Contemplating life in Papua

Days 16 – 17, 4 – 5 December, Stranded in Sentani

Saturday and Sunday were spent contemplating a lot about what had happened so far and what may or may not happen over the next few days. I was really frustrated because there was really nothing I could do except wait for confirmation from the international agent and the local agent before I could really plan my next move. I spent some time over the weekend trying to catch up with my blog and updating the expedition facebook page with photos and videos so that people could share as much of my experience as possible.

I also started to catch up on some personal issues that had been left hanging when I started the expedition. I had been in contact with one of the journalists who had helped me promote the expedition for advice on a very difficult professional issue that I had face in Sudan. I'll try to relate it here, although it's a long and complicated story.

Between June 2009 and July 2010 I worked with a German Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Sudan (June 09 – Mar 10 in South Darfur, Apr – July 10 in Khartoum). In August 2009, the Country Director (CD), a German national, was arrested after a former local staff member, who had been sacked one month before for connecting his compound to the NGO's generator without permission, opened a private case against him alleging that the CD had entered his compound illegally and spoiled his good name. The CD was released and a court date set for September 2009, just as the CD was due to return to Germany at the end of his 2-year contract.

I looked through our financial records for evidence to strengthen the CD's defence that we had been out of Nyala (our base in South Darfur) on the date in question; however, none of our receipts supported this belief. Finally, I checked through my email records and discovered an email I had sent to a friend on the disputed date - we had no email access in the field so this was irrefutable evidence that we had in fact been in Nyala on the alleged date and therefore the CD could not win his case on a technicality. Despite this evidence against his defence, the CD allowed our local staff to contact the Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) employee who issued our travel permit around that time, who wrote a letter supporting the CD's case that we had been in the field and out of Nyala. This letter was submitted to the Court in clear breach of Sudanese Law, the CD's contractual commitments and several Codes of Conduct for humanitarian workers. The false evidence persuaded the judge to rule in the CD's favour and the former staff member's case was thrown out. I made it clear to our German HQ that if I was asked in Court I would tell the truth about what had happened. I also submitted a formal complaint against the outgoing CD, based on his irrational and, in my view, dangerous behaviour. I received no official response regarding this complaint, other than my complaint had been noted.

The former staff member who had opened the case had borrowed money locally to take the case to court in the expectation that he would receive a large compensation payment. In desperation (given that he was being pressurised to pay back money he owed but didn't have) the former staff member kidnapped the 7-year old son of the HAC employee who had submitted the letter of support on the CD's behalf. This happened in November 2009, after the former CD had left the country to take up a position with another NGO (presumably with a reference from my employer). In March 2010, after I returned from a period of leave, I discovered that the police had raided the former staff member's compound (which was directly behind our compound) and had found the body of the little boy stuffed into a latrine.

The police arrested the former staff member, he was charged with murder and he is now facing the death penalty. I took local legal advice in Khartoum and was advised that under no circumstances should I return to South Darfur, due to the potential of reprisals against me should the local community discover what had occurred and to avoid being dragged into a murder case. I informed my employer and while this was initially accepted, over the next few weeks I was put under pressure to return to South Darfur, which I refused to do to ensure my own safety.

My request to my employer for a formal investigation into the decisions that led to this horrific situation were brushed aside and my personal safety was not prioritised. My employer attempted to sweep the problem under the carpet and the management acted (and continue to act) in a morally cowardly way, by trying to protect the former CD and indirectly, themselves and the reputation of the organisation. Eventually, I was forced out of the organisation after management insisted that my position be based in Nyala, despite the fact that it was not safe for me due to circumstances beyond my control.

I decided that I couldn't just stand back and allow this situation to continue when no-one from the organisation is being held accountable and while the issue is brushed under the carpet. I am still in discussions with the journalist in question with regard to how to proceed. To me, the organisation have demonstrated a disturbing lack of moral courage and I want other people to know what happened so that nothing like this can ever happen again in the future. The situation, and the subsequent deterioration of my relationship with my employer, had a huge negative impact on my mental health during my time in Sudan, from which I am now thankfully starting to recover. I was hoping that the expedition would give me some time and space to reflect on my time in Sudan. But the expedition was now threatening to get out of control! Nevertheless, I had lived through the experience in Darfur and knew that I was trying to do the right thing in making sure people were held to account; this at least allowed me to put any problems with the expedition into perspective.

I tried to remain positive over the weekend and also sent emails to a couple of production company contacts I had about the possibility of producing a doumentary of the expedition. I got some feedback and arranged to meet one of them in London when I got back in January.

I also reconnected with Dr. Mike Prentice of the University of Indiana, who I was providing glacier photos and elevation data for to update him on my position and he wished me luck and told me he would have loved to join me on the expedition, which I appreciated.