Boys in Lamnian 

New Hospital built by MSF at Hattian 

View from Lamnian 

Five Days in Kashmir

My road show discussing new salary levels for national staff continued into Kashmir. I was able to visit MSF projects at Muzaffarabad, Hattian and Lamnian and spend at least one night at each location. I saw a lot and meet many people. This was, without question, my best week in Pakistan so far.

The following were some of my Kashmir experiences:

· My presentations to the national staff went well as most are relatively new to MSF (6 months or less) and haven’t accumulated a list of past grievances. One group even applauded at the end, which is a far cry from the Quetta mob that wanted to toss me off the roof.

· When it comes to pay increases it is universally agreed that more is better.

· The last question I was asked by staff at a presentation in Muzaffarabad was whether MSF would enter a team in the NGO cricket tournament. A discussion followed amongst the staff as to who was the best cricketer and, therefore, should organize the team.

· It seems like everywhere you go in Kashmir you hear the sound of hammering as new buildings are constructed and old ones are knocked down.

· Lamnian had been virtually flattened by the earthquake. Six months later there were many new buildings in place, many old ones in a state of disrepair, and many big piles of rubble.

· I was speaking with a group of young boys in Lamnian who spoke a little English. They told me that they were going to school, but when I asked where their school was they fell silent. I later learned that when MSF leaves Lamnian later this year the plan is to leave the small buildings behind to be used for a new school.

· The valley that Hattian is located in is very steep and narrow. At night, when looking at the distant lights of homes perched high above, you have to take care to identify where the homes end and the stars begin.

· While the resettlement process has started for some, there are others who don’t know where they will go. This is because their property no longer exists, as it had simply crumbled down the hillside during the earthquake.

· MSF is building and donating a hospital in Hattian. Walking through it I saw something I don’t normally see…MSF patients. If you had asked me what business MSF was in after my first three months in Pakistan I would have said Shipping and Receiving. If you had asked me more recently I would have guessed Personnel Management. It was interesting to see MSF’s core business, although it did make me feel a bit squeamish.

· There was a protest in Muzaffarabad one day as students protested a number of issues including the relocation of their university, the earthquake recovery program, the state government, and the national government. Good thing they aren’t Canuck fans.

· Sitting around the Expat house in Muzaffarabad on Saturday night we listened to not so distant gunfire and tried to guess whether it was from a wedding, the birth of a son, or someone out hunting.

· The best MSF cook is in Lamnian and the second best is in Quetta.

Hannah Lake, near Quetta. Where's the beach? 

Human Resources

The job title I contracted with MSF was as Financial Controller. My job description mentioned that my duties would involve a small component of national staff human resources. It turned out that my actual job title is Financial & Human Resources Coordinator, with the two roles having a fairly equal demand on my time. Although not my area of expertise, as we like to say in the HR profession, this is a “wonderful developmental opportunity”. Of course, this rationale was once used to induce me to take piano lessons and eat turnips.

I am currently doing a road show to all our project sites to discuss the new national staff salary levels. The wages have been increased, but not by the same percentage for all staff, as we have found that certain positions, specifically doctors and nurses, earn significantly more with other NGOs. I have been attending special staff meetings and with the assistance of a translator discussing how the review was undertaken and the changes to be implemented.

This performance has met with mixed reviews. I’ve had to defend why some hard working people are getting smaller increases than other hard working people, explain why everyone just can’t get more, and listen to many past grievances, both real and imagined. However, the changes are explainable and defendable and the sense I get is that the staff are as much concerned about the respect that they get for the work they do than the money itself. There have been a few challenging moments, but this is certainly more interesting than sitting in my office.

My trip included spending five days in Quetta where I managed to accomplished quite a bit and have a nice visit. In addition to presenting the new salary levels and doing some post-presentation damage control, I was able to work on variety of things including budgets, leases, Expat topics and most importantly prepare my BC Hydro NHL playoff pool and MSF World Cup soccer pool. Gareth and I were able to sit on the roof of the house, sketch out a national staff training program, and peer-up periodically as we are drowned-out by the roar of the Pakistan airforce MIGs speeding overhead on their return from East Balochistan to see if they were still carrying any of their missiles.

Dave, the project coordinator, and I share the same Canadian language of hockey. I arrived on the day that the Canucks had been eliminated from playoff contention. After a moment’s silence we spent the next few days tearing the team apart. There isn’t much to do in Quetta so watching TV is a prime evening activity. When one station promoted that coming next month they would be showing new episodes of Seinfeld, Dave’s response was “this mission keeps getting better and better.”

