http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Somali-Region/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Africa , Ethiopia , Somali Region en-us Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:03:13 BST Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:03:13 BST When I interviewed with the International Catholic Migration Commission ICMC for the resettlement roster I explained my work with refugee families in crisis. How I worked with kids to try to determine if abuse was occurring in the home and figure out appropriate placements if there was a need to take a child away from a caretaker. This was not the bulk of my work but I did work with 34 familie http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Somali-Region/Jijiga/blog-312716.html Our first week at work in UNHCR Jijiga the logistics of the registration center where we are working in Kebribeyah were not prepared yet so we were taken to La Faisse for training in screening cases. The population in La Faisse is made up of newly arriving Somali refugees coming from Somalia due to the recent fighting. Most arrived in March 2008 and the key to the operation is finding out if th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Somali-Region/Jijiga/blog-312714.html The best part of this assignment is the parties Since this is a hardship site the Head of Office has embraced the concept of taking care of ourselves through creating a social life at the UNHCR compound. UNHCR primarily hosts parties when people are leaving to go to other assignments which happens very frequently. Our first one happened to coincide with the 4th of July which was nice. I toasted http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Somali-Region/Jijiga/blog-311740.html What is a typical day at work like for me Maybe some of you are wondering what I do and why Irsquom here in Ethiopia Besides having some strange fascination and some emotional pullhellip.unable to let go of my Peace Corps days or my 1st midlife crisis Either way Irsquoll give you a short story to explain my work.Each weekday Monday through Thursday Friday we work in the office as it http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Somali-Region/Jijiga/blog-309417.html When I quit my job I told my staff I was going on the African diet. I knew Irsquod lose weight because of the lack of processed sugar and carbohydrates in the food here. I also had some idea that I might possibly get sickhellip.actually I knew Irsquod get sick. So sickness struck me my first ldquoofficialrdquo week at work. It was great By the third day I had selfdiagnosed myself w http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Somali-Region/Jijiga/blog-309411.html The worst thing about Ethiopia and working in Kebribeyah are the fleashellipthey are everywhere and we brought them home so last night they kept me up half the night. Ugh The other annoying issue is the lack of a consistent supply of water. Other than that this is such a beautiful country and this area is so different than the north. The people are so not interested in foreigners here. Yes p http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Somali-Region/Jijiga/blog-309408.html When we first arrived we went into the camp to inform the refugees about resettlement. We went to each zone and sat outside calling everyone that could come to gather around us and informed them of what resettlement is and the process. It was a strange sensation sitting under a tree on a plastic bottle or in front of someonersquos tukul on a mat introducing ourselves talking about interviewing http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Somali-Region/Jijiga/blog-305596.html We were scheduled to leave Thursday for Jijiga but then found out that UNHCR did not pay for our airline tickets in on time so our reservations were cancelled and we would leave on the Sat 7am flight. We all arrived at the airport at 5am as we were told and we checked in through security which takes about an hour because they have to xray everything. Then we waited in line and when we got to th http://www.travelblog.org/Africa/Ethiopia/Somali-Region/Jijiga/blog-302755.html