Mama mia, è l'inverno!

Today was the day winter came to Rome. Sunny 20 degrees were replaced by cold winds, intense showers and Italian-style lightning (yeah, not the lazy laidback kind of lightning we usually encounter in Sweden). Italians say “mama mia”, huddle in crowded arcades and finally have use of the thick winter coats they stubbornly have been wearing for the past two months. I feel like home, stay indoors and do the most Swedish thing a Swede can do abroad: eat senapssill, Kalles kaviar, and knäckebröd, finishing the meal with glögg, all bought at the local IKEA mall. And I feel good.

The First Sunday of Advent

Why?

Following a survey among some of my fanatic blog visitors, I have found out the blog posts featuring photos are highly rated. Due to this, I have tried to go up at 6 am in the weekends to catch the sunrise light, which I believe would be perfect for some photo shots. But I have failed, miserably.

So instead of presenting some stunning photos of Fontana di Trevi or the pope, I hereby present a 100% photo free blog post outlining the reasons of why I have decided to join the fellowship program at WFP.

First, I want to gain experience from working in an international organization in general.

Second, I want to work for UN in particular.

Third, I appreciate that WFP’s main aim is to fight hunger. This is an important field within sustainable development, the main area of my master’s studies (even though my studies focused on the environmental aspects). Note that WFP does not only feed the hungry of today, but also works in long term development projects, such as school meal programs. UN also has other means of fighting hunger in the longer perspective, e.g. by the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO (also based in Rome).

Fourth, I like that the fact that I am placed in a logistics division. Last fall I took a logistics course, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Since then I have thought that it may be an interesting area to learn more about, and as it is strongly connected to environmental issues I thought it valid from the perspective of my master’s degree and a future professional career. In addition, in my master’s thesis I studied the environmental consequences of a logistics system. Thus, working on a logistics division feels like a natural continuation of my previous experience.

Last week, I suddenly got a fifth reason, as I started working with “greening the fleet”. This would, just as my master’s thesis did, beautifully connect logistics and my environmental background. It turns out there is a WFP division working on mapping the carbon footprint of WFP, and to do this they are interested in accessing the fleet management system which I am involved in developing, as this would give them access to the total fuel consumption of all WFP vehicles. Due to this I am now mapping the fuel consumption of new trucks to make it possible to compare our current fuel consumption (to a large degree old fuel inefficient ex-army vehicles), in order to find out the environmental, and economical, advantages of upgrading our fleet. I am also looking for current policies and practices within UN for green procurement of vehicles. Until now there has apparently been a lack of consideration for the environmental consequences of our practices, and “green fleet”, “carbon footprint” and such terms are never heard of. Hopefully I can add some new, much needed, environmental knowledge and inspiration to the division.

Stay tuned, because this weekend I plan on going up early one morning and catch the sunrise light, which I think would be perfect for a photo session…

My colleague

Today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and I attended a memorial ceremony of the five WFP professionals killed in a suicide attack against the WFP country office in Islamabad, Pakistan on October 5^th. The ceremony was quite emotional, and it made me realize the importance of WFP work.

I was seated at the leftmost seat in my section. One section to the left and Mr. Ki-moon would have shaken my hand on his way out. I would have liked that, as he looked like a nice guy.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Friday night: Sushi at fancy Japanese restaurant with WFP friends.

Saturday: Lazy day including pretentious and not so pretentious cultural consumption. I finished Leszek Kolakowski’s book “Why there is something rather than nothing?”, an account of renowned philosophers from Socrates to Jaspers. And I watched the latest episode of “Bonde söker fru”, a TV show about desperate Swedish farmers from Per-Jörgen to Roger.

Sunday morning: Flea market in Porta Portese, see photos below.



Boat? Shoe? Lamp?

Bargains. Two 2 euro posters featuring ancient Italian religious art. One 1 euro dish-brush.

A lack of yaks

In the snowy mountains of Nepal, a WFP representative uses yaks for rice bag delivery. In remote areas of Sudan, a WFP pilot steers his C-160 Transall aircraft into food drop position. I am sorry to say, dear blog readers, that the tasks assigned to me are not (yet) as adventurous. But, as the blog is about my time in Rome, and my work is the reason of my stay, I will briefly explain my professional duties.

In addition to previously mentioned responsibilities, I am at the moment involved in the following. If necessary, I have to assist the Sierra Leone country office in the project they originally wanted a “fellow” for. In the FMS project (mentioned before), we will have a meeting with the software developers in the end of November, which I am to prepare the agenda for. I have been introduced to a project concerning safety training; so far I have been summarizing information about previous practices. I am also creating a technical specifications database of trucks maintained by WFP, and trucks that could potentially be purchased.

I am constantly busy at work, which I am grateful for. And I feel my job is meaningful, which is not a self-evident feeling merely two weeks into a fellowship program. Thus I am, so far, very satisfied with my time at WFP.

Sierra Leone

It turns out I originally was considered for a WFP mission in Sierra Leone. Due to security restrictions, the plan was abandoned and I ended up in Rome. Sierra Leone would definitely have been an experience. But I know a girl back home who prefers I am in Rome.

Yesterday I took a walk around town. I had a bad photography day. Anyway, here are a few snapshots of Rome a sunny autumn day.

Colosseum, at a distance.


The town wall in San Lorenzo.


A bird.

Car crash, etc.