To the cutest boy in Goma

Outpourings of grief are coming from all around the world. Here's one that was sent to me on Facebook, which echoes what I wrote here a few days ago (but in much greater detail).


Elegy to a thoroughbred handsome humanitarian hero

Death is always a hard concept to get your head around. It's especially confounding when it steals life in horrific, unexpected circumstances. My good friend and colleague Damien Gugliermina was killed in a plane crash in eastern Congo on Monday. I do not know exactly how, and philosophically, I certainly do not know why. Safely tucked up at home in the UK right now, I'm very far from the misty scene of the jungle into which they fell and the many fellow Gomans who will also be mourning this tragic loss. So in an attempt to make sense of what seems like a terrible nightmare, here are a few thoughts about Damien for others who have also loved and admired this fabulous boy.

Renouncing myself to cliches, I am so happy to have had the honor of working with someone of such admirable integrity and efficiency. Since Damien and I hit Goma running in the same week in May 2007, he has been a constant source of inspiration, motivation and support. His extensive knowledge and experience of humanitarian issues in complex emergencies was reassuring, because unlike some of us who sort of make it up as we go along, he always seemed to have an unassuming way of explaining how things really were and what should actually be done. When the political temperature in North Kivu rises yet another notch, another catastrophe breaks out and x thousand more pitiful displacement occurs, the rest of us can get hot-headed confused in a mire of differing ideological or personal approaches. But Damien was the ultimate diplomat and picture perfect coordinateur humanitaire superieur. Somehow his perfectly ironed designer shirt never became crumpled or sweaty, even when helicopters, cramped dusty journeys in the back of Indian peace-keeping jeeps, bullet proof vests, menacing militia or tricky, curly haired women were involved. He just kept his cool, neatly summarised the situation and gently suggested exactly the right course of action. He put in the hours, juggled massive programmes and delicately applied exactly the right amount of pressure when and where it was needed to assure timely response to crises. This is a man who knew his work and was always engaged in it with 500% energy, intelligence and compassion. Professionally, it's not just that you couldn't fault him. Given that in the course of his ten years or so as a humanitarian he has been directly responsible for saving thousands of lives, I think I'm proposing he was somewhere near super-human-perfect on that front.

Damien was not a sickly do-gooder modern day missionary though. It's not enough to just laud his superlative qualities in the work place. When he finally pulled himself away from the office in the evening he rarely crawled straight home, but made sure he spared a few hours to hop over the road and entertain us over pizza and Primus in the Doghouse. The phone never stopped ringing with urgent demands from Kinshasa and news of the latest outbreak of cholera or fighting amongst quarreling warmongers and new IDPs that needed to be dealt with now now now. He'd take those calls. With infinite grace. Of course. And then he'd get straight back to the equally important business of beers, friends, conspiracy theorising and giggling away the paradoxes and absurdities of our bizarre war zone existence. He smoked with style that only the French and 20's film stars can pull off as glamorous. Damien never missed a party and regularly rocked the dance floor until the sun crept up over Lake Kivu.

Pretty eyes, long legs and soft hair. There weren't enough handsome humanitarian heroes to start with, so it's a damn shame that such a rare and special creature should be lost to bad weather and yet another horrendous Congo plane crash. Although he died young, he really packed it in and did more than his fair share in terms of net contribution to the world. Damien's magnanimous smile, generous spirit and genuine commitment to the cause will be desperately missed.