I cannot believe I am getting paid to do this!

It is catch-up time for me and the Red Cross. Five years away = Five days of briefings. My head hurts! This week, I am in Geneva at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. I already spent a day with former, now current, colleagues at the American Red Cross in Washington, DC. Then I spent a day at the Federation office at the UN in New York. Whoa… so far so good. The best thing is that I am reminded of the individual good deeds performed by millions of Red Cross and Red Crescent people that reach into every corner of the Globe every minute of every day, everywhere. How cool is that?

Here at the Federation Secretariat my briefings covered things like: community-based health care, construction of houses and hospitals, external relations, security, audit and risk management, reporting, organizational development, disaster management and many other topics. There is a lot going on, lots of changes (good and bad), but still a core of people committed to the work of the Red Cross.

It is wonderful meeting with so many genuine and caring people. It is also fun to be back in an international setting where you have to pay attention to people’s name and work at pronouncing them correctly – which I never do! Here are the names of a few of the people I met: Tijana, Tiziana, Gulzhanant, Haken, Mauricio, Mikhail, Luntan, Markku, Encho, Uli, Aurelia. Sure some are easier to pronounce that others, but one must listen closely. They all helped me to reconnect and in the process learn even more about the continuing work the Red Cross and Red Crescent in helping people in times of need.

Reflecting on this week however gives me a moment to marvel at the fact that I am getting paid to do this. I cannot believe that! It can only get better as I go closer to the field and where the real work in actually performed by local people. Having said this, I hold no illusion that there will not be days when I mock this message and complain that I am not getting paid enough to do this or that…. But for now, this is my story and I’m sticking to it.

So about the name thing, I am thinking, plain old Al just doesn’t work anymore, maybe I’ll start using Alfredo.