24Nov
When I was informed about the location of my next field assignment, Yemen, the first thing that came to my mind was a scene in Friends – Chandler lied to his girlfriend that he had to work in Yemen in order to escape from her.
17May
“Everyone is happy when the rain comes.” This is what my assistant told me after the rainstorm last week.
9May
Today, I have witnessed South Sudan’s first rainstorm in 2013, which also signified the end of dry season and the beginning of rainy season. By the time I went back to the base, my tent was completely flooded with water and mud, and everything on the floor (backpack, computer, shoes, etc) was soaked. When I was emptying water from my tent, the clinic staffs reported that there were some urgent problems in the clinic – fences collapsed, security light failure, and generator stopped. The logistic team rushed back to the clinic to carry out emergency repairing. It was around nine when we returned to the base, and all of us were completely wet and exhausted. I took a shower and went to bed immediately, without even checking whether my computer still work or not.
8May
Finally arrived the project location–Doro Refugee Camp, South Sudan. It was a long journey, which took 3 days, including 5 transits (in Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Addis Ababa and Juba) and 4 briefings. I was really surprised by the amount of resources and manpower required just to send an expatriate to the field, and it makes me wonder how complicated and difficult it is for MSF to launch a project.
