So a few nights ago (Apr 15) 3 thieves tried to break into my place. I was sleeping soundly when a load knock at my bedroom door rouses me and I hear my housemate Erin saying, "Um, Tarek? I think we have thieves in the house!" Great way to get your butt out of bed, ninja-style.
When I went to see what was going on I saw my guard with a nasty scrape on his back and another fellow that a bunch of neighbors were holding down about 100m away. I asked what had happened and he told me that 3 dudes armed with knives woke him up demanding any communication devices he had. When he told them he had none they kept insisting. Apparently one of the thieves had let his guard down and that's when my guard grabbed him, whipped out his own knife, and held it to his throat. He asked the men to leave but just then a neighbor came out and saw the men standing at the door. The neighbor pulled out his gun and fired a few shots in the air, frantically yelling "Thieves! Thieves!"
A scuffle broke out and my guard stabbed one man, and got stabbed in the process. The 3 men ran but the wounded one fell to the ground a few meters away. I was in shock and could only think rationally after a moment to calm myself. After checking on the health of the guard, I saw that 2 very large Sudanese came up to me. Thankfully they too were neighbors (who could have totally wooped my ass). I learned only later that they were GoS soldiers. They told me not to worry and that they would take both my guard and the thief to the police.
I went back inside to report to my housemates and let them know what was going on. We called UN security - naturally it takes them 2 hrs to respond but whatever. While trying to give directions to our place, the remaining guard came in about 30 min later and told us not to worry, "the thief is dead."
A second round of shock flew down my spine while the guard explained that he died on the way to the police. In a country known for it's tribalism and revenge killings, this worried me somewhat. And by somewhat I mean I began urinating on myself. (Not really but you get my drift.) The police showed up shortly thereafter gathering evidence. UNDSS showed up an hour later. Everyone was taking statements and the sort and finally the police carted my guard away charged with murder.
The past few days have been a series of prison and lawyer visits... and also a lot of guilt. I'm a Human Rights Officer - I should have been more careful. I should have known... forseen this happening. Lesson learned. The next time I'll have the guts to have them bring the cops first. I messed up bad... and now this asshole thief is dead. He was still a life though... Sigh.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Last Days of Winter - 2/28/08
So it's been almost a month since I last wrote anything about this experience. As you can see I JUST got around to updating this site with old material. It's been a whirlwind of events with the occasional lack of electricity and dodgy internet - or none at home.
Where to start... Well with Egypt's win of the Africa cup of course! You won't believe the congrats I got from all our Sudanese colleagues and random people who found out I was Egyptian and felt the need to pat me on the back as if I was the guy who actually scored the goals. I'm sure my Egyptian friend Shawky got the same treatment. It's amazing how invested people can get when there is nothing left to occupy their minds.
I'm loving the house I'm staying in. It's know as the "Secret Lair" but someone referred to it as the "Famous House" and that's just no good. A small group of iNGO types bought some bikes and they became known as the "Bike Gang" - who like to frequent the "Secret Lair" at times. Naturally all manner of baked goods await them.
Olivia left the Secret Lair for Khartoum. We will certainly miss her. She could rattle off a sentence or two (yes Olivia, you do talk a lot) but the silence after she left was deafening. Sniff. Have fun in Khartoum! UNDP in Nyala is way cooler tho... heh.
Speaking of which - got to go on my first mission a few weeks ago with some peeps from UNDP, UNFPA, and a few of the human rights crew (or mafia, as I like to call them). It was to this place called Graida - one of the largest IDP camps in the are. Almost 140,000 IDPs live here. Absolutely insane... many of the NGOs pulled out of the area after violence late last year but ICRC, the troopers that they are, truck on providing services and trainings wherever possible. I conducted a few interviews with detainees in rebel custody. It's amazing how there is no formalized justice system here - it's all customary law - and I know jack about the traditions. Lots to learn in the tribal arena.
I'm on my first break right now in Dubai visiting the folks. Healthwise - not so good. They ain't as young as they used to be. Makes me worried. I hope it's nothing serious. Sigh.
Back to Khartoum on Saturday and then Darfur on Sunday... I need to arrange a place to stay otherwise I'll be hanging out on the base sleeping in open air cafeteria...
