and discussed several issues including the recent LRA movement in the area, education, health, availability of resources, criminal problems in the area, and community policing including their relationship with the SSPS. The meeting went well and we then continued for a walk around the market.

The market was quite similar to the Yambio market except for the dried monkey meat. I didn’t purchase any. We will be heading back to Nabia Pai in the near future, however there are several other places we need to visit as well. Some of these are two days away. 120 kilometres here equals two days. My issue is that I only have 4 vehicles, one with no keys, the other we have to push to get moving. Well, we were pushing it and using it for regular duties, but it’s fixed now thank god. I have two waiting for us in Juba, but so far no luck in getting them here. Soon I hope.

Cheers,

Gonzo.

(Photos from top to bottom: 1) The Road to Nabia Pai, 2) Chief BATITI and his council, 3) Left to Right: Member of Chief's council, GCP Officer James OGETO (Kenya), Chief BATITI, me, 4) Monkey Meat for sale at the Nabia Pai market)