Who knows where?

The last time I wrote was in October when I returned to the UK for the first time in 2 years. We are now 3 months on and yet another year has passed. How did that happen? I thought little had changed during the last quarter (work speak!)  then I look at a few pics and just for a change I have lots to say!

Sorry!

Two weeks rest and recuperation means I have been able to dowmload the photos - not possible in the lost country of CAR (know where it is?) and added a few words. 

The last 3 months has been more about goodbye than hello. I have worked with some remarkable people at Mercy Corps and it has been difficult to say goodbye to them, The NGO world is however very small and I know some of these guys will reappear in different countries and organisations (gis' a job)

Bodega Bar - Rafa's last day

 All the above have moved on - Emily, Colleen, Jobe. Moustapha and Rafa. This bar however was a bit of a find. Swanky menu with cinnamon flavoured Sangria, Probably the smartest place in Bangui! The seats even have cushions.

Kate's last night with everyone

Perfect example of team building.  Too many meetings followed by relaxation (beer) and the world is a better place. Moustapha, Jacques, Colleen, Christine, Oswald , Emily, Jean Emile and Kate. 

Girls Power

Bangui had become calmer and our curfew was extended until 10pm - yippee! Sadly one of our colleagues was car jacked that night but she is OK just a few pounds lighter. We were a few pounds heavier that night given that chips go so well with beer!

Motley Crew

So yes, I know a few guys as well outside of the NGO circuit. These lot have been in Bangui for about 100 years between them. Paolo on the left can tell us stories about when there was a cinema and the best night clubs are in what is now our no go zone. Oh and they all fly to the dangerous parts of CAR and have hair raising stories about their narrow escapes

Lilloth and Alfred for lunch

 You have to look hard but there are a few luxuries around. I was invited for a swim in a friend's pool and lunch one Sunday. It would have been rude to say no!

My sterling team in Bangui

We had a Mercy Corps Christmas party one Friday afternoon and danced in the dirt to trendy Congolese music. These are some of my team who are doing a good job of looking cool. As you can see I am the only one looking happy - something to do with them looking serious when the boss is around?

I live in a cosy 2 bedroom house tuckd safely away out of site. We have a day guard and 2 night guards who are there to protect us from 'intruders ie amed rebel groups and looters'. In terms of job description there seems to be a small issue however, I complained when next door's cockerel jumped over our wall and crowed loudly at 5.00 am under my bedroom window. The guard told me he was not able to do anything  After several rude awakenings it appears that the guard became equally fed up with either me or the cockerel and there was an unfortunate accident and it disappeared.
In terms of security, in addition to our own guards, next door (who used to have a cockerel) have a large, old bad tempered goose. I have now learnt that when on foot a large handbag is a good defensive measure. One of our guards was new and when my flatmate Louisa asked him to escort her past the goose,yes you know what happened!. I have no photos but this bird is now locked in its shed most of the day but if properly tormented will still try and attack you through the wire mesh. See above

Christmas Cheer

 This is the veranda where my flatmate and I put the world to rights on a regular basis. We have a beautiful view down the valley which I think you would have preferred but some folks want pictures of me from time to time

Chaotic Christmas - after

I am not convinced any of us wanted to be in Bangui for Christmas but due to work committments and some folks missing their flights, I was lucky enough to spend Christmas with my 3 favouritest people. And we had a fabulous time. Pop in the morning, then opening presents - if there were any. Then a few laps in the public pool with a cheeky beer. We then trouped back to the house and attempted a Christmas dinner, which despite the obvious challenges (too much pop) was fantastic. So thanks girls - Terri, Natalie and Louisa for a really good Christmas day!

Christmas dinner - before

Culinary delights included pumpkin puree, pasta and sauce, roast potatoes, roast aubergines, pineapple crumble and Christmas pud with a spot of vino 

Rafai Runway

When Terri and I landed at Rafai we were given a stern talking to by the pilot who threatened he would not return to collect us unles the runway was cleared. The people in the picture are on the run way. Behind me were 200 feet of overgrown dirt, like you see in the left of the picture. Rafai is nice but has little in the way of luxuries, no beer or running water. Terri organised a gang of 20 sturdy men with machetes to clear the runway. This picture is the macheteding group advancing on the Mercy Corps team. In any other circumstances, this would actually be extremely scary but in this situation everything was cool. The pilot was very happy now the landing strip had increased by 20%

Fishing Boats

 These are Blue Peter boats. Take one large tree trunk. Hollow out the inside. Check it can carry two motor bikes, 5 ladies with shopping and a bit of fish. Set yourself up as a fisherman-come river boat taxi.

