Mogadishu-Garowe

In late January, I traveled to Somali with a colleague who hadn't been before. It’s always interesting to travel with visitor who’s coming for the first time. There’s always the apprehension in advance. I felt the same before I went. While I was still in Bujumbura, prior to moving to the Somalia program, I asked a supply chain technical advisor, who’d supported the work in Mogadishu, what it was like. I had already committed to going but I was trying to get a handle on what I was getting myself into. He told me it was a bit scary but that the program seemed to function quite well, all things considered. When I asked him if the director went into Somalia very often, he said yes, about once per quarter. I figured that would be manageable but I was still a bit nervous about the thought of spending much time there. Little did I know that it would end up being about 50% of each month.

Mogadishu 
We landed in Mogadishu and immediately headed out on some project visits, primarily healthcare facilities in a couple different parts of the city. It’s always crazy traversing the city but it’s also fascinating. I always see something new. This time I couldn’t help but noticing all the new construction. Some parts of the city are developed and quite beautiful. Other parts look like war-torn Iraq. But the potential for this city is so great.

Our guest had heard rumors that we frequently take visitors to a beach restaurant, security permitting. As the morning progressed, it appeared that we had the green light to move from our final clinic straight to the restaurant. As we drove up the road, one of my colleagues commented on the new buildings going up in the partially bombed out neighborhood. “You see these buildings? Most of them are owned by warlords.” Yes, warlords remain a big factor in Somalia though some are now District Commissioners or Members of Parliament. Even though a federal parliamentary government is increasingly getting to its feet in the country, the underlying dynamics remain more or less as they have been for decades. Interestingly, once we made our way through the restaurant to the beach on the other side, a former colleague who had met us there (separate from the above colleague) pointed to one of the buildings saying, “You see that building over there. My uncle owns that.” I smiled. The more you know, the more interesting things are.

I’ve been to this restaurant often enough, including a week and a half prior to this, that I’m familiar with the manager. I don’t think he speaks much English so we’ve never talked much. But we greet each other warmly and we have a mutual understanding of what to expect each time. For security reasons we need to get in, enjoy, and get out quickly. Same table each time, separated from view by the rest of the restaurant. He’s probably as on board with the arrangement as much as we are. People generally want Somalia to be viewed as a normal country. They want tourists. They want an economy based on something besides military support and humanitarian aid. There is a hope and optimism that is tempered by current reality. But the security risk that we bring makes it more complicated. So having us come, have a great experience, but not spend much time there is win-win.

meeting with the Mogadishu team

In the afternoon we remained in the office and met with staff, as we generally do with visitors. This is followed by a Q&A and then we were done with the formal obligations. Between 5 and 6pm I generally like to either go work out (treadmill or exercises in my room) or have my shower. There’s no hot water in any of our guesthouses so the water in the tank is always warmest at the end of the day. I’m generally a morning shower person but not in Somalia.

Garowe 
The next day we were off to the airport to catch an internal flight to Garowe (Puntland). Puntland is in the northern part of the country – the horn of the Horn of Africa. Where we were is far from the coast, however, and in fact it's not far from the border with Ethiopia. 

I was happy to be back. I hadn’t been for a few months and I always like it there. It’s a town in the middle of some rather harsh desert. The wind blows almost constantly. It feels a bit like parts of southern Idaho, to be honest.

sign at one of the govt. offices

We would be there two nights. We normally would do a few activity visits but our timing was a bit off in that there wasn’t much going on that week. My head of office had other ideas anyway. He’d set up meetings with government officials. Though I’d rather be out seeing the work we do and meeting with beneficiaries, I’m more than aware of the need to leverage the visits of people like us. I’ve been the head of a field office before and I get it. So we obliged.

dinner out

The second evening that we were there, we did something I hadn’t done before. We ventured out for a coffee. If you read this blog much, you might think I’m getting out and about a lot more than I am. In fact when I’m not in meetings or visiting activities, I’m usually sequestered in a guarded compound for security reasons. It’s sort of like being on house arrest. But this evening we went to a rooftop restaurant, had coffee and snacks and stayed there until well after dark. Though I had planned out my evening to catch up on lots of work, it ended up being such a nice change of pace. It was so wonderful feeling the cool desert breeze as the sun set. Security is so much more relaxed in this part of Puntland and it’s rather freeing to be able to get out and hang with the locals.

Garowe sunset

The next morning we headed to the airport to make the long-ish journey all the way to Nairobi. If you look at a map, it doesn’t seem very far but the planes are not big and there’s a stop in Mogadishu. Nonetheless, I was able to get back home in time to hang with the kids before they went to bed – one of my favorite moments in the week.