To Leave or Remain?

If I had been writing this post a few weeks ago I may have titled it after the 1982 hit by The Clash: 'Should I stay or should I go?'. Whilst the citizens of the UK have been voting on their relationship with the rest of Europe I have also been making decisions about my future. I have loved my life over the last seven years but it also comes with challenges and compromises and recently I have been thinking and praying about what I should be doing next.

At the end of last year I worked for about six weeks with Langham Partnership. They have an office and small warehouse in Carlisle, from where they distribute academic and theological books to pastors, scholars and training colleges across the developing world as well as supporting various aspects of the wider work of the organisation. Last month I was offered the position of Warehouse Manager and after careful consideration, weighing up all the pros and cons I have decided to accept the job.

So, for the foreseeable future, I will be remaining in the UK. My job will involve all aspects of the book distribution - dealing with suppliers and customers and overseeing the logistics of shipping books around the world. In many ways it brings together the two areas of my working life for the last 25 years: the distribution of Christian literature and my experiences of living and working in different countries around the world.

I can't say I don't have mixed feelings about this decision and I am sure I will long for the warmth of the African sun when I am scraping ice from my car on a dark, cold winter morning but I am also excited about the work I will be doing and looking forward to feeling a bit more settled at home.

I am not sure what the future holds for my blogging habit - it's always been a bit of an erratic habit - but I would like to thank you for following my travels by reading it. You never know, I may find new topics to write about so keep watching this space... 

The last seven years

The end of March 2016 is the seven year anniversary of my first short-term overseas contract. I left my last 'proper job' in the UK in October 2008 with a vision to do this kind of work but with no definite idea of how I would accomplish it. In March 2009 I went to Juba in South Sudan to work with MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) for three months and I haven't looked back since. I consider myself very fortunate to have sustained a lifestyle that allows me to split my time between my home, family and friends in the UK and the opportunity to live and work in different cultures around the world where I have had incredible experiences and met some amazing people.

In the 7 years I have:

• Worked for 3 organisations
• Been in 6 countries
• Had 11 contracts
• Lived in 16 houses
• Taken 79 flights (I think!)

Here are 10 random facts about my experiences during this time:

1. The hottest temperatures experienced were in Chad and South Sudan (over 40C and sometimes closer to 50C)
2. I lost the most weight in Melut, South Sudan (I haven't ever re-used the extra notch I had to put in my belt whilst I was there)
3. The strangest thing I've eaten is in Kampala, Uganda (fried grasshoppers)
4. The noisiest place I lived was Dulag, The Philippines (a combination of barking dogs, fighting cats, karaoke and the local population's love of racing through the streets on motorbikes with faulty exhausts)
5. The loudest call to prayer was in Kampala, Uganda (for a couple of months I lived very close to a small mosque with a big megaphone)
6. The most animal life in a kitchen was in Dulag, The Philippines (the space was shared with countless ants, cockroaches and rats)
7. The noisiest night-time animals were in Melut, South Sudan (those frogs could really croak)
8. The most expensive places to live if you want to have a more varied diet were N'Djamena, Chad and Juba, South Sudan (land-locked countries with very limited local production)
9. The worst internet connect was in N'Djamena, Chad
10. The biggest language barrier was in Chad (French and Arabic) and Tanzania (Swahili)

I'm often asked which country I've enjoyed the most and the truth is that they all have something unique to offer and I have special memories of each one. The countries I found the most challenging to live in were Chad and South Sudan but they are also where my 'best' stories come from and where I'd return to without hesitation. 

Refugees are people too

A few weeks ago a journalist and a photographer visited the Medair programme in Jordan to gather stories and pictures for publication to mark the 5th anniversary of the Syria crisis. As well as getting articles published in their home country of the Netherlands the stories have been picked up by other media outlets such as Al Jazeera.

One of these articles (which you can see here) focusses on three women: Jamila, Umm Mohammed and Shemkha. All are single mothers struggling to bring up their children and keep their families together in a country that is not their own. When I read this article it brought home to me again the scale of the human tragedy that has unfolded over the last five years.

When you read and hear about the huge numbers of refugees who have fled Syria it is easy to forget (or to try not to think) that each one of those people is not so different from you or I. They have families that they love and that they work hard to provide for. They have hopes and dreams for themselves and for their children. They live in communities sharing their lives with friends and neighbours. They know what it is to experience moments of great joy and, increasingly, moments of terrible loss and sadness. They have just had the misfortune to be caught up in events that they have no control over and their lives have been turned upside down.

Refugees are people too.

Being in the Middle East

The crisis in Syria has now been going on for five years. That's 5 years of fighting, gun battles, bombing, air assaults, displacement, injury, death and destruction.

It's a complex situation and it's hard to see how it will ever be resolved (see previous post for a good overview of the history of the crisis). The latest truce between the warring factions may have seen a reduction in hostilities but there have been violations on all sides. If you are on the receiving end of this continual violence then a return to peace must seem a very long way away.

