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A bit of advertising
2008-02-22 06:14:00
No, no, don't worry. It is nothing commercial.On right hand side of my blog you see all these different sections. Some might be more interesting for you, some less and some not at all. But I would like to talk about the "Visit these friendly sites" section. What is shown there is meaningful to me. You might enjoy going there and perhaps it will reveal to you some secrets about me.Let me put some water in your mouth. "My own agency" is the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC and it is a governmental institution. I am working for them now since 10 years. And I worked for them (they had then a different name) 40 years ago. They are involved in development and humanitarian aid. With often programs dedicated to particular issues. So, this Roma girl you see in the picture can go to school in the Balkans.Whether it is construction, agriculture, education or good governance, the agency intervenes all over the world. By visiting their website you will see why I am proud to work...
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I am getting fussy!
2008-02-20 11:58:00
I believe in freedom of expression, any kind. I think that everybody should be able to say what he likes, when he likes and where he likes.And by all means, I don't want anybody to have to put a "Maulkorb". However, lately I have been "victim" of comments that are not really comments. And go more into the "spam" section. I have therefore, after long reflexion, decided to activate the "comment approval" thing.I do apologize to you, my friends, who will now be troubled by this. And don't deserve to be troubled.

Kosova - Kosovo: 17.02.2008
2008-02-17 19:28:00
Let's pray for a good future for this new country. A country where Albanians, Serbs, Roma, Bosniaks and other people will live in peace and harmony.
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Thursday Thirteen, Nr. 17, still some countries where I was
2008-02-14 03:56:00
Thirteen Things from Me1. Mali. 1979. on my way from Mauritania to take up my new job in Chad. Stopover in Bamako for two days. I tried to make a quick trip to Timbuktu, this magic city in the desert. There was not enough time.2. Mauritania. 1975 to 1979. My first desert country. I loathed it when I arrived, I wept when I left. The most beautiful souvenirs for my wife and me. And our daughter is born there. On weekends we went to the beach, with almost no one around, kilometers of beach just for us. And in the late afternoons we saw whales and dolphins pass by.3. Monaco. 1970. When I was on a business trip in Nice, I went to play in the casino. I won a lot. And when I left the casino, I had nothing anymore.4. Montenegro. 2002, 2003. We made our yearly planning workshops in Budva at the Adriatic coast. A jewel, a beauty and not far from an even more beautiful city: Dubrovnik.5. Morocco. 2004. When unrest, close to civil war, broke out in Ivory Coast, the Swiss Government sent an airc...
More About: Thirteen , Countries , Thursday

URIME? URIME!
2008-02-09 20:16:00
Is the day coming soon? I think so, even very soon. Kosovo will declare its independence. Most probably unilaterally. But I don?t think this will be a problem.Because many countries will recognize Kosovo immediately as a new independent state. The United States of America, for sure. But if for once we are a bit quick, Switzerland might beat the USA and recognize Kosovo first.Because our Minister of Foreign Affairs is a firm believer and she was one of the first ones to promote the ?freedom? of this (soon former) Serbian province.People will celebratein Prizren, this beautiful historic city.My friends will celebrate. They live inGjakova, my home for two years.And in the capital city,Prishtina, also my home for another two years, thousands of people will party and feel like new born.And then, perhaps, "Hamburg International Airways", will still have the map of Kosovo on the tail of its plane, but will be called "Air Kosova".And fly the people to Kosovo for them to discover the beauty ...

