Patrolling a lawless land

"I call my family in Beijing once every two weeks. It is only about 20 minutes, but that is long enough for me to find ease and comfort from their voice," says Li, who is one of nine peacekeeping police officers in South Sudan and also one of only four Chinese who have serviced in three UN police missions.

Li says that he knows how destructive a war is and wanted to do something to help the peace process.

Before coming to South Sudan last July, he was deployed twice to East Timor from January 2001 to December 2003.

Having seen or felt enough pains and scars left by wars, the 43-year-old policeman often becomes very philosophical when it comes to talking about the meaning of life.

His 46,000-word English diary is a testimony of how much and how long he has been considering such questions. "I always start my telephone conversation with my daughter by saying: 'Are you happy with your school life'," Li says.

"If you are not happy, you are not in the mood to do anything. The purpose of life should be happiness or bring that sense to others," Li says.

Li speaks good English and frequently used English words in his interview when a proper Chinese phrase escaped his mind.

"I love studying English. And communication in English is also a must for performing my duty," Li says.

In South Sudan, there are about 600 UN peacekeeping police officers including seven Chinese policemen and two Chinese policewomen. They work in different sectors.

Li is UNPOL Commander of Sector II, and the commanding officer of four Team Sites within his area of responsibility (AOR).

In Wau, where his Sector II is based, there are more than 100 peacekeeping policemen covering local police stations in four states. These areas are only connected by helicopters or small fixed-wing aircrafts.

"I'm traveling 13 days each month and since the road conditions are horrible or there is no road at all, it takes two or three days to get to a remote police station," Li says.

"Flying there is no fun since most aircrafts we take are very small and old. It flies like a dragonfly," he says.

Li says there is almost no policing in South Sudan, where a two-decade civil war has devastated nearly everything.

Most of the police staff are former retired soldiers. "Despite putting on police uniforms, they still have so much work to do before they can provide a better service to their people. And they also lack necessary equipment to do their business," Li says.

Most police stations are just a shabby hut with untrained local policemen and little or no policing equipment.

Li says he was shocked when he arrived at a local police station where there was only a wood bench under a big tree. "So we have to start from basic things such as finger print collection, protection of children and women or use of equipment," he says.

Another problem that Li and his colleagues have to face every day is food supply. Li says onion and potato seemed to have been the only choices for most meals. There is tomato, but it is very expensive and gets rot easily in South Sudan where it is hot and humid, according to Li.

He returned home in Beijing recently after finishing a one-year mission. When he stopped in Khartoum for his home-bounding flight, Li even took a photo with a tomato in his hands, as though he were holding something as precious as a diamond ring.

"Here in Khartoum, I had some cucumber. It was so delicious," Li says.

However, the biggest challenge is not the poor working conditions.

"Nobody wants to be policed by anybody else, so we have to let them know that we are coming here to offer help. That is a more difficult job," Li says.

In winning hearts and minds, actions speak louder than words. Li says the peacekeeping police in South Sudan launched "Quick Impact Projects" - doing things that could bring immediate and visible benefits to local people.

For example, Li's team inspects local police stations and writes down a list of items that are urgently needed for better policing.

They then submitt an assessment on the project with a detailed budget for each item to UNPOL mission headquarters in Khartoum, where an equipment committee would study their proposal and release funds if they approve it.

Li's section has submitted 16 projects, with six getting approval from the committee and three having received initial release of fund, and one has already been carried out.

"Now they have better equipment which is badly needed to do their job. That is something that can be seen, felt and appreciated," Li says.

Actions are louder, but speaking can also make a difference.

To better communicate with local policemen and villagers, Li also learns how to speak greeting words in Arabic. "They are just some simple words but work very well. That is the best way to get closer to them," Li says.

(China Daily 07/24/2007 page22)