2016
Sara Meets Pope Francis
Rome, Italy, WFP-HQ, 13 June 2016 Official visit of His Holiness Pope Francis Photo:
WFP/Giulio d’Adamo
June 21, 2016
WFP’s Sara Adam meets Pope Francis. Photo: WFP/Giulio d’Adamo
Sara got to meet Pope Francis in person the other day. Here’s the context: Pope Francis was at WFP headquarters on Monday 13 June to address the Executive Board and staff. He compared the work of WFP staff to the invisible hands of a great collective body engaged in defeating hunger. “Your names might only appear on the register of staff on the monthly payroll, outside people don’t know your names. But your names are making this great endeavour possible.”
During his visit, Pope Francis personally met three staff members who represent the diversity of WFP’s team. They were Jok Kuol from South Sudan, who as a child was a recipient of WFP school meals, and now works on WFP’s project in Juba; Italian Alessandra Piccolo, who has spent much of her career with the Organisation working in emergency zones; and Sara Adam [my daughter], a Somali national, currently HQ Finance Chief, Business Development and Field Support, but with extensive field experience, including posting in Liberia, Eritrea and North Korea.
Sara said of the Pope’s visit, “it has the potential to increase awareness of WFP in a way that no PR campaign ever could.” She spoke of how Pope Francis has changed the way she views the Papacy. “He has connected with ordinary people, shown concern for the poor and has reached out to all faiths,” she said. “His concern for humanity resonates with the purpose and work of our Organization. As one of the staff privileged to meet Pope Francis, I was conscious that I represented all our 15,000 WFP colleagues around the globe who are relentless in their efforts and who make sacrifices on a daily basis to realize our mission,” she said.
Pope Francis in front of the Memorial Wall at WFP headquarters in Rome. Photo: WFP/Giulio
D’Adamo
Pope Francis paused to pray in front of the Memorial Wall in the entrance of the building, where plaques display the names of those staff who, in his words, “gave their lives so that, in complex and difficult situations, others would not go hungry. … The credibility of an institution is not based on statements and declarations, but on the work accomplished by its members. Those people did what they did thanks to the courage that they had, to the faith that they had in their work ….”
During his visit Pope Francis remarked on how the human face of suffering was increasingly devalued – “We are bombarded by so many images that we see the pain, but we don’t touch it; we hear the weeping, but we don’t comfort it; we see the thirst but we do not quench it … we can yield to the temptation of discussing hunger, or food, or violence as concepts, leaving aside the real subject, the real people who are knocking on our doors today.” In his closing remarks, Pope Francis urged: “Do not grow weary … Do not let the difficulties discourage you. Believe in what you are doing and pursue your goals enthusiastically … The fight to eradicate hunger and thirst should not let us sleep. It should challenge us to seek creative, transformative solutions.”
Remembering John Drysdale
July, 2016
All friends of John, latterly Abbas Idriss – of whom there are so many in so many places around the world – will be greatly saddened at the news of his death. Below is the link to the warm tribute of the Somaliland President and people to this one-of-a-kind, wise, learned, and verging on the eccentric gentleman who chose to spend his later years in Somaliland, within the culture and religion, and with the people whom he loved and who loved him. It was a privileged for me and my children to have known him, and an honour for me to have published two of his erudite books under the HAAN imprint. Thank you John, and may you rest in peace. Other friends from the academic community write: Somalis & Somali studies people around the world have lost a tireless and courageous advocate. I am deeply aggrieved by this enormous loss. Charles Geshekter; I am so sorry to read this. He was a friend and a great friend of Somalia … RIP John. John ‘Heello’ Johnson; John Drysdale led a long and full life…may he rest in peace. Lee Cassanelli.