This past week I’ve made my staff presentations at our Islamabad, Quetta and Peshawar offices. I am presently sitting on a cargo trailer alongside the airforce runway waiting for the helicopter to arrive to take me to Kashmir. The helicopter has been an expensive but necessary luxury and has allowed MSF to function during winter and landslide season. However, the contract for the helicopter is almost finished and this will be my last ride. I suspect that traveling by land will also be wonderful developmental opportunity.

Me with MSF colleagues Gareth from Ireland and Dave from Squamish, BC in front of the Quetta Club. Dave's family has a photo from 1941 where his grandfather, a member of the RAF on secondment to the British-Indian Army (regiment details not available at press time) stood at approximately this spot, on the right hand side with two of his associates. 

Front of MSF office is Islamabad. My cherished deck/patio is on the second floor. 

Housemates & Head of Mission

The MSF Expat residence I live in is a big two-story house with 7 bedrooms. The rooms are quite large and comfortable, with many having their own bathroom. For entertainment, our TV cablevision provides close to 80 channels, or about 8 that you would actually want to watch (which excludes those that show religious musical programs (half the channels), cricket and Bollywood movies). Overall, it’s a much nicer situation than I was expecting.

Since moving in I’ve had many housemates (defined as people based there and not just visiting). Those who have come and gone include: David, Vladimir, Isabelle, Cecilio, Caroline, Alex, Maria, Willem, Marcel, Emma, Frank, Bert, Franke, Sjoeke, Caroline, Anne, Michelle, Annas, Roshan, and Mike. The current residents consist of Steve (Logistics Coordinator) and myself and new arrivals Luis (Medical Coordinator), Joe (Head of Mission) and his wife and young daughter, Cara and Kira. Amazingly, no changes are expected until July.

Speaking of the Head of Mission (HOM), this hasn’t exactly been a position of stability since my arrival in Pakistan. Typically, the HOM has the longest contract and stays for 2 to 3 years. However, since November I’ve had six different bosses. The first one quit about a week after I arrived (purely a coincidence). Bert covered for a few weeks until Willem (who had been the previous HOM for two-years and was on a break before going to Ethiopia) agreed to come until Christmas. When a long-term solution couldn’t be found the position was filled for 3-months by Willem’s father Franke, a retired UN diplomat and MSF HOM. When Franke left, short-term coverage was provided by Mike of the emergency team. Now Joe is here for four-months and its expected that a long-term replacement will arrive by the end of July. I think I’m on track for a MSF record.

Josje, the Operational Director from Amsterdam (the boss of the HOM), has been in Pakistan for the past week visiting our various projects. One day she and I sat out on my office’s deck (it really is a nice deck) to discuss a number of topics and she apologized for my being put into such a frenzied situation with the earthquake emergency response and the instability in the HOM position. However, my feeling was that I was glad to have had the opportunity of seeing MSF in true emergency mode, but now that it’s over I’m looking forward to having a different experience during the second half of my stay. Things will be much more stable on both the work and home front and I will be able to spend more time out at the projects. And if it gets too slow I guess I can always watch cricket.

post-earthquake Kashmir 

The Next Phase

Approximately 3.5 million people have been affected by the earthquake that struck northern areas of Pakistan and India on 8 October 2005, with some 73,000 people losing their lives. Available statistics indicate that over 297,000 displaced persons are currently living in camps in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Kashmir and other areas of Pakistan.

While still providing services to four communities in Kashmir, MSF Holland (MSFH) has wound down its emergency relief operations. There is still a lot a work ahead in the areas of resettlement and rebuilding and this work will involve the government, United Nations agencies, and a variety of humanitarian NGOs. The objective is the return or resettlement of these displaced people, ensuring a voluntary, safe and dignified return.

Now that my Finance and HR department’s work-load has subsided and I have a better handle on things we are also undergoing a transition. My goal is to have my staff effectively running the place. I often tell my two direct reports, Shahid and Naveed, that after they are fully trained I should be able to spend my days on my office patio reading magazines while they do all of the work. They laugh when I tell them this and I respond by telling them that I’m totally serious. They laugh again, but this time a little more nervously.

Since returning from Europe a few weeks ago I’ve been able to spend more time on project work or dealing with specific issues and less time on day-to-day activities. With fewer MSFH Expats (currently around 30) working in the country I no longer have other Expats helping with Finance and HR. My department appears to have seamlessly taken over from them. Having Shahid and Naveed doing more of the routine work makes it more interesting for them and easier for me and eventually who-ever replaces me.

My latest endeavor is to train Shahid on the month-end accounting process. We started with February and this week he was able to do 95% of March’s month-end on his own. Most of the accounting was able to done on his computer, but there were a few steps that could be only accomplished on mine. While Shahid worked away at my desk for about twenty minutes there was little else that I could do. I grabbed a magazine and sat out on my patio. The sun felt good.