Dallas, we are the champions!

YESSSSS.

After numerous efforts all night/morning thanks to various friends, I was able to stream in chopped pieces.. and caught the last few minutes of..

The 2011 NBA Champion DALLAS MAVERICKS!

Probably best I didn't watch it from the office (which has faster connectivity) because the amount of screaming and yelling would've been frightening for the guards. In this area, there is a high security risk after the sun sets. It was also 2 am here when it started and around 5 am when it ended - completely pitch black outside. Now, all this gear looks so tempting.. Special shout outs to Germany (reDIRKulous), Puerto Rico (Barea), France (Mahinmi, Beaubois), and Yugoslavia (Peja) as well as the Washington Wizards (Butler, Haywood, Stevenson) for your contributions. Competitive series by Miami.

This Dallas team has true guts, determination, will power, and focus. Every player contributed to the journey. Absolutely incredible to celebrate in the spirit with fans worldwide. Players from different backgrounds coming together, as one. Sum greater than the parts. Like it should be in international development.

What am I doing here?!

QUESTION: What am I doing here?!

Yes, the DRC has a long history of violence, corruption, and general instability. Yes, it's possibly a result of the leadership, or lack thereof, in the government. Yes, it's possibly a result of the structure which breeds survival by any means necessary.

With all these factors at play, why would anyone want to work here? Especially in Goma, with a 70% you won't return alive. Ok, I exaggerate but that's because some of the rebel groups have disbanded, integrated, or in general, have been stabilized by a combination of the FARDC and MONUSCO.

Coming from a western mindset, it can be difficult to imagine working in this environment. Yet, I still believe in the basic good in humanity and its ability to rise above the ashes (metaphorically speaking, because an active volcano, Mt. Nyriagongo, is nearby and could explode at any moment - see movie "Volcano Next Door" that the already present staff recommended all the new ones watch). I think when working together in a cooperative environment, we can truly build the capacity of the national staff. Yes, it may be intrinsically hegemonic, but it surely must be a step improved from the existing circumstances. The people just need an opportunity.

SHORT ANSWER: Food security.

LONGER ANSWER: The opportunity comes in the form of first, food provisioning, to get them back on their feet, and second, to expand from that state to one of asset building, to increase the ability to establish and expand on the resources available towards sustainable livelihoods. (Much of this great information I learned from the LIFT program at my previous position.)

To be more specific, my organization has been piloting and effectively implementing seed and food fairs for many years in various countries. The population we work with is mostly IDPs (internally displaced persons), or refugees, from the country as well as its neighbors. There still exist ethnic tensions, in particular Hutus and Tutsis, as well as other groups fighting for the resources, or the ability to exploit these resources. The IDPs are in dire situation as UNHRC and UNOPS can only provide so much support.

Thus, we come in with our food voucher fairs. To ensure safety, we come in to different areas where there are nearby IDP camps and set up food fairs, inviting the local community (AKA host community) vendors to provide the supply. Through vouchers provided by the WFP, we are able to track the spending to see which items the households themselves actually need. A market assessment is carried out beforehand to ensure fair prices as well as to not overwhelm the market. This helps the IDPs because they can supplement the meager rations as well as the host community by injecting much-needed revenue. This was the idea for the pilot, with close monitoring and now with evaluations coming up (largely positive), there is a possibility of an extension - adding in many new twists.

Besides managing this process and tightening the M&E system, my role is to truly build the local capacity, including our staff as well as our partner's. There are many details and various factors (i.e. political, safety, systematic, etc.) which have to be accounted for, among other thing. Thus far..

