Leading on the Frontline

5Know the context

How I failed to anticipate cultural difference in my transition from Thailand to Pakistan

I was sitting with my team of business leaders in Bangkok when I first heard about the earthquake in Pakistan in October 2005. The news was just coming through and we listened to it together. ‘Right, you’ll be off then, Linda,’ Simon said. How well he knew me!

I was naive to think that Pakistan would be anything like Thailand. Did I think I could dive in, do the job and leave to a chorus of friendly cheers? Perhaps. I would soon know better. The energetic community spirit that was so apparent in Thailand, and extended even to foreigners, seemed barely to exist in Pakistan. There, as it turned out, supplies sent to the disaster area were often as not looted before they reached the families in desperate need. With their employers unable to vouch for their safety, foreign journalists and aid workers were being sent home in droves. Kidnappings, suicide bombs, mob killings. It wasn’t a good place to be. Westerners felt especially unwelcome in Pakistan, and if you were white and female you were the guest no one wanted at their table.

My first mistake was arriving at the airport on my own. I hadn’t organised any official transport. It wasn’t an oversight — I like to see a situation for myself without being insulated behind a layer of protection. For the same reason, I had chosen a local guesthouse rather than a large hotel. What I didn’t realise was that by doing so I was putting ...