May 2004

Afghanistan :: Keeping abreast of the security situation is my main concern
Mohammed Gauss's story

Mohammed Gauss has been working for Médecins Sans Frontières in northern Afghanistan for nine years. Since 1993 he has been Assistant Head of Mission for Afghanistan. Gathering information on the security situation in this turbulent, difficult-to-fathom country is Gauss's main concern.

On 11 September 2001 the world changed forever when al-Qaeda, with a base in Afghanistan, carried out attacks on American targets. Prior to that, Afghanistan had been a blind spot on the map for the general public in the West. Now suddenly everybody was listening to journalists talking about Kandahar and Kabul, the Jamiat-I-Islami and the Hezb-I-Wahdat, about Rashid Dostum, Mohammed Omar and Ahmed Massoud, about mullahs and madrasas, about dozens of strange destinations and the exotic-sounding names of organisations and people whose significance and background were known only to a few.

WALKING THE TIGHTROPE
The second in a family of seven children, Gauss was born in Shakar Dara, a village 15 kilometres from Kabul. When he was five the whole family moved to Pul-i-Kumrhi in the north, where his father had found a new job in a newly built textile factory. Pul-i-Kumrhi was a flourishing town with new schools and factories, and a good place to live. Little Gauss and his brothers and sisters went to school there. His father was a cosmopolitan man and an enthusiastic supporter of education for both boys and girls.

This was the open atmosphere in which Gauss headed off to university in Kabul in 1979 to study engineering. Then one day Russian tanks rolled into the capital.

Three days later a pro-Russian regime was installed and the Mujaheddin called for resistance. All kinds of things were still possible in Kabul – including studying – as Russia wanted to win the hearts and minds of the population. But the best way to do that is with schools, factories, and so on ... certainly not with tanks," recollected Gauss.

Maybe it was then that Gauss developed his innate talent for diplomacy and political analysis. Afghan society was divided. The cities were in Russian hands; the resistance controlled the countryside. Ordinary Afghans tried to make the best of the situation, whatever they thought of it. Gauss refused to join the communist party, but neither did he join the resistance, for whom intellectuals (who were studying in "Russian schools"), were in any case suspect.

Like many Afghans, he learned to manoeuvre between the two poles like a tightrope walker, trying not to offend either side. His degree in hydraulic engineering and his excellent knowledge of English opened the way to posts at the Civil Aviation ministry and the Agriculture ministry. After the Mujaheddin seized power in 1993 he worked as an engineer in the country's largest cement factory in Pul-i-Kumrhi and gave private lessons in English and maths to help make ends meet.

MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES AS A TURNING POINT
In 1995 Afghanistan was torn apart by the violence between different factions struggling for power. There was fighting all over the countryside. In Pul-i-Kumrhi Gauss could see countless aid organisations in action. They helped out in some 20 camps for displaced people, which were crowded with people who had fled the violence in Kabul. Gauss was intrigued by this humanitarian hustle and bustle. Moreover, he wanted to leave his government responsibilities and his work in the factory. A friend who worked as a driver for the medical aid organisation persuaded him to make the move.

"Everything changed for me then, both in my work and in my private life. I became a radio operator in Pul-i-Kumrhi and I immediately became enthusiastically caught up in the work. And with my Médecins Sans Frontières salary, based on a stable dollar, I was finally able to save just enough, despite the wartime inflation, to get married at last in 1997," he recalls with a smile. Since then he has settled in Mazar-i-Sharif with his wife and three children.

"Médecins Sans Frontières has been like further education for me," he says. Afghanistan's position at the crossroads of migration routes between east, north and west has led to the country having a veary varied population.

The radio operator's other talents did not go unnoticed. Gauss went on to work for Médecins Sans Frontières in logistics and subsequently in administration. Since 2002 he has supervised the entire administration for our projects in the north, and since 2003 he has combined this work with a second important task, as Assistant Head of Mission in Afghanistan.

OUR MAN IN AFGHANISTAN
As Assistant Head of Mission, his main concern is to keep abreast of the security situation in the country. The complications of daily life in Afghanistan, the impenetrable manoeuvring’s of political groups, leaders, and the constantly-shifting coalitions, the never-ending succession of security incidents and attacks, the tensions between Kabul and the rest of the country: Gauss keeps a close eye on all these developments. And that is sorely needed: although the international community and the transitional government are doing their best, Afghanistan is still an explosive country. Not all Afghans are happy with the constitution, which some feel was forced on them. Local commanders still have enormous power, and arms circulate widely throughout the country. Conflicts can flare up like bush fire.

Everyone knows Gauss and Gauss knows everybody. From this stream of conversations and reports, tips and little details, trivia and interesting news, he filters out what is important. He identifies new trends and distils an overall analysis of the security situation. This helps the Médecins Sans Frontières Head of Mission in the taking of all major decisions.

It is a difficult assignment, and one that very few people would be capable of doing; but when you say this to Gauss, he shrugs his shoulders. "I just try to listen carefully to what is going on around me," he remarks. But when violence flares up and a decision has to be taken on whether it is necessary to evacuate staff, or when yet another new face emerges on the political scene, people turn to Gauss. And when expats are wondering whether it is safe to drive on a particular road where incidents have recently been reported, or when they find themselves pulling out their hair at the lack of progress in negotiations with local authorities or the mullah, it is time to consult Gauss in the Head of Mission's office. He has the information that Médecins Sans Frontières needs. He is ‘our man in Afghanistan’.

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FURTHER RESOURCES

» Afghanistan :: "Without medicine, you can't have medical care" May 2004

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