Not sure where to start…here, have a new post…here’s my second post on the Financial Times “Hunger Diaries” following Action Against Hunger/ACF-USA field staff like myself…
Pas de Chi Chi it was so aptly entitled. Click here to read the blog and find out what Chi Chi is… 
In the meantime, the silence over the last few weeks can be well accounted for…
Life in Kisangani sadly comes to an end for me. My base is downsizing due to a dry up in funding options. We rely on external funding and my region geographically is no longer considered priority by the major funding mechanisms of the humanitarian community within DR Congo. Sad, since the need is still clearly there.
So the last couple months has been a lot of preparation for downsizing, moving out of the base, laying off the team and tying up things so that all that rests is one of my assistants for the liaison, logistics and admin support to the hive of activity in the north east.
Things have had to move a lot more quickly than expected, and with not much notice of the change, such that my lovely planning had to pretty much go out the window and we’ve just been hacking through the downsize with a metaphorical machete. It’s during moments like these that the spirit of my staff really shows through. They’re still working long hours so we can get things tied up and yet they’re all going to be laid off come 1 January. Talk about professional dedication.
This is not what you imagine when you imagine humanitarian work, but it’s a reality of the job.
The other reality is that, given that my presence in Kisangani becomes superfluous, it’s time to look elsewhere. I’ve accepted another posting with ACF until mid-April to southern Sudan, to the base of Wunrok in the Twic County of Warrap State…yes, right up near Abyei for those whose political Sudanese geography is sharp. Southern Sudan is going into a referendum in early January to determine it’s independence from northern Sudan…who knows what we’ll be walking into as the new year rolls around. All hopes are for a peaceful independence process, however there’s serious doubt and fear that this might not be the case. That’s another blog post in itself…
In the meantime, it’s farewell to Kisangani in less than a week…December 21st to be exact…as I make my way to the US of A for a very…very…brief visit to New Joisey as my brother likes to call it. Sad to leave Kisangani – I still enjoy this nice sized city as much as when I first arrived, only wishing I could have extracted myself from the office more often to admire the exceptional sunsets along the majestic Congo River. Sad to leave friends and connections, but this is part of this transient life.
A blessed Christmas to you all and a peaceful new year (especially for southern Sudan).
