At 8.00am Marbey, Elison, Lois and I visited four temporary spontaneous camps for displaced people in Goma town. We visited two church sites with APIBA animateurs/animatrice who had been informed of our visit and of course this attracted a crowd and raised a lot of expectations. (more…)
Another security briefing at OCHA and people are beginning to seem more familiar now.
Once again I tried to find out about the pooled funding mechanism, this time at a briefing meeting. I asked the presenter if I could have all the guidelines and forms etc. Hearing that I am English he said: “Ah, we are making things difficult for you ha ha as everything is in French and you have to submit in French ha ha” (as if that was absolutely hysterically funny). I was expecting this and assured him it won’t be a problem. He then said: “but you are new and you haven’t received funds from us here before and you have to be eligible to apply” (oh here we go I thought…more hoops lined up for us to jump through, what joy!) (more…)
Marbey and I went to UNHCR for the Protection Cluster meeting. Our mission for this morning was to become accepted as official members of cluster group which sounds easy (and should be) but owing to inter-agency politics - ‘with a small p’ - and rivalries, it isn’t. We had been warned by OCHA! (more…)
Beni and I attended the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) security briefing at 8.00am which reported unrest and operations around Masisi and Walekali, coalition forces operating in Kashebere, FARDC displacing people towards South Kivu, FDLR reprisals somewhere else (it was hard to catch the name as the reports are given very rapidly)….and an armed robbery in Goma. There was another report that some rented vehicles circulate with NGO stickers on them long after the NGO has finished using the vehicles. This leads to confusion and could put NGO vehicles at risk from attacks by bandits. (more…)
I am realising just how much humanitarian aid language can exclude people, especially the incessant use of acronyms. Sunday morning at the Caritas Hotel brought an interesting breakfast conversation with a guy from MONUC (the UN Mission in Congo) called Bruno who happens to be heading up the DDRRR process (Disarmament, Demobilisation, Repatriation, Resettlement and Re-integration) of FDLR (Rwandan Hutu Army) soldiers and their dependents – meaning they are encouraged to be disarmed, de-mobbed and repatriated with their families to Rwanda. (more…)
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! No, I didn’t get any cards, flowers or chocolates this year (sigh). A beautiful day dawned over Lake Kivu but there was no time to sit back and relax and drink it all in. I decided to work outdoors in the garden, writing up reports and re-drafting our letter of agreement with Merlin for discussions with the Deputy Country Director next week.
Friday morning arrived so quickly and with anticipation Marbey, Elison and I set off for the Save the Children UK office around the corner to give our introductory workshop with Save the Children staff and partners and brainstorm on joint programming. (more…)
One tricky thing about aid work is having to collect and assimilate information from a variety of sources at top speed. (more…)
I attended my first security briefing at the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) at 8.00am this morning and it was all double-dutch to me (being conducted entirely in French). I really have to resurrect my French as quickly as possible and get my ear attuned to all the different locations agencies are working in. (more…)
I had to abandon my plans to visit another camp yesterday. The Rwandese army was parading to celebrate the success of their recent campaign to disarm the rebels and their return to Rwanda. We all received strict instructions not to travel out of Goma or anywhere near the parade. (more…)
