Chronic irrigation in Afghanistan
I could probably count on one hand the number of times I have seen a river in Afghanistan. The streets in Kabul are dusty and most of the year it doesn’t look like the city has seen a drop of …
Afghanistan votes
Nearly two weeks ago now, I visited four polling centres around Kabul as part of the joint diplomatic observation of Afghanistan’s 2010 parliamentary elections on 18 September. The UK media covered the Afghan parliamentary elections closely so I’m sure you …
Why I work in Afghanistan
In the UK we hear about Afghanistan almost every day. But most people have never met anyone who has actually been there, and from what you see in the media you’d be surprised that anyone would actually want to work …
The poor deserve a better deal
One early July day, I made my first flight to Africa, was delivered with my blue rucksack to a guest house on Ngong Road in Nairobi, and enjoyed my first encounter with a noisy Mynah bird, singing loudly outside my …
The humanity of humanitarian work
What’s this then? A whole day dedicated to humanitarian workers? Don’t they get enough air time as the face of disasters, recounting tales of untold suffering on our TVs? Well, no, actually. The sad fact is that regardless of how …
Hope of a new start in Nepal
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, but lots has been happening here in Nepal. If I’d written before Christmas, I think that my blog would have been pretty downbeat. Up until almost the very end of the year there …
How to get around in Helmand
Since I joined the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team in November I’ve seen some great progress being made here, but I’ve also seen the huge challenges involved in helping the Afghan people govern this country for themselves. Just before Christmas, Douglas …
Welcome to Helmand
I work in a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Helmand province, Afghanistan – part of the international mission to support the Government of Afghanistan and help Afghans govern their country for themselves. My job title is Economic Adviser. I work with …
Blog Action Day | The year without summer: conflict and climate change
Crossing the street the other morning to get through the front door of DFID’s London Headquarters, I was suddenly confronted with a new bunch of faces. Normally I do my hour and a half commute just concentrating on getting some work done …
Kinshasa? Where’s that?!
That was the reaction I got from friends and family from my generation when I told people I was going to work in Kinshasa for two months with DFID DRC. People from older generations asked me, ‘Is that the country …
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