Back to School

I don't get out to the field very often. Security often limits expat travel and my responsibilities in the office usually dominate my time so my time in the field has been few and far between. But yesterday I got to head out with our education team and visit a few schools in an area just north of Nyala. It was a quick trip but great to get out of Nyala and see the results of the hundreds of receipts come across my desk. In the area we have helped communities set up temporary classrooms to assist the displaced children to continue their education. The ministry of education helps them with curriculum, Unicef provides textbooks and school materials and we provide the classroom structures, and school furnishings. The attendance of these schools constantly fluctuate. I wonder how it is possible for these kids to get an education when they are always moving from one place to another as they seek safety. Even within the same town one school's students doubled while another school's attendance dropped from over 200 to around 60. Some people were starting to return to the area from Nyala so the kids were coming back and 5 minutes away the community leader was kidnapped and killed so everyone in that area had fled. It seems like a constant population movement that I can't comprehend. It's one of our biggest challenges out here. Tracking and following the people we assist is an impossible job. One community can change it's inhabitants in one day and within a month that may change another two or three times. It's like all these people have become forced nomads.

It was a great day to hang out with kids and get out from behind my desk for a little while. I need to do it more - inshall'ah. I'm supposed to be leaving for Egypt on Friday morning but I just got news last night that I still don't have an exit visa. Something went strangely wrong with the process and it got held up in someone's office. It's not surprising but it is still a little disappointing. So I will wait for the end of the day to see if I can adjust my work schedule so I can still get a break. Next month is going to be really busy because I'm sending my finance guys out for a training so that means that I have to stick around. So I may be looking at April before I can sit on the beach. We'll see - I'm waiting for that miracle. Enjoy the pictures from my trip yesterday.