Papa Pierre moonlighting

 This is our day guard. He is Pierre and as a mark of respect and affection we call him Papa Pierre. Although whilst working for us he has had a 50% pay rise and now has one day off per week with holidays, he gives his money away to his family members. Whilst protecting us from wall leaping cockerels and marauding geese, he collects waste paper dries it out and folds it up to sell to the local fast food kebab sellers in town, Payment is $1 for 500 pieces of paper.

Not what you would expect in Dubai but made me think of 'home' and Bangui!

I am at the end of my 2 week stay in Dubai and feel very refreshed. We have been to cultural events and some not so cultural, eaten in wonderful restaurants and they organised for the winter weather to be delayed until I left so we have been swimmng and sailing too! Thanks again guys!

This is not the end of alsadventuresinafrica although my contract in CAR finishes at the end of March so for the next blog - watch out. I may be around the corner from you. I am planning to take a bit of time out as I will have been in CAR for 2 years and 4 months which is quite a long time then I have to figure out where to go next. Who knows where that may be? Any suggestions. please let me know!

Is it safe?

Well, I am still in Central African Republic and am one of the 'oldies' now as it is coming up for two years and I still love it here! There are now over one hundred NGOs - non government organisations, in CAR compared to around thirty when I first arrived so the capital now has traffic jams and the supermarkets have run out of decent crisps, so it is not a completely positive change!

My last project finished at  the end of May 2014 and I am now working on a peace building/conflict resolution program which is quite topical if you follow the news. I have been a bit slack with my photo taking and there is sufficient coverage of the traumatic stuff going on here so we can skip that bit. I have included a few pics showing culture and work orientated subjects which you may find interesting

Until May I was based in Bouar - in the North West and whilst out walking one day, with my friend Louisa who is now my flat mate, we looked over a bridge. A very happy chappy had just finished his laundry next to the river and as you can see had laid it all out neatly to dry. All inside out of course so it doesn't fade. Washing machines haven't quite made it here yet.

Laundrette in Bouar

 Who says there is no culture in CAR? It was International Peace Day, so the local authority figures all over Bangui were invited to a day of dancing, music and a celebration of peace. Interestingly, the local MP equivalent - except she wasn't democratically elected, turned up. I haven't seen as much gold on a rap star as the amount she was wearing. Anyway, she was very generous with her cash and this young lady is wearing a huge smile as she had the equivalent of a $20 bill thrust down her bra as a gesture of appreciation for her dancing. Erm or was it a future vote generating attempt if the elections do take place next year?

Getting jiggy with it

 One of the rebel groups here is called the Anti Balaka - meaning anti machete. The women below are slightly fed up with the needless and mindless violence so have set up their own defence group - anti balay, meaning anti broom and their weapons of choice are surprisingly brooms It is nice to see some humour in a pretty stressful environment

Mums' Army

The population here takes religion very seriously. There are churches and catholic misions all over acting as hotels, refugee camps and the staff help consume the local brew. Somehow I have made a few friends amongst these pillars of the community and I was invited to an ordination of a young seminarist who was moving up the pearly ladder towards promotion. It is a good idea to keep on the right side of these folk as I am regularly told that we are saved on a daily basis through God's will. Nothing to lose I guess and they do throw a good party!

Praise Be!

I am often asked 'what is the night life like in CAR?'
It is very different between Bangui - the capital and the 'bush'. There are not many fridges in the bush but in the North West, beer is very kindly imported by the Cameroonian Army and sold on to us locals at a minimum margin. However, in the South East - the Congolese Army are far from home and allegedly smoke for their entertainment There is no beer except when the moon turns blue. Important to get this timing right when planning trips to the bush!
In Bangui, apart from the odd national shortage of tonic water, there is a good availability of beer, wine and occassionally champagne on a Sunday morning, if you know the right folk!
The guys below are celebrating my birthday - it wasn't a wild affair. From right, Ousmane, Bernard, Nicolas, Florence and some random interloper who I can't remember!! The cake in the middle really was delicious and was made by the Catholic sisters - remember the point about being in with the 'good' folk.

My Pals in Bouar

So what amazing present did I get for my birthday. All the shops in Bouar were looted, so sadly there were no saucepans or tins of sardines available. However Bernard and Nicolas did manage to find the cutest, loveliest little kitten ever. When I moved from Bouar to Bangui, she was given the choice to stay or move with me. She chose to secret herself into an ink cartridge box with holes poked in the side and smuggle herself onto a UN plan. Nothing to do with me.
Before Chatou arrived, we had a serious issue with rats. No problem, I bought rat poison and asked the cook to do the necessary. Can you believe he used my cheese that I had bought in Bangui and  saved for a special occasion to put the poison in? Since when do rats in the field develop a taste for cheese? There isn't even any for me. I was speechless to say the least, let alone cheeseless!

