Mogadishu

No two trips to Somalia are the same. There are certainly routines as well as meetings and activity visits that are somewhat similar over time. But there always seems to be some sort of twist that sets each visit apart.

This trip began as usual with the 4am taxi to the airport. That is one of the least favorite aspects of my job. The flight ended up being delayed, so I sat at the airport an extra two hours before catching the hour and a half flight to Mogadishu.

I was to begin by attending a two-day forum designed to support US-Somalia trade. Governments from both sides participated, but it seemed to be primarily driven by the private sector. I knew that the Somali president was expected to attend which always raises the profile of an event. It was invitation only and I'm not sure why I was invited but I'm glad I was given that I made a lot of good connections.

The venue was in a hotel a very short walk from the airport arrivals door. Its location in the secure sector makes it a go-to venue for high-security events. The convenience of the proximity to the airport was dashed by the fact that my delayed flight made me late for the first session presided over by the president. The exterior of the compound was lined with armored vehicles and there were dozens of armed guys with sunglasses walking around feeling important.

I worked my way to the door of the compound only to be stopped by one of these guys telling me I wasn’t allowed to enter. After some back and forth, I found out (was reminded) that for any event where the president is in attendance, no one can get in after his arrival for security reasons. Even though he was late, because of my delayed flight, I was later.

I wasn’t super keen on standing in the hot sun wearing a suit until the president departed. I was sorting out my options given that I couldn't convince the guy to let me in. Finally, a Somali guy who was standing next to me, also in a suit and prevented from entering, said he knew someone within the president’s security detail that could get us in. He made a couple calls and within a few minutes, we were allowed to enter.  

* * *

There is no question that we have been looking at ways to partner more effectively with the private sector. Networking would be the most obvious motivation to participate in this event. But there were sessions that ended up being directly relevant to my work.

* * *

At the end of day one, my driver picked me up and I made my way to the office. It was Saturday so the building was empty. I settled into the guesthouse and poured myself a tea. Shortly after 4pm I heard a blast off in the distance. I wasn’t sure if it was an attack of some kind or something else. The farther away it is, the more difficult it is to tell. Intel soon came in that there was an attack on a well-fortified prison. I could see the smoke rising off in the distance.

It was what is referred to as a complex attack - usually a suicide attack explosion that breaches an external perimeter, followed by a second attack that allows militants to penetrate the breach. This sort of thing was much more common when I first began working in Somalia, but they have been rarer of late.

The attack was largely successful as a large number of prisoners were able to escape (though some were recaptured). As is often the case, the attackers didn’t seem to have any plans to flee. Most are conditioned to embrace martyrdom and go down fighting. The firefight apparently lasted well into the night (about eight hours altogether) before the attackers were all killed. I do find it crazy that after all these years of government forces fending off militants, that they can pull of something like this, particularly at what would have been considered a high-level target.  

Dirt streets near the office

* * *

One connection I made at the weekend event was with this Canadian guy who was attending and in Somalia for the first time. In fact, I don’t think he had been to Africa much. After talking for a while, he seemed very curious and rather fascinated by the place, having not really left his hotel. When he offered to get together on Monday, I thought I would raise the stakes a bit and invite him to lunch at Lido Beach.

There ended up being five of us. In addition to me, we had my security guy, the Canadian, an Aussie working for a company that we would like to partner with, and an American filmmaker from Hollywood. 

Bullet-riddled buildings still a feature of the old city.

The drive to Lido Beach is an adventure in and of itself. It takes you across the Mogadishu and through the old city. It’s something I’ve done several times with visitors, and it never ceases to make an impression. It’s pretty crazy if you’re not used to this sort of thing. 

Lido Beach

After an hour of dozens of checkpoints/security checks, traffic jams, U-turns, etc., we arrived at the gate of the restaurant, I was puzzled that it was not the gate of the restaurant that we normally go to. We entered and were escorted inside the building. This was clearly not the dusty, rather basic restaurant I'm accustomed to. We took an elevator up to the third floor. We could immediately feel the breeze and see the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean in front of us. After the chaos and tension of driving across the city, this was a welcome site. I was happy to see their reaction. They'd been more or less sequestered in a hotel and hadn't really seen anything of Mogadishu until today. This provided them with a healthy amount of both the bad and the good. 

Lobster with a view. I feel like we earned it.

Given the time that it took for us to cross the city, our lunch would be a bit rushed. I normally is for security reasons, but this would be quicker that usual. We were served some delicious soup, salad, lobster and fresh juice. When we have more time we add on some fruit for dessert and an espresso, but that would not be the case this time.

Restored arch in the old city constructed by the Italians during colonial days

On the way back.

The return to the "green zone" would be faster and less stressful. I guess it's easier to get back through checkpoints after they have already screened you once. We bid our farewells and I returned to the office. 

* * *  

Full moon view from our terrace.

