Central Africa - so what happened next?

If you read the last blog, you will know we returned from Bangassou in a bit of a rush, but got back safely.We refugees and the guys from the Bangui office went out for a slap up meal including for some, antelope and snails. 

Safe back in Bangui with the rest of the team

We settled back into work at the head office writing reports and making inventories of Mercy Corps bikes, cars and equipment which we had to leave behind in various parts of Central Africa when we flew back to Bangui. However, life was not just as normal as expected with increased speculation of the Seleka (rebels) threatening to take over the capital. Friday 22nd March, I was shopping at lunchtime for essential items for our food security stock. Laden down with goodies such as potatoes eggs, loo roll and mayonnaise, I returned to the office to find our motor bikes, computers and other assets being loaded into the pickups to be taken to a secure location. We left the office quickly and went into hibernation at the bosses house amidst more speculation and news of the Seleka's progress towards Bangui. Saturday morning, half our team left for immediate evacuation to the airport. JP, Owen and I had a slap up lunch of chips, omelette and pasta salad. Little did we know it would be our last meal for ..........

Then it was our turn. JP got the call to evacuate and we went straight to Binuca - UN,where we stayed for 3 days. The compound is full of portacabin offices and surrounded by 3 metre walls. We arrived fairly early on and the place started to fill up with other NGO staff and their families. We slept on the floor Saturday night and ate canned sardines and biscuits.Jose, bottom left, found a bottle of wine which was appreciated by all! The first Mercy Corps team to be evacuated never made their flight so they were stranded at the military barracks with food, water, beds and eye witness accounts of shoot outs at the entrance to the airport. The old President left and the new President arrived.

From bottom left, Jose, JP, Bernadette, Juan, Carmen and me

Sunday morning we were woken early and had to move from our cosy corner of the compound due to the close proximity of overhead gunshots. The UN was surrounded on all sides by roads and the Seleka in order to discourage looting, were firing into the air. 3 people in our compound alone were hit by stray bullets. At least 70 locals were wounded in the same way. Ex pats stranded in town were firstly visited by the armed Seleka who relieved them of their vehicles and secondly by the local community  who relieved them of their worldly goods. Anything they couldn't carry first time, they popped back for again and again. Gradually the compound filled up as UN vehicles went out to collect these people.

UN Compound filling up - 300 people

Organisation within the compound started to take place and some folk were given the job of distributing water. Given the possibility of stray bullets, protective clothing was issued.

Recognise her?

We were hoping for French soldiers to come and escort us to the airport but due to the number of French citizens still stranded in town, the soldiers priority was to rescue them first. So it was another night on the floor. The water was off, the toilets were full and food and water was running out.

There are stories of heroism and gruesome acts carried out by the Seleka, but until we return and see for real who knows what has happened. One description of the ransacked town compares it to Mogadishu with people carrying tvs fridges and bags of other peoples gear. How many of these people had electricity at home to watch the TV? In general most NGO offices and homes have been looted but there are a few who have escaped so far

Long story short. The french came for us on Monday evening and we were escorted to the airport. Past the Seleka, past stolen NGO vehicles painted in Seleka colours and past a body at the entrance to the airport. 

Two of our escorts at the airport

I was lucky enough to be in the first convoy leaving the UN and it was good to meet the other Mercy Corps staff at the airport who had stayed in the barracks. We were on the first plane to leave Bangui and arrived in Cameroon just in time to eat at the hotel. Yes, very very hungry. it didn't touch the sides. There were three more flights out of Bangui during the night and in the morning we found the rest of the team. 

There are some people still at the UN in Bangui giving security updates and assessing the situation but most people have left Cameroon and gone home.

We will wait a few days here until we know it is safe to return and how easy it will be to resume our activities or in some cases suspend projects and switch to emergency activities instead. The key is whether or not the new Government can hold together the different factions of the Seleka, can maintain law and order and generally support the economy.

Who knows? 

Anyway, so long for now. Here's to hoping there will be little to write home about for a while!

The Great Escape

March 2013

Time to put your feet up and grab a coffee methinks.

It has been an interesting few weeks back in Central African Republic! 

I was evacuated to Dubai following a rebel uprising in CAR and returned at the beginning of Feb ready to get going again on the Mercy Corps project. So after a few days in the capital, I flew out to Bangassou to see where I would be living and working for the next year. It is a simple, post colonial town with some big old houses formerly inhabited by the Portuguese in the wealthier times of coffee, rubber and diamond trading. A little short on the restaurant front but no lack of bananas and "green vegetables". 

After a week or so of settling in there were rumours of a potential rebel attack, so we packed our bags and pick up trucks and headed out east to one of our other Mercy Corps offices in Rafai. The terrain is tricky to say the least.