As always... good times.
Where to start... Well with Egypt's win of the Africa cup of course! You won't believe the congrats I got from all our Sudanese colleagues and random people who found out I was Egyptian and felt the need to pat me on the back as if I was the guy who actually scored the goals. I'm sure my Egyptian friend Shawky got the same treatment. It's amazing how invested people can get when there is nothing left to occupy their minds.
I'm loving the house I'm staying in. It's know as the "Secret Lair" but someone referred to it as the "Famous House" and that's just no good. A small group of iNGO types bought some bikes and they became known as the "Bike Gang" - who like to frequent the "Secret Lair" at times. Naturally all manner of baked goods await them.
Olivia left the Secret Lair for Khartoum. We will certainly miss her. She could rattle off a sentence or two (yes Olivia, you do talk a lot) but the silence after she left was deafening. Sniff. Have fun in Khartoum! UNDP in Nyala is way cooler tho... heh.
Speaking of which - got to go on my first mission a few weeks ago with some peeps from UNDP, UNFPA, and a few of the human rights crew (or mafia, as I like to call them). It was to this place called Graida - one of the largest IDP camps in the are. Almost 140,000 IDPs live here. Absolutely insane... many of the NGOs pulled out of the area after violence late last year but ICRC, the troopers that they are, truck on providing services and trainings wherever possible. I conducted a few interviews with detainees in rebel custody. It's amazing how there is no formalized justice system here - it's all customary law - and I know jack about the traditions. Lots to learn in the tribal arena.
I'm on my first break right now in Dubai visiting the folks. Healthwise - not so good. They ain't as young as they used to be. Makes me worried. I hope it's nothing serious. Sigh.
Back to Khartoum on Saturday and then Darfur on Sunday... I need to arrange a place to stay otherwise I'll be hanging out on the base sleeping in open air cafeteria...
As always... good times.
Day 16 - 1/25/08
Day 3 in Nyala… so here is how it went. I ended up spending all day in ELF airport because I’m a dumbass and didn’t check the manifest for when I was scheduled to leave. I assumed I was on the 9:15am flt but it ended up being at 3:30pm! Abby, Geetha, and Sanait dropped me off but it was fine. I made insta-friends with my juggling. God bless those 3 little balls. After spending some time trying fruitlessly to teach a few of the Sudanese some tricks, I hung out with some of the airport ppl who congratulated me on Egypt’s win against Cameroon. (4-2!! Woo)
While in the airport I saw Henri whom I met in ELF on the ARC (Ag Reform Ctr) standing with this Frenchie I’d heard about, Laurent, and a nice protection officer from Kansas, Kristina (Kristy). Kristy kicks a lot of ass but has some real issues with pp; here in Nyala. She reminds me of me towards the end of my tenure with HRW. It’s a sad thing. I introduced her to Immortal Technique. It might be a good release but it might actually be better if she left. It’s far too early for me to judge anything at this point but I know this kind of frustration and it’s not good for the soul.
When we reached Nyala the bus took me straight to the base which caused a bit of confusion cuz Innocent, my boss/Team Leader had sent Awad the driver (or at least one of them) for Human Rights to pick me up. Kristy and Laurent got off with me and Henri continued to Ktm. Although Laurent – tho cool enough – played the Frenchie, Kristy invited me to stay with her and her squatter roomie Olivia from the UK working for UNDP. She leaves end of Feb and I might be able to get her room which would be pretty awesome. At any rate, being with these two has been quite the trip. I’m getting a lot of insider info on the whole mission from them but it’s clearly a “drama situation.”
First off the house is clearly a party house. A perimeter wall surrounds a courtyard with a straw awning and fruit trees which is pretty awesome. Kristy has her own room next to the kitchen and then Olivia’s and mine are in the next “wing” over. It’s minimalist to a certain degree. The rooms are sparsely furnished but I’m happy I have a place that is not a rat-infested guest house to lay my head. That said, these 2 chicks are awesome cooks. Cakes and innovative improv dishes have me eating like a king. Being very social, they have a bunch of people over as much as possible it seems. I’ve heard about all the little interconnections between people from professional to personal life – with all the backstabbing, lovemaking, and obsessive-compulsive nonsense that being in a small high stress community can possibly offer.
