Any agreements are made on very fragile ground.

We are very committed to providing medical care to this community, but we're not there to be martyrs.

There's not any kind of administration, and very little respect for any humanitarian (organizations), which makes it a very difficult place to work.

All of the humanitarian agencies operating in Somalia have armed guards. We're very uncomfortable with it, but there's very little option to pull out of (the security arrangements).

We were fragile and febrile.

We who choose to surround ourselves
with lives even more temporary than our
own, live within a fragile circle;
easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps,
we would still live no other way.
We cherish memory as the only
certain immortality, never fully
understanding the necessary plan.