A proud father, a happy husband
2008-02-06 16:30:00
Actually I should say ?A happy husband, a proud father?. To honor my wife. But when you say it, ?A proud father, a happy husband? sounds better and it passes your tongue better also. Ok, enough of ?philosophy?.I am completely fulfilled. With happiness, with satisfaction. With a high mobile phone bill. A very high one. Because I am calling my wife everyday. At 7 p.m. every night we have radio check here. For our security. All of us have a Motorola VHF ?Very High Frequency? Radio Handset. We are all called by base and have to respond ?November Foxtrot 4.4 loud and clear?. I am November Foxtrot 4.4. If you don?t reply the radio check, you will get scolded. Because they want to be sure that you are ok.After the radio check, I call my wife. Sometimes I cannot come through because of some interference. This has to do with the sun or the heat or the ionic or ozone something. I never understood this. Anyway, I talk to my wife for around 5 minutes. It is not a measured time, it is just like ...
More About: Happy , Father , Husband , Proud

Sometimes..............., a follow up post
2008-02-03 19:12:00
In the German language we have an expression called ?Heile Welt?. I don?t know how to translate this into English properly. Perhaps with ?The world has no worries? or ?The world is rosy?. What ever, this expression is used when someone does not see or does not want to see the problems in this world. There are TV shows, newspapers and family magazine that can make believe that we are living in a ?Heile Welt?. And this incites some people to close their eyes before the ?bad things? and try to escape from the sufferings and misery and problems that exist.I admit that, though I perfectly know through my work and my life experience that our world is not ?ok?, I am ?escaping? from time to time. For instance, I will never go to the cinema to watch a ?problem? movie, a drama film. When I go to the movies I want to relax and enjoy.And so it is with my blogging. I could write about bad things and probably will one day, if I come across something that I consider important to be written. But my...
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Sometimes...........
2008-01-31 18:08:00
Sometimes we drop food from the air, with an Ilushin IL76.Sometimes we have to ask questions.Sometimes we say "Farewell" to a dear colleague of ours.Sometimes our bosses come and see if we are doing a good job.Sometimes we discover beautiful sceneries during our assessment missions.Sometimes, during the Ramadan, we celebrate an "Iftar" with our colleagues. And in good order: The Ladies on one side, the Gentlemen on the other.Sometimes our helicopter picks us up and we don't have to go back by road.Sometimes we explain the food distribution process to visitors.And all the times we are simply happy, because all went well, once again. Like this airdrop.I dedicate this post to all the women and men, bosses, good friends and colleagues, working everywhere in this world for the "UN World Food Programme", the world's biggest humanitarian agency. Their dedication has saved millions of lifes.

I am around
2008-01-29 20:57:00
But we have technical problems again. I am not sure if it is my laptop or a connectivity problem. Probably both. That is one thing I am looking forward when I will be retired. I will be a lot of the time at home. With a good connection. And an extreme strong and quick one. My provider sent me an email saying that I can "hook" now at DSL 20'000. I guess with this, the pages and websites will download even before I open my laptop and look at the screen.Let's hope that our problems is solved soon so that I can post better than just this "meager" short one.

Mentor
2008-01-25 02:10:00
Originality. A particular or special idea can be original. We also say from human beings that they are "Originals" when, again, they are particular or special. I will not be original. What is to come below is simply "copy - paste". But then, I don't believe in re-inventing the wheel.I received another award. The "Blogging Mentor Award". It is beautiful. It has been created by Sue from Australia. Here she says why she created this award:I have gained so much more knowledge of blogging than I could possibly have learned just by researching the subject. This is all due to the help, support and encouragement I have received from other bloggers. I have therefore created the "Blogging Mentor Award" to recognize and thank those who help us on our path to blogging, be it encouraging and helping us to start blogging or helping us to be the best we can, once we have started.This is the first wheel that I have not re-invented.The award was passed to me by Laurie (Loz, Lozster). He tells us wh...