On the plus side I went to my first party last night. Didn’t really want to go but Kristy pushed a bit and I didn’t fight back. I figured it would be good to meet people. It was a good time and I’m happy I went. Nothing like a little dance circle action to get the party going. I still have my moves… heheheh. I met Yoko – cute Japanese chick with ???, Kasia – cute polish chick working with IOM on some joint project, Andy – cool dude from CO I think, a few people from Merlin – a group I’ll have to look up, along with SP and Humedic or something… some humanitarian Christian group that was hosting the farewell party for some dude named Schultz whom I had met a security briefing earlier that day. It was good to show my face. I had to drag Kristy and Olivia back home though – they had gotten kinda smashed.
Today we had this cool Italian, Raimondo and his Iranian friend Shehab over for brunch (which started at 3 cuz we had to clean up from the night before). It’s great that everyone pitches in however they can. Some cook, some clean, some bring food, some prep it, some make it… it really is hippie-ish. Life in the field? Heh. We lost power from 4pm until 11pm… apparently quite normal despite the governor’s (Wali’s) promise to leave the electricity on for the Africa Cup. Egypt v Sudan tomorrow, baby. I think I might just stay in. I dunno. We’ll see.
I guess my real work (or attempt to work since I have no equipment) starts on Sun. Until then I think I’ll just enjoy whatever drama/party/social gathering they throw at me. Plenty of time to stress later from what I gather. One thing’s for sure, I am not Jonathan. My strengths clearly lie elsewhere. I hope someone recognizes that. More to come.
While in the airport I saw Henri whom I met in ELF on the ARC (Ag Reform Ctr) standing with this Frenchie I’d heard about, Laurent, and a nice protection officer from Kansas, Kristina (Kristy). Kristy kicks a lot of ass but has some real issues with pp; here in Nyala. She reminds me of me towards the end of my tenure with HRW. It’s a sad thing. I introduced her to Immortal Technique. It might be a good release but it might actually be better if she left. It’s far too early for me to judge anything at this point but I know this kind of frustration and it’s not good for the soul.
When we reached Nyala the bus took me straight to the base which caused a bit of confusion cuz Innocent, my boss/Team Leader had sent Awad the driver (or at least one of them) for Human Rights to pick me up. Kristy and Laurent got off with me and Henri continued to Ktm. Although Laurent – tho cool enough – played the Frenchie, Kristy invited me to stay with her and her squatter roomie Olivia from the UK working for UNDP. She leaves end of Feb and I might be able to get her room which would be pretty awesome. At any rate, being with these two has been quite the trip. I’m getting a lot of insider info on the whole mission from them but it’s clearly a “drama situation.”
First off the house is clearly a party house. A perimeter wall surrounds a courtyard with a straw awning and fruit trees which is pretty awesome. Kristy has her own room next to the kitchen and then Olivia’s and mine are in the next “wing” over. It’s minimalist to a certain degree. The rooms are sparsely furnished but I’m happy I have a place that is not a rat-infested guest house to lay my head. That said, these 2 chicks are awesome cooks. Cakes and innovative improv dishes have me eating like a king. Being very social, they have a bunch of people over as much as possible it seems. I’ve heard about all the little interconnections between people from professional to personal life – with all the backstabbing, lovemaking, and obsessive-compulsive nonsense that being in a small high stress community can possibly offer.
On the plus side I went to my first party last night. Didn’t really want to go but Kristy pushed a bit and I didn’t fight back. I figured it would be good to meet people. It was a good time and I’m happy I went. Nothing like a little dance circle action to get the party going. I still have my moves… heheheh. I met Yoko – cute Japanese chick with ???, Kasia – cute polish chick working with IOM on some joint project, Andy – cool dude from CO I think, a few people from Merlin – a group I’ll have to look up, along with SP and Humedic or something… some humanitarian Christian group that was hosting the farewell party for some dude named Schultz whom I had met a security briefing earlier that day. It was good to show my face. I had to drag Kristy and Olivia back home though – they had gotten kinda smashed.
