The excitement has finally kicked in. I haven’t written anything over the last few weeks leading up to this point, because I have been feeling very numb and detached! It is very odd, as I would have thought I would go through varying degrees of excitement and anxiousness etc, etc, but nope, absolutely NOTHING (except for a few butterflies)! Well until now!
I am currently in Geneva doing my final briefing with MSF Switzerland, before I take off tomorrow for Addis Ababa - the capital of Ethiopia. It was only yesterday that I started to get a full feeling for the context into which I am going, and it was only yesterday that I actually started to feel the excitment welling up inside. Oh and also the fear…
It’s been a bit weird the last few weeks. I was told that I was going to Ethiopia for a six month contract, but two days before I left Perth I was advised that my contract has been changed from six months to three months. I must admit that this has thrown me a little. I had this idea that I’d be gone for most of the year and to realise that I will be finished (on this project at least) by June, is a little unsettling. Apparently the Logistics Assistant who works on the National staff in Gambella is very, very competent. They would like to move him into the Logistician position which is traditionally an ex-pat position, and it will be my job to help transition him over. I have been told to use the time to get as much training and experience from him as I can, but it is still a little unsettling.
At any rate, I think I am ready to go now. At the end of the three months, hopefully they will have another project for me, or I will see if I can get some contract work in the UK for a little while, but I’m sure that something will work out for me. That part I leave in God’s hands anyway.
I have been reflecting over the last few weeks how completely different I am to what I think an aid worker should be like! I am an unfit, scared, weak girl, who doesn’t like strange food (like mushrooms and vegetables). I am completely averse to violence, can’t stand to see blood or vomit, and find it difficult to be alone in foreign countries where I can’t speak the language. I feel sleepy and unenergetic, and I hate to get up early in the mornings. I am not a very handy or technical person, and I know nothing about electricity or mechanics, which are two of the main things I will be responsible for.
An aid worker should be strong, fit and courageous. Confident to eat anything and everything (and actually like it). Able to dive in to difficult situations in foreign countries and assist with medical operations. Should love to try and converse with the local people by hand actions if necessary and be very handy with tools and knowledgeable about survival skills. An aid worker should be energetic and loving to wake up early in the morning, bouncing out of bed and ready to see what the day holds for them. (okay this person is starting to make me feel a little ill)
I am hoping that there will be some miraculous, cocoon like transformation between the time I lift off from Amsterdam airport, until the time I touch down in Addis Ababa, but I am having some serious doubts! I’m thinking that they’ll just have to put up with me as who I am, and the things that need to change will hopefully change quickly over a short period of time.
We shall see……..
