The Foreign Service Journal, July/August 2018

60 JULY-AUGUST 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Be Prepared, Be Lucky Sajjad A. Gulamali IT Specialist (FSN) Tenminutes before the attack, I was in the embassy basement computer training room fixing some computers. I was getting them ready for an in-house training to be conducted by a local ven- dor the following week. I managed to fix the problemmore quickly than expected, so I left the basement and headed back tomy office. Minutes later, after checking email and finalizing plans for my trip to the regional Africa Bureau systems conference the follow- ing week, I heard a loud noise that scaredme. Inmy office dozens of monitors kept on the shelf fell down and shattered. Scared and confused, I reached for my office door, but it was already ripped off. I sawmy office co-worker lying on the floor. My office was just a fewmeters away from themost serious dam- age caused by the explosion. On entering the corridor and going toward the stairs, I saw that the whole staircase was blocked, with no way to exit. I remembered the fire drill we had had a week earlier, and I screamed at the top of my voice, “Let us use the emergency exit!” As I went through the emergency exit and down the stairs, I saw blood everywhere, and I kept praying hard. In less than 10minutes, I exited the building to glimpse the devastation caused by the explo- sion. I was not yet aware that I had been injured, with cuts onmy forehead and elbow. Still not knowing what happened, I was whisked into a pickup truck that was taking the injured to the hospital. As I sat inside, I saw a colleague from the finance department whose eyes were injured very badly. I gave himmy seat and jumped to the back of the truck. There was chaos at Muhimbili National Hospital, where all the injured were taken. I heard people saying that there had been a bombing at the embassy. I saw a few of my colleagues at the hospital, but it seemed we all were on our separate courses. I finally screamed at the nurse that my wounds were not taken care of; then someone came to look at me, cleanedmy wounds and toldme to wait for stitches. I told them I would go to another hospital for those. As I sat there, I knew the next step was to informmy family of my whereabouts. A good Samaritan at the hospital offeredme his cell phone, which was very new technology in those days. I called my aunt to tell her what had happened, but she already knew and toldme that my sister and her husband were on their way to the embassy to look for me. Withmy cuts still bleeding, I was wandering around the hospital thinking about what to do.Then I sawmy sister and her husband appear at the hospital.They said they came there by chance, as all roads to the embassy were shut down and they were directed toward the hospital, so decided to just check. Lucky for me, I was united withmy family. The next step was to go to another hospital and get my wound stitched. At around 1500 hours (approximately four hours after the explosion) I reached home only to realize that my clothes were all stained with blood frommy wound. I believe that other than all the coincidences of the day, the prayers of mymother may have savedmy life. Mymother is a very spiritual person who believes in the power of prayer. On hearing the explosion some 10 kilometers away and the news that the embassy had been bombed, she began to pray for me. I was so lucky to be united withmy family within hours of the explosion. Had it not been for the prayers, I would definitely be writing this story differently. Two days after the bombing, I was back at work to salvage IT items from the bombed building that could be used to set up the temporary office. My family’s support was superb from that day until my last day working for the embassy on June 21, 2017, when I decided to usemy special immigrant visa to emigrate to the United States. I amcur- rently a proud resident of Austin, Texas. Life immediately after the bombing was very frightful. Having to go to work where I almost lost my life was daunting. Adding to the misery was going to work in a temporary building, where a desk and a chair was your whole office. And seeingmilitary police day in and day out was taking a toll onme. However, with time off and reflection on what could have gone wrong, I always kept positive. But it was very hard to remove the memories of that dreadful Fridaymorning.There has never been a single Friday that I do not remember that day and thank the Almighty Lord for givingme another chance to live. Onemajor life-changing decision that helpedme to return to normal life was my decision to get married. I tied the knot with one of the world’s most amazing people, my wife, 13months after the embassy bombing. My wife has been a great support during the ups and downs of daily life as I recovered from the bombing. Given what I have learned, I would like to pass on the follow- ing advice for those whomay become survivors and helpers in the future. As a former Scout, I believe in themotto “Be Prepared.”The embassy bombing tookme by surprise, but by being prepared for the worst-case scenario and takingmy fire drills seriously, I was able to remember the emergency exit in a few seconds. I would always encourage you to take your fire drills and emergency preparedness seriously; it could save your life. Though it has taken somany years to overcome as a survivor, I truly believemeditation and prayers can overcome themost dif- ficult challenges.