COWORKERS: A-, the office staff is very supportive; the partner staff is very willing.
ORGANIZATION: B, perhaps the systems need to be more standardized so we'll see what we can do.
PROGRAM: A-, the program has much credibility among stakeholders. Donor issues but that is common. Looks like many possibilities.
LIVING SITUATION: B, the living situation is more than I expected (which I admittedly entered with low expectations); and there have been no real security issues yet. Pretty sure the cleaning lady may be pocketing a few dollars from the shopping, but we'll see. Electricity cuts out quite often, internet slow, water cuts off when electricity cuts off. To be expected though.
MISC: B, so far so good. Joined a gym. Exploring different lunch locations. Will meet more people eventually but so wrapped up in learning right now..
*Note: the grades are a bit harsh but it's good to start off low and improve from there.

OVERALL ANALYSIS: This is a great situation as a first long-term field post.. at least for now. In the next few weeks, I'll be traveling to the rural areas to implement these fairs and we will really see what's up.

View from the back of one of our vehicles, a Land Cruiser. This is the one of the 3 main roundabouts.

Ah, the little things that make home.

SPORTS and SUCH: We're supposed to go with one of our staff members to play soccer tomorrow, so we will see (1) if it happens; (2) how it goes. The internet connection here can be shoddy, and coupled with the late time of the NBA Finals (5-6 hours difference), staying out past 3 am (9 pm EST) is not a good idea. Perhaps there is an expat with satellite (e.g. cable) TV who can lend a hand.

Regardless, I'm incredibly proud of my Dallas Mavericks, who had another amazing comeback and are now one win away from the title. So great to wake up and read all the analysis of the games. The resiliency, the determination, the never-say-die attitude is absolutely amazing. We aren't nearly as athletic as the other team, but we play hard, smart basketball and that is a true indication of the city and its fans.

Let's go MAVS!

TRIVIA! Everyone loves it. Let's add this important aspect to the equation. Short quiz here (post your answers! next entry will give the right ones.):

1. What's been the deadliest war in the world since the end of World War II?
2. Which African country controls the exclave of Cabinda, wedged between the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
3. Which country has the lowest point on the African continent?
4. Which country has the highest point on the African continent?
5. What percentage of all malaria cases are in sub-Saharan Africa (+/-5%)?
6. BONUS: What is the best city in Texas?

**EDIT: Congrats on the new AED/FHI partnership. Extremely excited about the possibilities!

Bump, bump, bump - roads, residence, rebels

View from the office steps. One of the CRS vehicles we take everywhere - due to the crappy roads, lack of road understanding by any of the "motorcycle taxis" and overall likelihood of being abducted or kidnapped.

Rats! Or is it mice? The first night here at the guesthouse, there was a mouse chase. Now, mice aren't an issue for me, but rats can be. Apparently there is a rat inhabiting our living area, and has subjugated (or rewarded) the mouse to the kitchen. Which is fine for now, until it starts gnawing through my food, which thankfully hasn't happened yet. We have a new staff member who arrived today, preparing for his family to come over later, with 2 cats and I am seriously petitioning head of household (HoH as we like to term it in the international development field) to vie for one. At least give it a short-term rodent-catching assignment. Tempting..

Speaking of rats, LeBron and the Heat have taken game 3 from our court. Wasn't able to watch the game but I'm sure Jet, JJ, or Peja need to step it up. In this case, "drats" applies as well. Either way, I'm confident we'll bounce back to take the next two games. MFFL!

First day at the office today. All staff meeting - Hershey's chocolate from the motherland always starts you off on a good foot. Not just any Hershey's chocolate, but the Pot of Gold with the diversity of dulces, to reflect the diversity in the world and in the office. The local staff is great and the international staff has already built a good rapport, which will go a long way later on. The HoO at the Bukavu office is as great as ours, which leads me to believe that the DRC portfolio is on the up and up.

Tomorrow, we'll probably check out the gym again and sign up. For now, it's back to reading and familiarizing with anything program-related, situation-related, and country-related.

OBSERVATION: There are only 2 real main roads, any veering off of them leads to quite a bumpy ride. I know because I lost a good bottle of Kahlua on the way back from the store. Expat community, as in many cases, is super close here. There is a Google Group that provides a good beat on the area's pulse. Apparently, there are quite a lot of "Blue Helmets," AKA UN peacekeepers of MONUSCO - which you'll see all around town. Everytime one passes the FARDC (Congolese military) training grounds, it can send shivers down your back. Anytime the flag is being raised or lowered, all traffic must halt to a stop. Photography of any official building is also prohibited.

