Message for the New Year – 2011 - Between Assignments
Friends. Another
turning of the times is upon us: in two days, 2010 will give way to 2011.
Time’s march forward really is relentless, so we have to make the most of every
hour. It has been a good six months
since I last wrote many of you. As you know, I finished my mission in Karamoja,
Uganda, at the end of July and then had a brief but a regenerating time in
Masai Maara, Kenya, watching the wildebeest migration with my college friend
and housemate Saralea -- her first safari to Africa, which made that adventure all
the more special – and a few days in Lamu, to drink in the smells and sounds of
that old Arab island off the coast of Kenya. I then returned to Canada for the
longest stretch of the past 10 years. It’s been quite magical getting to know
my granddaughter who has just turned two. Not only is she beautiful, full of
wonder, and sharp as flint, she gives me hope for the future of our planet and
our world. Because, to enjoy the present, we need to believe in the future. And
she is the future… not doubt about that.
While in Toronto, I did some research. I was then was able
to spend several weeks in Montreal, doing a course in intensive French. And the
time has just slipped by.
My next assignment – which I thought I was leaving for on 1
January – was supposed to have been Nairobi, to work on protection responses
for Somalia. So, my bag was packed and I was ready to go. But, for reasons over which I can only shake
my head in sorrow, that has been called off at the eleventh hour. Instead, it
looks as if my next assignment is going to be Mongolia, and I will be leaving
for Ulaan Baatar (or Ulan Bator) before
the end of January. Ulaan Baatar’s claim to fame is that it is the coldest
capital in the world. I was in Ulaan Baatar in December 1996, to assist the
Government with the drafting of an NGO law. It was incredibly cold – I still
remember the icicles on my eyelids -- and I considered buying (though did not
at that time) cashmere long johns. I returned with a nasty flu bug that led me
to finally quit smoking after 20 years of trying to give up the weed, so the
outcome of that mission was positive in more than one respect. Hopefully, this
will also be a good mission, though I am not sure how my arthritic joints will
take the cold. I think the cashmere long
johns will definitely be on my must do list on arrival. And if I make it
through to the spring, I think a ride on horseback in the Mongolian steppes is
definitely part of the game plan. (The fermented mare’s milk I may pass on.) Now,
I need to pack away the clothes I kept out for Kenya and try to locate appropriate winter clothes that I so
carefully sent to “deep storage”.
This is somewhat complicated by the fact that Jesse, Rox and
Arianna are moving south to Austin, Texas at the end of January; and, losing my
Toronto base, I have taken the plunge and bought a condo for myself in old
Montreal, a few blocks from the port. I have been packing up all my things in
Toronto to move them to the city I left too, too many years ago – i.e., when I
finished my BA at McGill. Now, I am quite excited about recovering all of the
things I have had in storage for the past 10 years. Not quite sure how it is
all going to fit into the condo, but there will be a guest room for any of you
who pass through Montreal when I am back there. I will, of course, also be
happy to welcome you in Ulaan Baatar – though I have no idea yet where I will
be staying. The assignment, will be particularly challenging. I will be
attached to UNFPA (the UN Population Fund) which is protection cluster lead in Mongolia
– helping them to understand protection and to ensure that, in the contingency
plans that are being developed to respond to potential natural disasters – two
types are being planned for in Mongolia: either (1) an earthquake or (2) a
“dzud” (a combination of severe drought followed by winter temperatures of
minus 40-50 degrees C and heavy snowfall and storms) – protection concerns are
well integrated. Definitely a new
challenge, a new adventure. I am sorry I
will not be with – or near – the friends I had hoped to spend time with in
Kenya in the coming months, but we will stay in touch. I don’t know what kind of photos I will be
able to get in freezing weather – the camera does not function well in those
temperatures. But, I will see. My email will function, so please do keep in
touch with me.
With warmest best wishes for the New Year
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