Our coping strategy was to drink heavily whenever we could lay our hands on alcohol, which was surprisingly often for a dry Muslim country. In such an utterly debilitating environment, it was little wonder we became ill with fevers".

Owen writes about the controversial workings of international aid projects - focused on his first trip to Somalia, as a local British man with no relevant experience. He touches on a lot of the concerns around today, including the absence of cultural awareness, questionable relationships started between aid workers and local citizens and sometimes brute force used in an ironic 'bombing for peace' stance. Sadly the book falls short though, where valid concerns are then overlooked by long, arduous tales of inappropriate debauchery and hedonism, prioritising group fun over the actual mission at hand.

I loved the short anecdotes where real Rayban glasses were suddenly on sale for less than a passport as so many were masterfully pinched from US soldiers under orders to avoid retaliation, but struggled to work through the almost confusing key plot line. Owens is on the cusp of almost denouncing aid work, admitting to overspending with generous budgets, creating dependencies in local towns on 'the aid gravy train' and to be honest, an absence of skills and focus on the ground. But this is later counteracted by criticism that the "nationalisation" of aid work - letting local citizens take charge - is short sighted and at significantly higher risk of falling foul of local politics. This is almost comically close to his open admission that himself, along with others who had been base in Somalia for extended periods of time didn't understand the politics well enough to know why Aideed had become such a singular target of deadly US rage", giving an example surrounding one of many current events that local aid workers were oblivious to.

The book fascinated me as an inner working of the aid system in the 1990's, but as my professor in China once shared during an International Relations class.- who benefits most from aid, those who receive or the industry propped up on the need for disaster? This book exemplified the tricky nature of such a controversial employment area - and the toll it takes on the human psyche. On the plus side, I learnt a lot more about Somalia by reading through the lines, skipping the generalised commons on a Somali's appearance and focusing on the more respectful commentary saved for those employed by the charity.

Thank you to NetGalley for the book.

An interesting look at life as an overseas aid worker in a difficult and brutal situation. Certainly not an easy topic to read.

The story of Gareth Own and his struggle to provide humanitarian relief in the violence of early 1990s Somalia. Violence and brutality mixed with the honesty and courage of humanity and their desperation.