High-level Visit (November)

In November we had what I will call a “high-level visit”. You’ll notice that I obscure many of the references in this blog or avoid putting in certain photos. It’s probably not necessary but it’s better to leave some things anonymous. There are rather big events in my life (blog topics) that I’ve avoided discussing for this reason.

This visit came on short notice and required a serious amount of preparation. Moreover I was traveling when I was notified so overseeing the organization of the visit was tricky at best. I’ve hosted this sort of thing before but never with about four or five days to put it together. In a way I suppose it had an upside. All involved knew we didn’t have much time and it allowed for some understanding when things weren’t just right. Nonetheless, taking a complex visit into a complex environment was stressful. There’s only so much you can control and you just do what you can.

In fact prior to the visit I was already in Somalia, in fact central Somalia. But I had to fly all the way back to Nairobi on a Tuesday, meet the team on Wednesday and have a short briefing, and then head out at 4am on Thursday. I was already exhausted when it began and I knew I would be running on fumes by the time it was over.

the scars of war (through a dirty, tinted, bullet-proof window)

Rather than passing through immigration as we normally would, we had the VIP treatment. A vehicle met us on the tarmac. We handed our documents to a UN official and we were whisked away with the understanding that at some point during the day we were have our documents back. It would be a very intense twelve hours.

clinic visit - beautiful child

We started with a visit to the prime minister’s office. In the process we met a few other ministers given that their cabinet meeting would follow our meeting. Very good opportunity to see a lot of people in a short period of time.

Soon after we were out on the road to visit a clinic that we support. We couldn’t stay long both for security reasons and also to keep on schedule. After only about 20 minutes we were off again, this time to an area of those who had been displaced by conflict or drought. We did have a chance to speak not only to staff but to some of the Somalis who were seeking care our health facility there. Of course there was a need for photos and video since this would be used to continue generating awareness of the plight of the people we serve.

at the camp

Then was a long windy drive from the outskirts of Mogadishu to our office located near the center of the city. We were limited on time given that we were scheduled for a late lunch with an ambassador and some other important people within MIA. Nonetheless, we squeezed in a good meeting with staff and then proceeded to the airport. At this point I was starting to feel more relieved. The most logistically challenging and vulnerable part of the visit was over. We still had much to do but I was more confident that, so long as we didn’t miss our plane, we’d make it back to Nairobi in one piece, having done what we set out to do.

After a rather rushed but interesting lunch, we were off to catch the plane, once again thankfully bypassing some of the normal protocols. The duration of the flight to Nairobi varies depending on the size of the plane. On this day we were on the ground after about an hour and forty-five minutes. After clearing immigration we were off to a nearby hotel for an evening meeting. It had been a long day since I’d left home a little after 4am. I had to see if I could maintain at least a basic level of articulateness down the home stretch.

weighing the little one

The meeting ended about 9:30pm. A few minutes later my driver would pull up in front of the hotel to escort me back home. As tired as I was, I felt good about the day. There were so many interesting things about the visit that I can’t really discuss here but hopefully I’ll write them down someplace for future reference. In about a half hour I was home. Not much time to rest given that morning would come early and the new day’s obligations would begin.