Mogadishu

In my professional life I have had to navigate varying levels of bureaucracy. The worst of all was when I worked with the European Commission in Brussels. It was as if the Commission had absorbed bureaucratic impediments from all member countries to produce a system that was so convoluted that it was able to put all other suffocating bureaucracies to shame.

Since I’ve been in Africa, I’ve seen some impressive displays of needless red tape. In Tanzania, the first Swahili phrase I learned was “labda kesho” (maybe tomorrow). In many African countries, expediency often accompanies a bribe, which I am notoriously unwilling to pay. Nor do I want people paying on my behalf. So I often end up being subjected to some impressive delays for visas, work permits, etc. It’s a shame, really, since the rich generally pay and the poor take it on the chin. They can never pay and the system generally eats them alive.

While I was in Ethiopia, my Kenya visa expired. I hadn’t noticed before traveling and I have staff who are supposed to keep on top of such things. Anyway, it required me to get a tourist visa in order to get back into the country. It delayed my return by a day but, in the end, I was able to enter and begin the process of applying for a new 2-yr. visa. Because they needed my passport, I would be grounded for a few weeks until it was done. Tired of traveling, it was the first time in my life I was happy for the wheels of bureaucracy to turn slowly.

trying to make sense on four hours of sleep

Alas, the process, for some strange reason, only took about two and a half weeks and I would soon need to be returning to Mogadishu. Don’t get me wrong. I like what I do and I’m always happy to be around my team. I just get very tired of the travel back and forth as well as the time away from family.  

visiting one of our partners; I look freakishly tall like a circus character

* * *

Back in Somalia, I jumped straight into coordination forums, meetings with local partners, etc. It’s bliss if you’re an extrovert. For me, it’s draining. I’m glad when I’m doing it. I just get tired of it easily. 

on the scenic drive to the Ministry of Health, blown up hotel on the right, blown up Bank of Somalia building on the left

I often have trouble getting a good night’s sleep when I’m in Somalia. It’s better than it used to be. In my early days, I would spend the night with my ears peeled listening for sounds of gunfire or distant explosions. Such things were more frequent then and I wasn’t as accustomed to it as I am now. Part of the problem is that there is a military base/training facility not too far away and so you need to be able to distinguish between sinister and non-sinister sounds, either by direction or loudness. It’s harder than it used to be now that the neighborhood has an increasing number of tall buildings. The sounds tend to echo more and it’s harder to tell where they are coming from.

many building still show the scars of past battles

Anyway, the other night I was not sleeping well and, at about 1:30 in the morning I began hearing the sound of a camel. By the way, after several years of being around camels I realized that I didn’t know what the official term is for the sound a camel makes. I’m sure Somali kids learn this as children much as I learned, “What does a cow say?” According to online sources, it’s a 'grunt'. While I know camels grunt, fitting for what seems like their perpetual smugness, often times the sound is more of a bray, and can be confused to that of a donkey. On this occasion it was definitely a bray and it went on for several minutes.

Finally, I got up and went out on my little deck (something I don’t do often when it’s daylight for security reasons). I looked down at the compound across the road from us and two guys were trying to coax one of their two camels to move to the near side of the compound. They were desperately pulling on two ropes and the camel was fighting them with all he had. Eventually, they were able to get him to a tree where they tied him up.

All the while I’m wondering why this noisy activity needs to happen in the middle of the night. Soon I figured it out. A third guy comes out of one of the sheds with a large knife and moves around to the front of the camel. It doesn't require a Somali to know what was coming next.

Soon there was silence and for the next several hours they proceeded to butcher the poor animal. I couldn’t help but look at the other camel just a few meters away. He had to know what was going on. He kept his head turned in the opposite direction, never once looking towards what was happening to his peer.

camel on the left looking away

I went back to bed but when I woke up at 6am, they were just finishing up. Likely they do this sort of thing during the night when it’s not so hot and the meat won’t spoil as quickly.

I had had camel the previous night, though I feel like things like this are slowly putting me off meat. Carnivores are always happy to eat meat so long as they don’t think too much about how it arrived on their plate.  I don’t eat as much meat as I used to. In fact, we are mostly vegetarian nowadays with chicken or fish occasionally. When I’m in Somalia, I sort of eat what is put in front of me and that often ends up being meat. When I travel and/or when I am invited to someone’s house, I always try to be flexible.

I remember being in Cote d’Ivoire many years ago during my first trip to Africa. I was in a small village in the northern part of the country. The community had organized an event and I was one of the guests. Just before the speeches began, I asked if I could use the toilet. A guy pointed towards a pit latrine behind a nearby mud hut. As I came around the back of the hut, I ran into a group of young guys just as they were beginning to slaughter a goat. I spent much of my youth working on farms but making eye contact with a goat just as he was taking a knife to the throat was new for me.

I understand that whole cycle of life thing and I certainly don’t condemn carnivores, particularly while I still am one (for now), but I get the sense that my feelings on the subject are evolving.