More than half of my professional life I have spent on assignments abroad: starting from development cooperation, moving on to humanitarian assistance, and then – shifting from consequences to causes – in security sector reform and crisis management. The experiences from these sojourns I have let inform my research interests, creative work and ultimately outlook on life in general.
On two occasions I started a blog, attempting to create a public diary on what the daily work and context bring about in these locations. These blogs failed rather miserably: often relatively soon after the start of the assignment I have found myself facing a steep learning curve, surrounded by fascinating people and eventually swept away by my new life in its many smells and colours. The blog updates remained undone. However, I believe they still convey the first impressions and feelings of the new setting and the work at hand.
These two blogs are written variably in three languages (English, Finnish and Swedish). For the reader not commanding the languages but curious about the content I recommend using deepL translator.
