Counting down the days
It has been a while since I wrote a weblog. After all the travelling around there were no big exciting assignments in the office interesting enough to tell you about. At least, that’s how it feels sometimes. When writing it down it might seem interesting enough I guess, and I think I might conclude that I got used to the work and Sudan which I think is a good sign.
Mott MacDonald has several projects running in Juba, one of them is the Capacity Building Trust Fund where I work, the others are the Basic Services Fund, Water Supply and Sanitation Project and the Private Sector Development Project. Last week the workload for the water project was quite high and they requested me to stand by on a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene workshop. They had organised a bi-annual meeting where government and other stakeholders meet and share ideas about the progress and future plans. I was happily surprised that during this workshop actually really good ideas were shared. It was good to see the commitment of the different parties to provide services to the people of Southern Sudan and I have learnt a lot about the area of water and sanitation. Interestingly one of the key issues that was raised was the need for capacity building. Once again it was demonstrated that these development issues are multi-dimensional and efforts should be coordinated.
Within our own project we are making some good progress. I have updated you several times on the upcoming responsive window projects. Last weeks we have been evaluating the proposals of potential service providers. This requires quite some pushing and following up, working in a big country with poor internet connection is challenging. But as a result of everyone’s efforts we were able to have the first financial bid openings this week. After this the negotiation for contracts have started, another interesting process and good to see that we are getting somewhere. I hope that I can see the first contract being signed before I leave Juba, which will be 20nd of December. I must admit I’d rather stay a bit longer in the sun, but having a Christmas with my family is also nice for a change.
