My case is about a mission to Sindh after the 2010 floods. I have chosen to write about an emergency mission as my ERU mission was in an enclosed environment, so the one man branch is a better learning case study for me.

Another delegate had drafted the programme but as the delegate did not want to stay in the hot, dusty and in the middle of nowhere town with a one man branch, I came in as the first of 4 delegates to set up the action.

Safer Access? Well, I hadnt heard of it then, nor do I think had the branch manager who came after work on his motorcycle. To be realistic its hard to expect a one man branch with no funds, an office, yes, but no employees except those that PNS employed, to be prepared to the SAF level we would love to see.

I had 37 staff and volunteers with me for a PS and health programme covering 100 communities and the PNS had an equal number of staff, vols and the same communities, but we treated our tasks and staff and vols very differently. In fact not an easy co-habitation as I would be with my group on a daily basis and capacity build continously.

As Sindh is a province with 30 or more million inhabitants its difficult to talk in general about access and acceptance. An ERU 3 hours drive away was working in tough to access and security wise challenging environments, but ours was easier. In the beginning the biggest challenges were dacoits - an old word for bandits. Sindh have plenty of those!

As in many countries in the global south everything has to be approved by the regional GS and this can t.a k e t i m e ! Therefore getting approval for visibility for volunteers was a drawn out process to say the least, just as one example of reality on the ground.

Later on in the mission there were some security incidents and though not much was directed at the Red Crescent, we could have done much more to improve knowledge of the principles and we could have engaged communities much more. I am writing about this in my case study. Good learning!