Moments

Second Deployment 2018

We were driving to the air base. Niall wasn't too happy about having to drive me, but I haven't learnt to drive and I won't bother, I think. But to make him happy for the last time in a while, I acquired from El two bobby pins and an elastic band. It was for my hair, and yes, I figured out over a long period of time how to keep my hair out of the way. I worked out how to braid my hair on both sides and tie it at the back. It's been short for years now, I never grew it out. I might now. After this Horn mission finishes I'll grow it out. About time I do, anyway. Not back to the old length probably, just long enough to be able to do stuff with it. Like the two braids to the back. Probably best to not wash it often because otherwise, and I've tried this before, it falls out at the fringe up the top.

I didn't see it coming. We'd just finished set up when people came to collect supplies. We unloaded the supplies and the people came. In their masses. Tried to line up as close to the front as they could. Turned out they weren't trying to line up for the food, they were running away from something, they just knew we were here and we offered some form of defence. Men chasing with knives. Some sort of tribal dispute, possibly. Never mind the locals, we were scared too. I was scared. They were a massive threat, those knives. If they threw it, someone would probably get hurt. If they came up close quarters, I've got a sawing knife that's quite heavy and might offer some protection, no real guarantee. We also have a stockpile of rocks that I could just throw at them if all else fails, originally collected to hold the parts of the tents down among other useful applications, they've been baking in the sun. The underside is cooler, cool enough to pick up and hold until I can launch it at someone. And the upper side? Don't touch it unless you want burns. I looked at the others, who have drawn their knives already. I quickly assess the attackers as I draw my own, and motion to the locals to stay back. Hopefully they know to run out the back of the tents as necessary and if possible.

We called for support. I was one of 5 TA members there at a total of 20, two TA were injured out of a total six. We had driven away the tattered attack force. They were robbers, not fighting men. The weapons were blunt, something they accounted for in their hard, short swings. The knife edges mostly found arms and legs, soldiers were pushed to the ground. Me being positioned behind the first line found a ragged bunch of robbers. Makeshift shoes, tattered and filthy clothes. They were easy, braver villagers aimed rocks at them, distracting them even if they didn't hit their target. The villagers clambered out from behind piles of food, anywhere they could hide.

Back at the base after we returned was a different matter. I downed a cup of snow from the machine immediately on return. The heat had a terrible effect on me, despite every attempt in making sure I was hydrated through the day, it was difficult in between all the set up we had to do.  And then the snow gave me a brain freeze, and I quickly moved my tongue around to let it melt. It was effective relief in the heat, and the reaction of the soldiers to the sight of the snow machine was always positive, sometimes even producing a last spurt of energy towards the beautiful sight known as the snow machine. It's the reality of equatorial camp life.

I sent Niall Viber messages quite often. With Wifi it's free, and considerably more convenient than trying to squeeze in time to write out a letter. Because, at the end of the day, I'm tired and my handwriting can get to the point where even I can't read what I've written. My English also becomes appalling. But on my phone, there's an autocorrect function and it gives me the word I want before I even finish typing. From what Niall tells me, the band is still being pushed to busy tours by management, even if he doesn't say so explicitly. They're working on their next album right now, on the road. Liam and Louis write together very well. I promise him that this will be my last military deployment anywhere. He seemed pretty excited.

I see the starving kids, and I don't know if I want to have kids myself, when the world population is growing and these people are starving. They're easily curable diseases. The reason these people are still contracting them is because there are no medical services, and food and water supply are awful. Water supplies have improved, but food resources remain unstable. Those kids don't even have the strength to keep their heads upright, and kids in developed countries are complaining about not having the latest phone, or that their parents are overly strict. How does that compare to starving, or seeing your own kids weaken by the day? It's on a totally different scale. Racial inequality and gender inequality. The first caused Europeans to invade and control most parts of Africa as well as create the slave labour industry in the US. The second means that women in Africa and other parts of the world cannot empower themselves and have a way to earn money for the family. It's a cycle.

I didn't expect it to happen. Or maybe, deep in my heart, I knew it was going to happen. Of the twenty of us working on distributing food and supplies, I offered to walk around to check on the infants, maybe say hello to them if they were older. Kids as young as 5 pleaded me and another SA to save their younger brothers or sisters. Mothers pleaded with us. There was nothing we could really do except give them water and in some cases, some medicine to stop the diarrhoea, fever tablets. Before, they were starving people in Africa. People, lives, but they didn't really connect with me. Now, they're starving families, sick kids, malnourished babies. They mean something to me. They're people I interact with on a daily basis, young families I check up on. These people didn't do anything wrong except be born into the wrong nation at the wrong time. And for no reason but that, they suffer.