CURRENT AGGRESSION SITUATION, from what I've gathered thus far:

FARDC 

(Congolese Armed Forces)

and

Mai Mai Militias 

(local defense groups, usually organized by ethnicity - fighting with the government against foreign invaders)

vs.

CNDP 

(Rwandan backed rebels, Tutsi)

vs.

FDLR 

(anti-Rwandan government, Hutu)

and

PARECO

(largest Mai Mai group)

Now, to familiarize myself with the program..

Night out in Goma!

Night starts off with beer pong. Intense battle between Nancy and Kate, Program Manager.

Alpha, future HOO, and I stepping it up!

Nancy, our Head of Office, and Julien, Program Manager!

What other way to end the night then clubbing at Coco Jambo. So many observations..

GAME ANALYSIS: My side went 2-1 in beer pong, courtesy of Julien, who recently returned from a trip to Belgium with ping pong balls. He studied at GU so is quite Americanized, but still has that European touch. Nancy is pretty good and can be very focused, with dead on accuracy. Alpha has good potential, which is also helped (maybe?) because he doesn't drink, so we do it on his behalf. Kate has the potential, but her strength is in trash talking. Quick recap of CRS/Goma hometowns:

• Alpha = Kenya
• Julien = Belgium
• Kate = New York, USA
• Lam = Dallas, Texas
• Nancy = Long Island, USA

Because of political tensions, Europeans have a harder time getting into and out of the DRC, particularly Goma. They are not as easily approved for the 6-month, multiple visit visa as Americans. I think it's because we've invested so much money into the country. Quite a lot of NGOs in the area, due to the humanitarian situation, partially explained in previous post. Everywhere you turn, there is a UN vehicle or soldier, part of MONUSCO, the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

HOUSE: Sharing with Alpha and Julien. 3 BRs, each with its own BTH, kitchen, safe room, additional empty room (seems to be for ironing, etc. right now), living room + dining room, garden outside, base for the guards, at least one land cruiser. Pretty nice considering what I was expecting..

CLUB REVIEW: Coco Jambo is one of the more popular going out clubs for expats. There are mosquitos, of the male and female kind, who are essentially scantily dressed prostitutes. The guys not so much, but they will try to skip into an expat girl's dance routine. The music here is way better than most I've seen in the States, playing top 40 and old school (including MJ, Flo Rida, Pitbull, Juanes, Shakira), with solid transitions. We met a couple Canadians and danced with other expats (in this instance, read: white) who I'm sure will meet in the future, seeing as the Goma community is quite small. One thing to note is that many of the pilots in the region are from Russia and they frequent these places, meeting and chatting up the mosquitos. Interesting people watching.

QUICK VISIT INFO (from Tourist Spot): Goma is a nice entry point if you want to see the best of Congo. From there, it is quite easy to climb and see the mountain gorillas as well as the Nyiragongo Volcano. It is a good entry point to other Congo towns such as Kinshasa, Kisangani, and Bukavu.

• Nyiragongo Volcano in Virunga Mountains – The Nyiragongo Volcano in Virunga Mountains in Congo is worth a visit. It boasts of the most voluminous lava lake in recent history – surely a spectacular, scenic view....
• Virunga National Park – Virunga National Park in Congo is a must-visit. It is worthwhile to climb to see the mountain gorillas as well as the famous lava lake of the Nyirangongo Volcano....
• Kahuzi-Biega National Park in Kivu – Congo Kahuzi-Biega National Park in Kivu, Congo is one of the best places to experience the tropical climate as well as the lowland gorillas. 
• Other places of interest: the Green Lake, Lake Kivu, Pygmies in Minova

Trying to post as much as possible since I expect to be a little busy come Monday.. 

