A Couple of Quick Trips to Somalia

As is often the case, I have a lot of catching up to do. I’ll see what I can do.

So where was I. The month of May. After the national park trip I had a couple of trips to Somalia. Both were quick and targeted. It’s been a while since I’ve spent much time in the country outside of Mogadishu. Hopefully in the second half of this year I’ll be able to do so. Trying to get to each of our field office before the end of September.

On the second trip I was accompanied by a colleague from headquarters. He was pretty well traveled but he hadn’t seen anything like this. We went out to the camps where we are support people who have been displaced by drought/flooding/conflict. This are massive areas of ramshackle tents. The population is scraping by. It’s not pretty and there needs to be a substantial amount of investment to get these people out of these tents and into homes. The problem is, many have nothing to go back to – no livelihood or the situation is too insecure. Resolving these issues is complex and beyond what I’ll take time to describe here. For now, we do what we can.

After visiting the camp, we headed out across Mogadishu towards a hospital that we support. I intentionally chose a hospital clear on the other side of town to show my colleague what the city is like. It’s a fascinating place. We move quickly, obviously, because it’s safer. Generally speaking. We ended up in a bit of an accident as one of our armed escorts smashed into the back of our armored vehicle as we came to an abrupt stop. We carried on according to protocols. Found out that someone had hit them and pushed them into us. The poor person who hits a vehicle loaded with armed men. It was resolved quickly since they were able to catch up to us after about 10-15 minutes.

After the clinic, we made a quick stop at the lido area for a juice and some watermelon. Such a beautiful place. The beach is so different from what it was when I first visited in 2016. It was full of people, mostly young people, enjoying the water, playing football, etc. So good to see. I’m told that in the evenings, particularly on weekends, the place is packed. It’s a sign that things are headed in the right direction.

Back at the office, we met with staff and then hopped on our computers. The evening was calm. I used to hear gunfire almost every time I spent the night there. It’s been a few months since I’ve heard anything. I know there will be serious hiccups along the way but I do hope that the overall trend is as my Somali colleagues tell me – no moving backwards.