It’s now Saturday 00:35 am and I have to be insane to write a blog now but I will give it a try anyways, given the fact that I probably wont make it this weekend and next working week as, yes, you’ve heard me correctly I have to work!: it’s time for an emergency operation!
Anyways…do you know the feeling when you try to commit to something through the internet, write something with great care so that people who read it will actually enjoy reading it, or at least take some food for thought with them home, of course under the condition that they loose themselves by any chance in your blogging section in the first place, and then, yes, suddenly the computer has a breakdown and all of a sudden the work of the last 2 hours is…simply…GONE!?
Yes? Great! Well then you can share my frustration when this happened to me two weeks ago trying to write a cool story for this blog about the poor state of world fisheries (yes, in 2050 latest there will be no more fish in our seas and oceans due to excessive overfishing, according to a still 'optimistic' Stanford University study) and the effect this might have on food and income security in West Africa, including The Gambia. Very interesting and thought provoking topic and the rather lengthy blog was aimed to inspire and make you think next time you buy your canned tuna or engage in fisheries policy making.
Anyways, it was so frustrating that it took me two weeks to overcome this personal disaster, and find some time in my increasingly loaded schedule, and so I have decided to write a blog “at this day, at this hour, at this defining moment” in Observant’s blogging history, in a rather unusual way. No, it’s not about overfishing as this topic will have to wait a few more hours of frustration digestion and additional study of the substance itself.
It will be a summary of the highlights (+) and lowlights (-) of my last overnight fieldtrip to the very east and whole rest of The Gambia, which took place this Tuesday-Wednesday within the framework of an inter-agency pre-harvest crop assessment and flood damage mission (IAPHCAFDM). The blog is presented this time in an unusual “equation” form. Voila, here it is:
WFP field trip = cool jeep ride with cool Senegalese music + overnight stay in the sahelian bush + nice and friendly colleagues + loads of sunshine + interesting observations made and facts learned + got to know new interesting people + engaged in lengthy jeep conversations about life, religion, war, crop failure and floods, past, future, love and bloody relationship issues, Darfur, cultural differences, GPS system, food security, overfishing, rainfalls, desertification, cows, slavery etc. with a colleague from the Gambian government and a colleague from Tschad + enjoying three cool ferry rides across the river Gambia + seeing very interesting landscapes and wild animals + visiting slave trade historical sites on the way + seeing that there are indeed committed and competent people in The Gambia who care about their country's development and which we simply have to support + got a watermelon as a gift + eat the tongue of a lamb (very tasty) + as a courtesy got offered to eat the eyes of the same cooked lamb head (unfortunately couldn’t swallow that one, groce...) + happy that the programme schedule as a whole has worked + full of positive and interesting impressions - getting up at 5am – waiting 2 hours for a ferry – seeing a dead and smelly hippo at the river bank – washing with 1.5 liters of bottled water in the morning because the tap water had a light-brown flavor – sleeping almost with cockroaches – drove over 10hours in the first day on a red, dusty and bumpy road – almost broke my neck during ride – entered the jeep the second morning with a thousandfeet in the pants, yes it started scratching and I did jump out of the car – faced mosquitoes and other nasty bugs - experienced, once again, a physical meltdown = all in all a very interesting, valuable and unforgettable experience J
Check it out for yourself and apply for WFP! Ok, I should really have to go to bed now to get at least some 5 hours out of it. Wondering what my boss will think if he ever reads that…Anyways, always serving the poor, hungry and vulnerable...and you should be aware of which 'WFP light' aspects this entails.
Good night.
Oh yes, and the emergency operation today and tomorrow and the whole next week is about monitoring & evaluation of food distribution to flood victims recently hit by excessive seasonal rainfalls. After that I will work again with my best friend, the Dutch-American, Microsoft van Excel.