Today we had this cool Italian, Raimondo and his Iranian friend Shehab over for brunch (which started at 3 cuz we had to clean up from the night before). It’s great that everyone pitches in however they can. Some cook, some clean, some bring food, some prep it, some make it… it really is hippie-ish. Life in the field? Heh. We lost power from 4pm until 11pm… apparently quite normal despite the governor’s (Wali’s) promise to leave the electricity on for the Africa Cup. Egypt v Sudan tomorrow, baby. I think I might just stay in. I dunno. We’ll see.
I guess my real work (or attempt to work since I have no equipment) starts on Sun. Until then I think I’ll just enjoy whatever drama/party/social gathering they throw at me. Plenty of time to stress later from what I gather. One thing’s for sure, I am not Jonathan. My strengths clearly lie elsewhere. I hope someone recognizes that. More to come.
Day 13 - 1/22/08
This is day 2 in El Fasher. I left Khartoum yesterday at the ass crack of dawn (quite literally) because dispatch said I needed to be at the airport at 6am. Naturally I was 5 min late for my 5:30 pickup but no one bothered to call me. They just took off. There was a brief moment of uncertainty before Ayman (Egyptian military liaison for civilian affairs… I think) hooked me up with a ride. He asked why I was going so early and called his boy at the airport to make sure I got on and then we went to pray together. We took off to pick up Maj. Magdi who was staying with him and Talaat at their apt in Ktm. He cooked breakfast for everyone and really it was a great morning.
At the airport we check in and when I went out for a smoke, a protection officer named Marlise notice the “Mawrter” shirt I was wearing. Turns out she graduated from there in the early 90s. She was pretty cool. Not the most attractive person in the world but definitely chill. I shared my last few smokes with her before we finally boarded.
When I got to Fasher (ELF – as they call the airport) they took us to Compound A where I met Abdulaziz Abdulaziz – human rights team leader for the place. Nice guy, western educated, knows a lot of the figures in the human rights world and many of those I worked with. Unfortunately he was busy so I only really got to talk to him later that eve when Geetha and Sanait took me home for some spicy penne dinner. At Compound A I also met Abigail, the new reporting officer for ELF after El Geneina personnel were relocated due to the fighting. She’s a short, cynical, British atheist – hilarious and cool. Gave some of the inside scoop on dynamics as well as logistics. A sort of informal “induction” if you will. We got along swimmingly.
I cooked dinner for Geetha, Abby, and Sanait tonight – a sort of improv stir fry. Mind you, to do so, I had to go to the market. The market in ELF is exactly what you’d imagine in a really old medieval rural desert setting. It was an expansive square full of vegetable vendors, kids, old men and women pitching their wares and stalls, mostly made of wood and straw. It was rustic to say the least. The biggest surprise was to find a total of about 5 types of vegetables in the entire market. I think this is the first bit of culture shock I had in a while. I’d been expecting a pretty desolate war-torn place but to think how little these people have really took me aback. Little kids were trying to sell me plastic bags. I felt bad telling them off but the sad truth is I’m not saving these people, nor is the UN here to do so really. I hope this UNAMID protection mandate actually helps. Hearing Abby talk about taking off with other UN peeps in a chopper with a thousand villagers looking on, knowing that they would be attacked in a few minutes by Janjaweed was pretty jarring.
So tomorrow off to Nyala to meet Innocent – my team leader there. I’m pretty excited since I get the feeling, from what everyone has said, that it’s pretty close to civilization compared to ELF. There are restaurants and accommodations and such. The car jackings seem to be a pretty big problem, especially on the Chadian border. I was talking with Ma`ruf (our driver here) about a number of car jackings he’d been involved with, the worst of which is when guys with grenades, automatic weapons, and a flame thrower (!!!) attacked but let them go later. Today, friends of the human rights crew got jacked in Geneina. Thankfully everyone got through it ok. They ran from the armed men who fired at them but got away. They came over the sand dune only to see another UN car full of DSS (Dept. of Safety and Security) guys. They warned them but the car went ahead anyway. They got jacked too. Earlier 2 WFP food trucks got jacked. Fucking hell of a day. This place is pretty fucked up but I just got here… I’m sure there will be more to tell.
