In front of the house where I live in Casco Viejo, Panama City, Panama, July 2022

I have just returned from my holiday break, and now getting ready for a busy summer. We are already well into the hurricane season in the Caribbean Sea, and usually that means lots of emergency missions that one cannot necessarily plan for. The odds are however that I will be deployed sooner rather than later to deal with humanitarian situations following bad weather somewhere in the region of Caribbean Sea or Central America.

Before that happens, on Saturday, I am travelling for a planned deployment to Colombia. I will be staying in Bogota and the eastern town of Puerto Carreno, where I will be assessing how the national and international systems are prepared to respond to sudden onset disasters and their humanitarian consequences.

More on a personal side, here in Panama, I am considering finding a new flat. I love my present apartment very much, but there have been so many technical problems inside it that I am getting ready to look for an alternative, as I am getting tired of alterations and reparations. It seems like much of my free time is devoted to coordinating these works, and I am genuinely a bit tired of those. No final decisions are taken, but I will be looking at options this week. I will keep you updated on how things develop. Who knows, I may soon have a new place here in the city!

Approaching Document Airport, Panama, June 2022

Summer break (or rainy season, here) break is coming! I am packing my bags, as tomorrow I am travelling to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

It will be my first time to the country, so not sure what to expect, but this being written, I am looking forward to explore a new country with allegedly wonderful architecture and amazing nature.

I will be in the Dominican Republic only for a week. I am then returning to Panama for a few days and prepare for my work related trip to Colombia. While in Colombia, I will be in Bogota, and the eastern part of the country, literally on the border with Venezuela. Again, Colombia, with an exception of a short trip to Bogota some time ago, will be a new experience for me. Surely, this July is treating me well by giving me opportunities to explore new place and meet new people!

Toronto, Canada, November 2021

I usually do not celebrate national days of any country. I feel that I belong to many places of the world for various reasons, sometimes only clear to me. A possession or lack of certain documents does not represent who I am and how I feel.

The above being written, I have to say that I have a very soft spot for celebrations of 'Canada Day'. As you can imagine, the reason for that is personal and related to Tahir. Canada, with its amazingly open policies towards refugees, was the only country that open its doors for Tahir, so that he could restart his life in a secure and safe environment.

I will always be grateful to Canadians for creating such an enabling and human oriented and passionate society. You literally save lives of people, who would otherwise not have a chance to live lives their deserve: in respect, in security, in appreciation of who they are. I salute you, Canadians! You are the best!

And here is a link to some stories, prior to Tahir's departure from Bangkok to Toronto.