I have written this post in advance, but I assume that by the time it is published I will be back on Nauru, and back to work. I will have traveled from home to the Melbourne airport and flown to Brisbane, then stayed overnight, and managed the early, early morning wake up required to get the 7am flight to Nauru, on Our Airline. Impressively comfortable leather seats make the 4.5 hour flight bearable, just.
The Fly In/Fly Out situation has me working 3 weeks on island, and then having a 3 week respite off-island.
The first rotation was confronting and rewarding, with a couple of very tough days, and some incredible human interaction moments within my work. I have learnt a lot in those weeks, and met some truly amazing people. The respite break went pretty quick too, although between catching up on sleep and rest, I did manage to squeeze a lot in, and managed to catch up with many friends and most of the family.
This could well be my final rotation, being my second, after the news on my very first work day of my first rotation that the contract of my employer was not to be renewed for continued services at the offshore Asylum Seeker Processing Centre. I have never actually started a job and been fired on the same day, so that was a new experience. Very tough for so many of the staff, who have worked for many months, contributing to the lives of those held on the island, awaiting processing.
I am looking forward to getting back into it, back into the work routine and giving it my all. Such an amazing opportunity, and a small chance to work on little daily wins with such a vulnerable population.
(This photo of the island nation of Nauru was actually taken by Vic, from the plane window - loads better than any photos I had taken!)
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