At the airport we check in and when I went out for a smoke, a protection officer named Marlise notice the “Mawrter” shirt I was wearing. Turns out she graduated from there in the early 90s. She was pretty cool. Not the most attractive person in the world but definitely chill. I shared my last few smokes with her before we finally boarded.
When I got to Fasher (ELF – as they call the airport) they took us to Compound A where I met Abdulaziz Abdulaziz – human rights team leader for the place. Nice guy, western educated, knows a lot of the figures in the human rights world and many of those I worked with. Unfortunately he was busy so I only really got to talk to him later that eve when Geetha and Sanait took me home for some spicy penne dinner. At Compound A I also met Abigail, the new reporting officer for ELF after El Geneina personnel were relocated due to the fighting. She’s a short, cynical, British atheist – hilarious and cool. Gave some of the inside scoop on dynamics as well as logistics. A sort of informal “induction” if you will. We got along swimmingly.
I cooked dinner for Geetha, Abby, and Sanait tonight – a sort of improv stir fry. Mind you, to do so, I had to go to the market. The market in ELF is exactly what you’d imagine in a really old medieval rural desert setting. It was an expansive square full of vegetable vendors, kids, old men and women pitching their wares and stalls, mostly made of wood and straw. It was rustic to say the least. The biggest surprise was to find a total of about 5 types of vegetables in the entire market. I think this is the first bit of culture shock I had in a while. I’d been expecting a pretty desolate war-torn place but to think how little these people have really took me aback. Little kids were trying to sell me plastic bags. I felt bad telling them off but the sad truth is I’m not saving these people, nor is the UN here to do so really. I hope this UNAMID protection mandate actually helps. Hearing Abby talk about taking off with other UN peeps in a chopper with a thousand villagers looking on, knowing that they would be attacked in a few minutes by Janjaweed was pretty jarring.
So tomorrow off to Nyala to meet Innocent – my team leader there. I’m pretty excited since I get the feeling, from what everyone has said, that it’s pretty close to civilization compared to ELF. There are restaurants and accommodations and such. The car jackings seem to be a pretty big problem, especially on the Chadian border. I was talking with Ma`ruf (our driver here) about a number of car jackings he’d been involved with, the worst of which is when guys with grenades, automatic weapons, and a flame thrower (!!!) attacked but let them go later. Today, friends of the human rights crew got jacked in Geneina. Thankfully everyone got through it ok. They ran from the armed men who fired at them but got away. They came over the sand dune only to see another UN car full of DSS (Dept. of Safety and Security) guys. They warned them but the car went ahead anyway. They got jacked too. Earlier 2 WFP food trucks got jacked. Fucking hell of a day. This place is pretty fucked up but I just got here… I’m sure there will be more to tell.
Day 7 - 1/16/08
Ok so maybe I spoke too soon. Classes were going along just fine. During the breaks I’d go off and take care of some of the other stuff that needed doing to get started but today I hit a nice snag that kinda pissed me off.
After dropping off the papers for a bank and email account and telephone PIN yesterday, I found out that none of it was taken care of but that’s not so bad. I have time before I ship off to Darfur. They wanted me to travel Sun so that means 2 whole business days… The main problem was getting a VHF radio.
It turns out that the whole air travel process is completely dependant on having a call sign that must be recorded on an MOP (Movement of personnel) form. To do that, you have to be assigned one when you get a radio. On top of that neat little tidbit (never mind that this form has to be signed by a million ppl and then approved by security), they don’t even let you on the plane unless you are actually wearing your radio.
So I go to the office and they ask me where I’m stationed. When I tell them Nyala, they say I’m in the wrong place and that I need to go to the UNAMID Asset Management office on the other side of the compound. I’m used to running around by now so no biggie. When I get there, this “beauty queen” from some sub-Saharan African country (swear to God you could smell the need to slap her just oozing from her pores) tells me that they have no radios. They were going to import some from elsewhere and they’d be there by next week. Awesome. What am I supposed to do, you might ask? Well aside from a little CYA tactics (cover your ass) nothing but wait. Hahai.
