Supporter: Steve Haley

I haven’t always worked for Mercy Corps. Just before I joined the organization for a job in Iraq, I was studying mathematics in Italy. Before that, I was a captain in the U.S. Army after graduating from West Point. I guess you could say I jump around a little — which could explain why strange things happen to me, but today…

So backtrack, oh, 12 years or so. To say I was lucky with my first assignment in the army is an understatement — Vicenza, Italy. I had a great group of friends for my lieutenant years:Rich, Emily, Matt, Ahmed and Gavin, among a number of others. What an amazing time of exploring Europe and life together: road trips, ski trips, beach trips and a little bit of work in between.

But whether skiing in the Alps, drinking good Italian wine or doing intense training rotations in Germany, there was always time for a little philosophizing and storytelling. The bonds you develop, not just as soldiers together, but also as a group living far from your homes, is almost like family.

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It was a particularly active night in Misrata. Windy, cloudy and every 15 minutes or so....boom!

We were too far from the city center to feel the blasts, but remembering each time that the blast was on or next to someone's house is difficult...

Silence. The bombardment stopped.

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My first long boat trip. I normally don't suffer from motion sickness but, on this trip, I was a little nervous. Fifteen hours and much work to be done on the boat — then even more work once we hit the ground.

I didn't want to take any chances, especially when I started feeling my head get a little heavy. I was also a little afraid from the stories I heard of the last return trip: 1,100 people on the boat and everyone who wasn't sick from the motion was sick from those that did get sick (blogs are supposed to be descriptive, but I'll avoid it here).

That’s about the most lighthearted opening possible for a blog about a place like Misrata, Libya. Misrata is, at the same time, the front line and the last line in an intense conflict. It is the last remaining city in the west of Libya actively fighting the Gaddafi regime. The people are literally backed in a corner on the sea, fully aware that they have no where to run.

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"...go down in the city, and the sun shines on the bay..."

Darkness. What? Huh? Where am I?

In a van. On my way to Libya. I fell asleep.

What's that sound? Ah, my cell phone.

Country code 88?

Satellite phone. Fadl!

"Hey man, I made it."

Breathe.

My colleague Fadl had been on a joint humanitarian mission to Misrata — the sieged city in western Libya where most agree the people have the greatest need, but humanitarians have been unable to access. Fadl had gotten on a boat 36 hours before together with the International Organization for Migration and the Libyan Red Crescent to deliver humanitarian assistance and evacuate people stranded by the fighting.

It was a more uncertain situation that I'm used to sending someone into, and while we did everything possible to prepare for every contingency, hearing his voice and knowing he was back in international waters made me, well, breathe easier.

Can't wait to see him tonight and get his assessments.

After I give him a hug!

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Editor's Note: "Tomorrow's Leaders" is a four-year scholarship program that provides young people from around the Middle East and North Africa an opportunity to study in a top Arab university while developing their leadership skills through community service and exchanges. Mercy Corps, with the help of the Qatar Foundation, is providing skills training and leadership experience opportunities to supplement their development. Fadl Moukadem, a Mercy Corps Project Officer from Tripoli, Lebanon, is traveling with Country Director Steve Haley, author of this blog entry.

Mercy Corps' team in Libya drives across the desert during their ongoing humanitarian assessment. Photo: Steve Haley/Mercy Corps

Hey Tomorrow's Leaders!

I hope all is well in Beirut and Byblos, as well as for your families in your home countries...

I rarely get to spend much time with individual programs, but I had planned to spend a lot with all of you. Your energy and your purpose is the stuff dreams are made of for people like me — who grew up far from history, and far from the events of the world.

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