Yikee Chu, Catholic Relief Services’ operations manager in West Darfur, shares how she keeps her spirits up in a challenging environment.

Darfur is considered a hardship post for many reasons. If you watch the news, then you probably already have a good idea of why life and work can be challenging here. Nevertheless, aid workers have to find ways to adjust to life in Darfur and, most importantly, stay sane. Here are my top tips for doing that.

1. Whether you are located in the Sahara Desert or not, creating a beach day is a must.
The idea is to recreate what you’re nostalgic for – you just have to be creative! We punched holes into different containers, threw them in a bucket of water and then used them to sprinkle ourselves while lying on mats in the unshaded parts of the compound while reading gossip magazines. For a few hours, we forgot we were working in Darfur. We did a beach day simply because several of us missed the beach, but anything is possible.

2. Get addicted to a TV series on DVD.

There is nothing like the instant gratification of being able to watch just one episode of a TV series after a long work day. These shows offer a much-needed window into the outside world and are short enough so that you can still manage to go to bed at a decent hour.
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