Finished in Pakistan 

With my buddy Juan Jose, son of our Columbian Medco, Luis. 

Saying farewell to the boys at Standard Chartered Bank 

My direct reports - Naveed and Shahid 

Shamsi, an Afgahn nurse from our project near Peshawar, and I. 

Good-bye Pakistan

When expats fly-out at the end of their Pakistan mission it usually involves an early departure time. Leaving the house for the airport at 5:30 a.m., they slip-out quietly (usually) and there is no final farewell. Although meeting in the future is unlikely, instead of heartfelt good-byes the theme is a more casual “good luck, and maybe see you at another mission.” This low-key departure suits me just fine.

My time in Pakistan has provided me with a truly epic adventure. As my stay comes to a close the way I’m feeling is comparable to how I have felt at the conclusion of my other big endurance events, like racing in an Ironman triathlon are going through the Chartered Accountancy program. In all these situations I’ve been glad that I did it, pleased with the result, and very, very relieved when it ended. In this situation, I had to undertake some dramatic life changes to make this adventure happen and it’s nice to reach the end knowing without a doubt that it was worth it.

Working with Medecins Sans Frontieres has been a major part of my positive experience. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I got involved with MSF, but it has certainly exceeded my expectations in terms of its professionalism and effectiveness in working in challenging situations. No organization is perfect, but MSF certainly does a lot of things right. I’ve considered it a privilege to have been part of the MSF team.

Now my MSF mission in Pakistan has finally coming to and end. Over the past year I’ve seen close to a hundred expats come and go and for a while it felt like I would never leave. However, I have finally reached the end of an incredible year. Tomorrow morning it will be my turn to arise early and quietly depart. I’m on my way home.

My faithful and durable backpack. Ready for its next adventure. 

It Ain't Over Till Its Over

I purchased my backpack in 1982, prior to my first trip to Europe. Over the past 25-years it has accompanied me to over 50 countries, encompassing five-years spent overseas. It has served me well, but in recent years has started to show its age. Even the repair shop in Vancouver I used finally politely declined to fix it, saying that it was just too much work. Duct tape started to become my pack’s most distinguishing feature. Fortunately, living in Kenya and Pakistan I have been able to find people willing and able to repair it. Now my bag is in better condition than me.

The big question now is what is the next adventure for my backpack and I? While my plan is to return to a more civilized and routine way of life, there is still one wildcard at play. Given that my leave-of-absence from BC Hydo extends until March 2007, I still have some wiggle room to take advantage of. Although I’m satisfied with what I’ve achieved and experienced since I first set-off to Kenya 20-months ago, I’m not adverse to another adventure. Therefore, I’ve started the ball rolling to see if I can squeeze a bit more out of this mid-life crisis.

The normal Financial Controller (Finco) contract with MSF is for a one-year term. However, there are times that they also need short-term fill-ins, such as in emergency situations or for gaps between long-term placements. There aren’t all that many Finco positions so this isn’t a regular occurrence. Anyways, about a month ago I let Amsterdam know that I would be interested in a short-term posting and would be available up until late January (Super Bowl) if they had any needs.

I received a positive response and was told that we would discuss it further at my debrief session in Amsterdam on October 24th. The possibility of east Africa was mentioned, which I took to mean Darfur or Chad, which also is dealing with refugees from Darfur. For a short-term contract I would be prepared to go just about anywhere…except back to Pakistan.

This is all purely speculative and if the end result is that nothing happens I would be perfectly content. I’m kind of tired of being a transient and I’m looking forward to returning to Canada. However, I know that a change is as good as a rest, so while my enthusiasm has faded in Pakistan, I’m confident that it would be revived in new surroundings. Also, I realize that once I’m back in Canada, I’m back for the long haul (or at least, that’s the plan) so why not grab a few more experiences while I can.

So at this point all I know for certain is the schedule that I posted in my last blog story, which includes meeting with MSF in Amsterdam. Whether this will mark the end of this mid-life crisis or the start of a new chapter in my adventure is still to be determined. Therefore, I’m not letting myself get too excited about returning to Canada or about another MSF mission. Either way I know that my backpack and I will be ready.

Prime Minister's Secretariet building, Islamabad 

October Rocks

One of my coping mechanisms for living in Pakistan has been to assume that I was going to spend the rest of my life here. This seemed to make accepting the negative side of my circumstances a bit easier. However, a while back I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Finally, its October which will be a momentous month for me as I complete my year with MSF in Pakistan and return to Canada. The following are some of my key dates for the
month:

Thursday, Oct. 5 – The NHL season begins.

Sunday, Oct 8 – One-year anniversary of the Kashmir earthquake.

Saturday, Oct. 14 – My replacement arrives in Pakistan. If not for the fact that Mario’s flight arrives early in the morning, I would have met him at the airport and even on the runway if they would let me.