GO MAVS!

Truth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH53MuPdyFA

So far, so smooth

I love having Sylvie, our Goma-born, helper who washes the dishes, cleans, and most importantly... cooks! This dish is delicious, with pommes de terre, les carottes, les tomates.. with les haricots, les oignions, and une piece de pan au fromage. YUM. The weather here is also quite nice, between 65 and 80 degrees with a slight breeze from Lake Kivu. No onslaught of mosquitos makes it more bearable.

It seems as though I will be taking over the program dealing with vouchers towards food security. This link provides a synopsis of the discussion surrounding the particular topic: http://www.odihpn.org/report.asp?id=2679

Now, off to try out a gym!

NOTES: Goma is same time zone as Amsterdam, as well as 6 hours ahead of DC and 7 hours ahead of Texas. Example - 4 pm Goma is 10 am DC and 9 am Texas. Kinshasa = Goma - 1 hour = London. Current phone number is +243 (0)9983 43854 until about June 21, when I will take the outgoing Program Manager's SIM card to ensure continuity of the program.

Made it - journey to Goma!

Woken up around 8 am to find the Mavs (yes, that amazing team) climbing back from a 15 point deficit in Miami to heroically tie the series 1-1. WOW, good takes a stand against evil. Now, back to Dallas to show them the guts and grit need to achieve glory.

CRS/Kigali driver Martin came to pick us up and we hit the road toward the Rwanda/DRC border. Along the way, we pass by many communities and children walking home from school for the lunch break. They are absolutely adorable and seem to enjoy life, relishing in the friendships they've made and the family that has supported them. The roads in Rwanda are very well maintained and the ride is quite smooth. We arrive at a hotel and Martin transfers us over to Fiston, who is the CRS/Goma driver. Younger guy who, as I find out later, will be the project coordinator for my food voucher program. Nice!

The drive over is a bit bumpier but we make it to the border, get out and walk across with our passports, then climb back in and head to the office. There, we meet HOO Nancy as well as some of the local staff. Later we meet up with Kate, whose program I will be taking over, and grab lunch at a Belgian restaurant. Seems as though we are given land cruisers to drive around as it is too dangerous to take the motorcycle taxis, especially after dusk. There is one automatic car and the rest are manual. Looks like it's time for more lessons because I def don't feel so comfortable driving up and down these rocky roads, which has also suffered from Mount Nyiragongo's eruption in 2002, devastating entire villages in its path. We stop by the Shopper's market for expats where I spend a ridiculous $55 on grocers ($15 for cereal!?). They apparently only use dollars here. Heading home, I am able to rest in my private room with a private bathroom. SWEET! There are two other rooms with bathrooms, a room for ironing and cleaning supplies, a safe room (which means metal door), kitchen, and spacious living room (come guests!). I will be sharing the house with Alpha (the married man from Kenya) and Julien (Belgian who recently received his Master's from Georgetown Univ). We have a cleaning lady who sweeps the floor, does the dishes, does the laundry, and will even cook lunch for us. Tomorrow, I'll give her a list of things to buy at the marche and see what she comes up with. So far, so good!

BOTTOM LINE: Friday is a great time to arrive as it gives you more time to unwind and set up for a hard day's work on Monday. Goma is a heavily militarized city with many UN peacekeepers working alongside the DRC military. The CRS staff are all friendly thus far. Most speak Swahili and French, which is great. The city itself is quite French speaking so this is a perfect way to butcher-er, I mean, improve mon francais!

Trippin' it up

View of Kigali from the hotel up top the hill.

Arrived in Kigali, Rwanda safe and sound after an 8 hour flight from DC > Amsterdam and then 8 more hours from Amsterdam > Kigali!

Bednet in Rwanda hotel.