Why Skopje made me leave
2008-01-21 02:57:00
I mentioned Skopje in my last Thursday Thirteen. Skopje is the capital city of Macedonia. In 1963 the city was hit by an earthquake and terribly ravaged and to a big extend destroyed. In 1963, I finished my commercial apprenticeship and I had to go the army.At that time you HAD to go. There was no chance to escape, even if you presented yourself with your head cut off. If you did not go, they came for you and put you to prison. So, one went. Actually, your parents would be proud that you go and serve your country. Your country where everything was neat, where the young people behaved, where there was almost no crime and no unemployment and where the women did not have the right to vote. Things have changed now. Also in the army. I don't exactly know how it works now, but in 1963 you went for 4 month basic training and then every year for 3 weeks to so called "repetition courses" so that the soldiers would be ready, in case......! This would go on until the age of 50. If they found ...
More About: Leave , Made

Thursday Thirteen, Nr. 16, about more countries I have seen
2008-01-17 14:47:00
Thirteen Things from Me1. Denmark. In the Nineties, Copenhagen Airport was my stop over on my way to Norway. Always two hours to wait for the connecting flight. An occasion to drink a Tuborg or Carlsberg beer in the lounge. And smoke a cigarette. At that time, one still could.2. Egypt. 1968. Visit of the pyramids. Fabulous. 2004 to 2005. Boring technical stops from Frankfurt to Khartoum and back. Not allowed to leave the airplane.3. Ethiopia. 1968, on the way from Switzerland to South Africa. Change of airline and 8 hours waiting time. A few hours of a taxi tour with a good taxi driver/guide of Addis Ababa. Beautiful city.4. France. Many times, many places. Paris, my city of dream. The city of light. Lyons, the capital of good food. Nice/Cannes, indulging in big luxury for budget meetings, expenses paid by the employer. I did not get a change to buy a yacht. But I drove around with a big convertible, cabriolet as they called it. It was rented. Bystanders wondered who I might be. Eas...
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Stenography
2008-01-14 03:56:00
"Shorthand is an abbreviated, symbolic writing method that improves speed of writing or brevity as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is stenography, from the Greek stenos (narrow, close) and graphos (writing). It has also been called brachygraphy and tachygraphy. Many forms of shorthand exist. Typical shorthand systems provide symbols or abbreviations for words and common phrases, which allow someone well trained in the system to write as quickly as people speak."Definition of stenography or shorthand writing in Wikipedia.I don't think that many people are still using shorthand today. I imagine that journalists use it, in some form or another, when they jot down answers to the questions they ask at press conferences. If a secretary is looking for a job today, computer skills are required like the mastery of Word, Excel, Powerpoint etc.In the 60ties this was different. When one applied for an administrative job it was important th...

Welcome back!
2008-01-13 04:38:00
This is what my colleagues said when I reached Nyala yesterday. And it felt good. Because out here we stick together and are almost like family. Another family for me.I was stuck for 2 days in Khartoum. I arrived from Switzerland on wednesday and was supposed to fly to Nyala on thursday. But because of a Muslim holiday WFP-UNHAS did not fly and I had to wait until yesterday.UNHAS is the Humanitarian Air Service of the World Food Programme. A very interesting service, a life saving service and in Darfur often the only way to travel. Because Darfur is big, very big. And in the rainy season the roads are difficult to pass. I will tell you more about it soon. So I spent 2 days in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. An amazing city. A huge city. A booming city. Khartoum is a very safe city, even if an official from a US agency got shot on January 1. Nobody knows what really happened or what the cause is for this occurance. But, normally, you can move around, on foot or by car, at any time, a...
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Having the blues?
2008-01-06 06:26:00
Not really. I am not that type of a person. But in two days I am leaving my family again. Having spent two weeks with them was wonderful and going stings a little bit.I did a lot during these two weeks. Though it was the holiday season, I was able to get the payment arrangements with my income tax inspector. Actually, our relation is a friendly one. In past years I had to write letters to justify my delay. Now, I simply called him and explained. He accepted and when I said that I will write a letter to confirm, he said that there was no need.I also did a lot of shopping for my friends in Sudan. And bought them some small gifts. So I will be Father Christmas "bis". One disappointment though: I ordered in November a Nokia N800 internet tablet for me. The supplier informed me that it will not be delivered before 18th of January. When I am gone!! But look at the positive side of it: I can look forward to my next stay in Switzerland.You might have noticed that nobody appears in "My Favor...
More About: Blues

