Wednesday:
6.45am – alarm goes off.. Snooze, snooze.. Teeth brushing, face washing, breakfast.. Tea, and another cup of tea for the road.
7.45am – in the office.. Frustrated by the mistakes one of my assistants has made with the payslips.. I’m tired of having to follow every detail, it reminds of the saying – if you want something done properly, do it yourself.. But there’s too much to do yourself here..
I listen to one of the logs whine at the processes and not being able to get money from me… God it’s not even 8.30.. I want to scream…
8.30am – morning meeting.. I hold back tears when it comes to my update, blurt out a few words and sit there feeling overwhelmed at all that is to be done and at South Sudan in general today…
9.15am – talk to the super log from Paris about security and processes for 15 minutes before they’re off to catch the plane. We race to the car and do a quick drive by of the bank before returning to base and saying au réviour, nice to meet you, see you in Paris for debriefing next year..
10am – sit in the office and try to plan my day.. Add to my to do list. Send emails, type letters and communication to the National Staff.. Respond to the logs via a typed letter, confirming the status of all their pending issues.. This makes me feel a little better..
Talk to my assistant about expectations and then say goodbye – he’ll return back to his plan of holidays and they’ll just be two of us in the office for the next 2 weeks.. It’s harvesting time in Sudan!
1.30pm – take 20 minutes for lunch and a few pieces of chocolate… Ah, heaven!!
1.50pm – back to the office. Prepare for the pending disciplinary meetings, where one of the people will refuse to sign their warning after a long and tiring conversation..
6.30pm – walk back to the compound, pour myself (or is that poor myself) a white cask wine, into our stainless steel coffee mugs and walk back to the compound! I’m tired today…
7.30pm – wine or no wine, my brain’s had enough.. Turn off the computer and close up the office.. I arrive back in my compound to fresh flowers in a makeshift vase (water bottle, with shells inside).. What a way to cheer me up after a shitty, shitty day.. One of the logs keeps doing this.. Every few days there is some new flower in my room. I think it’s his hobby, finding new flowers for me.. I’m glad.. I like it. He’s leaving soon and I’ll miss this…
Thursday:
7am – a few stretches, breakfast, coffee.. The best start to the day that one could ask for.. Translated through one of the cooks, one of the cleaners, and one of my favorite ladies, tells me that I’m her friend, that she loves me and that she doesn’t want me to go back to my country.. Ever… I need to hear this after yesterday…
8am – in the office…
Salary preparation, salary preparation!!! All day…….
By the end of the day I’m dreaming notes.. They fly over each other, they circle, in my head, note after note after note!!!
Eventually we get it done… At 5.30 Mary goes home…
I go to WFP to check the flight manifest – we’ve people arriving and departing tomorrow.. Some of the boys are off to Mombasa for their R&R, oh how I wish I could fit in their suitcase…
6pm – back from WFP.. Pack my bag, print my job description and head off to do my review with Dramane before he leaves.. We enjoy a beer and dinner.. The only thing left on the menu is omlette and chips! He tells me he hasn’t eaten this since being a poor student – I don’t think I’ve ever eaten this.. Well maybe in England, with Sarah, after one of our many big nights…
9.30 – back home.. Quick chat to the boys, they’re sitting up listening to music and quietly drinking, preparation for their well deserved holiday.. They can see how tired I am though so they let me sneak off.. Cup of tea, book, sleep!!!
I don’t dream tonight..
Friday:
Salary payment day.. Though I’m in the office all day so it’s a good chance to actually get work done (in between helping Mary to get everyone outside and line up one at a time for collection)… We’re trying a new process today.. I’m not sure if it’s working – I hope so.
We go for lunch – she’s done a good job and had a busy morning so she more than deserves it.. The Field Co will leave on Friday so we invite him.. We all share chicken in a soup/gravy with rice, some sort of greens and a bit of chapatti.. The chapatti’s here are great…
The afternoon goes smoothly.. By 6pm I’m ready for a beer.. Just a few emails to get through..
