Happy 2007 from the Hairy Canaries!

You are now about to read the ramblings of three Radelaideans currently pimpin´ out in the Hairy Canaries. :) :) :)

We just wanted to arse you a question, actually no we wanted to wish you a very merry new year. This time, we´re not drunk or stoned (yet), in fact we´re sadly sober in touristville, which would be Cala Blanca, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Espanol. Yeehar!

We are staying in a little town called Famara, which doesn´t have much to offer besides surfing, but is away from the tourist hordes, and hence perfect. Therefore, logically, we have been surfing (read trying our arses off, although we actually look the part which is good!), drinking, driving (not together, you might spill your beer!) and generally having a nice relaxing time enjoying some sun. Beats London any day.

Yesterday we invented a new form of experimental travel*: stalker travel. This is comprised of the following...

Observation: stupid tourists throwing rubbish out of their hire car window.

Hypothesis: f**king americans!!! (the theory posed by Goat Boy, questioned by Splacker, and supported by Fangio. A bet was made and the alternative travel method was born).

Apparatus: hire car, camera and bravado.

Method:

1. Follow said car until their first stop, approximately 45 minutes down the road.
2. Approach suspects with caution, yet optimism and intrigue.
3. Brandish camera and act like Japanese tourists, ie you are trying to take your own picture and require assistance. Choose a random, uninteresting backdrop.
4. Ask said suspects if they would kindly take the photo for you.
5. Make random conversation in order to determine their nationality. Subjects could include the weather, name of their pet, how much their hire car cost, and/or sexual orientation (all of these work wonders for determining nationality).

Results: The accent was clearly NOT American, to Goatboy´s eternal lament. They were from f*$&ing Sheffield. Bloody whinging poms!
Anyway. So that was our adventure yesterday. We rounded off the day with a delicious meal of local seafood...mmmmmmm.......seafoooooooood :)

Today after arising early to get in some surfing before having to return the wetsuits and boards, and finding that the surf was shite, we decided to hit the road (Jac) and cruise around. The island is easily navigable in one day, being so small, so its perfect. 60km long and 25 wide as a matter of fact. The island is really interesting, all volcanic and desolate and with the shiny white buildings and clear blue sea, it is an unusual and beautiful place of contrasts.

We are now about to embark upon a mission to determine the opening hours of Timanfaya National Park over New Years and then to hit the beach for some totally tubular and bodacious barrels dudes. Taste the burrito!

So after NYE we are heading to Morocco for a few more experimental travel adventures. We want suggestions, like Paris Hilton wants.....

Jac, Pange and Nath. :) :)

*Experimental travel: a concept where travel is not undertaken via the usual means, and the way in which sightseeing is undertaken is determined by a number of random factors. For more information, please consult www.lonelyplanet.com/experimentaltravel :)

101 things to do with millet, terrible travel woes and other stories

Mali was beautiful, I loved it, although after all the travel sagas I had I just hired a guide to take me around instead of my usual 'do everything myself'. it probably cost twice as much as if I did, but I was just so pissed off and tired and didn't want to have to think about organising anything!
I travelled from Bamako to the port town of Mopti and the island city of Djenne, which has the biggest mud mosque in the world. The mosque is really beautiful, an amazing structure that has to be re-rendered after each rainy season. Bamako is just a massive market, pretty crazy but still great. I really liked Mopti as well, the port is really busy and interesting. Spent a fez hours on canoes on the Niger River; the lifeblood of Mali. Then I did 5 days of trekking in Dogon country, which was amazing. Villages built into the cliff face, which runs for about 100kms. I made it as far as Nombori, not to Tomboctou though. The only bad thing was that my guide was totally in love with me and I had to fend him off the whole time!! arrrghh! Made life interesting... I apparently could have got a wedding ceremony in Djenne mosque by paying the Imam...not sure if it was really true but I almost said yes just to find out.

And I tried almst every variation of cooking there is using millet wheat which, along with onions in Dogon country, they grow everywhere; bread, pancakes, millet milk ... the list goes on ;)

...and then I thought the travel sagas couldn't get worse.....i got to paris airport about 24 hours earlier than I expected because my flight left at 1am from Bamako, so I tried to get on a flight to london a day earlier....they said yes because of delays to flights due to fog, but it meant I had to wait around in the airport...from 9:30 til 6pm, waiting waiting....no news, the British Airways staff deserted the desk so no-one knew what was going on...finally when they told us the flight would board at 6 I thought I would try and get my replacement ticket from the air france desk, but it meant I had to go outside the departure lounge, which meant that the announcements of boarding times didnt get broadcast so I didn't hear it....and then I got through all the paperwork to get the ticket and when I went to pay my card had no cash left.... ahh f*$%! so all that time spent at the desk; and then I couldn't get the ticket, and almost missed my flight to London! I was the last person to board.... but I luckily made it. Shit. it was so stressful! I fully bawled my eyes out on the plane. I am still recovering! but it is nice being with my family again for Xmas, it had been a long time since I saw them. Mum, Dad and Dan are embarking on some travels of their own around Britain and Europe. We are going out for my brother's 21st on Xmas Eve in town tomorrow night and also catching up with some good mates which will be great.

