I am on a break at home. Since 3 weeks and for another 3 weeks. And then I will return to Jordan. Until end of February 2015. Mid March 2015 I will leave for Liberia to help with the Ebola crisis which, by that time hopefully, will have improved. The consequences of this disaster are enormous. It has shown how frail the countries and their institutions are and how the have been affected. Health, economics and social issues have been disrupted and a lot will needed to be done. We all know that people are dying of Ebola. But nobody talks about the thousands of orphans that need now to be taken care off. Or people dying of Malaria and pregnant women dying at child birth because many dispensaries or clinics are not operational anymore. There will be a lot for work (and time needed) to bring things back only close to normal.
I wanted to post more in the last few month. But I did not get around. We were extremely busy. The influx of Syrian refugees to Jordan has not stopped and we had to open a new camp. This kept us busy, very busy. And now with ISIS and its behaviour we might soon be confronted with another influx of refugees from Irak. And money is getting scarse. The world had never to take care of so many emergency situations at the same time. The Syrian crisis is far from over. Then of course the Ebola requires a lot of money. Things in Yemen and Somalia are turning for the worse. South Sudan and Congo are not faring well too.
And in all this, I am still very much sollicited and I keep getting demands from various organisations. Humanitarian work is getting tougher and there are not enouhg people willing to do this kind of work. I just did my yearly complete medical check and I am top healthy. So, I will continue until the end of 2015. And then, at the age of 72, really retire.
On a complete different, and lighter, mode I have to tell you that I expect you to encounter me with all due respect.
But I know that you will.