The Friday night meeting is a treat – NOT.. We’ve had a new pharmacist who’s arrived, as well as the MedCo to replace the Field Co til we get the permanent replacement.. I think the pharmacist must wonder what she’s gotten herself into. The whole meeting is mostly taken up by HR and I get to be the bad guy.. They’ve recruited way to many people here, before me, and now they can’t replace them as their contracts end.. It’s a bone of contention to say the least.. The meeting doesn’t go too badly but 2 people end up in tears, either during or after and everyone is frustrated by the process.. I’m frustrated with people going over my head to try and get a different answer so I’m firm – just like the Field Co wants me to be.. He shakes my hand at the end.. Happy that before he leaves he see’s me being strong and taking my proper place in the team with it’s associated responsibility…
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
(a bit more than) A week in the life of the Admin….. part 1
Friday to Tuesday:
Let me recap, briefly
Friday – After weeks of spending too much time in the office, today I part play log. Due to the flooding there are IDP’s (internally displaced people), some of which have been moved by the Government to a new location. No water, no food, no latrines and about 8km out of town – via a very messy road that even our land cruisers got stuck in. On Thursday the logs take a tank and the first lot of water. Today, I go back and we fill up the tank with water, we asses how many new people have arrived and we asses what they’ve eaten.. Sugarcane.. I have a play at watsan, run the water from the pick up to the tank via a little machine… It’s good – today I feel like an aid worker.. I came here to help and the physical act of doing something feels more constructive than the weeks I’ve been in the office dealing with Admin and HR.. I know that it’s all important but today it’s just what I need. To be with the people and to smile at the kids whilst they stare at the kawaja’s and run from us as we threaten to get them with water.
Saturday – At 5pm I rush out of the office, put on the local Sudanese football jersey, attract much too much attention on our way to the stadium and I play football with some of the expats and the national staff.. The Dinka’s are tall and they are fast. My first tackle is with a French guy and a Dinka and I end up on the ground.. Hmmm, this isn’t like playing with the girls at home.. I get laughed at, stared at and encouraged (although this a little less often).. I feel like I’m breaking every single social norm that exists within this culture by doing something that is, to me, completely normal.. I play a terrible game of football as I’m so self conscious (and frightened of getting hammered) that I can’t get out of my head.. It’s still fun.. We get some great picture and we start developing a better relationship with the National Staff here.. This is the point and I think it’s working.. One big tick for the day…
At 11pm I go to bed.. everyone stays up partying, the music gets louder and at 12.15 I decide I’m not going to sleep so I get back up and join the party.. We dance, we sing.. We find some sort of colorful streamers and coat ourselves with this and with toilet paper, laughing, yelling at the DJ, tonight is one of the best parties we’ve had.. We’re all happy, most of us are here.. Life is good..
Monday - There is a grenade let off by someone in Akuem. At 4.30am the Dr’s on call have to go into the hospital, we discuss over breakfast what’s happened. A fight breaks out during a traditional initiation ceremony, one person who’s not initiated starts be taunted by the men that are, his response ends in 20 odd people having to be admitted to the hospital. We discuss this in our morning management meeting and confirm that it’s a grenade, not a gun that he’s used.. The OT is busy today with all the cases that have come in.. Somewhere between 3-5 people have died, the numbers aren’t confirmed.. I discuss this with my team, apparently initiation isn’t legal here anymore but some of the people still do it.. If you don’t have it other men, and even worse – your wife, can call you a boy..
Akuem is about 45 minutes from us, MSF used to have a project here but left back in 2007 I think… I’m reminded that we’re in Sudan.. At home a fight is a fight, usually with 2 fists.. Here after so many years of war and access to weaponary it ends up with a bunch of people hurt and a few people dead… Such a waste…
Let me recap, briefly
Friday – After weeks of spending too much time in the office, today I part play log. Due to the flooding there are IDP’s (internally displaced people), some of which have been moved by the Government to a new location. No water, no food, no latrines and about 8km out of town – via a very messy road that even our land cruisers got stuck in. On Thursday the logs take a tank and the first lot of water. Today, I go back and we fill up the tank with water, we asses how many new people have arrived and we asses what they’ve eaten.. Sugarcane.. I have a play at watsan, run the water from the pick up to the tank via a little machine… It’s good – today I feel like an aid worker.. I came here to help and the physical act of doing something feels more constructive than the weeks I’ve been in the office dealing with Admin and HR.. I know that it’s all important but today it’s just what I need. To be with the people and to smile at the kids whilst they stare at the kawaja’s and run from us as we threaten to get them with water.
Saturday – At 5pm I rush out of the office, put on the local Sudanese football jersey, attract much too much attention on our way to the stadium and I play football with some of the expats and the national staff.. The Dinka’s are tall and they are fast. My first tackle is with a French guy and a Dinka and I end up on the ground.. Hmmm, this isn’t like playing with the girls at home.. I get laughed at, stared at and encouraged (although this a little less often).. I feel like I’m breaking every single social norm that exists within this culture by doing something that is, to me, completely normal.. I play a terrible game of football as I’m so self conscious (and frightened of getting hammered) that I can’t get out of my head.. It’s still fun.. We get some great picture and we start developing a better relationship with the National Staff here.. This is the point and I think it’s working.. One big tick for the day…
At 11pm I go to bed.. everyone stays up partying, the music gets louder and at 12.15 I decide I’m not going to sleep so I get back up and join the party.. We dance, we sing.. We find some sort of colorful streamers and coat ourselves with this and with toilet paper, laughing, yelling at the DJ, tonight is one of the best parties we’ve had.. We’re all happy, most of us are here.. Life is good..
