Kurt Tjossem stands at his home in Nairobi, Kenya. He is regional director for the Horn and East Africa at the International Rescue Committee, a nonprofit that helps refugees.Photo: Will Swanson for The Wall Street Journal
In his 19 years with the International Rescue Committee, Kurt Tjossem has worked in some of the world’s most war-torn nations. He vividly remembers the “night commuters” in northern Uganda in 2004. The Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony, locked in a fight against the Ugandan government, would overrun villages and abduct children, some of whom were forced to become soldiers or sex slaves.
Up to 10,000 children would come into the town of Kitgum at night because it was safer there than in their villages, Mr. Tjossem...
In his 19 years with the International Rescue Committee, Kurt Tjossem has worked in some of the world’s most war-torn nations. He vividly remembers the “night commuters” in northern Uganda in 2004. The Lord’s Resistance Army led by Joseph Kony, locked in a fight against the Ugandan government, would overrun villages and abduct children, some of whom were forced to become soldiers or sex slaves.
Up to 10,000 children would come into the town of Kitgum at night because it was safer there than in their villages, Mr. Tjossem recalls. “The children wanted to be closer to the streetlights, because they were doing their homework. They would do what they could to further their education,” he says. Witnessing this episode “reinvigorated my faith in humanity,” he says.
The IRC, a nonprofit founded in 1933, helps refugees by providing health care, water and sanitation, education, economic support and protection for women and children. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Mr. Tjossem is the IRC’s regional director for the Horn and East Africa region, which includes 10 countries ranging from Ethiopia and Somalia to South Sudan, Burundi and Yemen. The 47-year-old Minnesota native travels at least once a month for work, sometimes more. The IRC has 68 field sites in his region and he has been to most of them.
Mr. Tjossem’s packing list includes a hat, a headlamp, a weighted jump rope, a Leatherman utility knife, a WakaWaka solar-powered light, a pack of playing cards, a Kenyan-style ‘kikoy’ wrap, sunscreen, wireless headphones, sunscreen, a coffee-maker, an iPhone, a travel power adapter and a tie.Photo: Will Swanson for The Wall Street Journal
“The country I’ve been to the most [recently] is South Sudan,” he says. Following a long-running civil war, South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011. Independence brought only a brief respite, with a new conflict breaking out in 2013. Although a peace deal was signed in August, continued violence in South Sudan has forced more than two million people to flee their homes and food insecurity has increased dramatically, according to the IRC.
“I really, really love South Sudan,” says Mr. Tjossem (whose name is pronounce “jo-SEM”). “The people are absolutely amazing, very generous and open. South Sudan in many parts is untainted. There hasn’t been a lot of development. We have some field sites that are extremely remote.”
In Ganyliel, a field site in South Sudan, for instance, there is no real infrastructure. Planes land on a muddy airstrip. To fly to South Sudan, Mr. Tjossem either takes flights operated by the United Nations or chartered by the IRC.
Mr. Tjossem often travels to places, such as South Sudan, where there is no real infrastructure. He packs a Leatherman knife and pliers, which he says are useful tools.Photo: Will Swanson for The Wall Street Journal
Packing well is essential. To protect against the scorching sun and malaria, he always packs sunscreen and mosquito repellent. He also carries a first-aid kit, which includes iodine tablets for water and Imodium (he takes the latter in rare instances). He brings a WakaWaka, a solar-powered light and power backup for various devices in case the electricity goes out or the generator doesn't work. He packs a multiplug and his Leatherman knife. He carries a weighted jump rope because he likes to exercise. Sometimes he brings a coffee-maker so he can treat himself to a cup of java.
“You also need to bring nicer clothes for meetings with the government,” he says. He usually packs one tie and a blazer that he can fit over clothes he can wear elsewhere. He also brings a baseball cap and shorts (”since it’s invariably hot”), lightweight pants, running shoes, half boots, as well as a towel or a kikoy, a Kenyan wrap. He usually carries one bag plus a backpack containing his computer and documents. He has an iPhone and usually takes an iPad as well.
Over the years, Mr. Tjossem has been country director for Uganda, East Timor and Georgia and has also held positions in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Bosnia and Herzegovina. He started with the IRC in Croatia in 1993 as an intern between his two years of graduate studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
The 47-year-old aid worker, who is married with two children, met his wife, Paula, in Bosnia during the war there in the 1990s. ‘We’ve been on this incredible journey together,’ he says.Photo: Will Swanson for The Wall Street Journal
Mr. Tjossem is married with two sons, ages 11 and 13. His wife, Paula, works for the MasterCard Foundation in the field of financial inclusion, which means providing access to financial services for low-income individuals.
With the IRC’s work focused on countries ravaged by conflict and violence, safety is a constant issue.
He recalls coming under fire on a field trip during the Bosnian war. “I took a vehicle to a place surrounded by Serbs,” he says. A cease-fire had been negotiated, “but on the way back the Serbs started to shoot at us.” He escaped unscathed.
Still, he places Bosnia at the top of his list of places he’s seen—he met Paula there during the war. “The second is the republic of Georgia,” he says. “We’ve been in Africa the longest. Kenya has so much to offer, both professionally and personally as well. There is so much still to see.”
Write to Polya Lesova at polya.lesova@wsj.com