My first real day on the job and I knew already that building capacity would be in my job description at some level… after all, the main problem is not that the majority here have not had a say in how their country has been shaped, but rather that the majority don’t have the tools to shape it the way they would like. What I didn’t foresee was that my first act of ‘building’ would be through the panel for hiring a new member for the new Government’s Ministry of Peace!
You have to see the funny side when asking applicants about their approaches for collecting conflict information from communities and local insight into Sudanese culture when my own insight only consists of a few compounds from various NGO, UN and Government arms…!
Not that I would complain about the compounds. Delights they are amongst the seemingly desolate shacks. Walking into them, my local colleagues immediately stretch for the AC remote control…something about a dripping Scotsman seems to bring about a need to cool the room down to near freezing point.
Once again, I seem to join a part of the world where staple foodstuffs is the norm yet today I’ve had grilled fish twice and diced meat reminiscent of a ‘beef gus’ I used to know. I’m SURE I was only joking to our cook Grace when I winked and whispered “surf’n’turf tonight aye hen?!”
…coupled with some big screen Champions League, I’d say a fine reward for a 10 hour day spent hunting for new Government affiliates
No comments:
Post a Comment