Welcome........! (Again?)
2008-01-04 07:23:00
Yes. But this time I would like to welcome two people to "My Favorite Blogs".Besides you, my friends, I get comments from visitors "out of the blue". I then return the courtesy and visit their blogs. And come across interesting blogs. Blogs I like for a reason or another.Marie (that is the way she signs her comments, but her profile says "Maria") has a lovely blog called "A little joy for today". Beautiful stories about this and that. Marie and I have things in common. She is retired, I will be soon. We have the same taste of music. And professionally we seem to have worked in the same field.The other blog "The Road to the Horizon" takes us into the world of humanitarian aid. The "owner" and I have also things in common. He is also called Peter, he also works for the World Food Programme and like me he roams around in this world. His blog also gives a deep insight on what is going on in emerging countries.You will be enriched visiting these two blogs.Marie and Peter, "Welcome" is a ...

Welcome, 2008
2008-01-01 07:13:00
The baby is born. The Year 2008 is here.It will be a very important year for me. A major change in my life will occur later this year, as you all know.I am sure that it will be a great year for me. And I hope that it will be a great year for you too.But my biggest wish is that during 2008, the world will be more peaceful. Will Kenya be stable or will it "drown" after all the turmoil because of the recent election? Will Pakistan get over the death of Benazir Bhutto? And Darfur, will the presence of the peacekeeping force make things and life easier for the Darfurians? But then, how can one keep peace if there is none? But perhaps, there will be moments of joy when Kosovo will get its independence. And we all are looking forward to the election of the new President of the United States.So, there might be joy. Let's give this new year a chance.Song of Joy (by the way, the anthem of the European Union) by Ludwig van Beethoven is what I have choosen to celebrate this new year. Artist: "...

In Between Two Years
2007-12-29 06:37:00
You remember this?I had posted this in October in my post "Sorry, I complain (for the last time)".And, indeed, since then, I did not complain about Switzerland anymore. Just to remind you, the above poster was used in a nasty campaign for the general election of Parliament. Where the party using this poster got the best results. The elections are a thermometer on what the government will look like. The government is elected in December by the members of Parliament. And surprise, surprise: The second minister, belonging to this terrible party, did not get re-elected. A shock (positive) for the Swiss population. A shock (end of "his" world) to the minister. And the poster was published again. It looks like this now:You see the six remaining ministers, kicking out the "black sheep". And the best part is that he is replaced by a lady. Which means that our government of 7 ministers is now composed of 4 men and 3 ladies. This I think is great. And surely a reason of joy. And a reason for ...
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A la maison
2007-12-26 10:51:00
I made it back home. And I am spending a lot of time with my family. So, I sure you don't mind for me to be short this time. But I will have a lot to tell. Give me a few days only. I will be with you.
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Thank you, my friends
2007-12-14 06:09:00
The year is soon coming to an end. We are all busy getting ready to celebrate Christmas and New Year. And running around buying gifts. From shop to shop. I cannot. Because here we have no shops. And I arrive in Switzerland on the 25th of December to be with my family. But thanks to the internet, I will be able to have gifts for my dear ones. Amazon.com, for instance, will help me. All over the world families and friends will gather in joy and love. Some gatherings will be small, some will be big. We will say ?Thank you? to each other and we will forgive each other. And that is what I would like to do.Ashley, I have always liked to visit your blog. You are a mother with her daily worries and pleasures with your children and you share it with us. And show us simply daily life of a family.Right now we are in the dry season here in Darfur. And the nights are crystal clear and the stars can be seen very well. And I have time to look at them. Often there are shooting stars. It makes me th...
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BREAKING NEWS (and I wanted to post something else)
2007-12-12 17:06:00
You remember my post "Sorry, I complain (for the last time)" of 25th of October?I promised that I will not complain about my country anymore. And today I am telling you that I am proud to be a Swiss citizen.The Government was elected today. In Switzerland the seven ministers are elected by the United Parliament which has the chamber of the representatives and the chamber of the cantons or states.And the Minister of Justice, belonging to this extremist party I complained about, did not get re-elected. My fellow countrymen (or their representatives) seem to come the their senses. I am extremely pleased.And I want to express my joy. The narrow minded dinosaurus goes. The future is left for the young ones. Among them children who we can build on once they grow.That is why I celebrate with "He shall feed His flock" and "Hallelujah", both from the "Messiah" by Georg Friederich Haendel. Artist: Susan Hammond's Classical Kids. Buy it at Amazon.com
More About: News , Breaking News , Post , Breaking , Wanted