Being in the Middle East has brought the reality of this crisis home to me in a way that no amount of media coverage in the UK ever could. At home it's a news story of something that's happening in another part of the world - no matter how moved I am by the human tragedy, how overwhelmed I am by the hopelessness of the situation, my life continues largely unchanged. 

Even here my life can still seem far removed from the humanitarian crisis happening on my doorstep. Amman is a fully functioning, modern city and I live in a comfortable apartment in a safe neighbourhood. I have hot running water, electricity, internet. I can make a phone call and get food delivered to my door. I walk to work passing shops that sell everything you could ever possibly need (or want) in life.

But Jordan is hosting over 600,000 Syrian refugees and when I get to work I hear just some of the stories of those directly affected. How they have fled their homes in fear of their lives, desperate to keep their children safe. Now they are living in a foreign country, often in substandard accommodation, unable to work (refugees are not allowed to work in Jordan) and struggling to provide for their family. We work with just a small number of these people in different ways. Over the winter we gave unconditional cash to around 1,000 families so they could buy whatever was needed to protect their homes and families from the cold weather. We also work with pregnant women, giving health education and providing financial assistance so they can attend ante-natal classes and give birth in a Government hospital (there is no free health care in Jordan for refugees and although the Government hospitals are heavily subsidised they are still unaffordable to those who have so little).

I sit in an office and work at a computer. I send e-mails, compile spreadsheets, write reports and attend meetings. It's not glamorous, it's not particularly exciting but it's what I can do. It is a small link in a chain of people and events that maybe, just maybe, can make the life of someone who has been through events I cannot imagine just slightly more bearable - if only for a while.

Syria's War: Who is fighting and Why

Sightseeing

In my first few weeks in Jordan I have also managed a bit of sightseeing. There are certainly a lot of sights to see in this country and I already know that my short-time here will not allow me to see as much of it as I would like!

A two-hour drive north of Amman is the town of Umm Qais. Situated on a hill, close to where the borders of Jordan, Israel and Syria meet, are the Roman ruins of the ancient city of Gadara, complete with amphitheatre, columns and stunning views out towards the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights.

It was the first warm and sunny day since I arrived and we spent some time wandering among the ruins before enjoying a long lunch at a restaurant overlooking the site. We then drove back to Amman through the fertile Jordan Valley, which runs parallel to the border with Israel and is full of greenhouses where a multitude of fruits and vegetables (but probably mostly tomatoes) are grown.

Last weekend I visited the Amman Citadel, right in the heart of the city. The site dates back to Neolithic times and has an immense history of occupation over many centuries. The two dominant feature are the remains of the Roman Temple of Hercules

And the restored Umayyad Palace

It's all set high on one of the many hills of Amman and so you get amazing views of the city in all directions.

Apart from the fascination of these historical sites that have survived so much I thought one of the nicest things about them was that for Jordanian residents the entry fee is affordable to most people as it's the equivalent of about 25p or 35c. This means that they are not just somewhere for tourists to go but they are also a great day out for local families who take along a picnic and enjoy spending time together.

First weeks in Jordan

I have now been in Amman, the capital city of Jordan, for three weeks. It's been a busy time as I have met colleagues, tried to get to grips with my job and started to find my way around. It's been a mixture of emotions these first few weeks.

I am frequently confused:

• Although a lot of people speak English the majority of conversations are in Arabic and so a lot of the time I have no idea what people are talking about. Even when someone kindly translates I am often still not exactly sure what has been said.
• We work from Sunday to Thursday and go to church on Friday so I never seem to know what day it is.
• As the 'newbie' on the team I have a lot to learn about the projects we are running, the places we are working and the people we are partnering with. It's a lot of information to take in but I think it's gradually making sense.

I am often amused. As I get to know a bit about another new culture there are always things that make me smile:

• The Jordanians really don't like snow. In the first week I was here it was very cold and when snow was forecast the government declared two days of shorter working hours and strongly recommended that people didn't travel around the city before 9.00 a.m. or after 6.00 p.m. In the end there was more rain and sleet than snow but my colleagues were very concerned for a few days.
• If you go to a meeting that finishes at 11.00 a.m. you may need to eat the enormous 'breakfast' that has been prepared before it is possible to leave.
• Although Amman is a modern city I still managed to spot some camels just hanging around with their Bedouin owners on the outskirts of the city. 

I always seem to be eating:

• Amman is full of places to eat, with restaurants and cafes serving food from around the world. In the short time I have been here I have eaten fish and chips in an Irish pub, Lebanese wraps, Chinese take away, Italian lasagne, Jordanian chicken and English breakfast (but without the bacon!)
• Every lunchtime my colleagues order food to be delivered to the office. This can be anything from more traditional Jordanian food to MacDonald's.
• There is an Italian ice-cream parlour across the street from where I am living and it's never too cold to eat ice-cream...

I am sure this is just the start of many new experiences and emotions in the coming months.