The Foreign Service Journal, February 2003

bedded down in the hallways of the Holiday Inn, the hotel staff became agitated. They had leased us space only for processing evacuees and they wanted their hallways back. It was late at night and we had to find somewhere for about two dozen destitute and weary evacuees to sleep. I’m a seminary graduate with an interest in religion so at each post I make contact with religious leaders. At about 9 p.m. I called my contacts — Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Mormons and Catholics. These churches took everyone we had. At 4 a.m. we discovered that a South African family had a teenage daughter with a superficial gunshot wound but more than a little psycho- logical trauma. The hotel doctor recommended immedi- ate bed rest. The Methodist minister gladly accommodat- ed the family even at that ungodly hour. And I’ll never for- get a Maryknoll father serving breakfast to eight hungry bedraggled evacuees in the order’s dining room. Churches in Rome played an important role in the Tirana evacuation. Lessons learned: Get to know religious leaders early in your tour. If they house evacuees, follow up to make sure the evacuees move on. Thank the leaders official- ly for their assistance. Have their phone numbers and contact information in your duty book. Phil Skotte Deputy Consul General Budapest, Hungary What They Care About Most “Pack the things they care about most.” This was the advice my husband gave me as we discussed our family’s imminent departure from the scene of a mili- tary mutiny in the Central African Republic. It was two in the morning and he was calling from the embassy to give me instructions and the latest news. Eighteen American dependents had been moved into our house because, having once been used to house a Marine con- tingent, it was considered the safest in the area. Our four children were sharing a bedroom with me and now F O C U S F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 51 Interim Accommodations for Corporate and Government Markets Apartments, Townhouses & Single Family Homes “FOR THE EXECUTIVE ON THE MOVE” ❈ finder5@IX.netcom.com Locations throughout Northern Virginia and D.C. Units fully furnished, equipped and accessorized Many “Walk to Metro” locations Pet Friendly 5105-L Backlick Road, Annandale, Virginia Tel: (703) 354-4070 Fax: (703) 642-3619 Executive Lodging Alternatives