Anji, this one is for you
2007-12-07 16:15:00
You have two blogs I visit. The one where you "patch work". And the one where you show us postcards. As a good Swiss I try to be neutral. I like both of your blogs. Though with a slight preference for the one you call "Time and Oft".Time. Time is money, that is what was said in the US in the 60ties. And then it came over to Europe. And since then, we are running after the time. But why should we? The time is there anyway. Sometimes there is not enough time and sometimes we have a lot of time. We will have future time, we have present time. And then we have the past time(s). Unfortunately, we don't think about the past so often anymore. And yet, the past could teach us so many things. If we only would take some time to think about it.And it is so easy to look at those things. Particularely as you are helping us to do so with your postcards. You post them, you put your little story with it. I (we) look at them and often rememberings come to my mind. When I was a child we had no TV. B...

Troubles
2007-12-06 04:38:00
Things are working fine and then all of a sudden all goes haywire. That is happening to me right now. Since days I am trying to put another "This one is for you". The post is written, ready to send to the whole world.And I made my tunefeed. With the appropriate song. And this cute little thing plays a song that comes from I don't know where. And when I cancel the tunefeed and make another one, it plays a different song. And I still do not know where it comes from.The tunefeeds I made before also do not play the songs I put. Is there somewhere someone who "feeds" me with music, of course, against my "will". I will sort it out, I asked my ICT guys to look into it.Anyway, otherwise, all is fine here and my colleagues and I are preparing for the year end. We all go (of course, not all the same time) for a day 10 break.

Thursday Thirteen, Nr.15, about countries I have been to
2007-11-29 04:35:00
Thirteen Things from Me1. Albania and Kosovo. I worked there from 2000 to 2003. For my agency, ?The Swiss agency for Development and Cooperation SDC? and in particular for the ?Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit?. We built roads and bridges and over 1?500 destroyed houses after the war. I hope to go to Kosovo soon, to be present with my friends when Kosovo gets independent. Which will be very soon, I hope.2. Austria. During the same period as above, I did fly many times through Vienna from Kosovo to Switzerland. Because Switzerland had lost its fabulous ?Swissair? and got instead a banana republic airline which stopped flying between Switzerland and Kosovo.3. Belgium. I lived there from 1969 to 1972. I worked for a huge car rental company. I loved Brussels. It is (or was at that time) swinging, 24 hours a day. I found it great to be able to eat a ?steak, frites, salade? at 3 o?clock in the morning. And Belgium has a huge variety of excellent beers.4. Benin. 1979, running from hell to heave...
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A day in a camp
2007-11-26 16:29:00
It is early morning and cold. The day begins; it will be a long day.The line is long; the waiting will be long too. Thousands of people will get their food today.The food arrives.The community helps stacking the food.Everything neatly stacked. We can start.The ration cards have verified and the food tokens received. The wait will be less long now.?Shhhhh?. Don?t worry, soon you will be ok.The distribution is going on well.Soon business for them: Transport of the distributed food to the homes of the beneficiaries.That?s it; the food has been received and for a few weeks there will be less hardship.The food is now loaded on the carts and will be transported home.Kids have always a lot to see when distribution goes on.Finished. Everything went well. My friends and colleagues Samir and Francesca are happy.I tell my colleague Awad: ?Let?s go home. The job is done?. Today 15?000 people received their food. Tomorrow, it will continue.
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Uganda 1966, Uganda 2007
2007-11-23 05:03:00
1966, I don?t remember exactly but I think it was in July, I went for the first time to Uganda . I was then working in Rwanda as a young man for the same Swiss Government agency I am working today. It had though a different name. I was 23 years old and what they called ?Swiss Volunteer for Development?. Something similar to the Peace Corps of the United States. The salary was meager but we did not care. After all a goat cost something like 50 cents and a packet of cigarettes 20 cents. That went very fine with the beer at 15 cents, the half liter. Rwanda is a bit a landlocked place. The capital city, Kigali, had at that time 5?000 inhabitants, today there are a half a million. No hotels and only one place to eat that could be called something close to ?restaurant?. Almost no shops either, just some stalls along the road. Our project was to build up an agricultural co-operative with sales outlets all over the country for farmers to buy things they needed. Saws, seeds, clothing material...
More About: Africa , Tourism , Hotels , Kenya