Joke of the day: Another UNV guy from Afghanistan ran into the same problem… the joke? He’s a radio communications officer… double hahai.
I skipped out on the afternoon induction classes. Felt good to play hookie for a bit. Tried to sleep (it’s like 3am now) but my roomie who is otherwise very cool in most respects likes to sleep with his gandu music playing. Now I don’t mind a little while as long as the bastard turns it off. There is only so much gandu music a man can take.
I’m gonna love it when I have my own place again.
They said Nyala is actually supposed to be awesome. Aside from the highway bandits who like to rob you blind. They only shoot if you decide to say no to them. I am not planning on being a hero. Besides, who knows – maybe I can get in good with them and see one of those rebel criminal hearings that Joseph was telling me about (liaison officer for UNMIS who got sucked into human rights in Darfur – I suppose that’s one way to recruit some good guys).
I guess I’ll be in Khartoum a little longer… at least tomorrow is the last day for these classes.
***
I’m writing this on 1/22 but worth mentioning I met an extension to the Egyptian crew. Maj. Yousef Reda is a supply guy but really sweet. He calls himself Mr. Lonely. I cracked up the first time I heard his phone ring and the tone was some song with a squeaky voice singing “I’m so loooooooonelyyy…” Really nice family man though. I tried to teach him some English. He picked a lot up pretty quickly. I hope he meets some friends soon. He gave me some coffee as I left for Fasher. I’ll make sure to stay in touch as much as possible.
After dropping off the papers for a bank and email account and telephone PIN yesterday, I found out that none of it was taken care of but that’s not so bad. I have time before I ship off to Darfur. They wanted me to travel Sun so that means 2 whole business days… The main problem was getting a VHF radio.
It turns out that the whole air travel process is completely dependant on having a call sign that must be recorded on an MOP (Movement of personnel) form. To do that, you have to be assigned one when you get a radio. On top of that neat little tidbit (never mind that this form has to be signed by a million ppl and then approved by security), they don’t even let you on the plane unless you are actually wearing your radio.
So I go to the office and they ask me where I’m stationed. When I tell them Nyala, they say I’m in the wrong place and that I need to go to the UNAMID Asset Management office on the other side of the compound. I’m used to running around by now so no biggie. When I get there, this “beauty queen” from some sub-Saharan African country (swear to God you could smell the need to slap her just oozing from her pores) tells me that they have no radios. They were going to import some from elsewhere and they’d be there by next week. Awesome. What am I supposed to do, you might ask? Well aside from a little CYA tactics (cover your ass) nothing but wait. Hahai.
Joke of the day: Another UNV guy from Afghanistan ran into the same problem… the joke? He’s a radio communications officer… double hahai.
I skipped out on the afternoon induction classes. Felt good to play hookie for a bit. Tried to sleep (it’s like 3am now) but my roomie who is otherwise very cool in most respects likes to sleep with his gandu music playing. Now I don’t mind a little while as long as the bastard turns it off. There is only so much gandu music a man can take.
I’m gonna love it when I have my own place again.
They said Nyala is actually supposed to be awesome. Aside from the highway bandits who like to rob you blind. They only shoot if you decide to say no to them. I am not planning on being a hero. Besides, who knows – maybe I can get in good with them and see one of those rebel criminal hearings that Joseph was telling me about (liaison officer for UNMIS who got sucked into human rights in Darfur – I suppose that’s one way to recruit some good guys).
I guess I’ll be in Khartoum a little longer… at least tomorrow is the last day for these classes.
***
I’m writing this on 1/22 but worth mentioning I met an extension to the Egyptian crew. Maj. Yousef Reda is a supply guy but really sweet. He calls himself Mr. Lonely. I cracked up the first time I heard his phone ring and the tone was some song with a squeaky voice singing “I’m so loooooooonelyyy…” Really nice family man though. I tried to teach him some English. He picked a lot up pretty quickly. I hope he meets some friends soon. He gave me some coffee as I left for Fasher. I’ll make sure to stay in touch as much as possible.