My new project is based in Bangassou, Bouar, Rafai and Bangui and I am lucky enough to live in a sweet little purple 'paillote' or house as we affectionatley call it, situated up a rocky path away from the main road. I am sharing with Louisa who I met last year in Bangui when she was a writer. The best thing about the house apart from obviously my house mate. is the view down the valley and if you squint a bit, the view across the river to Congo. One day whilst gently taking in the scenery from our terrace and caressing a cold beer, I noticed that the neighbours were doing a spot of DIY and painting the roof. It is a large fancy embassy building. I'm not really sure why I thought they would use safety gear - silly me. 

We have had our fair share of excitement in the purple paillote. We hace been visited by rats and mice, bats took up shelter and next door's guard goose has had a go at attacking me but probably the most exciting was 'snake gate'. Yes - you've got it. Two sightings of a black, dancng snake in our house! What a cheek. Get your own! Anyway, hopefully the petrol doused around the house and the insecticide liberally sprayed on the garden will maybe do the job. Anyone coming for a visit? We have a promising line in handbags nearly ready!

View from Our Purple Villa

After the stress of sourcing tonic water, finding cold beer and snake dodging, I am sent on rest and recuperatio every 10 weeks. The objective being to chill out and forget all about work. In July I went with Terri an American who I work with and Natalie, a Frenchie who works for Save the Chldren. We chose Morocco as it was one flight instead of the usual six and we went to Essaouira. a lovely walled city full of feline friends.

O

Aaaah

The town was old and we stayed in a lovely old restored riad and we all acted our ages

Dancing at Dusk

The beach had everything you could ask for - camel rides, galloping horses, kite surfing, football for the locals and quad biking if everything else was too energetic

What more could you ask for?

Back in Bangui, the furniture shps are now mobile and come to you. This innovative chap is selling bamboo tables

Anyone want a table?

In case you never noticed, I have never really followed fashion. I did however make an exception for National labour day. A particularly tasteful, yello, black and white material was selected and I was press ganged into having a lovely, african dress made and for my leaving do from Boaur we all wore our 'uniform'. It does nevertheless give you a sense of belonging even though I think I still stand out from the crowd!

Can you see me?

I am currently recovering from my latest R and R when I returend to the Uk for the first time after 2 years. I went to visit friends and family in Southport, Nelson, Manchester and Beverley and very little had changed apart from my reduced capacity for alcohol consumption! See below, the end of an evening in Salford Keys.
Hello to everyone at the Standard in Beverley - it was great to see you all. Thanks for lunch and dinners with Chris and Tony, Liz and Keith, John and Sally and Becky and Nick. I reckon I am 5 kilos heavier now!

Night of Debauchery

I managed to catch up with little sister who came over from Dubai and we went to visit Barabara and Liz and have a look round the farm. It has been some time since either of us were in the UK, so I think we can be forgiven for judging that the local sheep had recently been sheared and they looked very much like that new breed of  long necked sheep seen all over Lancashire and Yorkshire at the moment. Liz gently explained that they were not in fact sheep as we know them but alpacas! Doh!

Me and Sis

We managed a visit to see Garry's mum Pat who was on good form.

With Pat in Southport

This was another end of evening picture in Goodmanham with the Beverley crowd, where a good time was had by all at the expense of our pikey mates who just bought a caravan - ooops I mean a motor home!

Chilli In Goodmanham

Apologies to all those who I never managed to talk to properly and those I never managed to even see. Sorry folks. Will try harder next time and stop lounging around in the bath and on the settee. It was very relaxing and I am all ready to go back to whatever is waiting for me in CAR.

So yes, it is safe at the moment and we have good security procedures in place to avoid the wrog time and wrong place scenarios
Thanks for all your support and encouragement and I won't leave it so long next time. Promise!!

one year on

 Well time certainly flies by when you're having fun. I hadn't realised just how busy the last year has been until I look at a few of the things that I have been kept me occupied over the last year.
A year ago we had just experienced a coup by rebels called the Seleka and we were all evacuated out of Central African Republic over to Cameroun. We started back at work during the summer but were stopped now and again by security issues. I was based at Bangassou in the South East but unfortuantely 2 of my colleagues were shot so we transferred the project over to Bouar in the North West as it appeared to be quieter. As you would have guessed the troubles followed us to Bouar but we are operating at nearly full throttle so have made up some of the lost time. My colleagues are fully recovered and back at work!

 Below are a few of the hundreds of photos I have which hopefully you will find interesting

Tasty lizard

This creature was caught by the local restaurant and offered up on the following night's menu. Although it looks quite appetising, I haven't met anyone who sampled the delights!

