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

I could get used to this!

Out with the old and in with the new as they say.

We finished 2011 with a few parties. Leaving parties for those resigning from Mercy Corps and moving to greener grasses and Christmas celebrations, marking the last weekends with all of us together

This was another goat roast party. You've seen roasted and boiled goats before, but you've never seen this. One of our drivers helping out with the food prep. A woman's place is definately in the kitchen/in front of the charcoal burner over her. This is the veranda of my little house with Oliva and Galdin prepping the roast tatties

Does he look familiar? Yes, it's Galdin again. He's our best driver and Garry gave him the nick name of Sebastien (after Sebastien Loebbe the rally driver). In addition to the nick name, Garry also got Dave Lockham (thank you Dave) to do some jiggery pokery photography magic and now Galdin has the gear and the champs to make him into the great rally driver that he is. The photo is still up in our office as a lovely reminder of Mr M's sense of humour!

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You don't know the reprobates I work with , so here goes - along the front (right to left ) George, Dan, Michael, Peter (aka Romeo), George and Joseph. Picture taken in my garden.

Peanuts are one of the staple foods here. How labour intensive did you imagine de-shelling to be? Pour in the  husks and rock forward and back on this stick and you get shelled peanuts. Leave the nuts to dry on the sheet below and don't forget to shoo off the goats who come and munch on your valuable crops. 

Mmmm, nice curtains, strange pattern? What's that? Ahh yes, Fatty practising her technique for catching geckos. A little disrespectful maybe climbing the curtains but she now catches rats and scares off snakes, so I guess the training has paid off!

As a change, Monica invited a few of us round for dinner rather than go to town for the usual beans and rice. Kitchens are a bit of a rarity, so everyone uses their veranda for prep, cooking and washing up. Charcoal pans in the foreground, full of rice, cabbage and beans (Plus tonnes of cleavage) Vegetarian dinner in my honour - bless her

When we are out in the bush (see background) the bored kids use our cars as target practice, if there's no birds/animals around. This little guy, unfortunately for him was a crack shot with his catapult and cracked our rear windscreen. Driver Ochello left and Norman right chased after him to administer justice. This consisted of a stern talking to, a ride in the back of our car and delivery to his community with instructions to tell his mum. He cried a lot. Sometimes, they get a whacking with a branch but not this time. Takes me back to the good old days?

Have I said how tough it is out here? Well it's not true. Mercy Corps is funded by USAID and USAID wanted all NGOs working on projects in different countries to compare notes. So to do this, we went to Kenya and sadly the only hotel that could accommodate us all was this lovely boutique hotel with a fancy pool. It was actually too cold to use it and I saw nothing at all of Kenya apart from a giraffe near the airport, but the conference was great and I learnt tonnes from the experiences shared by everyone.

No, it's not another swimming pool although the locals do use the large ponds for a quick dip now and again. This is a watering hole for the local animals. In a good season, the water stays in for 8 months of the year. Mercy Corps built for last year and has plans for more in the future.

One of the local bridges broke, fortunately no-one was on it at the time. The alternative is a short detour. On this day, it took a bit longer to cross as we had to wait for the waters to recede a bit. Here are Atief, Peter and Ochello doing a "stop raining" dance,

We drive through the national park every now and again and see some of the wild animals. Sometimes they don't see us though. This was a dik dik (no, I haven't made this up), which was too slow. So waste not want not. It was gathered up and put in the back of the truck. Celine has a soft spot for these creatures so wanted her photo taken with it, before it was put in the pot!

Masai's bar was the location for end of year party before we all went our separate ways at Christmas. It doesn't look like it, but it is possible to dance on the bar! Best done when Masai is not looking. 

So on to a bit of a different setting.

After an eventful trip from Uganda to Dubai, (don't ask),  my brother in law, Farhad introduced me to shisha. Carolyn and I invaded a local male dominated cafe and enjoyed an afternoon of smoking orange and mint pipes and putting the world to rights. These things always look so dodgy and totally illegal, but now I can understand how you can spend the whole afternoon in a cafe.

There were many attempts to fatten me up and treat me to fantastic meals. This was an eat your weight brunch. No, no bacon and sausages here in this staunchly Muslim country, just sushi, prawns, salmon, fruit, chocolate and delicious wine. Did you know brunch takes all day and should carry a health warning.

We went for a wander round town. Things had changed a little since I was last here. There are now 4 marinas. This one is only for gin palaces, not for proper sailors.

I'm not sure how many average places there are in Dubai. Carolyn and Farhad were in a swanky double story apartment, so you could shout your breakfast order over the balcony.

Sisters - I'm lucky I have an extra special one. Where would I be without her!!!

Everything in Dubai is swanky, even the shopping malls. This one has an aquarium in it, complete with scuba divers and sharks (not just the shop keepers)

For those of you who have seen Mission Impossible, you may recognise the Burj Kalifa that Tom Cruise climbed round. With an Armani Hotel occupying the first few floors it is an excellent landmark when you get lost amongst all the sky scrapers and shopping malls.

