The Foreign Service Journal, March 2013

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2013 29 An Ounce of Prevention… BY MARK G. WENTLING O ver the past year, while working as Plan International’s country director for Burkina Faso, I traveled to several Malian refugee camps in northern Burkina Faso. Ten of thou- sands of people have fled there from Mali to escape a brutal armed insurgency that is nearing its first anniversary, with no resolution in sight. Already overcrowded, these sites continue to draw desperate people, most arriving without any belong- ings to ease the transition to life in a desolate region of the host country. FOCUS REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS Editor’s Note: We invited AFSA members who have assisted refugees and internally displaced persons during their Foreign Service careers to share personal and professional reflections on those experiences. Our thanks to all who responded. —Steven Alan Honley, Editor Photo courtesy of Mark Wentling Assisting Refugees: LESSONS LEARNED, LIVES CHANGED