Sudan: The New Normal in South Sudan

press release

I have now been back in Juba for little more than a month. Before Christmas, many international staff with the Red Cross were evacuated due to the conflict which broke out in South Sudan in mid-December. For weeks I was following the news from home in Sweden, looking for information on what was happening in the country, communicating with colleagues still in South Sudan and sitting glued to my computer - working from a distance and waiting to hear news. When I was given the "ok" to return to Juba it was with mixed feelings; very happy to return and support my colleagues at the South Sudan Red Cross in their emergency response to assist people affected by the conflict, but also worried about what the situation would be like and how it would unfold.

Being back in Juba again feels normal in many ways, like it used to. I recognize the heat, the wonderful colleagues at the South Sudan Red Cross, the hectic office environment, the same small, cramped supermarkets, the crazy traffic along Juba's few paved roads and a myriad of aid agencies around town. But many other things are far from normal. We now have a curfew, meaning we have to be at home by 8 p.m. Living in Juba we are used to curfews. Even before the conflict we had one, although it was later in the evening.

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