At the bottom of the hotel is a sunset extravaganza. As the light starts to fade, the water comes alive and dances to music, either Latin, Arabic or classical. It is absolutely amazing - you're lucky I didn't download the video and make you watch it all the way through.

Just a taster of the designer shops on offer. Chanel, Cartier, Louis Vitton etc. How have I managed to cope without them for such a long time?

Carolyn and I found a good swimming pool and some comfy sun loungers with a fabulous view over the Burj Arab and the Jumeira Beach Hotel. It is such an iconic sight, I can't forget it from when Garry and I went 8 years ago.

New Years Eve was spent with "special" coca cola, music and blankets on the beach next to the Burj Arabe. With great views of fireworks all over Dubai, we were full of oohs and aahs. Dubai does absolutely everything with style.

The Volvo Ocean Race was finishing leg 2 in Abu Dhabi, so not having found anyone willing to share their boat in Dubai, we trouped off to Abu Dhabi to try our luck there. We turned up early and went to check out the finish of the race and where we should stand. I asked one of the security staff if the buoys were out there to the left of the old wooden dhow boats. He looked a little confused and said "no there's just some plastic things". Maybe he thought us strange British people throw young lads in the water to mark the finishing points.

There was a replica Azzam training boat for the Abu Dhabi team that they left for us to have a wander round. I checked the charts and the GPS reading and I reckon they were heading in the right direction.


This was the Telephonica Team coming in after the stealth leg, when they hitched a lift to avoid the pirates. What a bunch of softies. (I'm only jealous)

On the way back from Abu Dhabi, we stopped for a well earned rest by the sea. Who would believe how hard these guys worked looking after me so well?

And lastly, there was some camel racing going on. Looks more like an endurance sport to me and that's the audience, not the camels.  The camels have it easy now. No more small boys, just a computer to race round the track with.

So after a great month, being completely spoilt, I am now safely back in Uganda and back into the swing of things again. It is back to the dry season and dusty, hot and windy but plenty to do and great people to work with.

Let's hope 2012 is a good year for all of us.

The Rainy Season and Mbale Retreat

Time has flown since the last blog. There were many projects to finish off and it all had to happen before 15th October. This was coupled with the fact that the rain was washing the roads away and some places were not accessible even with 4 x 4s.

The place became much greener and crops have been flourishing (well, most of them, but more about that later). My work has been mostly about supporting small businesses with bank loans and trying to explain how to incorporate stock records into profit and loss accounts. Any suggestions, feel free!

One of the first things I noticed back in Uganda was the amount of baby animals - donkeys, calves, etc. The work of the herdsman is never finished, so they start them at an early age. One kid looking after another - see what I mean?

These little guys are sorting through sticks and twigs for enough to fill a bag and sell for mum. Do you think the baby rucksacks will catch on?

Now I said it was wet at times. In the dry season, you wouldn't even notice the slight incline. In the wet season it becomes a Holy Island type experience, (for those used to driving through deep rushing water). Some bridges were washed away, but I am reliably informed, not those built by the British during the colonial years.

Banana trees are great, not just for their fruit, although it may be difficult finding a vase for these flowers.

The wildlife here is fairly few and far between, execpt in the National Parks, but it was good to see this owl early one morning, sharing a bit of sunshine with me on the rocks in Kaabong. (You need to look closely)

On our travels between districts, we saw quite a few victims of the floods. Usually heavy trucks or buses that just sank in the mud. The blue vehicle is a mobile bank and I couldn't help but chuckle. The vehicle in front is the armed guard for defending against any attacks. Mmmmmm. Doesn't look much use to me, although my colleagues didn't think it was such a great idea to go and have a look in the back of the van.

This is how you defend a bank. Sling an AKA 47 over your shoulder  and feign interest.

Now then, I mentioned crops. Damilie and I dug a little garden patch in our compound. I got blisters, she didn't! We watered the plants twice a day but it has been too hot or maybe the seeds were more used to European temperatures, so all we have now are a few maize plants and two beetroot plants.  So much for expanding my vegetable options, looks like its back to beans and cabbage.

 

There are a few weird insects here as you would expect. Snakes, very large spiders and scorpions etc. What about this cute caterpillar? No, not one to pick up and cuddle. It uses its furry hair to hold on to you and is highly poisonous. If  you get he hair in your eyes, it's pretty dam serious.

One of the most popular crops here is peanuts or groundnuts. This chap here on the left was very keen to tell me about his 10 children of which Madam Amazon in the middle is his eldest. The bag of groundnuts weighs around 100 kgs and matey boy didn't see anything ironic about asking me for food for her. It's a weird thing that so many people have so many children without any thought of the cost of bringing them up.

