It was at the peak of our recruitment in Special Operations, UNV HQ/s in Bonn when I aspired to gain field experience in a UNV Support Office. I was a part of a dynamic team, which recruited and assisted UNVs of different work profiles from different countries to serve UNMIL (Liberia), UNIOSIL (Sierra Leone), MONUC (DR Congo), UNMEE (Eritrea), UNMIT (Timor Leste), MINUSTAH (Haiti), BINUB (Burundi), UNAMA (Afghanistan) and UNMIS (Sudan). It was a very interesting job as I got to hear and read different stories of people and their ultimate reasons why they wanted to become UN Volunteers. Through the massive emails and comprehensive phone communications, I built not only a roster of good candidates for different UNV mission assignments, but also friends whom I later on came to know myself.

So, right away… after my eventful participation in the Global Workshop in Bonn in year 2005, I packed my things ready to move. My next stop was Liberia, whose soil my feet first touched on the 5th of June 2005. I chose to have a simple life!

In Bonn, we normally briefed the selected candidates prior to deployment to the field. However after getting my feet on the ground, I realized that I had to learn a lot. Monrovia… I was amazed! My jaw dropped after knowing that you live a life in curfew, with 24 hours security at home and at the office; rooms all behind the heavy and solid iron doors. Our electricity even to date is being run by a generator. If you’re not up-to-date with your generator technician in terms of fuel consumption, you might end up sleeping in total darkness. It scared me but got used to it at some point. No water. I bathed a couple of times with bottled mineral water since we always miss to fill our water tank.

I first rented an apartment which didn’t have the water pump facility. Mosquitoes, rats, water diseases, and food are few of the things that I had to be mindful of if I wanted to live a healthy life. I was frightened when I saw men in uniform carrying riffles or guns in 2005. Armored war tanks were around the streets looking as if they were a regular means of transportation in Monrovia! Whew!

Now, Liberia is moving forward. I was there and was a part of the history!.

After the successful National Elections in October 2005 followed by a run off in November 2005, Liberians started to move forward. By the way, I joined the National Elections Commission as a volunteer Electoral Support Officer. It was my very first exposure in the field, day and night, and close security was all around! I was there and was part of the history!

Now, people walk the streets with smiles on their faces. Freedom, integrity, and rights… those are only few of the reasons behind those smiles. I saw children crossing the streets with comfort and security. Many traffic enforcers are deployed maneuvering the busy streets in Monrovia. Public transportations, vendors, stores, restaurants, and entrepreneurs kept on coming to this developing country.

During Liberia’s Presidential Election in 2005 with UNMIL – SRSG

Well, life must go on…

I would like to say that my colleagues in the UNV Support Office are doing a fantastic job in serving the people. Above and beyond our work scopes, we can make our lives more fun! We implemented fund raising activities involving the UNVs and target beneficiaries. It was an enormous job, but worth working for. I can tell you more about it in my next article.

It has always been a rewarding job…. I thought that the briefing kit that I used to have in Bonn was enough. After experiencing the so-called “UN peacekeeping life,” I became an expert. Meeting and working with UN Volunteers is one of the greatest accomplishments in my life. It was nice to put faces behind the names that I exchanged emails and spoke with on the phone while in Bonn, Germany.