From Clonlara to South Sudan

Michael Caulfield from Clonlara was working as a chartered accountant two years ago but decided that he needed a new challenge. He volunteered to work for GOAL and is now the organisation’s assistant financial controller in South Sudan.

Michael’s decision to do voluntary work overseas was influenced by the poverty he witnessed on his travels in places like Cambodia and Zambia.
“I had seen the conditions suffered by the genuinely poor,” he said. “I know I’ve been very lucky in life. By volunteering with GOAL I hoped to do something small to help improve the conditions for people who, by no fault of their own, were born to really tough situations.”
Following his school days at St Munchin’s Secondary School and undergraduate studies at the University of Limerick, Michael went on to do a masters in accountancy in Smurfit Business School in Dublin. By late 2008, he had qualified as a chartered accountant, become an associate member of the Institute of Taxation and had experienced working life in both large and small firms. He felt ready for a new challenge.
“It was always in my mind to volunteer overseas and I knew accountancy would facilitate it. I felt it would be a bit of an adventure while doing something helpful and practical. I chose to work with GOAL as they’re very well known in Ireland and have a reputation as being an effective, no-frills organisation that works in some of the poorest areas in the world, where the need is most.”
Once he felt sure in his decision to leave the comforts and security of home behind, Michael pursued his ambition.
“I rang GOAL up and was invited in for an interview. A few weeks later they called me up and told me that a job was coming up in South Sudan and asked would I be interested. I was already familiar with Sudan through reading about Darfur and the civil war and was delighted at the opportunity to go out and help. I knew it would be tough, not the cushy number on the coast I was half hoping for but knew that I had to go where the need was and the need is certainly here in South Sudan,” Michael said.
GOAL has been working in Sudan for more than 25 years and established its primary healthcare intervention in South Sudan in 1989. Since then, its operation has expanded into three highly marginalised areas of the country, providing healthcare coverage to more than 600,000 vulnerable people who otherwise would have little or no access to even basic services.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Michael said of the conditions facing him. “There wasn’t much on the Internet so it was literally like taking a journey into the unknown. I decided to keep an open mind and see what I’d find.”
“What struck me most initially was the heat. The heat and dust here have to be experienced to be understood. Juba, the capital where I’m based, is very much a city in transition. You can see dusty roads being replaced by tarmaced roads and buildings springing up. There is quite a buzz about the place,” he said.
Having recently emerged from decades of civil war and now entering a phase in its development that will witness nationwide elections later this year and a referendum on unity or separation from the north in 2011, South Sudan presents a varied array of challenges and experiences.
Just a week after his arrival, the house was searched as part of an overall arms search in Juba and he had to get used to being stopped at military checkpoints.
“We have to take our security very seriously but Juba can be surprisingly pleasant as well. You can play tip rugby in the UN compound and there’s a good social life. It’s nice to go down to the camps on the River Nile for a beer and to meet friends. The work is really interesting and rewarding as well,” Michael explained.
As assistant financial controller, Michael deals with day-to-day financial management and supervises the local finance staff in Juba and the field locations, amongst a diverse range of other duties. “The work is extremely varied; you never know what you’ll be doing from one day to the next,” Michael said. “One day you might be handling purely accountancy issues but the next day you could be puzzling over a broken generator or liaising with the logistics department to deal with suppliers.
“We also focus on the up-skilling and training of local staff. GOAL isn’t just about putting clinics on the ground. We are very conscious of building the requisite skills so that these services are sustainable in the future. Many members of our staff were war refugees a decade ago and now they’re training in accounting. It’s fantastic to see them getting to know accountancy, using excel sheets, taking control of their own lives and futures,” he said.
On his first mission overseas, Michael said he has benefited from the strength and dedication of GOAL’s team in South Sudan.
“I’m very impressed with the ‘GOALies’ I’ve met here and their commitment to the job. People work really hard and are mindful that our efforts have a huge impact on the lives on the poorest of the poor.”
Michael admits that there are sacrifices to be made on a very personal level in volunteering to work with aid agencies.
“The toughest challenge has been missing my beautiful wife, Raji. We got married shortly before I came out. It can be a bit lonely here at times but we get opportunities to meet up. In October she came down and we went on safari together in Kenya and I was home for Christmas as well. We get to stay in touch via Skype, which makes it easier.”
Michael is sure that he made the right choice to come to Sudan, despite the sacrifices he has made. “It’s definitely a life-altering experience. It changes your world view. You feel just a little bit more educated about the state of the world for having seen another side to it. I’m delighted I came out and would recommend it to anyone.
“Life is very short. If you have any interest in doing this you really should, you won’t be disappointed,” he concluded.