This is what is happening next door to where I am based.

Credit to Rebecca Hamilton for the Washington post. 

Please read this full article if you have time..

"So you know, this is not a war about south versus north, nor Christian against Muslim, or black against arab. There are as many Muslim Nuba as Christian (and a healthy percentage of traditional spirituality), they see their future in the north, they are intermarried and have been living along side arab nomadic groups and northern communities for centuries. There are nomadic arab communities in southern Kordofan who also voted for the SPLM and many of the Misseriya and Hawazma groups remain as marginalised as the Nuba; and as vulnerable to the policies of the centre. The Nuba SPLM are not the same as the southern SPLM/A. They are fighting to resist a regime that refuses them basic rights and a voice - access to justice and even basic social and economic rights. This is so important because the Nuba offer a vision for Sudan that builds on religious tolerance and a local understanding of democracy - relevant for so many areas of the world right now.

"And the war is in a large part our fault again. The UN 'peace-keeping' forces are not only totally ineffective (summary executions going in front of blue berets in Kadugli) but may even add to the problem. The diplomatic efforts are too often driven by ill-informed strategies or self-serving policies more related to economic gain for us rather than any sense of humanity or justice. This return of a horrific war needn't have happened if only there had been much stronger international support for the planned political process. There was never enough international pressure to promote a genuine chance for a just peace. The Carter Centre really messed up big time in failing either to monitor properly or to follow-up sufficiently on all the blatant misconduct by the Government - the local elections, which offered a real political way forward, were utterly and so obviously rigged and yet no one said boo to Bashir and his cronies."

Perpetual Motion

Packing again. Sometimes I think I am improving at packing, other days I fail at it miserably.  Whatever the case, I am developing a talent for moving on, for letting go. I can now recognize the beauty of simplicity. Letting go has meant lightening my cargo of unnecessary weight, of people and places and emotions, like regret for example. Some things are just too heavy to carry through ones life for too long. Travel has taught me what to leave behind and not look back on. It has also taught me what not to take for granted, what to be eternally grateful for and the importance of expressing that gratitude as often as possible. Travel has also taught me the importance of coming home. Being home these past 2 months has reminded me of the need for balance in my life, something I often neglect. Making time for all those wonderfully indulgent things in life feels good. As does being kind to myself. I am still learning how to navigate this journey and I still make multiple mistakes along the way, but the road continues to beckon and I am still her willing follower. 

you know I have left everywhere I have ever been

I don't really recommend it
though not like anyone asked me

maybe you and I will meet again someday

I've been known to come down this road

call it destiny and then again

maybe not

I don't know.

God's Country, Ani difranco

Mighty Meroe

Some pictures below from the Pyramids of Meroe, the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Kush that existed in Sudan between c.800 BC - C.350 AD. A strong and mighty kingdom that even rivaled Egypt at one point. We adventured up there on the weekend before I left Sudan for Australia. It was such a wonderfully, magical place. Meroe made us feel like explorers of a bygone era, excitedly stumbling across antiquities buried in the sands for thousands of years. Which is in fact what did happen, except that the Italian explorer/Tomb Raider who stumbled across these beauties in 1834 decided to dynamite the tops off all of the the Pyramid tombs, hoping to unearth gold and rare treasures inside each one. He was disappointed when he found minimal treasures and allegedly showed no remorse at destroying a piece of ancient history for all mankind. Shame. But it is, nevertheless, an incredible place. We were the only visitors up there that weekend, we wandered around the fine, deep yellow sand dunes and touched the stones, we climbed and photographed and rode camels and were, for a change, in awe of this country who frequently disappoints us. That day, she did not disappoint us.

Raindrops keep falling..

It's been raining a lot while I have been home. Many rural areas are flooded. But on the news one night I heard an 80 year old farmer say;   "a flood ends quicker than a drought.. so I am not complaining". There is always beauty to be found in adversity.  Like these rain-drop jewels in our yard..

From Australia with love

We are all visitors to this time, this place. 

We are just passing through.

Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love...

and then we return home. 

                                                                - Aboriginal Proverb

Humanity at its Finest

"Human nature, psychological characteristics that all normal humans have in common".

"The human condition, the totality of experience of existing as a human". 

The reports just get worse as the days go on..

Here and again here. 

And the official update from the UN here. 

Whatever the madness, and the lack of understanding of how humans can behave like this, I think it is important to be informed.

Not Again :(

Sadness in South Kordofan... 

Sudans people are once again wandering in search of a home free from suffering.
When will this end?
When the world finds a renewable energy source and no longer hungers for Oil?
Or when the borders are re-drawn?
Or when a country is ruled by just people with kind hearts?

No one can answer my questions.
But I think it is still important to ask them occasionally.

Oh Sudan...
I have not forgotten you..
Brinkmanship in Sudan.. 

Especially not Darfur..
Darfur in the Shadows, Human Rights Watch

Tabaldi Tree of Darfur