In November I had a couple more field trips. I’ll admit that
it’s a challenge to do all this hosting and travel but it’s necessary for what
we do. This has been a neglected country on many levels. There is a serious
power struggle going on and it’s not going to end anytime soon. The people of
the country need help. One way to get that help is to make sure people are
aware of the need and have compelling reasons to step in and provide
assistance. Pretty straight forward actually – at least conceptually.
The field trip in November took me to Galkacyo (gal-kye-oh). It’s an
interesting place not far from the border with Ethiopia. It’s a divided city
with opposing clans controlling the upper and lower halves of the city.
Conflict flares up from time to time but generally speaking the situation has
improved over the past couple of years. I wasn’t even allowed to go there in
2016 but tensions have eased and I have since been a few times.
 |
| our UN plane |
This trip was to accompany one of our donors on a visit to
the facilities and activities they are supporting. I was part of a similar trip
with the same donor last year. I think they’re quite good and it’s always good
to see a donor who is engaged, visits the work in the field and discusses the
quality and efficiency of the interventions with the implementing organization.
They do take a critical look at what we do and it’s not always fun to find that
something needs to be improved but in the end it makes us better.
 |
| tie-dye - hadn't ever seen this before |
We visited numerous activities including some targeting
women. We saw a fascinating fabric dying training as well as tailoring. There
was a henna activity and one of the delegation thought it would be fun to get a
tattoo. I’ve visited activities like these for well over a decade in different
parts of East Africa. It’s always amazing to me to hear the stories of how
people’s lives have been changed, sometimes without huge amounts of capital
investment. It’s always motivating to go back and keep pressure on donors to
maintain this support that is making such a big difference.
 |
| super talented henna artists |
On the final morning of the visit I was taking advantage of
my time in the area to meet with local leaders and some other ad hoc
discussions with people who wanted some of my time. At one point my security
guy came in and whispered in my ear that insecurity was brewing and we needed
to get the hell out of there. A moment reminiscent of George Bush on 9/11,
rather than continuing the meeting I politely let the person who was speaking
finish what he was saying and then told the visitors that we needed to leave rather urgently.
 |
| tailoring - practicing on plastic bags |
We headed downstairs where the vehicles were idling and
everyone was ready to go. There was clearly a sense of urgency and I had no
idea what was going on. It’s the kind of situation where you just do as you’re
told.
 |
| typical housing of the displaced in Somalia - people desperately need proper housing |
Off we sped out of the compound and through the streets of
Galkacyo, dust flying. As we neared the open area that they call the “green
zone”, the often tense dividing line between the two halves of the city, I
could see smoke rising in the distance. It was around then that I was getting the
message as to what was going on. In fact it wasn’t that dangerous, at least not
at that point, but it’s the kind of thing that can get ugly in a hurry. Without
going into details, there were protests on the south side and there were fears
that if it escalated, it could cause fighting, roadblocks and so forth. We
didn’t want to take any chances.
 |
| flying to Nairobi - Mt. Kenya poking through the clouds |
We made our way to the UN compound in the north and after a
short stay there we loaded up again and headed to the dirt airstrip in a convoy
of about seven Land Cruisers. Once there we knew we were good to go. My
attention turned to some other urgent issues that were appearing on my phone,
having nothing to do with the situation in Galkacyo. As our plane arrived I was
still standing with the back door of the Land Cruiser open, leaning in and
typing like a mad man on my laptop. I was tapping into a weak signal tethering off my phone. I watched each email slowly and painfully leave my
outbox as the signal would allow. After the arriving passengers finished disembarking,
it was time for us to board. Sweat was pouring off my brow as I walked with my
open laptop towards the plane. Just as I arrived at the bottom of the stairs to
board, the final email was sent. I boarded the plane and took my seat, sticky
with sweat and dust. The journey back to Nairobi would be long – another seven
hours or so with a couple of stops, but I would make it home just in time to
catch my girls as they were getting into bed. A very nice way to end the day.