Day 4 - 1/13/08
Today was busy for the first time – tho still relaxing compared to what’s coming. I woke up a little late (~9am) but all I had to do was check in. Of course that also meant taking a 2 hr security course on the pc. And no one told me I had to do it until later in the afternoon. Ugh. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to get my ID in time as it started to get close to closing (4pm). Aziza and Mona were the HR people dealing with my papers. Aziza skipped through the rest of the training, at the end of which is an exam you have to pass to get the ID. As I watched her click past everything I had to know, I laughed to myself. Still scored a 97% on the test. Good thing it’s mostly common sense.
The main interesting point was the way security is organized in the UN system. You have UNSECOORD out of NY directing security policy. This goes to the mission heads and reps. They coordinate with the mission in country who chooses a DO (Designated Official) who chose FSOs (Field Security Officers). All theses guys make up the SMT (security management team) who then coordinate with field and SOs (sub-offices) and their wardens (last in line if it’s a big mission). Insanity. They weren’t kidding when they said the UN was bureaucratic. Still, it makes a weird kind of sense.
Ran into Daniela again today and chilled with her in the morning along with this nice guy Alex who is a UNV in the gender section here in Ktm. Another American named Matt who works in the Civil Affairs unit apparently just got back from Syria and (or?) Amman while he and a friend were working on an Iraqi refugees documentary that they’re probably going to try to pitch/sell to Al-Jazeera. Didn’t really talk with him much but will make sure to do so at some point soon.
Also met some cool cats in the Indian military. This guy named Sameer who’s a public affairs/media guy (can’t remember his rank). Between him and Col. Ashraf who is Egyptian and turns out to be the CMPO (Chief Military Personnel Officer) to whom all of these military guys, Egyptian or not, report – and the few other Egyptian fellas I hung out with the other day (Talaat, Ayman, and a few others – forgot the names) I’m getting to know quite a few.
I gave Yoshi a call. She said she’d call back cuz she was taking care of something. She didn’t. Whatever. Still need to find Natasha’s number, dammit!
Anyway, it’s chow time. I’m pretty hungry since all I had was a tuna sandwich today. This food is starting to get to me tho. On top of that I’m sick now. Ugh. All in all though, still having a good time and pretty excited about going to the field. We’ll see what happens. I wanna hear about these adventures that Matt had alluded to.
More security briefings tomorrow at 8am… the ball is starting to roll.
The main interesting point was the way security is organized in the UN system. You have UNSECOORD out of NY directing security policy. This goes to the mission heads and reps. They coordinate with the mission in country who chooses a DO (Designated Official) who chose FSOs (Field Security Officers). All theses guys make up the SMT (security management team) who then coordinate with field and SOs (sub-offices) and their wardens (last in line if it’s a big mission). Insanity. They weren’t kidding when they said the UN was bureaucratic. Still, it makes a weird kind of sense.
Ran into Daniela again today and chilled with her in the morning along with this nice guy Alex who is a UNV in the gender section here in Ktm. Another American named Matt who works in the Civil Affairs unit apparently just got back from Syria and (or?) Amman while he and a friend were working on an Iraqi refugees documentary that they’re probably going to try to pitch/sell to Al-Jazeera. Didn’t really talk with him much but will make sure to do so at some point soon.
Also met some cool cats in the Indian military. This guy named Sameer who’s a public affairs/media guy (can’t remember his rank). Between him and Col. Ashraf who is Egyptian and turns out to be the CMPO (Chief Military Personnel Officer) to whom all of these military guys, Egyptian or not, report – and the few other Egyptian fellas I hung out with the other day (Talaat, Ayman, and a few others – forgot the names) I’m getting to know quite a few.
I gave Yoshi a call. She said she’d call back cuz she was taking care of something. She didn’t. Whatever. Still need to find Natasha’s number, dammit!
Anyway, it’s chow time. I’m pretty hungry since all I had was a tuna sandwich today. This food is starting to get to me tho. On top of that I’m sick now. Ugh. All in all though, still having a good time and pretty excited about going to the field. We’ll see what happens. I wanna hear about these adventures that Matt had alluded to.
More security briefings tomorrow at 8am… the ball is starting to roll.