One of the interesting jobs we had to do this month was handing over infrastructures, like markets to the general community. It is an excuse for everyone who feels up to it, to stand and make a speech. It can be about anyting. It doesn't have to be related to the piece of infrastructure and it is obligatory to include at least one complaint. Yawning and playing with your mobile phone isn't classed as rude, so you don't really have to pay that much attention. I was the official photographer for the day, but as you can see I was forced at one point to hand it over. Can you spot me in the crowd?

Now, life in Uganda does have its plus points. This is outside Garry's Corner and this chap sells spicy samosas after dark. Very good when you haven't made it home for dinner.

I enjoy being adventurous with my food and now and again, we get to hear that there's fresh fish. Yes as in the photo below. We are 7 hours from Lake Victoria and there is no chill chain, so it gets "smoked" somewhere  en route. Don't ask any more questions! I had the best ever fish and chips at Niccos Take Away this week. No, not ill the next day either.

 

Mercy Corps decided this year to hold a retreat for their employees. It was held in Mbale and included seminas on creating wealth for poor people. Mbale is a sophisticated town with both tarmac and electricity, so it was very exciting for me.

We stopped on our way to Mbale in Lira and started as we meant to carry on. This is, from left, Peter (aka Romeo), Norman and Galdin. Just look in the background. Is that Garry giving us a cheer?

 

In addition to the serious stuff, there was also some entertainment. We had a volleyball tournament which was hilarious. I thought I knew how to cheat, but the Americans and the Ugandans are even worse/better. Talk about changing the rules. When the ball got stuck in the tree it was classed as a let, except if you were on the opposite side when it was then counted as a point against you. In the picture, after managing to avoid serving for at least half the game, I was forced to serve and everyone was amazed, including me when we all found out, I was actually not a bad server. However, we were robbed and did not take away the cup. Better luck next time maybe.

Everyone is proud of their origins here, especially Santos who brought his tribes traditional hat and scarf. Normally the Karamajong warriors don't wear anything under their scarfs, but we were somewhere sophisticated, so I guess Santos thought he should conform. He took his hat to a nightclub during the week and believe it or not, no-one pinched it and he took it home again.

Another afternoon we all went off to Sipi Falls, a waterfall and tourist attraction. It is to the east of the country and has lovely fertile land. The cows are bigger than ours and the fields much greener. This is how you load cabbages. Out of the garden, across the grass and into the truck. How good would these boys be at volleyball?

 

Also at Sipi Falls, I spotted this.  My first job was trading cocoa and it was right next to the coffee trading department, but I didn't recognise this at all. Coffee beans . I was impressed that the lady had decorated her house to match the beans.

It was a great retreat . We were well fed and watered and really spoilt. We were as happy as the chap below.

 I heard a story that some of the guys from up north couldn't work out how to use their key cards, so spent their time in their hotel rooms in the dark! No-one from our office of course.

This woman walks from the bottom of the falls up to this point every day with the 100 kg bag of coffee beans on her head.

A picture of Sipi Falls

Our evenings entertainment varied. This was prize giving night. Sam, is our top peace builder, but on that night he became Sam the Magician and made money appear and disappear and also read peoples minds. Ok nothing too weird about that. No, but some of my fellow colleagues are highly superstitious and wouldn't touch the money or come near him.

When he performed the disappearing act for some politicians, some time ago, one came to see him afterwards to ask him to make some  magic money for him. I love politicians.

This is Santos hat being modelled by Tim our Deputy Country Director. I think it suits Tim better than Santos.

It was Independence Day recently, so to celebrate kicking out the British, they have a parade by all the military forces and anyone else who wants to march up and down.

We had to wait half an hour for one of the Brigadiers to turn up. And there's me thinking the army would be highly disciplined and efficient. See for yourself the highly polished marching below. Pan's People were more co-ordinated.

 

I have been doing some extra curricular training and Fatty is now much better at fending off unwanted amphibians. She is also a peaceful individual, she just pats them around, she doesn't kill them.

Back in Kotido, I have found a new restaurant. Known locally as The Sheraton it has an extensive menu - beans, rice, posho (nasty cornmeal mixed with water and boiled), chicken soup, goat soup, greens, boiled potatoes, sweet potatoes and pigeon peas. Below is Sharon and Monica who are now great favourites there.

Today we are having a party. There has been no solar power most of the week and our generator has broken so no internet or electricity. Coupled with that, as we have finished one project and starting another, we are between budgets, so no money. However, in true positive spirits we are having a review! We have bought 2 goats, a huge sack of charcoal and half a sack of potatoes. I haven't shown you a picture of the goats. I reckon you have probably seen enough goats by now, but here is Oliva and Galdin peeling spuds. What is unusual is that men never ever do any work here except sampling home brew. This is the first example I have seen of a "new" man.

Hopefully the beer is on its way and with the borrowed generator, we may have time to get it cold. I will let you know.

We have got our work cut out for us going forward. Lots to do and this particular project finishes in June. Lets hope we have no more power problems.

Bye for now and feel free to comment.

Alison