Somalia of Destiny

The United Nations Children's Fund's outreach program has finally resumed. Led by Goodwill Ambassador Audrey Hepburn, it has visited countries in Central America and South America. Then, in September, it returned to Somalia, the land of its destiny.

This East African country is no longer the same as it was when I fled it more than a year ago. Back then, Somalia, though it appeared poor, was just poor. There weren't as many armed people on the streets.

However, in Somalia today, even in the capital, you'll encounter a sentry post every few intersections. Sometimes, the sentries on opposite sides of the street belong to different armed groups.

Last time, he brought a whole squad of United Nations Peacekeeping Forces, and he was able to rampage around like a madman.

This time, however, the UNICEF team was accompanied by a platoon of peacekeeping troops, and they had to proceed with extreme caution.

Hepburn, however, wanted to revisit the child protection agency in the south that she had visited before—the one where she had fled after being kidnapped.

But according to local officials, the facility has been abandoned. Nobody knows when it happened. Anyway, after some local armed groups caused a ruckus, peacekeeping forces came to conduct exercises and join in the fun.

And then, that was it.

Although the woman felt regret, she didn't grieve for long. She had seen and experienced too many similar things in her life, and although she felt reluctant and sad every time, she had to admit that she had gradually become accustomed to such feelings.

To avoid becoming numb, the woman chose to offer care and support in her own way, as if she were burning herself out.

This is Henry's inexplicable feeling from an outsider's perspective.

It's especially unbelievable how such a small body can squeeze out such enormous energy.

Even the men accompanying the team complained endlessly about the intensity of the trip, but Audrey Hepburn never complained even once.

Whenever he stood in front of the children, he could always interact affectionately with these immature and malnourished children. Sometimes he would hug them and gently hum some nursery rhymes.

Perhaps no one can understand the lyrics, but music knows no borders. Even children who don't understand can feel peace because of beautiful melodies.

He always had a kind smile that gave courage to those who saw him. Just like Audrey Hepburn's performance on the big screen, even a simple smile seemed to heal the wounds in other people's souls.

But as he said goodbye to the children and got back into his car to leave, everything happened so suddenly.

Audrey Hepburn has fallen.

Henry was the first to notice something was wrong, because the woman's heartbeat and other vital signs were clearly abnormal, even though to others he appeared to be sitting normally in the back seat of the car, resting with his eyes closed.

"Doctor, doctor!" Henry shouted.

The doctor accompanying the group immediately ran over. Henry looked at the woman, who looked distressed and was sweating profusely, and said, "

The boss doesn't seem to be doing well.

The doctor performed a quick examination and then had Ms. Hepburn lie down in the back seat. He then rolled up a blanket and placed it under her knees to keep them bent.

Have you noticed any vomiting?

"No."

"The rest of the trip is canceled. Let's go back to the hotel as soon as possible. We need to do a more thorough check-up," the doctor instructed.

With Ms. Hepburn, the most important member of the team, collapsing, there was no need to continue the tour.

So when the UNICEF spoke to them, everyone rushed to the hotel where the lady was supposed to stay that day and tried to get her checked in early.

Just as Henry was carrying the woman back to their room, Audrey Hepburn, who had temporarily regained consciousness, said weakly, "Child, just give me a painkiller. I'll be alright."

Henry forced a smile and said, "Boss, one isn't enough. I'll bring out the whole can later, and you can eat it all in one go. Your face is so pale from the pain."

"Silly child, you can't take medicine like that."

"That's great, it proves that you're at least still conscious and rational. So let's ask the doctor to take a look, instead of making a diagnosis ourselves."

After placing the person on a clean bed, Henry was about to let the doctor take over when Ms. Hepburn stopped him. He said with difficulty, "The child from Africa, the itinerary of the visit---"

Henry understood and immediately said, "I'll go discuss the next steps with the UNICEF and draft a few plans. Boss, you should rest and let the doctor check on you. I'll report back when you're feeling better."

Ms. Hepburn nodded and let the woman go. The team's doctor and accompanying nurse immediately took over, closed the door, and began to examine the woman, who had regained consciousness.

At this moment, a member of the United Nations stepped forward and asked, "Henry, how is Ms. Hepburn?"

"The doctor is inside making a diagnosis, so I can't just say anything in front of him," Henry said, forcing a smile.

"So what should we do about the rest of the trip?" someone asked worriedly.

After clapping his hands, Henry grabbed everyone's attention and said, "Please listen to me. We'll consider how to arrange the schedule after tomorrow, once the doctor's diagnosis is available. However, the schedule for today cannot be continued or postponed."

"Since the destinations for today's itinerary are all nearby, we split up into several teams to deliver the scheduled aid supplies directly to them and retrieve the signed receipts."

"Remember to tell them that the lady is unwell, so the site visit is canceled. But we still need to deliver the gifts. This is essentially implementing Plan C, the backup plan. Is everyone okay with that?"

Since it was within the established plan and the situation truly met the conditions for implementation, and it wasn't the result of anyone making decisions on their own, everyone naturally had no problem.

Everyone was then divided into several teams according to the backup plan, and escorted the supplies to the destination that was supposed to be visited today.

Meanwhile, someone made a phone call to the United Nations headquarters in New York to report on the situation of the visiting team. Others made contact to inquire about the progress of the subsequent distribution of supplies.

After all, the amount of supplies is enormous, and each visit involves more than just one or two places, so it's impossible to have everything travel with the team and then distribute it all like a money-giving child.

Instead, several collection points will be set up according to the planned locations for the visit. When the visit reaches a certain stage, all the supplies will be collected at a collection point and then transported along the way.

This approach can greatly reduce the team's transportation burden and make resource allocation much more flexible. However, once the main character falls, the subsequent arrangements will depend on the condition of the goodwill ambassador. Until then, everyone in the team must have all the elements under control in order to make any contingency plans.