The rest of the week would be less eventful. I had a mix of internal and external meetings up until my return flight to Nairobi on Thursday. Friday would be a holiday in Kenya and, of course, the weekend in Somalia, so it would allow me a bit of a breather. Moreover, I will not be able to travel until my new passport arrives. My current passport is completely full, as the immigration lady politely reminded me as I arrived in Nairobi. I have been waiting for over a month, far longer than it normally takes. Federal funding cuts and government shutdown have created an embarrassing mess. I just hope that it arrives soon. 

Pretty cool what you can do with a phone these days.

Jane

Jane Goodall, the conservationist renowned for her groundbreaking chimpanzee field research and globe-spanning environmental advocacy, died this past week at the age of 91.

For those who have tracked this blog for a long time, you might be aware that I met Jane back in January of 2007 (I’m slowly taking down some of my older blog entries so that one is no longer accessible), at the dawn of a big transition in my life. I had just left the Harvard School of Public Health and was taking on a new role with the IRC. For my assignment, I needed to travel to a remote part of NW Tanzania where the IRC was supporting a massive refugee operation. I was to be the head of the field office and, going into it, I admittedly knew very little about running this type of operation. It would end up being one of the most significant and interesting professional moves I’ve ever made.

Jane in a photo taken a few months before I met her

 

To get there, I would need to take a three-hour flight from Dar es Salaam to the town of Kigoma, situated on Lake Tanganyika. From there, I would travel on bumpy dirt roads for over five hours to the small town of Kibondo located near the border with Burundi.

* * * 

I arrived at the Dar es Salaam airport mid-morning. I usually travel without check-in bags, but on this occasion I had a large duffel. I wasn’t just traveling, I was moving to my new home.

There were two airline staff working at the counter and an older couple was checking in to my left. Boarding pass in hand, I moved to the waiting area where I sat down and opened my laptop as I always do. The elderly couple walked past, and the woman sat a few seats away from me while the man went over to the gift shop. As I looked up, I noticed that the lady looked a bit like Jane Goodall. My immediate assumption is that it wasn’t her. Sub-Saharan Africa is teeming with gray-haired ladies that have a similar look and generally they are tough, weathered missionaries.

However, there was some indication that it was Goodall. Kigoma is the launching point for trips to Gombe National Park, the place where the chimps are located and where she became famous. However, I had recently read that in her later years she rarely visited Gombe (she would have been 73 at this point).

Her travel partner returned with a bottle of whisky and I tossed the idea of them being missionaries. Shortly thereafter, I decided to check to see what time we were supposed to board. As I fished for the boarding pass in my computer bag, I noticed that the luggage tags that were stuck on the back had the name “J Goodall”. It revealed two things: the airline staff had stuck the tags on the wrong boarding pass and the lady sitting across the way was indeed Jane Goodall.

As you might guess, it provided a wonderful excuse to at least make contact. I decided to go over to notify her of this error. I should say at this point that it was quite a trivial mistake. Upon arrival in Kigoma, luggage was delivered from the small airplane to the “terminal” (roughly the size of a modest house) in a dilapidated Datsun (later Nissan) pickup. The tags were more or less irrelevant, but it didn’t matter. I wanted to meet this impressive woman.

Kigoma baggage claim in 2007.

I introduced myself to Jane and mentioned the error. She smiled and thanked me as we exchanged our tags. Unfortunately, our conversation didn’t amount much given my ineptitude at small talk at the time. Fortunately for me, that would not be the end of it. 

As we boarded the plane, and as fate would have it, I ended up sitting next to her. I had a chance to make up for my earlier ineptitude. We proceeded to have a wonderful chat that would last the entire duration of the flight.

She began by asking what was taking me to Kigoma and I explained to her that I was embarking on a new job. She was very familiar with the large refugee operation in Kigoma Region and in fact launched into a lengthy discussion about her Roots and Shoots program and how she had been wanting to expand it to the refugees. We agreed to stay in touch and look into how this might happen (though we never did). Too bad we didn't have WhatsApp at the time.

She later asked if I had gone to see the chimps yet. I told her that my fiancé (at the time) and I had discussed it and it was on our list of things to do (we would indeed make our way to Gombe two years later).

Visiting the chimps in 2009.

It became clear to me that her whisky-drinking travel partner, who was sitting in the row behind us, was a colleague of some sort. I figure that when they confused the luggage tags, they must have accidentally given me his seat next to Jane. At one point she introduced me to him, but he took no interest in me, talking to Jane from time to time as if I wasn’t there. If I’m honest, I wasn’t interested in him either. She also didn't seem bothered that he didn't end up sitting with her.

Looking north from Kigoma. Gombe and the chimps are located in the hills on the horizon.

As we exited the plane and walked towards the terminal, we said our goodbyes. Her travel partner would pick up her bags while she went straight to an awaiting vehicle. It was a really nice chat (she did most of the talking) and I grew quite fond of her during those three hours. She was intelligent, articulate and very passionate about her work. It was wonderful to have had a chance to get to spend time with her.

Uganda

After spending three of the first four weeks post vacation in Somalia, I then needed to fly to Uganda to attend some meetings. I was not excited about spending more time away from family, but duty called.

