‘‘’When you start working for the UN, it becomes very difficult to come back to a quiet life''
Working in those extreme situations requires a dose of cold blood and rigor to react quickly: '' The security of many people rested on my shoulders; therefore I had huge responsibilities to assume and had to act without hesitation.
However, the excitement combined with the rush of adrenaline made me forget the danger and focus on one objective: safely getting everybody out of the mess,'' he says. ''On the whole I had an enthralling career and I enjoyed working in this field. And when I do go home I think I will sit down and put a book together''
After such an intense career, we would find it normal to go home and enjoy a well-deserved retirement. But no, at the time of being retired, Philip decided to become a UN Volunteer: ''I worked and lived all my life abroad. You know, after so many years within the United Nations, it somehow becomes your family and friends at the same time and you are not used anymore to a quiet life. So, when I got retired, I started to miss my life in missions. I also missed my friends terribly. This is one of the reasons that pushed me to become a UN Volunteer.'' And the former P5 to add: ''But , serving as a UN Volunteer is also a way of giving my experience of 20 years working at the UN back.''