We Will Measure the Sludge and Deduct It

I show him to cut the top off and cut a round hole in the bottom of the first jerry can. We fit the large diesel filter into the hole and put sealant around it so that the fuel could not pass except through the filter. We cut a round hole in the top of the second jerry can so that the filter sealed to the bottom of the first jerry can inserted securely into the top of the second one.

Office Assistant and Head Guard filter the diesel

     ‘Pour it here,’ I say.

     The diesel filled the first jerry can and, slowly passing through the filter at the bottom, it trickles into the second jerry can.

     ‘This is clear?’ I ask.

     The Office Assistant clicks with his mouth.

     ‘Now you will instruct the guards to do this and you will supervise them so that they do it right. They will wash the dirty drums place them upside down to dry completely. They will filter the fuel and pour the clean fuel into the drums. They will do this for one drum at a time and not stop until all the fuel is filtered and in clean drums.’

     ‘Yes. We will do this,’ the Office Assistant says.

     I look him over a moment wondering if I should repeat the instructions or ask him to repeat them to me. I leave him be and return to my work. When I come back a few hours later the drums are as they were and there is no work going. I call the Office Assistant over.

     ‘We emptied this drum and put the fuel into this clean one here,’ he explains.

     ‘And this one and this one and all the rest?’

     ‘In these the fuel is dirty so we did not want to put it in the clean drums.’

     I look him over to determine if we are sharing a joke.

     ‘So once the fuel goes through the filter, it is clean. That is what the filter does; it cleans the fuel. Then, after the filter, it can go into the clean drums.’

     He clicks with him mouth and I have long learned not to trust the clicking.

     ‘That which is sludge and does not pass through the filter you will put aside there.’

The diesel passes through the filter and trickles clean
into the bottom jerry can

     I point at an open bucket.

     ‘After all the fuel is filtered and put into clean drums, we will measure the sludge and deduct it from the fuel log. This is clear?’

     He clicks again and I decide not to challenge his understanding. This will be a process, I think, as all things here are a process always. I must be patient and I mustn’t be insulting.

     I return to my work and I come back in the late afternoon. I call the Office Assistant and he knows by my tone to drop whatever else he might be doing.

     ‘Yes, you explained the process and it was clear,’ he says. ‘The guards they wanted to stop because they suffered to work under the sun.’

     ‘I see. And now with the sun low and on the other side of the building so that all this work area is in shade - where are they now?’

     ‘Yes, I see. I will tell them this. And shall they resume the work now?’

     ‘Yes. Right now.’

When It Goes for So Long and Does Not Fill, There is a Problem

In the evenings when the city power is on, the city pumps water through the underground pipes. You turn on the electric pump and pump the water into your water tank. The water tank sits atop a metal tower beside the house and about level with the roof. The water tank supplies the facets and toilets so that gravity gives the water pressure and maybe you’ll get a decent shower. Usually the pumping takes a half hour or so.

     In the evening I leave the compound to meet some friends for dinner and drinks. The guard has turned the water pump on and sits nearby waiting for the tank to fill. He will know it is full when the water pours out the top of the tank.

     I come back almost four hours later. The guard is still sitting there and the pump is still on.

     ‘Has this been on the whole time?’

     ‘Yes but it does not fill,’ he says.

The street outside the ARC compound after a rain.
Water tank can be seen through the razor wire

     I go to the pipes and I review the setup. I turn the lever that opens the valve to permit water from the city pipes to enter the pump. The sound changes from an airy sucking to a watery sloshing.

     ‘When it goes for so long and does not fill, there is a problem,’ I say.

     I demonstrate the turning of the lever to open the value.

     ‘This must be like this,’ I say. ‘You hear the difference in the sounds?’

     He clicks with his mouth and I open the valve and close it a couple more times to be sure he hears and sees the difference.

     ‘Now it will fill and you will turn off the pump when it overflows from the top.’

     ‘It is understood,’ he says and I slap him on the back of he shoulder.

The Motorcycle Mechanic

He cleaned the carburetor and then he changed the oil.

     He kick started the motorcycle and it wouldn’t start. He opened the choke and cranked it again but it wouldn’t start.

     He increased the idle speed and this time it started. Then he returned the idle speed to its proper setting and the motorcycle died.

     A second time he increased the idle speed and it started. Then, when he returned the idle speed to its proper setting, it died.

     A third time he increased the idle speed and it started. Then, when he returned the idle speed to its proper setting, it died.

     A fourth time he increased the idle speed. This time I stopped him.

     'I think we’ve gone as far as we can with this gentleman,’ I said to the Logistics Assistant. ‘Let’s thank him and pay him and send him on his way.’

He Burned Himself and the Tool Slipped

It is Saturday morning. The two boys knock at the welded joints to remove the iron grating from the window frames. When the grating is off they unroll a section of the mosquito mesh and stretch it across the window frame. Then they weld the old grating to the window frame with the mosquito mesh spread in between.

I am back from R&R yesterday and not ready to be back and I could sleep longer if they let me. I come out to check on their progress. There are large holes burned into the mosquito mesh at the welded joints. I call the Logistics Officer over.

‘What the fuck is this?’

I point to the places. The Logistics Officer sees and he speaks to the welders in Arabic. The welders respond and he translates for me. ‘He - the one with the welding iron - says in those places he burned himself and the tool slipped.’

‘Maybe he should wear gloves. Anyway, I don’t give a shit that he burned himself. We’re paying him to install the mosquito mesh so that it will keep out the mosquitos. If he burns holes through it, it won’t fucking well keep out the mosquitos, will it?’

The Logistics Officer speaks to the welder again in Arabic. There is a response and then to me: ‘He says he understands.’

‘Marvelous,’ I say. ‘Tell him to demonstrate his understanding by doing the next window properly or he will be sacked.’

Adventures in Accounting

‘So we talked about how we have three new grants opening,’ I said.

     The Finance Assistant clicked with his mouth, which is how you convey understanding here.

     ‘This means we will charge some things to more than one grant.’
     He made another click with his cheek and his tongue.

     ‘I’m sure you know how to do this but let’s do a practice to make sure we do it the same.'
     I paused so he could click again and then I continued.

     ‘OK. So, if someone has a salary of 2,000 pounds and we need to charge 25% of someone’s salary to the UNHCR grant, how would be calculate that?’

     The Finance Assistant reached for the calculator on his desk. He entered “2000”, then he pressed the multiplication sign, and then he entered “25”.

     The calculator displayed “50,000”.

     He was puzzled. He cleared the calculator and performed the operation again.

     Again the calculator displayed “50,000”.

     I let him think it over another moment and when he hesitated I said, as though just realizing the solution, ‘OK, you know what we forgot?’ I drew the formula on a sheet of paper.

2,000 x 25% =

     ‘Remember, when we multiply with a percentage, we have to cross out the “%” but in order to cross it out, we have to move the decimal two places to the left.’

     I demonstrated this with the pen on the paper. The Finance Assistant performed the operation on his calculator and this time it displayed “500”, which he considered to be more reasonable.