Now it makes sense

Just before I left the UK, a colleague very succintly explained to me how he thought the blog could be useful. "We want people to understand what it actually takes to turn their donation into an impact. It's not just a simple equation of giving ten pounds = impact. It's important people see the challenges you face in the field making that ten pounds count." This makes sense: So my blog will be an informative and therapeutic outlet for me to share our day to day challenges and frustrations and bring the work to life. As Warren Buffet said as he handed over his billions to fellow philanthropist Bill Gates, it's far more difficult to be effective in this field than in business. And having moved into this field from the private sector, I can really relate to this. I sometimes crave the relative simplicity of working towards semi-net and shrinkage targets etc.

The frustrations and challenges have become so frequent they feel the norm rather than exception, and I have abandoned the naive hope that a lull is just around the corner. Whether it's trying to negotiate for female staff to travel to project sites or out to Kuwait for meetings, working with Ministries whose staff and policies keep changing as Ministers change, persuading donors to invest in child protection when most funds have been squandered or are committed to the stalled reconstruction process, dealing with communities that have an entrenched culture of dependency, waiting for donors and foreign governments to agree whether or not Iraq's in a state of emergency and civil war, or working through the challenges of remote management. The list goes on...

Anyway, that's all for now...

Exciting news!?

Since I last wrote I have seen first hand the Southern Iraq and the marshes. Not however, dressed in a dishdasha and hiding in a local car, or dressed in body armour and hiding in an armoured vehicle. It was from the comfort and security of a British Airways flight back from London and from 30,000 ft. But I have finally seen Iraq and this is as close as I'll get for a long while. This is how desperate remote management leaves you. So this is what the marshes look like. Now you know as much as me. It was an unexpected lift after a trip to the UK to discuss, among other things, our donor's funding crisis.

Getting started

It's six months since someone suggested I start writing a blog and nine months since I arrived in Kuwait. After six pondering long and hard whether or not anyone would be vaguely interested in what I had to say or share, here I am with my first blog entry. A momentous occasion, or not. A lot of people seem to be aspirational authors or columnists and embrace this idea of being literary exhibitionists and sharing their thoughts with the world. I am not one of them. I have been persuaded by the powers that be that people will be interested in my thoughts and insights. My doubts are fuelled by the fact:

1. I'm a foreigner in Kuwait, working on relief and development projects in Iraq, neither of which seem particularly engaging topics; and
2. There are far more informed people than me when it comes to Kuwait, Iraq and relief and development.

With the exception of a few brave, stupid and / or naive individuals, most westerners working on relief and development projects in Iraq are currently holed up in Jordan or Kuwait. I am one of them. So we look in because our common sense, fear, mothers, bosses and insurance policies prevent us entering Iraq. Sometimes craving to actually see first hand the work and the context. Sometimes relieved we're not there but frustrated at the detachment.

The blog is an opportunity to speak out and share some day to day experiences and insights from my life and work, the Iraqis I work with, and the Iraqis we work for. For those of you unfamiliar with Iraq and Kuwait I hope it proves interesting. For those of you who fall into the huge group of "far more informed people than me" that I referred to above, I apologise in advance for my ignorance. Please feel free to correct any misunderstanding I have.