Random photos of Iraq

I have been spending quite a bit of time in the last couple of weeks out of Erbil due to the implementation of winter activities in the camps across Northern Iraq.  It has been great to escape and see some of the countryside.  So below I have posted some of my favourite shots - enjoy!

Kids make their own fun in the camps - here is two examples.  The first is the lid of a rubbish bin being used as a sled.  The photo below is pipes being re-made into a slippery dip!

The sunsets are just amazing here - really vivid colours.  The other thing that I like - the power poles!  Each city has it's own design - it really makes the ones at home seem quite boring....

And now for some scenery shots.  I really didn't do enough research before I came to Iraq - I knew that that it wasn't all desert but I wasn't expecting the amazing mountain ranges and lakes.  Sadly due to security restrictions I haven't had a chance to go hiking - but would definitely like to come back one day as a tourist and get out there.

And another sunset shot - sorry but they are just lovely :-)

One odd thing about living in the Kurdish region of Iraq is the amount of ferris wheels - it seems even the smallest town has one!  This is the shot of one in Dohuk, however about 50 metres away there is another one as well - must be that demand is high!  Somehow these ones all seem to be working - unlike the Southern Star in Melbourne :-)  We all went for a ride and it was quite entertaining - something to tick off the bucket list!

Off to Iraq....

Well it is that time again, off on deployment!  This time I am in Erbil in Iraq.  I am deployed via Red R Australia to UNHCR (the Refugee Agency) to work on the response to refugees from Syria crossing into Iraq.

So where the hell am I?  Well it is a city called Erbil which is in Northern Iraq (aka Kurdistan).  

I didn't really know what to expect, of course there was some initial worry about going to Iraq given the violence that sadly seems to be increasing.  However, from my first days here I have been really impressed with how nice the people are, how safe the city is that I am living in and how much the Iraqi's remember the Australian football team from 2007!!!!  We also have a reasonable amount of freedom of movement - which is nice for a deployment. 

I have been deployed initially for 6 months, which means that I have arrived in the peak of Summer (it has been averaging 47/48 degrees) and will likely leave in the middle of winter.

I arrived here really not knowing what to expect.  I had of course heard about the Syrian civil war but had not really taken the time to actually understand what it was all about - and after a month here I am not sure if any of it is actually any clearer!

But it has been an interesting time, on my first day in the office this happened....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23745201


So things got busy pretty quickly.....It was pretty chaotic in the first couple of days to get the camps set up, so from my side that meant dispatching as many tents as possible till all hours of the night.  But the result was pretty impressive - behind me in the photo below was just all empty land and within 5 days it had become a mini city with 10,000 residents!

But it hasn't been all work.  This week some friends and I went and played bingo.  Interesting challenge as the numbers were in Arabic yet our bingo card was in English....I got sooooo close to winning :-)

Here is a couple of photos of the countryside around the city where I live - I really wasn't expecting mountains and lots of trees....  I really should do more research into where I am going on deployments!

So that is it for the moment.  Due to some rather pointed requests this time I am hoping to blog more often and with a bit more detail in regards to what I actually do (this is for you Amy!).  Just like last time there will continue to be a Q and A section so feel free to send questions in.....

See you all soon!