Residents of the Gudele suburb iter pumped from underground. “The clean water you buy outside went from 5 to 10 pounds to 25 and now 30,” a local told me. “This Nile water we pump is not so clean. But you can fill your tank for 1 pound.”

The neighborhood comprises mostly mud and thatched roof huts, except a few conspicuously well-fortified, brick and cement multi-story houses. “One of those belongs to an opposition leader, but you didn’t hear it from me,” a local told me. Many South Sudanese have diaspora relatives in Western countries who might send money back, right? I asked. “That’s nothing to do with these houses,” the local laughed. “Don’t you know how this country works? You have an uncle in the government and you pump money out of him, and you build houses and fill your car with expensive water from the store. You don’t have an uncle, you pump water from the ground.”

– AYS