Jamie Macken, Limerick Leader, 12th July 2008

Sitting behind a desk in baking 30 degree heat in wartorn South Sudan may not sound an attractive proposition, but Ciaran Cierans is clearly a man who loves his job.

Neat and tidy the 39 year old from the South Circular Road wears his GOAL polo-shirt with pride and even after a year working in one of the world's poorest regions his broad smile never fades.

A Limerick man through and through, Ciaran's fair skin glows red from days spent working under the strong African sun. His role as GOAL Area Coordinator in South Sudan comes after a successful career in finance.

As a business analyst for Lloyds Bank, Ciaran lived an affluent life in the Swiss city of Geneva before deiciding to join GOAL. It was a decision which has brought him to countries as diverse as Pakistan, Niger and South Sudan.

The war between North and South Sudan was still simmering when Ciaran arrived in Twic Country, South Sudan, in August 2007.

"The people there only know war," says Ciaran. "It was an unpredictable place. We had instances of GOAL vehicles being stopped by armed drunk soldiers demanding lifts. It is a fundamental policy of GOAL not to transoprt soldiers and declining to bring them often developed into tense situations.

"It was common to hear guns firing during the night; AK-47s were everywhere. But the real problem we faced was alcoholism. It was common for local staff to turn up drunk. On one occasion a man who had lost his job with GOAL for being drunk, went home and shot his family. He was on his way to the GOAL compound to do God only knows what when some people stopped and shot him," explains Ciaran.

No doubt such stories would be uncommon at Lloyds Bank Geneva. It was in the Swiss City, home to Ciaran for 17 years, that he first realised that he wanted to work with a humanitarian organisation.

"A lot fo my friends worked for the UN and Red Cross, it seemed fascinating and in many ways a glamorous existence," he says. In 2004 Ciaran decided to move back to Ireland. "I loved being back; I had really missed the lifestyle, the rugby and being able to get to the coast. It was fantastic to be home."

After completing a Masters in Entrepreneurship at the University of Limerick Ciaran decided to join GOAL.

"Like applying for any job, I sent in my CV and was then called for an interview. The fact I had lived and worked in Geneva and spoke French helped; I was told that I would be going to the Democratic Republic of Congo. I was delighted," he says laughing.

However, within a few days disaster struck in Pakistan. Up to 80,000 people were killed and over 8 million affected when an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale shook the region in October 2005. It was not long before Ciaran's phone rang and within five days he was on a plane for Islamabad.

"I was nervous about the magnitude of the situation and I had also never been to an Islamic country," he explains, "but from the word 'go' we were made feel so welcome. As Programme Support I assisted the Country Director by writing reports and attending UN co-ordination meetings. The atmosphere amongst the GOALies was fantastic; there was such enthusiasm to work quickly and deal with the task in hand before the harsh winter kicked in," he explains.

As most roads leading to affected areas had been damaged or destroyed, the earthquake in Pakistan presented GOAL with one of the toughest logistics challenges ever faced. For six months Ciaran assisted the Country Director and managed the procurement and distribution of non food items.

"No matter which village you drove through there would be banners thanking GOAL; the people really appreciated what we were doing," says Ciaran. "GOAL shines when it comes to emeregencies...a lot of NGO's were late responding to the crisis as they couldn't find suitable accommodation. GOAL arrived with tents. The people always come first," he says beaming.

"GOAL was donated money from the US government before many US NGOs; we were so effective that USAID even asked us to handle their logisitics."

Within two months of being home Ciaran was on a plane again; this time to Niger in North West Africa.

"This was different," he says, "it wasn't an emergency relief situation but Niger is the poorest country in the world so there is a real need for assistance. The people there are proud, they worked so hard to try and make things better," he says smiling.

A land locked country, Niger is held hostage to fortune by its not-so-friendly neighbours. As logistics co-ordinator Ciaran says the biggest challenge was simply getting materials and skilled staff; "water pumps, engineering teams and basic logisitics support were tough to come by," he explains.

"It was a wonderful experience. GOAL has been there since 2005 and the work we do is really appreciated. I really felt we were making a difference."

After a year procuring materials both nationally and internationally as well as managing all logisitics and security in temperatures which often hit 50 degrees, Ciaran headed back to Ireland in July 2007.

It is now July 2008 and almost a year since Ciaran arrived in South Sudan. "I love this job," he beams, "you need to have an open mind and be able to expect the unexpected...at home we take so much for granted, here the people have nothing."

Currently Ciaran is based at GOAL's office in the muddy town of Malakal on the banks of the River Nile.

"The situation is still very volatile here; if war were to start again, this would be one of the first places to suffer," he says. "But I like it here, the people are great and I love the work."

In three weeks, and after a year spent working in one of Africa's most war-torn regions, Ciaran will be back in Ireland for the third successive July. However, history might suggest that he won't be there for long.