Ahmed's Daughter

The food here in CAR leaves something to be desired - in the south east the diet consisted of green leaves boiled until tasteless along with plantain and bananas and mangos. If you like monkey, it can be arranged. The delicacies are the head and hands apparently. ANyway Ahmed is a lovely old Lebanese guy living in Bangassou. He has a shop and brings in treats like chick peas and lentils and I would join him for Sunday lunch which included chips every now and again. This is his gorgeous daughter enjoying having her photo taken by the strange white lady! 

Gender training in Bangassou

I have learnt a few things in the past year. This was a course on gender training and I am delighted to say I now know the difference between gender and sex - not that it has been particularly useful! This is Whitney, my old boss who I miss a lot now she is working in Haiti

Outside my room in Bangassou

After we were evacuated last year, the locals helped themselves to the contents of our offices and house so we moved to a "new hotel". Sadly the running water and electricity were not included in the rent agreement but the hotel did have very pretty flowers. 

New Year's Eve Dubai 2013

Needing a bit of a rest I popped over to Dubai to see Carolyn and Farhad. I tried to make up for 12 months lack of cheese consumption and managed to eat my body weight in crisps and as you can see we did a fair bit of partying.

Burj Khalifa Dubai

Dubai has lots to offer and so I popped along to the world's tallest building. Great views but no bungy jumping.

Typical Classroom in CAR

Back in CAR, due to the persistent security threats in the villages we were really surprised to find these children at school. Most of the schools have been shut down for the last year. One of our programs is to work with teachers and parent teacher associations to improve the level of teaching and to ensure that schools are maintained. We are building 4 schools in the North West and water points for the pupils

Seleka

These are Seleka rebels who took over the country in March 2013 and have now been virtually overthrown by the next set of rebels - the Anti Balaka.It is all very confusing because we also have African Union Armed Forces and French soldiers who all shop at the same store and look pretty similar to me. The easiest way to tell the difference is if they drive stolen cars then it is likely they are rebels. Our Mercy Corps vehicle was car jacked 2 weeks ago and the Anti Balaka stole money and phones from our staff. If it hadn't been for the fact that they wanted to "borrow" the vehicle to take their wounded to hospital we may well have lost our pick up too.

Child Protection training

Another of our programs is child protection and this was a training for local kids to explain to them and the local community about their rights to education, safety and health. 

Zanzibar July 2013

Withdrawal symptoms from lack of ocean meant Zanzibar was a perfect location for R and R.  What a great place it made to do my PADI diving certificate!

Security Training

As you can imagine there have been some hairy moments in CAR. I arrived when the country was classed as a family posting and I had had no security training. Using common sense to duck at appropriate moments was the limit to my security knowledge. Mercy Corps arranged a great training with an interesting ex ........ guy (can't tell you or I'd have to kill you) and we learnt some good techniques especially for carrying injured personnel, avoiding an ambush and fixing a punctured lung. I am also now able to tell the difference between shooting n the air and targetted firing. Not sure I will be putting it on my cv though.

Zanzibar July 2013

Cairo March 2014

No I don't spend all my time on holiday but they do make the best photo locations. Flying to Cyprus from CAR meant 5 different flights so we popped out of the airport whilst in Cairo to check out these. Very Impressive but makes me think of Toblerones

Displaced camp Bangui Airport

Flying out from Bangui airport back to Bouar I took this picture out of th window. Due to the Anti Balaka and Seleka clashes and retaliation attacks there have been up to 150,000 people in this one camp. Apparently the number has now dropped to 70.000 but as the rainy season starts the health threats become more serious - told you holiday pics were better!!

Anti Balaka soldier

I was at a food distribution one day and this Anti Balaka rebel was hanging around asking if he and his "soldiers" could have some food. Try saying no to someone like this but we have to!!

Refugees

This child and her family are part of the Muslim population who have had to flee the country due to revenge attacks by the new "Christian" rebels against the former "Muslim" rebels.

Prefect of Boaur

Being white and female I sometimes end up doing important jobs such as presenting the Bouar Prefect with his leaving present. He was an excellent leader for Bouar during the rebel conflict in January when I and the Mercy Corps team spent 2 weeks in hibernation and he has been promoted to be a minister in the new Government

Phikardou Cyprus

Peace and tranquility in sunny Cyprus. I visited with Terri a friend from Mercy Corps and met up with my sister. How embarrassed was I when Terri and I were having a quiet drink on the terrace and a load of explosions and shots were let off. We certainly jumped. Apparently it was military practice, road mining and a military exercise at sea.  

Cyprus

So the end of my latest holiday has arrived. We are now in Cameroun on the return leg to CAR. Apparently the curfew is now at 9pm - about 1 month ago it was 6pm so that is a big improvement.

I hope you have enjoyed the update and have a bit of an understanding of what I am doing here. remember I always want to hear news from you guys as well.
Next update won't be too long!