The day I'd been waiting for

It was shaping up to be one of my best interviews yet. The only interview I’d managed to line up on my own here in Romania and that’s only because the very friendly contact I made at the SMURD Foundation understood my English in email and replied. The others have gone unnoticed.

I am to interview Dr Raed Arafat, a Palestinian born medic, who studied in Romania and has since gone beyond the call of duty and established SMURD (mobile emergency service) – a unique combination of the emergency services here in Romania and who now holds a position at the Ministry of Health.

My work here, for those who don’t know, is to document on video, some of the interviews taking places here in Romania and Hungary with people who have taken up citizenship in both countries. Dr Raed Arafat is a Romanian citizen, and a notable public figure for his contributions to the public health system. He’s a ‘good’ example of a citizen and ‘immigrant’ though he doesn’t consider himself one.

I start to research and discover he’s the second cousin of Yasser Arafat, the once leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). I get excited for some reason. The day arrives, it’s 35 degrees and we’ve been carrying gear all over the city till we reach the Ministry of Health at 5pm. He’s locked us in late so we won’t have to rush I think to myself. Very kind.

All the interviews I’ve read about him tell tales that he’s a hard man to get, and keep. He’s often volunteering with an emergency service or attending to very important matters.

We arrive and he’s not seated at his desk, but rather at the large boardroom style table in his office. He’s tapping away at his Mac computer and I feel we have a connection before words are spoken. He acknowledges our presence but continues to demand things from his PA. I feel intimidated. This man knows what he’s doing and knows how to get it done.

The first fifteen minutes we are there, our attempts to explain who we are and where we’re from are interrupted by numerous phone calls. One, about a major road collision and another about someone trying to undermine SMURD activities in another county. Can hardly ask him to put his phone on silent. But then he does! He notices I have a strange accent (first in this country to make note) and I don’t have to say I’m from Australia. Though he was once denied entry to Australia with his Romanian passport he seems to know our accent.

I set up the camera, ask him to sit in front of the Romanian flag and we’re off. It goes fast and he moves around and I dare not stop him to re-position the camera. We’re done and he springs out of his chair as though it was perfectly timed and calls the Minister of Health, who is waiting for him! I guess I wasn’t the last thing on his list today.

We say good bye and thank him for his time. And we’re gone. Didn’t get to small talk about Palestine, didn’t take a photo with him nor tell him I want to be a Paramedic someday and didn’t get some overlay of him sitting at his desk signing some important document, like I’ve been trained to do.

I watch back the footage. Definitely not the best I’ve achieved thus far. In fact rather disappointing. How did I manage to stuff up my most important interview?
I had tried to arrange to ride in an ambulance to gain ‘important’ footage for the story but that didn’t happen. Maybe just as well as I might get so excited that I’d not concentrate on filming. Like that time I put my hand up to film a knee reconstruction and got so engrossed in the surgery that I didn’t realize my picture was over-exposed. It’s been my dream for a while to ride in an ambulance but maybe Romania won’t be where that dream comes true.

Still a memorable interview with a man who has extraordinary vision and determination to overcome even the toughest and most complex bureaucracies that exists. An applause for this Mr Arafat please.

(If you’re interested in finding out about SMURD, visit www.smurd.ro )