Thread: Employment Opportunities

Dave,

Still OK here, thanks for asking. The build-up of force has started here and Al Shabaab has become very reactive...the hotel attack being the most noticable. We have been moving in an additional 2000 troops and it has been interesting to see, coming off commercial flights, at the very same airport, a lot of young Somali men...it is suspected that Al Shabaab is conducting it's own reinforcement at the same time.

I was assisting in the loading of 10 casualties from the hotel attack just before lunch today, they were being flown out to Kenya for treatment..not pleasant.

Al Shabaab have declared an offensive to line up with a day of significance within their Ramadam here and this Sat, 28 Aug 10 has been promised as an interesting day. Time will tell.

Anyway...some of the normal stuff, had to assist in a health assessment at the soldiers kitchen the other day. They are currently feeding 1800 out of here....there is some work to be done:













Come across this on the way back from a worksite today....OOOPS!:



Then, this PM I went to get some photos of Mando....No, Mando is the one being nursed. His owner is PTE Odonga and Mando was found as a youngster some six months ago....cute as:











He is a Vervet monkey. They are quite common around the place, living in the thorn bush and the locals will try to sell them to you.

Red shirt ?

Originally Posted by clean32

Red shirt ?

The UN make us don powder blue PPE ballistic vests and helmets, and we have to drive white cars...I thought a red shirt might add some...balance?

Originally Posted by BBC

The UN make us don powder blue PPE ballistic vests and helmets, and we have to drive white cars...I thought a red shirt might add some...balance?

NW Cambodia, stinker of a day and just coming off patrol. wrongly assessing that we had left our shadows behind. we decided that a quick dip was in order. Bad Idea. being the only white guy AND taking your shirt off. Makes a good lead magnet.

But then in the best of British. Red! Cant see the blood ol boy.

On the topic of shirts, try turning up for small arms "prooval" in Moscow in a pink shirt

Had to go for a bit of a yomp this AM (28 Aug), with a Ugandan foot patrol for protection, we had to go and get a view of the perimeter from the outside. The purpose was to do some GPS plotting and get some photos so we could communicate the reality and complexity of what is outside the perimeter.




There is a considerable number of people right close to our perimeter. They are Internally Displaced Personnel, IDP’s who are minority tribes and clans who have been displaced by the friction of tribalism, with larger more powerful tribes, subjecting them to servitude..and all that comes with that.













The numbers are hard to estimate as their dwellings dropped out of sight down the slope. Some do have work, labouring in places such as these lime quarries:
Just across the road, is a source of employment. The camel abattoir:

These boys looked a bit nervous, in a camel sort of way:


Had a lovely smell:






Them bones, them bones, them dry bones:







Then, a little further up the road, another grim representation of the reality of life…..and death..........for these poor people…..graves:

Passing on from the IDP settlement and toward the outer suburb of Medina, the neighbouring suburb to our base:






We kept on the move, the locals were all very inquisitive, and we could see them using their mobile phones as we passed. We could only guess about the interest that us 2 ‘muzungu’ (whites) were creating.








Then, on the way back in, we got a salute, one that we just HAD to return:

Originally Posted by Dmmos

The pics are fine, I was just using a slow internet connection... It truly sounds fascinating. This thread has given me a much greater awareness of Africa & its people. I've previously discarded any news from the area with practical indifference - 'of course, because all of Africa is rooted'. It's not that I haven't cared, rather it's just the usual case of apathy (which is terrible). I'm glad I have more of an understanding now though - especially with regard to Somalia. I did a little research & came across a tidy article about the broad geo-political attitudes to Somalia - the nation appears to represent a significant challenge for all involved, yourself included I assume.

I'd wish you luck, but I assume a Sapper wouldn't need it?

Of course a Sapper does not need it. If ya can't shift it with a Dozer or det cord, then it is time for the Sapper's friend, plastique, but you get a choice...... Semtex or C-4.....couple of kilos of either (if ya really pizt orf) can make a whole lot of luck..

Went out for another doddle this morning (30 Aug), assessing some land and checking out the social dynamics of the place. You’ll never know if you don’t go and get some eyes on.

Down along the beach:









Camels?



Yep..some beach-going camels.


Here is something that is very much a common feature along this bit of the African coast…the waste that the developed world does not want to dispose of properly….medical and industrial waste that gets dumped out at sea by unscrupulous operators:



Hell’s Bells!!…that’s a bloody big shell!!



Then, up the hill away from the beach:





This part of the coast, close to the city, has been the source of gravels and lime probably for centuries. You can see the extent of past excavations:





Then, the current workface:





Working under that face would make me a little nervous….




Birds nesting their way into the face:



Then up onto the road back to the base….mixing with the locals:




The donkeys:





Lime quarries:





The charcoal is what is burnt to produce the lime:





Goats........



and camels….




and kids….




poor, poor kids…not much chance of schooling….I have been in some poor, poverty stricken places in this world. I have yet to see poverty like it is in this place.

Back into the base:



My thanks to LT Dan and the men of 10PL C Coy for their security.

4 more days and I'm back to Melbourne to get a little bit of time with the Love & Kisses and the Billy Lids....I've heard it is still cold.

Enjoy the time at home, when you get there mate