Malakal from the air

Above is a view of Malakal that wasn't easy to come by during the war. As recently as two years ago there were no direct flights into Malakal or Juba for fear of being shot down.

I was talking with Roger our country director last night about how much things have changed in the eight years that he's been working in Sudan. It's only been within the last year that UN security cleared NGOs to work here. It is encouraging to see the town normalized on the streets from day to day and the tension from last November replaced with life as before.

Somewhere in that picture is our base. Malakal is strategically located (click for map) in close proximity to three states that are often overlooked and unfortunately will likely be locations for emergencies in 2007. This enables Medair to react quickly and effectively to intervene in these crisis which is the whole reason why we're here.