My First Monitoring Trip

This is the third episode in a series by Erich Weingartner, recounting his days as the founding Head of the Food Aid Liason Unit (FALU), an independent section of the United Nations World Food Program, from 1997-1999. All photos are by Erich Weingartner. Previous episodes were “My Bumpy Road to Pyongyang” and “My Introduction to Nampo Port.”

DPRK Kindergarten

“It’s all a matter of perception, you know,” Naresh answered with a knowing smile. “Reality is just an illusion.”

I had asked my Bangladeshi colleague Naresh Talukder how we were going to verify that what we would see was real. We were in a WFP vehicle barreling at top speed along a paved, almost completely empty superhighway, heading south from Pyongyang. My eyes were glued to the road as I conversed with him. This was my first monitoring trip. My heart was still in a rush of excitement, trying to grasp the reality of exploring a hidden corner of our globe that few foreign eyes had seen.

“Sounds a bit too Hindu for my taste,” I quipped.

“Not all Bangladeshis are Muslims, you know.” He was looking for something in his briefcase. “You Westerners are far too concerned with facts and figures, imagining that this is the way to harness reality.”