John Scot and myself were going on a mission to Torit. I was going to assess advising and check up on my room mate Kevin who was working in Torit temporally teaching English to some SSPS. John was going with some aid groups and a SSPS general to to an inspection on a new police station.
with some trepidation we headed out with the Beast, yes it was a road trip. Torit is about 140 KM east of Juba. Not a big deal on Canadian pavement, but in South Sudan dirt roads its a kidney killer.
The Torit Central police HQ. I am with Kelvin an UNPOL adviser who works in Torit. But lets get to the trip first!
crossing the Nile bridge and heading East to Torit.
On the other side of the Nile from Juba we waited for our convoy to form up. we would be riding with a Major General and his four body guards, and four NGO aid workers all in 3 vehicles
The road to Torit was in better shape then other dirt roads, but was still bumpy in places. The rain season had produce beautiful green views along the way.
Kids always wave and say Hi, so of course we had to stop.
And give them a soccer ball. we had a Scottish X-cop riding with us from UKaid and he thought this was fantastic. George (the x-cop), who has been in Africa years thought this village might produce shop top notch players in a few years.
John and I by the Beast, we were worried it was going to let us down, but it true spirit it got us there and back. The Beast just makes more noise now.
A bridge blown up during the civil war. we had to drive around into the river bed to cross over.
Teaching in Torit. On the first day I helped my buddy Kevin teach an English class to the SSPS
main street in Torit. That is a Mosque in the background. The South Sudanese respect all religions, which considering the history with Sudan is very refreshing.
John and Kevin in the Torit market. Torit is a very nice town and has a great market. The people are very friendly and the town is clean.
A view of a mountain range from Torit.
what the old Central Police station looked like before UNDP and UK Aid assisted in building new offices.
The new station.
Public front counter for complaints. The SSPS in Torit seem very positive and well trained, I spent the afternoon with Kelvin UNPOL team site leader) at the Central Police station and observed them at work. The UNPOL advisers for Torit had done a fantastic job in developing the officers policing skills and the SSPS themselves were motivated and hard working. One officer, a private, conducted an investigation on a two year old girl who had been raped. The officer used investigative skills and community contacts to track the suspect down. The suspect was in custody when I was there, and was waiting for justice to be served. Although a very traumatic and sad case it is good to see the SSPS and the UNPOL officers that work with them deal with crime and make the community safe.
On the way back to Torit we stopped by this destroyed tank. The SPLA had taken this tank out during the civil war. The Major General we were with told us that a convoy had been ambushed here and this tank had been destroyed. A majority of the SSPS were in the civil war as soldiers on the South Sudanese side.
me on the tank. I think it is a Russian T-55 tank.
Our convoy heading back to Juba.
Typical village in South Sudan. The shade tree is where you will find people during the day, and is the focal point in all villages.
Torit is a nice place and if you were in south Sudan would be worth a visit.
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