Monday - There is a grenade let off by someone in Akuem. At 4.30am the Dr’s on call have to go into the hospital, we discuss over breakfast what’s happened. A fight breaks out during a traditional initiation ceremony, one person who’s not initiated starts be taunted by the men that are, his response ends in 20 odd people having to be admitted to the hospital. We discuss this in our morning management meeting and confirm that it’s a grenade, not a gun that he’s used.. The OT is busy today with all the cases that have come in.. Somewhere between 3-5 people have died, the numbers aren’t confirmed.. I discuss this with my team, apparently initiation isn’t legal here anymore but some of the people still do it.. If you don’t have it other men, and even worse – your wife, can call you a boy..
Akuem is about 45 minutes from us, MSF used to have a project here but left back in 2007 I think… I’m reminded that we’re in Sudan.. At home a fight is a fight, usually with 2 fists.. Here after so many years of war and access to weaponary it ends up with a bunch of people hurt and a few people dead… Such a waste…
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sunday is funday...
My Sunday is not so hard here today… I’m typing my blog outside in the compound, the sun is shining and I’ve a bell in hand.. This is one of the Ugandan beers we enjoy here.. I’ve done a little bit of work this morning, typing up some proposals to send to the Coordination team to justify some changes we want to make here in the field..
Drinking a beer in the sun though kind of feels like I’m holidays so it’s not so bad at all..
I spent last weekend in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.. I went there for a few days break and I was well looked after.. The ladies let me pick whatever I wanted in the supermarket.. Cheese, olives, REAL red wine and salami… It was a nice treat, blissful actually.. I did a bit of work on Friday and then just read, slept, ate and on Sunday afternoon went to the swimming pool for some much needed water.. It’s funny being in a place so hot and not being able to get in the ocean – very different to being home..
This afternoon the plan is for a nap, followed by a game of volleyball.. It’s not all fun but Sundays everyone generally relaxes and takes time out which is much needed after a week of hard work.. We had the end of Ramadan here this week, confusion with the public holiday made me giggle. The way things are organized and the way things work is so different to at home. I think I’ve become more flexible, it’s impossible to plan for everything in a county like this and half the time I see beauty in this, half the time I’m just plain frustrated..
It’s hard to know what to write at the moment as life seems to be continuing nicely, although time goes fast..
Perhaps work.. So I’m responsible for all the HR management, well with my team which consists of another 2. We have about 260 National staff that work across the hospital, logistics (drivers, labourers, storekeepers, builders etc.) and administration.. In my team there is me, 1 Finance Assistant and 1 HR Assistant, hence we’re always busy.. Given the history of Sudan there aren’t a huge number of trained medical people, Medical Assistant’s and Nurses are a constant struggle to engage and retain and this makes for a lot of HR issues for the hospital and for me.. Along with recruitment and discipline the other HR things we deal with are the labour law and making sure we are following this across everything to do with recruiting staff, paying them, settling them when they resign or are dismissed… The other thing I deal with is money.. Paying the staff, working with the logs on costs for construction, purchases etc. etc, trips to pick up Plumpy Nut (a food from Unicef we use to feed malnourished children), managing the money that comes in and out of the project, being across the budget, making sure everything is recorded properly, making sure we’re spending the right amount on the right items… It’s all a new challenge for me, though and I have pretty good working relationships with most of the people here so that really helps…
It’s my first time managing a team and being a Head of Department where you’re involved in much of the decision making but I really like it.. I think the best part about my role is that you have a good understanding for what’s happening across the whole project, this is something I really like.. That and the fact that I get to have contact with lots of the staff. Sometimes there’s to much problem solving with the issues they are facing but really, it’s good to get to know a large number or the people and understand the difficulties that they are facing and what their life has been like..
There’s been many changes in the coordination team and given the up and coming referendum there’s the need to have some consistency and make decisions about the team that will be here during this period – which no doubt will be a defining moment in history for both the Sudanese and possibly the broader African community.. Given this, last week I decided to extend my mission.. The HR Coordinator in the capital will leave beforehand and not only do I think that it will be useful for the project to have consistency during this time but I also think it will be politically very interesting… I also want to have the opportunity to see some of the change we are making in the project, especially in my department – it’s good to see the rewards and experience them after initiating some of this..
