5 of my authentic yet unusual journal entries revisited

Memories are great. Until you forget them….

In 1999 I arrived at the largest swamp in the world in the midst of a forgotten civil war on a new career path.

I had a feeling there would be some new experiences.

So before I had left home now 4000 miles behind me I had committed to keeping a daily journal for the duration of the job. Nothing fancy. Just a plain unlined notebook was sufficient to record the things to come and to make sure I didn’t forget them.

I was starting off as a first-time humanitarian aid worker who had swapped selling shoes in a sports shop in Ireland for the title of emergency logistician in a mud hut in what is now South Sudan. At that time I didn’t really know what logistician even meant (let alone how to spell it) but the organisation was content with my common sense attitude to pack me off to Africa where I dived in to learning by doing. For me, these five randomly chosen entries are like puzzle pieces from that time which make up the jigsaw of my current career.

1. On our first stop, we had trouble finding the so-called airstrip, never mind landing on it! When we got out we discovered one of the (aircraft) tyres had blown, so after unloading most of the cargo we spent a further 2 hours in the blistering sun, digging out the dirt on our hands and knees to try and change it.
2. Next time I’ll definitely set a (meeting) time limit. Even one of the locals nodded off at one stage beside my knee!
3. One of our staff told us that an ex-member of staff had shot his own mother and had threatened to come after us.
4. I thought it was just some thorns (on my ankle) but when I looked I saw two incision holes about 8 mm apart.
5. Before our conversation ended, we were informed that “the sky was not happy” and could we drive our 4x4 away from police HQ and hide it under a tree.

It’s been fifteen years since that journal was written but just the smell of its cover and the sight of blood, sweat and tears on the actual pages take me straight back to those eventful and life changing days. Technological advances today offer us many electronic and virtual writing platforms but I prefer putting pen to paper.

Now it’s your turn. Are there any snapshots of your journals that you would like to share? A career defining moment or simply something helpful or funny? I’d love to hear them. Just write them down…

Jason is currently an emergency humanitarian supply chain specialist and budding side hustler. He writes a small blog called A Little Bit Every Day and is the creator of the daily humanitarian focused journal Aid Memoire.

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