Emotionally Priceless (October)

I recently read in the Economist that parenting is a relatively recent concept. That may sound odd given that children have been around since the beginning of time. But child rearing as we know it today would be viewed as a bit odd compared to how things were done throughout history prior to the Industrial Revolution. Childhood was considerably more “nasty, brutish and short”. In fact at that time the average age of a person entering the workforce was between 11 and 12 years of age. The word parent didn’t become a verb until the late 1950s. Fortunately all this points to the fact that we have evolved in a positive direction, at least in this area. As Viviana Zelizer, a sociologist at Princeton puts it, we have moved to “the economically useless but emotionally priceless child”.

Speaking of my economically useless children, they had a relatively good Oct.-Nov. I refrain from saying autumn since it is not autumn in the southern hemisphere. It’s not really spring either since spring doesn’t really exist here. In fact this time of year is generally referred to as the “short rains” season. This is because: a) it rains, b) the rain normally doesn’t last very long and c) it’s a period only about two months long. But I’ll still just refer to it uninterestingly as Oct.-Nov.

During this time the kiddos we’re able to see a play at the national theater, attend thousands of birthday parties, participate in a “Halloween” thing put on in our building, and numerous other activities. Clearly we have moved on from nasty and brutish (a point they might argue on occasion, particularly when it’s bedtime).

Mogadishu - Garowe (September)

Traveling to Somalia generally improves by the month. There are setbacks, of course, but overall the trend is positive. Initially when going to the country I took UN or EU flights. Now I prefer to travel on commercial flights. They’re cheaper. They generally serve food. I can usually get through immigration faster. And the terminal is far nicer. Granted, networking isn’t quite the same since so many people I collaborate with are still taking the other flights but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

Mogadishu

In September I returned to Somalia, first to Mogadishu and then traveled on to Puntland (Garowe). While in Mogadishu I supported a visitor from our HQ in NY. It’s always fascinating to bring people to the country for the first time and to show them how things are first hand. It’s never what people think. There are certainly bad things and I don’t try to avoid them. But there are also good things and it’s important to balance out peoples preconceived notions about the country.

a quick stop at the beach for watermelon and an espresso

If most of what you know about Somalia comes from the press or from the occasional movie, then you likely have a warped view. That would probably apply to most countries. I certainly don’t claim to have the ultimate perspective on the country but I do have firsthand experience traveling to many areas and talking with people where I go. I’m now a resident taxpayer and I’m here almost every week. Few foreigners have this access and I feel fortunate to have this opportunity.

rubble from a haunted past

The first question I’m usually asked is regarding whether or not it is safe. In short, probably not, at least not compared to Switzerland for example. But if you take the necessary precautions, do your homework, remain vigilant, etc., there is a lot that you can see and do. It’s not cheap, however. Security support is like a lot of things: you generally get what you pay for.

resilient people will find ways to get by

During this visit in September we traveled to the internal displacement areas on the outskirts of the city. It’s something I normally do to show people both the hardship/need but also the amazing work that it being done to support Somalis. Local and international organizations are working very hard to provide basic services and fill gaps in humanitarian support. The nascent government is growing in strength but it will be a long time before it can fully support itself financially. In the meantime, people like us a are doing what we can to provide support as well as prepare them for future humanitarian and economic shocks.

Garowe

From Mogadishu I left my colleague to return to Nairobi, safe and sound. I headed on to Garowe, which is in the northern part of the country. I’ve been to the area several times before. This time I would not get out of the town to see activities. My time would be spent conducting a listening session with staff as well as inaugurating the new safe space for women. The former I discussed in a previous post (discussions we are having to eliminate sexual harassment of women in the workplace as well as make sure that harassment and exploitation are not happening in the work that we are doing in service of beneficiaries.

The inauguration was a bit of a surprise, actually. As a team we had agreed to create these spaces for women to pray, nurse, etc. Once created they are off limits to men. So far they have been a hit and women had communicated how thankful they are to have the organization support them in this way. However the Garowe team went a step further. In addition to kitting the room out with some nice furnishing, they got together to prepare a little inauguration, complete with a ribbon (garland) cutting ceremony and cake. It was very sweet of them and it made me even more grateful that we’d taken this step to support them. You make hundreds of decisions every week and you often never know how they are received. An occasional acknowledgement is pretty cool.

Diani (September)

Amazing how time flies. I was only able to manage a single post between the summer holidays and the end of the year. If I wish to use this blog in the future as a general record of our life events over time, I have some catching up to do.

my hotel in Diani - not bad work accommodations

Picking up where I left off was a trip to Diani Beach back in September. I had been scheduled to be there for meetings and decided that it would be good to combine it with a long weekend with the family. We were in need of a family get-away and the beautiful beaches of the Indian Ocean were a nice option.

spotted during a jog - digging out a buried boat in the hot sun

We had three nights on the coast. Being southern hemisphere, June through September are the most comfortable months to be there. We were at the tail end of the less-than-brutally-hot weather. On Friday I went for a run on the beach. It was mid-morning and I was trying to get my gym workout and run in before the family arrived. The sun was blisteringly hot. I carried water and there was a breeze that kept me from melting completely. It wasn’t ideal but I pulled it off. Reminded me of the runs I used to do in Dar es Salaam, regardless of the season – 35° C/95° F heat or ankle deep in a torrential tropical rain. You just need to make it happen.

The hotel I was staying in for meetings was very nice but as kid-friendly as some places. So we chose a place where we'd stayed previously which was not too far away. As fancy as the hotel was, we had to move out of our meeting room due to a dangerous looking crack in the ceiling. Stuff happens, I guess.

After my workout I caught a taxi up the road a couple kilometers to where we’d be staying, popped open my laptop and waited for the family to arrive.

Soon the girls came bouncing out of a tuk-tuk. That familiar noise they brought can get old when heard for hours on end, but after a week of not seeing them it was music to my ears. Immediately my brain was catapulted from the work that was on the screen in front of me to every minutia of the adventures my daughters had in their transit from Nairobi to Diani.

much nicer beach than the fancier hotel

Priya is more of a warm weather person than I am. I could very quickly sense that she was happy to be back in her element (and happy to be finished traveling). The five years that I was in Dar helped me develop a taste for the tropics (Bujumbura was more tropical-lite; I think Nairobi is officially subtropical highlands) and I confess to enjoying the feel of being back on the coast. I don’t think I’d want to live in a heavy tropical climate anymore but visiting it from time to time is admittedly quite nice.

amazing starfishies

One highlight was taking a boat out to do some snorkeling. Priya and I spent quite a bit of time diving and snorkeling while living in Tanzania but we haven’t done it much over the past few years. Harder to do with young children. But now that the girls are a bit older, and very much enjoy water, we thought we’d give it a try. The older one took to it quite well with the younger one not so much. It’s okay though. It can be a bit freaky to get used to if you’re young and not familiar with schools of fish swimming close to you and even touching your skin. Likely she’ll take to it more next time.

The other outing we did was on camels. That can also be a bit weird for kids, particularly if they’re not used to riding horses much. Nonetheless, they did fine and we were able to amble along the beach for a ways.

Alas, the fun ended and it was time to head back to Nairobi. We arrived home in the afternoon and I would need to get up at 4am the next day to fly to Somalia (Puntland). Ugh. That's what I do, I guess.