The Big Boss

Franklin Graham, former US Senator Bill Frist, Sami Daghar (those that know SP will know that name) as well as three big bosses from our US office and a host of journalists, photographers, and other ‘less important’ people blessed us with their presence for 30 minutes today. Franklin is on a tour of East Africa today and Darfur was a 4 hour stop on their itinerary. He met with the Governor of Nyala and visited an IDP camp to see other NGO’s work there and talk to some IDPs. A four hour visit took two weeks worth of prep work and halted our normal operations for two days. It all seems rather crazy for four hours and I sure hope the outcome is a positive one. But it all seemed to go well and there were no serious issues or surprises.

My role in the whole thing was to make the half hour potty break a positive experience for our guests. This sounds easy enough but when you have to work with Sudanese toilet facilities that often comprise of what we call a squatty potty and don’t include the normal comforts of home it is a little tricky. So we hosted them in our guest house where at least there is a western toilet and maybe a little cleaner than the facilities that the staff use at the office. We put together a spread of food and drinks which even included a new arrival to Nyala – M&M’s! So people came, ate, talked and used our fabulous facilities. We got 30 minutes of the 4 hours to meet these people that we work for and somehow communicate to them about Darfur and how we are coping here as well as voice the needs of the thousands of people that we help. No pressure at all!

So the big meeting with Franklin Graham went much better than I had expected. You always here rumors about the big boss and honestly I was expecting the worst. I got the call from our team that they were on their way (this meant to me that I had 10 minutes to get cold drinks on the table and hot food onto plates) but then I heard on the radio that they were only one minute away. So no panic – just start running. So I’m throwing food, tossing drinks on the table and I have a arm full of bottles of water and my hands have food on them and I turn around and Franklin is walking towards me, hand out and introducing himself. So I realize that I have my arms full and my hands are dirty. What is a girl to do? So I shifted the bottles and wiped my hand on my pants (the African way) and greeted the son of the great preacher Billy Graham. Maybe not the most elegant introduction but I did my best. The best part is that I will be the only one that will remember it that way. The rest of their time was full of answering the questions that people ask but never really want to hear the answer and making sure that I schmoose with the right guys because you never know when your face in their mind will get you a job again one day. The thirty minute whirl wind came and went without incident and I actually don’t remember a whole lot of it.

The whole timing of this visit has been interesting for us here. Security is always a question mark here but just last week we had a fairly serious incident happen. No one was hurt but one of our trucks got stopped and our staff were asked to hand over money, watches, cell phones and shoes. They were just some guys that needed a little bit of money so they weren’t interested in taking the truck which we are very thankful for. But the event was very traumatic for our staff as any situation where you are laying face down on the ground with a gun pointed at you can be. We are always aware of the risks that we take as we head to the field and work in the communities but last week was a reminder of how serious it could be. So our thirty minute visit and the fact that they didn’t see SP programs was a little hard to swallow. Some days and after an incident like that you want to be reassured that the risks that you take are recognized and appreciated. I think we are all a little mixed on how we feel about this all. I could get really critical about it all but it’s just a feeling that will pass – probably not so justified.

But all in all it was a successful day on our part – the bigger results are yet to be seen. I’m on the countdown to my R&R where I can forget the frustrations and refocus on what I am doing. Check out SP’s web site in the next couple of days – there should be an article about Franklin’s visit to Darfur.