Saturday, October 13, 2007

A portrait of the situation

Salam to all,

6 months later, I finally take the time to update this blog I have been neglecting too much. I am writing from Hazerajat, in the Central Highlands of Afghanistan, on top of the mountains, where one of our three operational bases is, and out of which we run water and sanitation and food security programs. My second field visit so to say. As a logistics coordinator one of my responsibilities is to go regularly to our bases to verify the quality of logistical support, to coach and train expatriate logisticians and national staff, and sometimes reset the counters when things are going out of control. One hour by plane to get there, or 3 hours by helicopter, or 3 days by road on board of a 4X4 (what I actually had to do twice and both ways) I was visiting our Taywara base just before getting here, a base running without expatriate presence since May 2006 owing to security complications and proximity with one of the Taliban strongholds. Thank god we have programs in Kabul to remind ourselves of what the field is like. Security doesn’t make things easy….good transition to talk about the latter which has been continuously degrading since 2005, and continuously degrading since the winter snows melt. One thing comes to mind….WTF!!! Kabul remains our most risky base owing to everything you guys hear and read about in the media, that and much more…. Security of the mission doesn’t only mean managing it, it’s also being often blocked in Kabul to ensure a potential evacuation, cancel field visits, and regularly modify our plans to adapt to the context, reduce the risk to the minimum, and try to remain unpredictable. To sum it up, I went to the field for the first time in July (one visit), a second time in October (two visits), and I am planning on two final visits before the winter in November, if security allows it of course…

But why insist so much on what we sacredly call the field? Well because this year is my first one as a coordinator, based in capital, whose function is to supervise those running the projects, along with managing the multiple (and often tedious) interactions with Headquarters. Apart from security, coaching, and control mentioned above, I have also to define the logistics needs of the mission to the donors (to get money and nice equipment) on top of managing our existing means countrywide. I am therefore responsible for the car IT and equipment parks, for the good running of our bases and programs supply chain, not forgetting movement monitoring within the country, and that and much more…. I think you get the point: less contact with the beneficiaries, but an equally important management role, giving means to the mission for it to run properly, in collaboration with the program coordinators, the administrator, and the head of mission: the coordination team. We are in touch with HQ through our technical referents who support us each in our respective fields, through our procurement, IT, and maintenance departments who allow us to make up for needs we cannot satisfy locally, and finally through the desk officer and his team, kind of the big boss of the mission in touch with all donor HQs, and whose role is to be our ambassador to the operations department managing all missions of Action Against Hunger. Is that all? Of course not, as I haven’t mentioned the technical department in charge of research, the communication department handling media, mailings, and other communiqués you guys get in the West, the financial department giving us money, and last but not least, the human resources department supplying us with expatriates, a staple sadly too rare for destinations like Afghanistan.
One serious problem affecting us, that of not finding volunteers for Afghanistan. The Media are to blame we are told, because of this biased image of a violent and dangerous country. Why stop at that? Why not show the progress accomplished since the Taliban were toppled in 2001? Yes the situation remains one of an insurrection with the government controlling less than half of the country, and one would be naïve not to consider this country not at war still, but what about reconstruction, health and education systems progressively rising again, and all the constitutional steps taken for the past 6 years? This reminds me of the media coverage of Arabic countries, where the background to reporters talking is still too often a desert or a devastated piece of land, to keep alive the image of the underdeveloped Bedouin …no comment!

One problem brings another, one of imposing bad company instead of walking alone…Clowns galore expatriate wise, between those who come to save the country, and those who want to evangelize the natives. You all remember the kidnapping of the two French hostages in April, kidnapping that occurred in a zone where even fools wouldn’t dare venturing, and the more recent and edifying kidnapping of the 23 South Koreans coming to evangelize our bearded friends, kidnapped on the most dangerous road of Afghanistan. Who to blame? The ones sending those people, all those small organizations and congregations who in my opinion should be sued for such acts. This clown issue also applies internally sadly to us serious NGOs having a hard time finding expatriates for our projects. A situation so exasperating that I prefer to stop here!

Our last ordeal? Money of course and the associated policy of the ones providing the dough: I give you the international community. For almost two years now the general mood is to finance directly the Afghan government and all humanitarian/military structures supposedly in the best position to address problems we as NGO have developed our expertise on. In relation to the government I couldn’t agree more, but only on the basis of proven good governance, which is sadly not the case in this country plagued by corruption. In regards to this monstrosity of having Einsteins in combat gear assisting populations, it is difficult to find words because of the damage such an association of concept does to our neutrality and puts us NGOs under the impression of taking sides in a conflict when our only aim is to assist vulnerable people. What is then left for us of all those billions injected in the reconstruction of Afghanistan? Few crumbs forcing us for nearly two years to reduce our activities, while needs remain as important as before if not more.

This is why a mission like Afghanistan is considered a tough one. Because we have to face all those problems and maintain our presence for all the populations still struggling. What about motivation and morale? Well, we keep the faith, especially during those field visits I was telling you about at the beginning, when we get in touch with our beneficiaries and mostly with those who cannot be our beneficiaries because of all those walls surrounding us. Afghanistan still needs NGOs, and could definitely do without all those clowns we come across, and without this confusion of genres the military are imposing. What to do again? Just be patient and wait for the international community to change its tactics and give us back means to act upon, thanks to our lobbying, denunciations, and determination…inch Allah!
I would like to end this posting with a special thought to my friend Irfan working for the International Committee of the Red Cross, taken prisoner by criminals wanting to sell him to the Talibans, while coming back from one of the most dangerous areas of the country where he was negotiating the freedom of the last German hostage released couple of days ago. Irfan also participated in the release of the South Korean hostages a couple of months earlier. Thankfully enough, the story ended on a bright note, with him and his 4 other colleagues (abducted at the same time) released safe and sound. Please spare a thought for those who like him risk their life everyday for others in this country, but also in all those troubled destinations where we try as much as we can to make a difference…big up to all J