Ben Tshin

Although I’m updating this blog more frequently than my newsletter I’m grabbing this update from the newsletter instead of paraphrasing it again.

Hi! Greetings from Africa!
I hope you are coping well with the recent snowstorms in Toronto. Here in Kenya, it’s the opposite problem: sun, heat and more sun. The daily high regularly reaches +35C, but I’ve been drinking plenty of water to adapt with the heat and the intense sun.

At the moment I am waiting in Lokichoggio in northern Kenya. Situated 30km from the Sudan border, Loki was established by the UN in the 1989 to serve as a logistical pit stop for humanitarian assistance to Sudan under Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS). UNICEF, the World Food Program (WFP) and 40-other NGOs, including Medair, have offices here to support operations in South Sudan. As a result, a small town has sprung up around the airport and the UN compound.

Conditions in Loki are quite good. It’s much nicer than the expectations to which I signed up. There is a pretty good canteen with decent food, fresh fruit and vegetables. I’ve been told to stock up now before I head into Sudan where the food may come from tins. Unfortunately it’s a bit of a ghost town since 95% of NGOs have relocated into South Sudan after the CPA peace agreement was signed ending the war in 2004. The compound is littered with empty buildings of NGOs like Save the Children, Oxfam, etc. Altogether, I wouldn’t mind spending considerable time here, if only I had something to do.

Four weeks since leaving home I’ve been delayed once in Switzerland and once again here in Lokichoggio. Myself and another fresh colleague were hoping to get into Sudan as soon as possible. However, our second round of briefings have been postponed and put off and I’ve already seen different staff come through Lokichoggio on their way to Sudan. It is quite frustrating to be waiting here with nothing much to do.

Excitingly, I will finally be flying out to Malakal with MAF this coming Tuesday. I’m looking forward to seeing the real Sudan, instead of the veneer of Lokichoggio. The down side is that there is also no work to be done there either. My project is waiting for donor funding before we can go ahead with any work.

Please keep these things in your thoughts and prayers:

• an end to violence in Kenya which is weighing heavily on the Kenyan staff
• successful and quick donor funding for the WatSan project
• my faithfulness and fruitfulness amidst delays and boredom

in His service,
Ben

Here are photos from a gloriously warm and sunny day spent in Montreux and Chillon, Switzerland two weeks ago. The pictures of the French Alps and Lake Geneva are even more spectacular than my previous pictures taken a week earlier.

I’ve made it to Kenya. My first time in Africa, and it hasn’t been the shock I expected. Partly it’s the familiar faces and new friendly faces, and the sight of street reminiscent of Thailand and Indonesia. I’m fortunate that the Medair team house in Nairobi is in a nice neighbourhood. It’ll be great for R&R when I finally get it!

As the support, finance and logistics hub for Medair’s South Sudan project, all internationally recruited staff (IRS) arrive first in Nairobi. It’s almost endless briefings for admin, HR, logistics, finance, security, etc. The office here is busy, with lots of activity and lots of staff doing their different jobs. But the staff are still so gracious, generous and kind. I’m glad Nairobi will eventually become my home away from home since all my R&R time is spent here.

At Medair HQ in Switzerland, I started to get a slightly clearer picture of what work I would be doing. But now that I’m here, I now know what I’m actually doing in Sudan. My title is ERT [Emergency Response Team] WatSan Field Technician. I am joining a team of 8 other staff (mixed IRS and KRS) focused on responding to emergencies by providing water and sanitation. Together, we will fly to areas of immediate crisis and implement the emergency projects, which may be joined with Health/Medical. The implementations range from 2 to 8 weeks in length.

I’m really excited to jump in. I barely have 48 hours in Nairobi before flying north to Lokichoggio near the Sudan-Kenya border. I’ll fly from there on small charter planes to the ER sites. Good thing it’s a short time here since I might get a bit too comfortable in Nairobi where you can find almost everything: Italian pizza, broadband Wi-Fi internet, fresh fruit, etc. I’ll miss all that starting this afternoon in Lokichoggio.

I’m finally leaving for Africa!

It’s a relief to know with much higher certainty that I will be Nairobi tomorrow morning. I’ve already checked-in 24hrs ahead of the flight as per my routine, so everything is ready and confirmed. Yesterday was a bit of a tense day for me as I waited for HQ to green-light/red-light my departure. Fortunately, the situation in Nairobi has been quiet for the last short while and my HRO had just spoken with my Country Director (CD) earlier in the day.

Last night was a nervous time. I didn’t realize that my heart was pounding and I couldn’t get to sleep. A creaky bed and another room mate made the task of sleeping slightly more difficult. During the last few days at HQ, I’ve at least started on reading WatSan manuals, technical documents and getting my head into work.

