Working hard
on Freetown Blog (Sierra Leone), 18/Nov/2009 10:41, 34 days ago
I really wasn't expecting to be working quite as intensively as I have been. This is great, as I feel like I am in among it, though it is also tiring. It is now clear that the formation of the Health Service Commission is a contentious issue, and not all government departments are as enthusiastic about it as the Ministry of Health. Last Saturday there was a special meeting in the Ministry to consider how to stengthen the case and a lot of the work I have been doing with my boss was central to the discussion, which was good to know (I was supposed to be there, but was unable to attend for reasons previously explained).One thing that is very much in my mind now is the fact that I have less than 3 weeks of working time left here. Bloke flies in, works hard, flies out, leaves no trace, doesn't seem like a good recipe for sustainable development on the face of it. However, I have come to the conclusion that just being here, showing a bit of enthusiasm, helping to get some work out the door and giving positive feedback on the commitment of good people who keep going under constraints that, frankly, would make most of us give up in despair, is not such a bad thing.And I am, of course, a very small cog in a wheel: DFID is sending in Technical Assistants in the New Year, and the Office of Tony Blair also has a consultant here supporting the Ministry,  so there are others giving support and continuity. So I'm not beating myself up about whether I am doing any good or not and for the next 2 weeks I will keep grafting. After that, Laszlo arrives and we will be heading down the Freetown penninsula. And there will be photographs of tropical beaches, oh yes, there will.