Mogadishu & Galkacyo with SVP

I think this is the longest absence I’ve had from this blog. Tough to keep up as 2018 has been rather full. But we're off and running again.

As the new year began, things moved rather quickly. By mid-January I was hosting the highest level visit for our organization to Somalia since we started working there. The Senior Vice President, in charge of all of programs around the world, came for a 3-day visit. He and I had discussed it in the past but I was surprised that he was keen on coming, not only to Mogadishu but deep into the country to remote areas as well. The trick was to figure out how to do this, plus set up meetings with the government and keep everyone safe in the process. Moreover, travel in the country can be unpredictable at times and you need to be flexible. He'd worked in the field for many, many years so I pretty much knew he'd have some understanding of the context.

On our side, HQ was pushing for a detailed itinerary. After doing this for some time, I’ve come to learn that this is a bit of fantasy. Rather than plan every five minutes of the day (which could never be realized), you being with a general plan for a full day with lots of A and B options. You set priorities (things that MUST happen) and adjust quickly as you go. But a set chronology likely can’t happen even in the best of times. There are so many things that can throw things off. Being ready to change tack and be able to put it into motion in short order, that is the key.

Day 1

In the end, this is what happened. The trip began early as all my trips to Somalia do. By 4:30 we were picking Ciarán up at his hotel on the way to the Nairobi airport. He’d arrived the day prior and would be silently dealing with jet lag throughout the visit. He’s done this hundreds of times and so he’s better at it than most. Nonetheless, we’re all human.

kilometers of devastated buildings

through tinted, bullet-proof glass but you can see the beautiful architecture that hopefully one day will be renovated

We arrived in Mogadishu about 9:00 or so but getting through “immigration” took forever. I have a Somali work permit so I can get through quickly. But the queue for the visa people dragged on and on. Eventually we hopped in our armored vehicle and headed out. We stopped for a quick “breakfast”, had our detailed security briefing and then headed out to the camps for the internally displaced (by drought and/or conflict). Prior to leaving the security team tried to get us to wear flak jackets and pith helmets. I'm not sure why. I've never worn them before. May have been due to the high-level visitor. I shrugged and complied. Sort of. I put my stuff on, amazingly heavy, but as I looked through the vehicle at Ciarán I noticed that he was getting in without it. The jackets are apparently one-size-fits-all-except-big-guys. Mine was super tight but it worked. His wasn't even close. Once inside the vehicle I took mine off and tossed it in the back. Hot. Uncomfortable. Unnecessary.

blazing through the powdery dust of the IDP camp (and the ubiquitous furry dashboard)

We went via rough and tumble backroads. The main road had had a few IED (improvised explosive device) attacks in the days prior and the security guys thought it would be safer to avoid it. Our visit to our health facility was short as is standard when you do these sorts of things. You need to keep moving. Soon we were back in the vehicle heading towards a hospital that we support in town. By now it was noon and the place was not a bustle like it would have been if we'd been there earlier. Nonetheless, it's such a good and clean facility. Our lead doctor, Marian, impressed as usual.

Behind the scenes plans were changing. We’d set up an appointment with the Minister of Health and it was already time for the meeting. Other things would need to shift.

The Minister was great and was excited for the visit. She had her entire team of about seven or eight advisors join us. Impressive. We felt special.

taking photos at the beach

After the visit it was time for lunch. We’d initially planned on heading back to the office since it provides adequate security. But my head of office likes to show off his city. Rightly so. As a result, we headed to the Lido restaurant on the beach. Not everyone does this sort of thing since this part of the city has seen its share of attacks, including this very restaurant where a couple dozen people were killed. But they serve some relatively inexpensive, tasty lobster, fresh grapefruit juice and some fantastic watermelon overlooking the beach and the beautiful Indian Ocean. I’d been there a couple times before and I was okay with authorizing a quick lunch on this occasion.

lobster and shrimp, with a view

From there we headed straight to the UN compound for meetings, then back to the office to meet with staff. After the full day we made our way upstairs to the guesthouse where we started in on our emails. When the day starts that early, it’s best to end it early. They brought in our dinner about 7pm. I had some camel, a bit of rice and watermelon juice and was soon off to bed.

Day 2

The flight to Galkacyo was at a reasonable time. We had some breakfast and caught up on a few emails before heading to the airport. Instead of the UN flight we took a small commercial flight given that it fit our schedule better. You get quite a bit of stares since there aren’t many expats that take these flights.

Upon arrival at the tiny airport, we visited the office, had some lunch and headed southwest. Galkacyo is not far from being in the geographical center of the country. It lies about 50km from the Ethiopian border and has a history of conflict, particularly because it is on the border between Puntland and the rest of Somalia. And there is a lot of sand and rock.

have gun, will travel

Our destination for the day was a place I’d never been to. The economy, as is the case for much of Somalia, is based on pastoralism. Camels, goats and cattle and are herded here and there in search of grazing area and water. The place we visited consisted of twin communities, each supported by boreholes (wells) that we had rehabilitated and provided solar panels to operate the pumps. We were also supporting some livelihoods activities, particularly supporting women.

yes, more furry dashboards, just what you need for a dusty environment

The drive was just a bit over two hours long on a sometimes nasty dirt road. I was beginning to question the wisdom of my team in attempting to make this happen, particularly with an SVP. In the end, however, it worked out well. Each community welcomed us with open arms. Given the remoteness of the location, we were told that many of the children had never seen white people before. It was the type of visit that doesn’t happen very often but I was so glad we went.

men on the left...

...women on the right

I don’t remember how long we stayed but I think it was a little over an hour altogether. But as the sun was getting lower in the sky, there was no question we needed to get moving back to Galkacyo. It’s more exposure than we generally allow for security reasons and we didn’t want to push our luck.

filling jugs and putting them on her donkey

As is often the case, the return drive didn’t seem as long. Upon arrival we had some tea, met with the mayor and later had a dinner/meeting with staff. I got the impression that staff were grateful for the visit after being sort of off the radar during the area’s long-ish periods of conflict.

Day 3

The third day barely needs its own section in this blog. Before heading to the airport, we had a rather than a short visit of the hospital that we support in town. The last time I was there was during the drought and there were lots of cases of malnutrition, acute watery diarrhea and some cholera. The trauma ward had a few gunshot wounds, including a woman who, according to her, had been shot by her husband. When I asked her if it was an accident, she provided an expressionless answer of no.

visiting the hospital

From the hospital we headed north to cross the "green line" (we flew into the south the day before and we flew out of the north). It's the imaginary yet real border between the north and the south. It can be a place of significant tension but peace talks have calmed things down. But we still needed to change vehicles in the no-man's land since whatever operates on one side is not allowed to operate on the other. Even airlines. If a company flies to the airstrip in the north, it's not allowed to do business in the south and visa versa. The military escort from the south greeted their counterparts from the north with handshakes and smiles (hasn't always been this chummy). They bid us farewell as we moved our stuff to the "north" vehicles and off we went.

From then it was simply a brutal day of travel from Galkacyo, to Garowe (Puntland), to Mogadishu, to Wajir (Kenya) to Nairobi. You disembark each time even though it’s the same UN plane all the way. The trip takes the entire rest of the day. I eventually arrived home about 8:30pm or so, had dinner, a shower (to wash away dried sweat and dust) and went to bed. I would do the same basic trip seven weeks later, with a trip to the US wedged in between. It’s shaping up to be a busy year.