Source: APO – Report:
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The sound of boots squelching, immersing themselves into wet soil that would sometimes refuse to let go of the passing “prey”, is one that Major Md Mahbubul Alam Khan, a Bangladeshi peacekeeper, won’t forget anytime soon.
It is a vivid memory from far-away-from-everything Thiet in Tonj South that had ample time to sink in. This is the place Major Mahbubul and his unit called home, for four and a half months.
In fact, they did not just call it home; they made it. From scratch, and out of necessity.
“A security emergency, heavy intercommunal fighting, meant we had to create a makeshift outpost here, initially to protect our Chinese engineering colleagues who were repairing a vital road nearby,” Major Mahbubul recalls. “Water was rationed, communications virtually nonexistent, roads were submerged, but we kept going, because it was essential for us to be there.”
Their stay in a small cluster of tents, without electricity, with pit latrines and pounded by the elements, was intended to be a short one, but as new developments emerged, a return to the comforts of Warrap State’s capital Kuajok would not be on the cards for months to come.
Large-scale intercommunal violence across Warrap’s Tonj region came in the way, making the protection of civilians, and showing their presence, the top priority of Major Mahbubul’s unit.
From their dust- and mud-covered tents, they, and their Pollock-stained-looking vehicles, groaning from the exertion, would set out every morning to perform a variety of duties. On some days, they would bring supplies, or protect others transporting essential goods in convoys, for themselves and local communities.
“On some days, conditions were so bad that it took us hours to cover just a few kilometers. But we pushed on. If we had not, people living here would have thought that we had given up. They may have lost their own hope as well.”
As often as possible, the (originally) Blue Helmets would check in with local communities, engaging with chiefs, women, youth and children, listening to their concerns, while at the same time providing a modest measure of reassurance to otherwise largely deserted villagers.
“Sometimes, language was a problem, we couldn’t always find the right words for communication to be perfect. And yet there was trust, laughter and a sense of being in this struggle together. Smiling children waving at you speaks for itself, and when others see you walking long distances side by side with them through the mud or under a scorching sun, they know that you care,” the Major says.
Eventually, their consistent perseverance paid off. The previously feared stretch of road from Tonj town through Thiet to Romich, could be safely used again, markets reopened, families and cattle moved freely; everyday life, as it used to be known, had returned.
With the security situation across the outpost’s entire operational area significantly improved, the Bangladeshi military could put an end to their prolonged stint in tents.
Major Md Mahbubul Alam Khan will be cherishing his hot showers back in Kuajok, but he won’t be able, and wouldn’t want to, scrub the indelible mark of Thiet off his mind and soul.
“It [the outpost] was temporary, but what it stood for, that UNMISS will walk beside people in need also during their hardest times, will remain.”
– on behalf of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).