I had been to Uganda a couple of times before, but it has been several years. One of the trips involved extensive travel within the country to visit projects, in particular, a trip all the way to the north of the country just south of the South Sudan border. Though there were some project visits on offer this time, I opted out. I wanted to be gone as little as possible. Moreover, I think that if I were at a different point in my career (earlier in my career as I was the last time), it would be of more interest. These visits are also good for people coming from HQ who lack exposure to the work on the ground. 

The hotel where our meetings were being held was situated on the shores of the massive Lake Victoria. It’s such a beautiful area and it was good to be back. The climate feels someone where between serious tropical (like Dar es Salaam on the coast) and tropical light (like Nairobi). I guess it's similar to when we were in Burundi years ago. 

The hotel is one of the largest in the country (if not the largest) and one of the largest in East Africa. It sits on 90 acres, having been transformed from a marshy fishing village in the 1990s into a sprawling and well-manicured resort.

As we entered the huge compound, there were several wedding parties, people taking selfies and dozens and dozens of people enjoying the Sunday afternoon on the lake. I checked in while I was on a call with my family so I was a bit distracted as the receptionist explained all the amenities. 

* * *

The first couple of days were spent in meetings followed by work well into the evening. Several of my direct reports have been on leave and it has been pushing a lot more work in my direction. I realize that many, if not most, people take advantage of trips like this to go out and have a good time. I did that more in the early years of this career, but now it interests me less. I do, however, enjoy catching up with all the people that I've known for many, many years. We don't see each other as often as we used to.

On the third day, the Uganda team had organized a buffet dinner with local music and dancers. It was a beautiful setting: a warm tropical evening near the pool surrounded by royal palm trees.

I didn’t get to enjoy it for very long. A half-hour into the evening, my deputy director pulled me away to participate in a meeting with a Somali government official who happened to be in Kampala at the time. It was a good and fruitful discussion, but I feel like it could have happened at another time. I’ve learned that Somalis are a bit fluid with these sorts of engagements. Calls during dinner. Weekends. Etc. The only boundaries seem to be those connected to religion. You don’t mess with prayer times and religious holidays.

Eventually, we wrapped up and made our way back to the dinner. Everyone had eaten by then but the buffet was still serving. In addition to the music, the dancers were well into their show. I arrived just in time to see a couple of misogynistic dances followed by a guy breathing fire. Uganda’s got talent.

Fire breathing is a career that likely draws the eccentric type. The guy looked a bit crazed as he did about everything you can imagine with flame, including sticking it in his shorts. Towards the end of his overly long performance, he had the shine and smell of a man thoroughly soaked with fuel. I even scanned for options in case he inadvertently went up in flames. I figured the tablecloth would be my best bet.

* * *

On day four, we spent the morning in meetings and then, in the afternoon, went to a wildlife sanctuary near Entebbe as sort of a team building activity. I generally anticipate team building activities as I do other forms of torture. This, however, was enjoyable than I anticipated. I should confess, I’m not a big fan of institutionalized animals, but these were mostly animals that have been rescued in some way or another. So it was either incarceration here or not survive. Sadly, most of these animals could never be reintroduced into the wild after life in a sanctuary.

A sitatunga playing hide and seek

It's not all bad. They have no predators, get plenty to eat and have regular healthcare. That alone puts them in a better position than many Americans.

No, white tigers are not African. But they're stunning.

De Brazza's monkey

Prior to the sanctuary, we had a lunch meeting at a restaurant overlooking Lake Victoria. Very nice setting if you need to have a meeting. I had grilled whole tilapia and it was amazing. I became a fan of grilled whole fish when we lived in Dar es Salaam. One of the nice things about living on the coast.

* * *

On day five, it was time to head back to Nairobi. I’m so tired of traveling and being away from home. Oddly, no one heading back to Nairobi was on my flight, so I had some time to be alone at the gate and get some work done. The flight is only about an hour and a half (similar to my flights to Mogadishu), and as we were getting ready to land, I all of the sudden noticed that my tablet wasn’t in my bag. I had been charging it at a charging station near the departure gate and, though I packed the cable, I somehow neglected to put the tablet in my bag. My heart sank. I knew immediately that the chance of ever seeing it again was almost zero.

After arriving and working my way through immigration, I went to the lost luggage desk (where I’ve been many times). I wasn’t sure if they were the ones that might help in this situation, but I gave it a shot. I fortunately stumbled upon a no-nonsense woman that went immediately to work to see if the device could be located. After a lot of back and forth over an hour and a half, she told me that she thinks that her counterparts in Entebbe may have located it. I began to get hopeful.

She then told me to go home and that she would be in touch. That evening she notified me that it had made its way to Nairobi on a subsequent flight and I could pick it up the next day. Though I would end up spending a half day at the airport the next morning trying to retrieve it, in the end, I did. Nothing short of a miracle.

Now a week in Nairobi before, alas, returning to Mogadishu.

 

“Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm but the harm does not interest them.”

-T.S. Eliot, poet (26 Sep 1888-1965)