Plane from Dulles (thank you Trinh for the great hospitality!) to Amsterdam was made wonderful as a result of a family of 5 children surrounding me. Took us 1.5 hours to leave due to the foggy weather. Fortunately, the transfer time was 3 hours, so made the flight to Kigali, this time surrounded by mission trip kids headed to Entebbe. Kigali is a very safe, clean city and after 1.5 hours waiting to be picked up at the airport (where I borrowed an iPhone to call the Goma team from a sweet Iowan girl teaching hospitality), we head to Hotel Beausejour. Met Alpha, a Kenyan expat with family in Minnesota, who transferred from the CRS Darfur program. He will be taking over for Nancy, the current Head of Office at Goma, who will be leaving in September. Walked around a bit, with my broken French and his fluent Swahili, finding our way to a nice Italian restaurant. Clearly a tourist area as we spent about $35 on dinner for two. Wow.

A recap of the recent hectic schedule..

Sun-Tues, 8/5/11-10/8/2011
NYC Trip for Ting's graduation dinner. Met up with Chi, Nancy, Lili, Diane, and Mike later on. Havana Cafe, Froyen Yogurt, Room Service..

Sat, 14/5/11
Paul and Yoshino's simple, classy wedding. Rented the car and drove Rena, Jose, Jenny, Xingni, and Hans around. Good call on car rental.

Fri, 20/5/11
Last day of work at AED. Picked up visa from DRC Embassy and found out the Assistant to the Secretary is from Goma - got his contact details as his brother still lives there. Jennine and Clint (as well as presumably, Ben), threw a going away fiesta where I received a pretty nice going away travel kit of mini toiletries, a card, and chocolate, probably given together by Nussi, Sarah M, Laura, etc. Happy hour after with Laura B (husband Thibaut and Elizabeth, both MSI), Ben R (who showed up but I missed), Jennine, Clint, Cassie, Jes T, Sarah M, Emily, Efua, Sam, Orlando, George..

Sat, 21/5/11
Day - Last meeting with Kevin M, lil for Big Brothers Big Sisters. Rented a car and drove him and his younger brother, Edwin, to George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate. They really enjoyed it and hopefully it made a lasting impression. Have to maintain contact and show support by being there.
Night - Dinner with the crew (Trinh, Diane, Huong, Tram, Nhi, David N - surprise visit from Htown, Tuan, Nick, David Ngo, Cam Tu, Haodi, Don, Christina) at Himalayan Heritage followed by Jimmy N sighting at Club District. Good times!

Sun, 22/5/11
Last visit to Eden Center - cultural exposure experience for friend of mixed European heritage.

Mon-Wed, 23/5/11 to 25/5/11
In Dallas to see parents before leaving. Ran around buying errands, watched Mavs' stunning comeback v. Thunder with dad, saw mom's workplace and dinner, took 2 hour lesson to drive shift via Irfan from CL, chatted with Om, Jay, and Lalit, bought Kindle. Mom then wanted Kindle of her own.

Thurs, 26/5/11
Lunch with Jesuit priest Jean-Baptiste, from Kisenyi and doing research at GU, with Ivana. Good times seeing all types of friends at Rocket Bar for happy hour. AED (Sona, Lindsay H, Andi, Phillis, Tony, Tara, Sam H, MariaCristina, Derek, Ei, Bita), AU (Star, Taline, Arian, Claudia, Tres, Cleo, Christiane, Hu Di, Beibei, Zhang, Conghui, Sa Eun, Paul, Yoshino, Jean, Beth, Jenny, Rena), VSA (Tram, Diane, Huong, Phuoc, Vel, Duyen, Trinh), Texas (Breton, Chris), and other connections (Mariko, Ivana, Sally, Emily, Rose, Haodi). I'm sure there are other amazing people. Love connecting people!

Fri, 27/5/11
Jazz in the Park followed by dinner.

Sat, 28/5/11
Kayaking on the Potomac followed by brunch at the Peacock.

Tues, 31/5/11
Mavs game with Kue, John, Don, Sally, Nick, Trinh, Jess, Leah. Packed everything as quickly as possible. Gave as much away as possible.