They always ask for in job descriptions “ability to work under pressure”. I used to read that phrase and wonder what it actually looks like in practice. Now, I know!
I’ve been in situations before where I was detained during field operations and strangely enough, I didn’t feel that as serious pressure at the time. But this experience? This was a completely different kind of test.
Returning from an intense field mission, exhausted and still miles away from my base, an urgent notification came through: an interview needed to be conducted, by tomorrow 4pm.
It was already late at night, and I was far from where I needed to be. I had to draft comprehensive interview questions from scratch and translate them into the permissible local language before morning.
The next morning brought a flight back, landing in Mogadishu around 2:00 PM. I had exactly two hours before the interview process was set to launch. While my colleagues understandably headed home to sleep and recover from the trip, resting wasn’t an option for me yet.
I went straight to the office. Refreshed myself, threw on a quick face mask to shake off the travel fatigue, grabbed a fast lunch, and dialed in. The pressure wasn’t just about the exhaustion or the tight travel timeline. It was my very first time conducting an interview of #TheVoiceOfVictims with a survivor reliving profound trauma to share his story. I was genuinely afraid, fearful of saying the wrong thing, opening a wound without knowing how to hold the space, or letting my own exhaustion diminish the weight of his experience.
When the host joined, I was fully present, prepared, and ready. What followed over the next few hours turned out to be one of the most rewarding and seamless sessions I’ve ever facilitated. Catch the full conversation and listen to the podcast here: https://lnkd.in/ey6FBM8z
Afterward, we took a few photos, thanks to Bashir, seeing the post-session smiles made all the effort worth it, and having supportive colleagues nearby made the heavy task so much lighter. Dr. Aisha even brought me a fresh scarf to replace my worn-out travel look! And that was really sweet!
From that experience, I learned that true resilience isn’t just about enduring physical fatigue or tight deadlines; it is about remaining fully present when you are trusted with raw emotions. I learned that when the work is deeply human, purpose easily overrides exhaustion, and that genuine preparation is ultimately an act of empathy and respect for the story waiting to be told.
