Farewell Sudan!

Wednesday evening was a great opportunity at the Coptic Club in Khartoum to meet with three of the staff of the Canadian Embassy and the Sudan Director of Save the Children. Alfred Taban, vice-chair of the Khartoum YMCA Board of Directors, discussed the future of the Darfur situation and peace in general in Sudan and presented one of the more optimistic views we have heard. Alfred is also an international winner of major awards for promoting democracy in governments and is the owner of two daily papers in Khartoum - one Arabic and one English. We also discovered that the First Secretary and Counsul at the Canadian Embassy, Eric, is a cousin of Bob Gallagher - CEO of the Peterborough YMCA. After munching on some crispy fish, crispy lamb, crispy kebobs, and crispy chicken washed down with some crispy bread and cold 7Up, we presented the Khartoum YMCA with a large Canadian and Sudan flag. We were presented with beautiful wall hangings displaying a map of Sudan with a portrait or ourselves on our own gift. We then called it an evening and cruised back to the hotel with Dr. Wageeh at the controls. Bed came easy again as it was well after midnight.

The Acropole, the hotel we stayed in and which provided us with service beyond any expectations, provided us with our breakfast and we were off to meet with acting General Secretary of the National Council of YMCA's of Sudan. We arrived at a very well worn facility near the airport where the National Council also provides classes to adults. We discussed a number of issues with the Acting General Secretary while Kim was getting elabourate henna tattoos applied to her arms for the trip back to Canada. There was a rumour that she might get an African hair stylist to attack her hair, but we have not seen the result yet to see if she went ahead. We returned to our hotel, had a final wrap up meeting with Dr. Wageeh over lunch and headed off to try to close our suitcases while Kim was being rescued from the hairdressers. We can hardly wait to see what a tattooed Kim with potential hair redesign might look like when she returns.

This is our last post from Sudan as we leave for the airport in two hours. It has been an unbelievable experience for all of us. Khartoum is a fast-growing city of 8,000,000 very quickly joining the ranks of a modern city. It has a way to go, but its progress - aided by the flow of oil from its rich southern resources - is noticeable. People are friendly and we have found it a very safe, exciting and educational visit. It has been an excellent adventure!