The Storm Before the Calm...

Pictures:

Unit formation for promotion of 5 soldiers to higher rank here on base. Meeting at local university to tell the students about the Fulbright Scholarship program. Meeting with chief judge. Delivery of supplies and soldiers loading supplies onto truck for delivery to courts and local ngos.

I'm about to go on my first leave (London, Croatia, Amsterdam)...spend time with wonderful people (Alice, Mommers, Larissa), eat great food and relax (the CALM) but before I leave there is the Storm before the Calm (guess everything works backwards here in Iraq :).

First of all - it is hot. Not like Chicago summer hot, or Japan, or Cambodia...like 130 degrees hot...so hot that even the thermometer needs an IV! I have nothing to complain about...i walk around from air conditioned home (room) to air conditioned office (trailer) wearing shorts and a t-shirt when I'm not meeting with people I need to impress - the poor soldiers here are required to be in uniform at all times which means long pants, long sleeves, full gloves, a hat, boots...and when we go out on a mission I wear a "light" body armor vest (probably 30 or 40 pounds) and a helmet but they have to wear full body armor...their vests are probably 20 to 30 pounds heavier than mine, they wear armor on their arms, legs, knees, full boots...no wonder they are dropping like flies from heat exhaustion!

So the heat is slowing all of us down...moving slow, thinking slow, lifing slow...and I was starting to feel like my new title should be "Julie Pfluger, Department of Justice Office Supply Station"...What I mean is that when I first arrived I saw my job as getting to know as many people in the legal community here in my province as possible and assessing their

legal needs - to do projects that increase Iraqis capacity to run their legal system once the U.S. pulls out (which is looming on the horizon). What I have now found myself doing is getting small grants to supply office equipment to groups i work with (courts, ngos, etc)...computers, printers, air conditioners, etc. Not that this isnt a worthy project...i mean, can you image the highest court in your state functioning with no computers, copiers or air conditioning? The things I am able to supply are needed but somehow I feel like I should have loftier goals...but I have settled on these type of projects for now becuase they help establish good relationships with the people I want to work with. And I am going on leave next week and I'm the only person who does law stuff on my base (or in my province) so these projects are easy one-time things that I don't need anyone to follow up on while I'm off my base for a month (thus the problem with getting so much vacation time - when you are on vacation you arent working and when no one covers for you things grind to a halt when you leave).

One thing I had been working on that made me happy was working with a local NGO - the work was not legal but I have branched out and done things that aren't legal....let me rephrase that...i have done things outside the legal field when I see the need and can step in. You can see from the pictures above I went to a local university last week to tout the Fulbright program with a Fulbright specialist who came in from Baghdad. Some of you who have followed this blog have seen pictures of the ngo that i and others here on the base have been working with - and in fact many of you have sent boxes of goodies for the children who attend school and day care at this center. The ngo is run by an amazing local woman who has sacraficed her time and own money to get her center up and running and employ widows in the area who otherwise would not be able to provide for their families. The ngo does sewing projects to provide income for the widows (we supplied the sewing machines as well as generators, computers, air conditioners and more). We also work with other local ngos who needed some uniforms. We put need and supply together and got a grant to pay for the women's ngo to make the uniforms. Win win situation, right? Well, not exactly.

It is dangerous for Iraqis to work with us. There are lots of people out there who don't like us and they don't like the locals working with us. When we move off base, whether it is walk or vehicle, it is a production. I can't go anywhere without a heavily armed unit protecting me on all sides. I couldn't be "low profile" if i tried. When i move off base it attracts attention and that can't be avoided. Some of our local contacts come visit us on the base but that isn't easy either...they have to go through major security to get onto our base and many times that entails being searched out in the open in front of our base where everyone can see they are visiting us. We try to minimize exposure...if I see someone I work with at a meeting or visit I am at I don't approach them (and this is hard to remember because it is my natural instinct to walk up to a friend and hug them or chat)...if they want people to know they know me they will approach me...I don't talk about projects I am doing with people who not involved, I don't disclose where I get information from...but no matter what I/we do the bottem line is it is still dangerous for people to work with us. The other day people from our base went to the women's ngo to check on the progress of the uniforms. After we left the center was attacked ..we just got word of it yesterday when our contact got out of the hospital. The attackers stated that they were punishing her for working with us. They destroyed her equipment and set fire to the place.

So now what? Continue working with her and possibly risk her life? Stop working with her and let her feel abandoned and let the bad guys "win"? We have gotten her input on what she wants - she is a very brave lady.