From logistician to project coordinator, Sue Bucknell: life on assignment

You started out as a logistician, in your career and with MSF. What drew you to the job?

To be honest, I’m not sure I ever consciously chose logistics as a career!  My first ‘proper’ job after university was in planning and warehouse management for a manufacturing company. It was something I enjoyed doing, so I kept going; I progressed into project logistics in engineering and construction, managing transport logistics for big wastewater treatment and solar plant projects.  

I was always interested in the humanitarian sector—the attraction was the challenge of problem solving in unstable contexts, and environments where there are fewer resources available and it’s difficult to bring in supplies.  

Do you have any memorable examples of problem solving with your team on assignment?

In 2017 I was on my third assignment, in South Sudan. MSF was running a hospital in Agok (a town in Abyei, a disputed region between Sudan and South Sudan). The hospital had 200 beds, and it was very remote so all the staff were living there as well. That meant there were a lot of latrines, and a lot of wastewater to deal with! The team devised a solution: the wastewater was pumped through a process to break down and separate the nasty stuff, until the final stage where the treated water flowed into a big banana plantation to help grow tasty fruit for us to eat! I was told it was perfectly healthy. Part of my job was to take on the management of this plantation system and help enlarge it. 

Since then, you’ve transitioned into a project coordinator role. Could you share about your latest assignment in Kiribati?  

Kiribati (a low-lying, atoll nation in the central Pacific Ocean) has a very small landmass, but it covers a huge area of ocean, with long distances between the islands. MSF has been working there since October 2022, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, to help improve health outcomes for women and children.  

Kiribati is really on the ‘frontline’ of climate change. Particularly because of the small landmass of the country, a lot of problems associated with climate change are heightened and already very clearly visible.  

One good example is water—a focus for me because of my logistics background. There is increasing salination of water sources, happening through the seawater rising and encroaching on the drinking water sources, as well as the lack of rainwater collection which could replenish the groundwater. For example, in the Southern Gilbert Islands, there have been two years of drought where they haven’t had any rainfall. The metal gutters previously installed to collect rainwater are eroding from the salt in the environment.  

An MSF water and sanitation expert is planned to join the team to help address the chronic lack of water at the health facilities there.  

There are also big problems with waste from things like plastic and single-use items; there simply isn’t anywhere for it to go. This presents a need and opportunity for MSF to explore reusable medical equipment which can be safely sterilised, cleaned and reused.   

Do you have any advice for others interested in working with MSF?  

It’s very difficult to know whether MSF is going to be for you or not, so I’d say give it go. I have never regretted it. There’s such depth of localised knowledge within MSF. Most of the staff working in a project are hired locally, and many of them have worked with us for years or even decades. They know what works, and what doesn’t work. There’s also a breadth of knowledge that people have developed from working in different emergency contexts and humanitarian crises around the world. The work can be intense, but you can always rely on your training and your colleagues. 

Learn more

Sue Bucknell featured in a recruitment webinar on women in logistics. To learn more about her experience with MSF and what is takes to be a logistician, watch the webinar on our website.