Goodbye friend

Tonight was the farewell party of our Team Site Leader - Thursday morning he'll catch the helicopter out of Yei, and in a little less than two weeks time he'll be home with his wife and kid. It's funny how you can both be happy and sad at the same time... Happy, because he gets to go home and be with people who are important again; I know how much he has missed them. Sad because, well, it's not every day you say farewell to a friend without knowing when you'll see him again - if ever.

We had a good party though with fifty or sixty guests, plenty of food, free drinks and music. I was asked to act as the MC, a job I admittedly winged but got praise for anyway. But then I have some experience in how things should be done, and more than a little experience in speaking to a captive audience. A very different audience, and on a very different subject than I usually do back home, but the principle is the same; know what you want to say and simply plunge ahead.

The party broke up by itself around half past then - tomorrow is after all a workday, and Sector don't really accept a party the night before as an excuse not to show up to work...

 Plenty of food - so much we're having leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

 It's not often the local staff comes to the farewell parties - they did tonight though.

 People enjoying themselves, eating yummy goat.

International and national staff, all together. 

 And yes, free drinks too.

 From left; Civil Affairs, outgoing TSL, UN Security and our Chief Mechanic.

 After the food and speeches; games and dancing!

 Africans like to dance... while I have a sense of rhythm not unlike a derailed train.

As far as I can tell everyone was enjoying themselves!