Satellite

Testing field equipment before heading to South Sudan is wise as it would be less than ideal to arrive in Yambio and struggle for communications with the outside world.

Ivan, who has joined the South Sudan project, is here testing our satellite phone, which we use when in the bush to make daily security calls back to the office. These aren't always necessary from a safety perspective as we've done enough due diligence in advance of travel. Occasionally in the field it's been cloudy or forest clearings have not been open enough and I've struggled for signal. My fear is that someone in head office would panic and trigger some sort of emergency rescue if they didn't hear from me, even if the reason is likely to be technology-related not lying in a ravine with broken limbs-related. [there aren't any ravines anyway]

Of course the phone would provide an essential lifeline if we did run into any grave situations, so I'm grateful to carry it. We tested it successfully on one of Cambridge's cow pat-strewn commons, away from any looming college buildings.