The Foreign Service Journal, July/August 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2018 41 some of those who were hurting the most were the people affected by the pain of their colleagues. For all of us, the sense of community was especially important, a powerful force for healing. The new ambassador, Johnnie Carson, was a decisive and empathetic leader. This was his fourth ambassadorship, and he had seen the impact of the Rwandan genocide on the embassy community when he was ambassador to Uganda. He had a forward-looking focus and made clear the need to continue with the work that the U.S. government had been doing in Kenya before the bombing. That work, which included formulat- ing a response to HIV/AIDS, counter- ing violent extremism in Kenya and focusing on the safety of the embassy community in Nairobi, was meaningful and inspiring. The leadership facilitated healing and restored the embassy’s ability to carry out its mission. For the Kenyans, healing came through their local com- munities, families, traditions and religious commitments. The American survivors, being part of the transient Foreign Service community, had no nearby relatives. Many continued to live and work in Nairobi after the bombing, while others went to other overseas assignments shortly after the bombing. The Americans, in general, had much less social support than the Kenyan survivors. Still, the remaining community, though constantly in flux, was inclusive and tight-knit. For those who may become survivors of trauma, I would encourage taking advantage of the social support offered by work colleagues. Identify trustworthy colleagues, and give and receive emotional support when needed. Think twice before criticizing those who are helping, as this can be particularly painful for them, and responders inevitably get some things wrong. To the extent possible, we should take responsibility for our own emotional well-being during such difficult times. At some level, we all know that the State Department is not a person and cannot “care” for us. Individual people in the department often do care, and it helps to seek out and work with those people, to be thankful for them and to be thankful for what you will learn from a difficult period in your life. Setting Up the Control Center at USAID Michael Trott USAID Executive Officer Friday, Aug. 7, was our tenth day in Kenya. I was just beginning to get to know the staff and find my way around. As I sat work- ing at my desk, I heard a very loud explosion. Someone got a call that the embassy had been hit. I realized we had nearly our entire leadership there for Country Team; and as I saw the smoke continue to billow up, I knew this was a cataclysmic event. The USAID building was several miles away from the embassy and was therefore untouched physically. We somehow got hold of Regional Security Officer Paul Peterson, and we were both thinking the same thing: USAID would become the control room and temporary embassy. Meanwhile, we started to set up the control room, which entailed relocating staff, setting up tables, computers, and radio and telephone stations. We got a dedicated line from the post office, and established communications with Washington. But finding the State Department Operations Center number took far too long—that number [202-647-1512] has been included in every telephone register I have created since. We had volunteers to cover the telephones and radios. These were not easy jobs. Other teams were set up to search the hos- pitals and morgues. The teams were made up of one American Elevators in U.S. Embassy Nairobi were destroyed in the blast. A woman was rescued by first responders from under the debris at this spot. COURTESYOFPAULPETERSON