Too lazy and never to old to learn
2007-11-21 04:48:00
You might have noticed that I have not visited your blogs very much these days. This is partially due that we are busy preparing 2008 with all the "sweet" things to prepare such as logframes, budgets, action and work plans and and and..! So for the time being we have long hours.But another reason is that I am checking on my "favorite blogs" for your posts and then I see that Technorati says that "YOU" have updated your blog the last time 10 days ago. Oh, you are all busy like me? Surprise, surprise, you did update yesterday! And me, I did not see it because I just "trusted" Technorati. One is never to old to learn: Don't always believe what you see!Now, I am going back to my logframes. :-(
More About: Learn , Lazy

Wanda, this one is for you
2007-11-18 01:03:00
Your blog has a value of 28'227 dollars. Mine has a value of 567 dollars. That is what Technorati says and that is why I am not putting the widget on my blog. I like this different way of expressing a blog's rank. You are part of my blogger community since long and, as the blogs of my other favorites, your blog pleases my by its simplicity. Nothing flashy, nothing explosive. You call your blog "Opinion Minions". You express your sights, your ideas and your worries. I remember a few month ago you were feeling down because it seemed that you had no motivation or ideas anymore to post. I told you then that you should not worry and just post when you feel like it. Indeed, there is no use to force oneself to post daily. And loose the joy of blogging. And you did not loose it. Your post on the rugby success of South Africa made me smile. By the way, I watched the final game (I was in Switzerland)and supported the Springboks. With a beer in my hand.Continue to express your opinions. Cont...
More About: Wanda

In the bush
2007-11-16 06:47:00
I am in the bush since last monday. Today we have a bit of peace and calm and rest. And one of our national staff has given me his mobile device and so I quickly say hello.I am on a mission with the Ambassador of Japan to Sudan. We show him what we are doing. And we have to be good. Because this is the time of the year were we solicit the governments of the various countries for funds to continue operations. I explained everything to the Ambassador and he seems to be impressed and pleased. He will certainly send a report to his government. Which will hopefully "convert" into contributions. But I am not worried, Japan has always been a very generous donor.I am back at my "base" tomorrow. I will fly with the helicopter along the Jebel Marra massiv. And as we are in the dry season now, the visibility will be very clear and I will have some spectacular sights.This, by the way, is my 200th post. Dr. John, at how many are you now?
More About: Bush , The Bush

Getting Ready
2007-11-10 13:59:00
That is what I am doing. Next year sometimes, depending on several factors, I will be retired. Basically it is in October. But then it will also depend on my annual leave balance, it will depend on the progress of the situation here in Darfur and of the kindness of my bosses who could feel sorry for an old man like me. I AM NOT AN OLD MAN.Anyway, I will be retired from the ?active work force?. I must say, I am looking forward to it. And at the same time I am worried a bit. Looking forward, not because I am sick and tired of working (on the contrary) but because I will have time to do three million things I want to do since so long. Worried a bit, because I already know that I will not have enough time.My agency already ?threatened? me indicating that they will call me from time to time to make assessments. An UN agency has already contacted me to make evaluations about child labor in Africa and the Balkans. My wife will profit from me being around then most of the time and will inci...
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