Chonuku River Ferry

As you can see crossing the river isn't straight forward. This "ferry" was motorised back in the heady colonial days but there is a bit of a shortage of mechanics, so now the ferry operator has to take a big stick and pole his way across the river whilst attached to a cable. We loaded the ferry with 2 pickups and 4 motorbikes so you can imaging the size of the guy's biceps. The wooden log on the right is the tradition way to cross if you're in a hurry.

River Trout? No apparently a Tiger fish

 It was great to meet the other Mercy Corps staff in Rafai and the local fisherman knew we enjoy our food so he popped round with his catch to see if we were interested. We were - it cost $6 and fed the staff from both offices. I have been joking with the locals about their reluctance to swim across the river but after hearing about the crocs and seeing the teeth on this thing, I agree with them.

Life at the Nunnery

 There is a choice in Rafai of accommodation. Here with the three lovely nuns or at the other side of the church with the three priests. Next to me is Aimee, Project Manager at Rafai and on the other side and opposite are Morel and Bernard who I share a house with in Bangassou.

Fast Food

Following the all clear security wise we returned to Bangassou and met these cheery chappies on the way. Always on the look out for good food, some of us were tempted with the gazelle they had caught - check it out on the bike! 

Mirror,mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

Back in Bangassou we carried on with work which includes repairing boreholes, building 4 schools and  a youth club and training in health, education,water and hygiene. We were interrupted again (pesky rebels) and headed back to Rafia. This time we were caught a bit short with mud and rains so spent some time in a village negotiating the mud ruts and towing cars out. These chaps realised they could see themselves in the car windows and laughed their heads off at each others' reflections.

Things started to get a little more serious at Bangassou. When we arrived back on the Sunday we were told of substantiated rumours of a potential invasion by rebels. We packed up the cars again, loaded the fuel, generators, computers, luggage and basically anything of value ready to make an early get away in the morning. I managed a quick run to the local garage for tinned sardines,spaghetti and a carton of red wine.

Monday - we were rudely awakened at 6.00 am by the sounds of rockets and gun shots. So now being highly practised in evacuation procedures, we jumped in the vehicles, on the bikes and legged it at 6.08am.
The journey to Rafai was interesting. The local militia had also decided they would run for it, so they joined our NGO convoy 8 pickups and 4 bikes out of town. It wasn't very encouraging being overtaken by loaded pick ups of soldiers. It got worse when they asked for fuel. So we stopped of course and they kindly jumped out of their trucks and guarded our rears with rockets against the rebels who were on their trail - yes and on our trail as well. One thoughtful soldier helped me out of our pick up and hid me behind a shack during the manoeuvre.

Part of the Convoi

 We headed east across the aforementioned river ferry to Rafai. Having empty stomachs, we thought we should be OK to stop for a bite to eat. Yours truly even managed a shower. However, a leisurely lunch was not to be, there were more shells and gun fire and the town literally leapt to its feet with everyone screaming and running in all different directions. Our convoy had split up and we saw our colleagues racing all over town trying to locate their staff. Given that the only way out of town was the opposite way to the ferry we all linked up again, this time though leaving the soldiers guarding the ferry crossing. We carried on for around 300 kilometres to Zemio where MSF and ACTED provided excellent overnight  hospitality with tea and nutella sandwiches.
The next morning was a little more relaxed. We were all hoping the soldiers had managed to defend the ferry crossing. We carried on eastwards for another 400 or so kilometres through LRA territory, another hazardhous zone known for its random shootings, past a burnt out vehicule and onto to Obo. This time Merlin and COOPI looked after us and we exchanged stories and updates on rebel progress.
Obo has a US army base and a Ugandan military stronghold who are trained to hunt down the LRA, so it was a relief to arrive at a safe place.

Charlie - one of the heroic bike riders

 The heavens opened on the way into Obo and the poor bike riders got soaked, but I still think they were pleased to get there!

Top Gun - eat your heart out

Mercy Corps had organised a flight out for the first half of the team to fly to Bangui. We had to refuel so the junior pilot got the job of sitting on the wing with the pipeline from the petrol drums.

Unfortunately no pictures of the CAR military with their rockets in their pockets or their prized machine gun being shipped out of town, but I thought it might be just a fraction too risky to start snapping away  in the fractious environment. I had planned on getting back in one piece!
We arrived back in Bangui without incident, everyone safe and non too traumatised. The rest of the team are due back any day soon.

We know we were lucky and have heard some rotten stories about what has subsequently happened in Bangassou, but the Mercy Corps team are safe. What a great bunch of people, no panics, no tears. Lets keep our fingers crossed that the situation is resolved quickly and peacefully and then back to work!

Greetings from Dubai 2013

Long time no news.

It is quite a while since I last updated the blog - apologies, but you you haven't missed much.

I left Uganda in July 2012 and returned to UK to catch up with friends and to look for my next job. Needless to say, I had a lovely time and found some fun things to do. See below