ARCATA -- Mortar blasts, machine gun fire and rebel forces aren't things generally associated with the profession of accounting, but for Diane Dobbs they were just a part of the job.

Dobbs, program accounting manager for the Arcata-based Internews Network, was on assignment last month in Abéché, Chad, helping to set up accounting systems for one of the three radio stations Internews is building to fill a vital need for Darfuri refugees when rebel forces attacked the city.

The project is part of the international, nonprofit organization's overall goal to bring independent media and the free flow of information to areas around the world. And, as Dobbs knows well, it's impossible to set up a media outlet without a budget and systems in place to track money spent.

Since its inception in 1982, Internews has worked with more than 4,300 news agencies, annually training 9,000 media professionals around the world. When the catastrophic December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami devastated Sri Lanka, Indonesia and much of Southeast Asia, killing tens of thousands, Internews was there to help local media report on the reconstruction efforts.

After a 7.6 earthquake rocked Pakistan in 2005, killing more than 70,000 people, Internews was there to help spread much- needed relief information. Similarly, as AIDS runs rampant in India, with more than 5 million people currently infected, according to UNAIDS, Internews is there to train journalists how to report on the epidemic in a compelling and accurate way.

”There's really a gap in humanitarian relief,” said Annette Makino, Internews' senior vice president for communications and corporate affairs. “The focus is often on food and medicine, which is essential, but information is often just as essential.”

A female Internews reporter interviews a man

Photo: Jaime Little

Houda Mahamat Malloum, right, a reporter for La Voix du Ouaddaï, a community radio station established by Internews in Abéché, Chad, interviews a refugee from the Darfur region of Sudan.

This dire need for information is what brought Internews to the central African country of Chad, where scores of refugees have fled from violence in the neighboring Darfur region of Sudan.

In Darfur, ethnic African tribes began a rebellion three years ago after years of small-scale conflicts over land and water. Human rights organizations accuse the Sudanese government of responding to the rebellion by supporting ethnic Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed, which have killed thousands of people, burned villages and generally inflicted terror.

Numbers vary, but according to the Associated Press, more than 200,000 people have died in Darfur since fighting broke out and another 2.5 million have fled the region. More than 200,000 of these refugees have arrived in the eastern region of neighboring Chad.

Internews responded to this humanitarian crisis by launching a project last summer to build three radio stations in Chad to supply information to Darfuri refugee camps. The stations report where to find clean drinking water and health clinics, as well as updates on peace talks and rebuilding efforts. But, these stations, like any media outlet, can't operate without funding, which in turn has to be budgeted and accounted for.

Enter Diane Dobbs.

Dobbs arrived in Chad with her bag packed to the 33-pound limit with supplies and accounting manuals, after hopping through many of the hoops involved in entering an unstable country.

Her first few days in Chad were spent sorting through accounting records and trying to train the local staff in QuickBooks, the accounting program used by Internews. There were the usual stumbling blocks associated with such a venture: language and currency conversions on the computers, communication barriers between Dobbs and her French-speaking understudy and having to explain the necessities of documentation in a culture where receipts aren't customary.

There were also wonderful learning experiences.

Dobbs said she marveled at watching diners, where every morsel of food was carefully shared and accounted for, as refrigeration is a luxury that can't be afforded in a region run mostly on gas-powered generators.

There was also the experience of seeing her organization in action and seeing how it is working to change the lives of both the Darfuri refugees and the local Chadians. Dobbs spoke mostly of the Chadian women, trained by Internews, who are now the voices of their community.

”It's a very empowering process for these young Chadian women. You can see them glowing with pride,” Dobbs said, adding that the journalists are often recognized and praised in the refugee camps.

Then, on the morning of Saturday, Nov. 25, another learning experience began.

Dobbs awoke shortly after 6 a.m. to the thunder of mortar fire and intense knocking on her door by a fellow staff member.

”Diane, there is a rebel attack,” he said, as Dobbs reported back to the Internews staff in an e-mail. “Get up. Pack your stuff.”

Chadian rebels were attacking Abéché. Dobbs said she could hear the explosions of mortars and grenades in the near distance, accompanied by machine gun bursts that tore through the air.

Dobbs and the local Internews staff watched from their compounds as civilians emptied into the streets and began looting everything in sight, which they took as a sure sign that the government military had fled town. Dobbs said they watched as people passed by with tables, barrels, chairs and anything of value.

The looting served to sharpen worries, as Internews items like radio equipment and laptop computers were of far more value than much of the stuff being taken.

”In this context, a faucet is a thing of value,” said Makino. “So, you can imagine what radio equipment would be worth.”

With a backdrop of gunfire and chaos, Dobbs remained undeterred and kept tending to QuickBooks, knowing all too well that her eight days in the country allowed little time for distractions, even if they were of a life-threatening nature.

The Internews staff was evacuated to a Red Cross building, where Dobbs continued with her mission of getting the books in order and educating her Chadian trainee.

”Diane was risking her life for accounting training,” Makino said.

”I just felt I had to follow through,” Dobbs explained. “They follow through daily ... I just couldn't say, 'No, I can't because I'm scared.' I had to go get my job done.”

Things got especially tense when, from their hideout in the Red Cross building, the Internews staff could hear yelling and commotion next door.

”That's when I started to pray a little bit,” said Dobbs, adding that the noise soon subsided and the group was left with only the sounds of conflict in the distance, but the sense of lawlessness remained.

Though the rebels withdrew and the Chadian army regained control of Abéché by Monday, tensions remained high. As the group was shuttled from place to place, Dobbs and her trainee worked diligently on QuickBooks the whole time.

Several weeks after her safe return to Humboldt County, Dobbs spoke about how she now carries a new perspective on her organization.

She talked about the vital nature of the information being transmitted by Internews' radio stations, about the challenges of creating such a station, and of the inherent value in every aspect of the station's operation in Abéché, from spreading vital information and smoothing Chadian-Darfuri relations, to the simple things, like teaching proper accounting.

”In many developing countries, there is more of a cash mentality,” she said. “People don't accept checks. It's a very cash-based economy. I feel like when we go in there and say we need receipts, we are educating them on more accepted accounting practices. Not only the accountant, but the vendor, too. It's another step to educating a country and making them more developed.”

But, mostly, Dobbs returned with a renewed appreciation for the fragile balance of life.

”It makes you not take things quite so much for granted,” she said. “We're all so vulnerable and things can change so quickly. Just being in a place where people are so vulnerable while we're so insulated in the United States -- the basic things like water and electricity, the everyday things you see people survive without, (are) pretty amazing.”