Wednesday, Oct. 18 – It’s my birthday…but don’t tell anybody.

Wed/Thurs, Oct. 18/19 – 2007 Annual Plan meetings in Islamabad involving the full country management team. Perfect timing for Mario’s handover and a nice chance for me to socialize.

Friday, Oct. 20 – Farewell to Pakistan. Fly Islamabad to Amsterdam to Leeds, England – A weekend visit with Dennis & Jeanne and possibly others in Yorkshire (“God’s Country”). Great people, who I first met in my inaugural overseas adventure in 1982, and even more enjoyable after a day or so when I start to understand their accents and figure-out what they’re talking about.

Monday, Oct. 23 – Leeds to Amsterdam – I’m looking forward to spending a few final days here. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Amsterdam over the past few years and still enjoy it.

Tuesday, Oct. 24 – Debriefing day with MSF Holland in Amsterdam. This is a standard part of the end-of-mission process and involves meeting with a variety of people from different departments. It will be strange to say farewell to those I’ve had long-distance working relationships with over the past year, specifically in the finance and human resources departments.

Wednesday, Oct. 25 – After an absence of over one year I will be returning to Canada, although it is just to Toronto.

Thursday, Oct. 26 – Debriefing with MSF Canada in Toronto. Apparently, I have to put on an informal 30-minute “brown-bag lunch” presentation.

Friday, Oct. 27 – Spend the weekend in Toronto with Kevin, an old roomie from my days at UBC (and previously noted aficionado of rice paddies) and his family. Kevin works in sales for Labatt Breweries and should be able to help with my re-acclimatization to Canada. Apparently, we are going to North Bay on the Saturday evening for something called a Beer Dinner. Sadly, the Leafs and the Marlies are both on the road this weekend.

Monday, Oct. 30 – Fly to Vancouver…Mom, I’ll be a little late for dinner.

Tuesday, Oct. 31 – Halloween; …Canucks versus Nashville; …Begin the rest of my life.

Whose Blog is this Anyways?

My email in-box has pretty much dried-up and it has gotten to the point where I’m starting to read the spam. Of course, part of the reason may be that my friends are afraid that their notes will end-up on my blog. Like the following excerpt for instance:


“I'm sure as the countdown to your departure approaches you are already getting nostalgic for the things in Pakistan you will miss...

Ya...well... anyway. Charlie's favorite cartoon is a show about a kid growing up in suburban Vancouver. He's got crazy brothers and a crazy family, and he's a huge Canucks fan (favorite player Trevor Linden has guested on a couple shows). Just to cap off the weirdness the show is called "Bein Ian", and the TV Ian doesn't seem to have great luck with women... of course he's only 12... and a cartoon character. Charlie is looking forward to watching it with you when you get back.

How about those Canucks! (…) Actually I think the Canucks will be exciting. Alain Vigneault was probably the best coach in the AHL last year, and I'm sure he will be again one day (…).

Talk to you later,
Craig"

With Aleem, the Quetta office administrator, and his farewell gift fo me of a prayer carpet, hand made by Afghan refugees. 

More from the Project Doctor

Part of my hand-over strategy for my work with MSF includes finding a new blog site for people to follow. I believe that the “Project Doctor” is a worthy (and my only) candidate. The only problem is that she hasn’t started posting stories. However, she has been an active user of both email and cell phone text messages and I am happy to steal a few of her gems:

Commenting on her general state:

Decided not to go to the pilots bar as I have been feeling tired all week. Woke-up with some bad dreams and got depressed after meetings to discuss bombs going off in town. I think I might be losing the plot thanks to the malaria prophylaxis. Or maybe I am just not in a very nice country at the moment. I am also getting a bit frustrated with the oppression of women here.

On her first experience socializing at the “Pilots’ Bar:

It was an interesting evening, experiences included laborious explanations to an American security officer from the US consulate why we are not allowed to attend the American Club (...) for "security reasons" (dancing around other reasons why we wouldn't want to go there); discussing Aussie rules football with a South African pilot who was quite literally leaning on me during the conversation; being offered the Mystery Brew of contents unknown, passively observing the numerous probably not too hygienic pilot hands that dipped in the brew bowl to scoop the floating shot glasses out of with theprized fluid in them; reminiscing about my early high school years while watching a grown man "chug-a-lug", incompletely finish his hefty drink, and proceed to run out of the room, vomiting behind me on the way out; and later coming into contact with the previously mentioned Leaning Pilot again who had proceeded to get jugs of water to throw over the crowd at the bar, but predominantly over the women there.

My initial review rating of the place was 0 out of 10, but after my experience today of vomiting my breakfast and loose motions subsequently, I have revised the score to -4 out of 10.