Posts Tagged ‘UN’
A Visit to Kakuma
Background: In a previous blog I discussed a visit to Kakuma, the large UNHCR refugee camp located in northwest Kenya. Here some new arrivals put up a temporary shelter. East Africa has long suffered from unstable governments, rebel insurgency, terrorism, warfare, droughts and flooding. As a United Nations Peacekeeper, I spent several years working and…
Read MoreAvoiding A Ramadan Riot in Afghanistan
In Islamic countries, it is customary to pay a Ramadan bonus, much like a Christmas bonus. It is usually equal to one month’s salary and is handed out just before the Eid celebrations. The second year I was in Afghanistan, on the last working day before Eid we had issued the bonus to all the…
Read MoreThis Is Why He Has War In His Heart
The soldier striding into my office didn’t smile; his worn fatigues bore the insignia of the South Sudanese Army. He introduced himself through his translator as Lt. Rashadd and offered me a limp but sweaty palm. I greeted him and motioned for him to take a seat. Instead, he eyed me with a feral glare…
Read MoreA Day In The Life Of A PeaceKeeper Part Two
The UN wasn’t created to take mankind into paradise, but rather to save humanity from hell ~ Dag Hammarskjold As I explained in my last blog entry, part one of a two-part series, I recently gave a presentation to the Lansing, Michigan chapter of the United Nations Association as part of a popular series called Java…
Read MoreA Day in the Life of a Peacekeeper
The UN wasn’t created to take mankind into paradise, but rather to save humanity from hell ~ Dag Hammarskjold Recently I gave a presentation to the Lansing, Michigan chapter of the United Nations Association as part of a popular series called Java Café: a presentation on a topic of interest followed by questions and lively…
Read MoreWhy Refugees and Immigrants Can Be An Asset
Standing Tall Man Behold a stern, sober-looking man who is engaged in unsolicited acts of humanitarianism. I met him in northwest Kenya while visiting the Kakuma refugee area recently. Among the incredible things UNHCR staff members showed us was a project between locals and refugees. Local residents, who have survived for centuries as traditional herders…
Read MoreThis is How America Can Learn Humanity and Civility from Africa
Humanity And Civility in Action Last March I spent several days in Kakuma, a large sprawling refugee camp in northwest Kenya. In that population of some 200,000 refugees from all over Central Africa- Sudan, Uganda, Somalia, and the Congo — there is every type of broken, mistreated and beleaguered family unit. But nowhere did I meet…
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