So, I’m likely to be here until February now.. Given how quickly the last months have gone I think I’ll be fine.. I’ve got a week long break between now and then that will either be spent somewhere with Grambi at the end of her Africa trip or in Zanzibar laying on the beach and eating sushi.. Yes, I’m all about the food and the ocean at the moment…
I think about life back home and I miss you all often, but it’s nice to feel fully content with life and with what I’m doing.. I think life on mission and my expectations (of Sudan particularly) are different to the reality but not in a bad way.. I’m happy here. We have the most amazing sky. Nearly every evening the sunsets are beautiful. The sky fills with pinks and blues and purples. Every night I brush my teeth under the stars and looking at the milky way, something I never get to experience at home. My day is filled talking to people and slowly getting to understand a different culture and a different way of life.. Not only with the national staff but with the expats who come from all around the globe.. If anything this mission has confirmed more to me that we’re all pretty much the same, minus a few minor and unimportant differences..
Drinking a beer in the sun though kind of feels like I’m holidays so it’s not so bad at all..
I spent last weekend in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.. I went there for a few days break and I was well looked after.. The ladies let me pick whatever I wanted in the supermarket.. Cheese, olives, REAL red wine and salami… It was a nice treat, blissful actually.. I did a bit of work on Friday and then just read, slept, ate and on Sunday afternoon went to the swimming pool for some much needed water.. It’s funny being in a place so hot and not being able to get in the ocean – very different to being home..
This afternoon the plan is for a nap, followed by a game of volleyball.. It’s not all fun but Sundays everyone generally relaxes and takes time out which is much needed after a week of hard work.. We had the end of Ramadan here this week, confusion with the public holiday made me giggle. The way things are organized and the way things work is so different to at home. I think I’ve become more flexible, it’s impossible to plan for everything in a county like this and half the time I see beauty in this, half the time I’m just plain frustrated..
It’s hard to know what to write at the moment as life seems to be continuing nicely, although time goes fast..
Perhaps work.. So I’m responsible for all the HR management, well with my team which consists of another 2. We have about 260 National staff that work across the hospital, logistics (drivers, labourers, storekeepers, builders etc.) and administration.. In my team there is me, 1 Finance Assistant and 1 HR Assistant, hence we’re always busy.. Given the history of Sudan there aren’t a huge number of trained medical people, Medical Assistant’s and Nurses are a constant struggle to engage and retain and this makes for a lot of HR issues for the hospital and for me.. Along with recruitment and discipline the other HR things we deal with are the labour law and making sure we are following this across everything to do with recruiting staff, paying them, settling them when they resign or are dismissed… The other thing I deal with is money.. Paying the staff, working with the logs on costs for construction, purchases etc. etc, trips to pick up Plumpy Nut (a food from Unicef we use to feed malnourished children), managing the money that comes in and out of the project, being across the budget, making sure everything is recorded properly, making sure we’re spending the right amount on the right items… It’s all a new challenge for me, though and I have pretty good working relationships with most of the people here so that really helps…
It’s my first time managing a team and being a Head of Department where you’re involved in much of the decision making but I really like it.. I think the best part about my role is that you have a good understanding for what’s happening across the whole project, this is something I really like.. That and the fact that I get to have contact with lots of the staff. Sometimes there’s to much problem solving with the issues they are facing but really, it’s good to get to know a large number or the people and understand the difficulties that they are facing and what their life has been like..
There’s been many changes in the coordination team and given the up and coming referendum there’s the need to have some consistency and make decisions about the team that will be here during this period – which no doubt will be a defining moment in history for both the Sudanese and possibly the broader African community.. Given this, last week I decided to extend my mission.. The HR Coordinator in the capital will leave beforehand and not only do I think that it will be useful for the project to have consistency during this time but I also think it will be politically very interesting… I also want to have the opportunity to see some of the change we are making in the project, especially in my department – it’s good to see the rewards and experience them after initiating some of this..
So, I’m likely to be here until February now.. Given how quickly the last months have gone I think I’ll be fine.. I’ve got a week long break between now and then that will either be spent somewhere with Grambi at the end of her Africa trip or in Zanzibar laying on the beach and eating sushi.. Yes, I’m all about the food and the ocean at the moment…
I think about life back home and I miss you all often, but it’s nice to feel fully content with life and with what I’m doing.. I think life on mission and my expectations (of Sudan particularly) are different to the reality but not in a bad way.. I’m happy here. We have the most amazing sky. Nearly every evening the sunsets are beautiful. The sky fills with pinks and blues and purples. Every night I brush my teeth under the stars and looking at the milky way, something I never get to experience at home. My day is filled talking to people and slowly getting to understand a different culture and a different way of life.. Not only with the national staff but with the expats who come from all around the globe.. If anything this mission has confirmed more to me that we’re all pretty much the same, minus a few minor and unimportant differences..
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