Ballistic vests, swollen feet and job satisfaction in contemporary aid work
A few months ago a UNAMID friend of mine let me try on a blue helmet and ballistic vest they usually keep draped over their office chair in case of emergencies. I’ve seen plenty of them around, all the UNAMID troops are issued with them and I supposs civilian staff have to don them when the world starts falling apart. I’d never really given it much thought, but found the straps pushing down on my shoulders, the ceramic plate grating against my ribs and the kevlar helmet crushing my skull to death made me realize how bulky and and immobilizing these ‘lifesaving’ devices really are. It gave me a new appreciation of the fellas who patrol around in them all day long in the Darfur heat.
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The key to peace
… is chai.
Though it looks as if they are doing less talking in Doha and more fighting in Darfur.
Conflict booze
First there were conflict diamonds made famous in the movie ‘Blood Diamond’, and then there were conflict minerals and (apparently) conflict chocolate, and now there is conflict booze. Don’t throw away your precious bottle of vintage red or amber scotch just yet, but in Darfur we’re witnessing this conflict driving trade unravel in a most unusual of ways.
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Flying in Darfur
Read an interesting account of a UNHAS pilot who flew in Darfur around 2005-2006 (from what I can tell) from a new online Aid story collective called HELO: Crisis story Magazine (weird name, and the website design is straight out of 1998, but some good content at least, especially if you’re interested in humanaid as a career). Below is an excerpt:
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The War is over… so why am I not coming home?
Hi Mum and Dad,
Great news! according to the head of the peacekeepers in Darfur – the war is over! I feel like going out to celebrate, to pack up my bags and look nonchalantly over my photos, to say how I feel to Kilo Juliet Alpha 1.2 because she’s so beautiful and basically kick back and think about all the good times ahead, because that’s what you’re supposed to do when the war is over isn’t it?
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I dream of Janjaweed
The long line of followers snaked through the scrub. Despite the exhaustion they hauled, carried or dragged as best they could their few possessions. We stopped momentarily for breath and were carried forward by those behind us, always onwards and never looking back.
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Ahmed’s War
As I lay on my bed last night i heard a typical *pop* outside followed by the high pitched whizzing noise of a 7.62 round flying somewhere in the darkness over our compound. Yet it never really worries me to hear gunfire at night. Our walls are 9 feet high (and literally getting higher by the day), my windows are sandbagged and the roof is also re-enforced. So there is very little chance of anything happening, especially while I am snoozing on my bed.
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Prison.break.season.1.finale
I guess one of the things I was looking forward to with my work was the liberal R&R schedule allowed to me. I get a lot of holidays and maybe it’s because my org is really nice, but it’s definitely also because Darfur makes you crazy.
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Lessons learned
As for man, his days are like grass,
he flourishes like a flower in the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone,
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10 signs it’s time to take a break
For any other workers in highly volatile and ridiculously stuffed up situations, here are 5 warning signs that it’s time to probably take a break:
Cloud herding and the cone of silence
When we talk about a security issue here, it’s whispered in hushed tones and muted voices. The door to the office is shut and we converse in our cone of silence. It’s actually pretty lame- we have no glass in the windows, people constantly barge in and if you’re hanging by the door you could probably even hear the air move as we gesture and point excitedly at large maps on the wall (I wanted a laser pointer so I could point excitedly from my desk, instead all I was offered was a 10 ft bamboo pole).
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