A lot of different people have been asking how I’m feeling. I’m happy to say that now I’m ready. This pause was an excellent time to find out about patience and God’s timing. I can’t say about hindsight since I’m not entirely sure yet what the lessons were. Through my Bible-in-one-year plan, I’m reading Joshua and this verse picked me up and encouraged me just when I needed it:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” [Joshua 1:9b]

God is good and He continues to shape and mould every part of my year with Medair.

Pictures from Montreux and Chateau de Chillon upcoming.

Bad news, although not entirely depending on the perspective. If you’re guessing I should either be on a flight to Nairobi or already in Nairobi.

I’ve been waylaid in Switzerland for an additional week. The situation in Kenya is still very uncertain with the opposition planning to hold rallies against the government on Wednesday through Friday.  I received the notification to postpone barely 28 hours before my flight was to depart Geneva. It was definitely a surprise although I knew there was a possibility of change since the situation in Kenya has been brewing since December.

I’m getting a bit restless in Switzerland. I’ve already seen most parts of Geneva and also Lausanne. Museums have been visited, vistas absorbed, delicacies enjoyed and every last thing done. It’s definitely frustrating to be stuck here when there is work waiting for me in Sudan. But I think this is another aspect of God’s timing and His plan. I’m learning to deal with this impatience and frustration.

So tomorrow I will be heading back to Lausanne, to the Medair HQ. I’ll start looking into WatSan (Water & Sanitation) books and information to start my professional preparation. Also, it’ll be easier to spend my extra week at HQ and absorb by osmosis from everyone around me.

As prayer points, please pray for:

• the situation in Kenya
• my managing frustrations and disappointments
• my other team members who are laying low in Nairobi

I’ve arrived in Lausanne. Tired and exhausted. I didn’t expect to be so tired, but there was barely enough time to sleep on my flights. The flight from Toronto to London (YYZ-LHR) took only 6 hours. There was only 3-4 hours of napping after meal times and watching my obligatory movie.

Since departing from Canada I haven’t had much time to process the emotional, mental and spiritual weight. While I was waiting at the Toronto Airport about 15 friends and my family were on hand to send me off. There weren’t any tears, just good-bye hugs and last words of good safety, good luck and God’s blessings. It wasn’t until I stepped through security that the reality of the next year struck me. I won’t see any of those friends or family for a whole year. I didn’t realize how much my community meant to me, and how much I’ll miss them.

My entire journey to Switzerland was quite lonely. I was lugging all my bags including everything I need for the next year up and down the Geneva airport and through the railway stations. But it’s a relief to finally see familiar faces from my last visit when I attended Medair’s ROC. They aren’t my close friends or my family, but there are three who will be going to South Sudan with me. They will be my new community for the next year.

I hope to get more time to reflect on my own. This week will be super packed learning about what I’ll be doing in Sudan, and meeting all the HQ staff.

It’s now the countdown: D-day minus 14. Two weeks.

My preparations to leave have been harried. I returned from Medair’s ROC in November and two weeks later I accepted a Water & Sanitation (WatSan) position in South Sudan. Total days from acceptance to departure was less than 60 days. But there is much to do.

Being voluntarily unemployed since May has settled me into a slower pace of life. My decision to take a break from work was to give time to go on vacation in Italy, visit my sister in Florida and apply to the CIDA internships. But then I didn’t land any internships or Humber.

My to-do list seemed unending to begin. My briefing pack contained 16 different documents that needed reading, filling, or signing. And then the drugs and vaccinations. In total I’ve received 6 shots for infectious bugs ranging from Hepatitis A and typhus to rabies. Beware: the rabies inoculation cost a ridiculous $510 (3 x $170). There’s also a packing list the length of my arm. And all the things I need to organize before I leave.

It was overwhelming and some days paralyzing to think about the long to-do list. I didn’t know where to start and what to do next. But the list is slowly dwindling. Tick off one task at a time. And now the list is down to less than 10.

With all the preparations, I haven’t had the chance to get excited about going to Africa. But I’m really glad that everyone I’ve talked to is really encouraging and excited for me. And then it rubs off onto me. So now I’m excited and also slowly getting things done. *whew* The right balance.

Christmas is coming and it will be a repeat of all the craziness. Here’s a short list of Christmas-related things that people want to eliminate:

• packed malls full of neurotic parents
• eating dinner after dinner of turkey and tryptophan
• Christmas CDs on infinite repeat
• bitter winter weather with -20C windchill

And I propose one more: Christmas cantatas and the pain of out-of-tune choruses.

So this past Sunday I went to People’s Church to watch their Christmas concert. Dread. That’s all I felt leading up to it. And a bit of sleepiness. To my surprise it was thoroughly entertaining. A bit slow at parts, but fun. It wasn’t just singing (yawn), but they did choreographed dance along with a full live band. Too bad something like this would be too “revolutionary” in our Chinese church circles. I think the grannies and gramps would have heart attacks.

I’m just looking into the realm of possibilities. It’s still a ways away, but maybe I won’t sleep at my next Christmas concert when I return home.