Day 2 - 1/11/08
1/11/08
Quite a day…
Woke up at the crack of noon and got me some lunch. A “chicken” sandwich drenched in mayo and covered in veggies was all I really needed to “satisfy” my appetite. Lunch on the compound sucks ass but that’s ok. Dinner makes up for it.
I took my juggling balls and a few of the UNDP reports I brought with me to this outdoor lounge area they have going on. I figured I might meet some people. And meet I did. I ran into my Romanian UNV coordinator Daniela who was nice enough to let me use her office for a little internet action and sent off a few emails. Amazing how the internet is such a lifeline in a place like this. While I was there I finally got Geetha on the phone too. I’ve been in touch with her since the beginning and she was essentially my first point of contact. At the office I also met Selam, a nice Sudanese lady (who I thought was a man until I actually met her), and Thomasso, this Italian dude who’s also a UNV in the Supply section (whatever that means) and is a replica of my cousin Adil only lighter skinned.
While talking with Geetha, she pretty much smashed my expectation of what I thought I’d be doing. Looks like I’m going to Darfur after all. Apparently I’ll still be under UNMIS officially speaking but working with/for UNAMID in reality. Even UNMIS isn’t really sure what the hell is going on. That’s the impression Daniela gave me anyway. Anyhoo, I am Nyala bound a week from now unless something else pops up. It’s ok – I’m game for whatever.
I hung out in the “park” (lounge… whatever) for another hour afterwards and met a group of Egyptian security personnel. Very cool bunch of ppl actually. I met this Brig. Gen. something al-Bahai who used to be chief of mission for AMIS. Another low level type person named Ayman was there. I could tell from all the “sa3adt el basha” and “7adritak”s coming from him. Seems like he’s an IT type. Nice guy. A few of the others I never got a name for but whatever. I’m sure I’ll run into them again. And if not, no biggie.
So the schedule as it stands – and I’m sure this will be modified later – is this:
Sunday (1/13) – Check-in with the (wild guess?) Check-In Office (what time??)
Monday (1/14) – Induction class at 8am
Next week (~1/21) – Off to El Fasher for 1-2 days
After (~1/23) – Off to Nyala
Good times…
Quite a day…
Woke up at the crack of noon and got me some lunch. A “chicken” sandwich drenched in mayo and covered in veggies was all I really needed to “satisfy” my appetite. Lunch on the compound sucks ass but that’s ok. Dinner makes up for it.
I took my juggling balls and a few of the UNDP reports I brought with me to this outdoor lounge area they have going on. I figured I might meet some people. And meet I did. I ran into my Romanian UNV coordinator Daniela who was nice enough to let me use her office for a little internet action and sent off a few emails. Amazing how the internet is such a lifeline in a place like this. While I was there I finally got Geetha on the phone too. I’ve been in touch with her since the beginning and she was essentially my first point of contact. At the office I also met Selam, a nice Sudanese lady (who I thought was a man until I actually met her), and Thomasso, this Italian dude who’s also a UNV in the Supply section (whatever that means) and is a replica of my cousin Adil only lighter skinned.
While talking with Geetha, she pretty much smashed my expectation of what I thought I’d be doing. Looks like I’m going to Darfur after all. Apparently I’ll still be under UNMIS officially speaking but working with/for UNAMID in reality. Even UNMIS isn’t really sure what the hell is going on. That’s the impression Daniela gave me anyway. Anyhoo, I am Nyala bound a week from now unless something else pops up. It’s ok – I’m game for whatever.
I hung out in the “park” (lounge… whatever) for another hour afterwards and met a group of Egyptian security personnel. Very cool bunch of ppl actually. I met this Brig. Gen. something al-Bahai who used to be chief of mission for AMIS. Another low level type person named Ayman was there. I could tell from all the “sa3adt el basha” and “7adritak”s coming from him. Seems like he’s an IT type. Nice guy. A few of the others I never got a name for but whatever. I’m sure I’ll run into them again. And if not, no biggie.
So the schedule as it stands – and I’m sure this will be modified later – is this:
Sunday (1/13) – Check-in with the (wild guess?) Check-In Office (what time??)
Monday (1/14) – Induction class at 8am
Next week (~1/21) – Off to El Fasher for 1-2 days
After (~1/23) – Off to Nyala
Good times…
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