Leaving Liberia with a bout of gastro and another of bad luck.

Lets just say things have turned from awesome to scary, horrible and tiring all at the same time. I guess my holidays really have had it all, and they're not over yet.

I didn't really write much about my last few weeks in Liberia but they didn't go so well... a week or so before leaving I had my camera and phone stolen, which was so frustrating.

But I had three excellent final weeks in the field; my lovely boss Julie threw me an ICRC party with wicked food and drinks; and I organised a couple of great farewells. One was at my apartment, where I invited all my local friends, and the women from the market cooked up a wicked feast. The courtyard turned into a disco with great African music, it was a great night and a great celebration. My local friends really helped to make it a great send-off, even going to find massive speakers for me when my music plan failed. We really had the neighbourhood pumping!

I was very sad to leave, and am still missing the place.

But then the bad luck really started as I set off for what i was looking forward to most: holidays.

After my ICRC debrief in Geneva I got gastro from the first proper western meal outside of Liberia (makes a lot of sense!) and spent the whole night before my flight throwing up. So, with no sleep I proceeded to the airport with tickets in hand only to realise I didnt have my actual return ticket home, only the flights from Liberia to Geneva; this meant I missed my flight to Paris and had to fork out $600 for a one hour flight. I really hope my insurance comes through and I can recover my tickets when I get to Paris in a few weeks! I really desest that horrible moment where you realised that everything has just turned pear-shaped...

Let's just say things have been awesome, scary, horrible and tiring all at the same time. I guess my holidays really have had it all so far, and they've only just begun.

But I did manage to make the flight in Paris, so that was a good start. Unfortunately though, I had half my things taken from me as I only had a small backpack as hand luggage; the new security regulations limiting what liquids you can take on board most importantly meant I got my sunscreen taken away, and I got totally sunburnt as I couldnt find sunscreen anywhere in a country full of black people!

After sitting on the plane in Paris for a couple of hours they informed us that the weight restriction had been exceeded so we all trooped off to our hotel that the put us up in for the night and then had to come back the next day. We had to stop over for refueling in Agadir, Morocco to enable us to get to Bamako. So after a days delay I finally made it! Let the holiday begin. Phew.

Ghanaian adventures

I thought it was about time I wrote an entry, and considering I'm sitting in the airport trying to kill time while waiting to go to Harper, thought it the perfect opportunity ...

Ok, now I'm not there because as soon as I wrote that we had to go! Now I'm writing from Harper, just watched the Chelsea/Barcelona champions league game...no' ba-oh!

On Wednesday night, I came back from a week in Ghana. I met my sister Ange in Accra, and we had such a great time. I arrived the Wednesday before, and after hanging out in the swish lobby of the hotel that my boss was staying in for a few hours, returned to the airport to fetch Ange for the best reunion ever!

We stayed in Accra for a couple of days, waiting for Ange's lost luggage to arrive (bloody Alitalia airlines!). Checked out James Town, the slum part of Accra, which was a bit of an extreme compared to the leafy green wealthy suburbs. Accra is a low rise city with flash new buildings here and there amongst all the old ones. There is an old fort you can visit in James Town, where they used to keep slaves before sending them abroad. It's really run down, but they are trying to raise the $$ to revamp the place.

Speaking of $$, Ange and I felt very rich. $US1 = 10,000 cedis. So we withdrew massive wads of cash from the ATMs and banks, and proceeded to stage a slightly mad, money throwing event in our hotel room in such glee of being super-dooper-cashed-up. Fun! But we felt rather vulnerable carrying around so much cash though.

We went cruising around Ghana in tro- tro's (mini vans) and taxis, going west along the coast from Accra and checking out all the forts and castles. it was cool. We did some canoeing in mangroves and lounging on the beach at lovely little resorts. Very holiday-like I must say. We visited a big rock formation in the middle of the forest and then took another canoe trip down the river. We almost went all the way to the Cote d'Ivoire border, to a little village called Nzolezu, which is built on stilts out on a beautiful serene lagoon. We canoed there and then spent a few hours exploring. Beautiful.

My favourite place by far was a reasonably large town called Cape Coast, which has two forts overlooking the town, nice beaches (although as in many places they are toilets and rubbish dumps), a big fishing industry, and a massive castle, again used to house slaves before shipping them off to South America, Britain etc. We did a great tour of the town and also spent the night at the local establishments, learning how to dance West African style!

Ghana reminded me a lot of Liberia actually, and I thought that in ten or so years' time, Liberia could indeed look like Ghana. Same friendly people, beautiful forests and beaches (although the forests are a lot more decimated), similar scenery, nice fishing villages, but the main difference was the portuguese/english/dutch influence which you can see in all the buildings and of course, in the forts and castles along the way.

Rumble strips were everywhere... think judder bars or speed humps and you're on the right track. They were doing up the roads all along the coast, which was great to drive through all the road works (ha!) but it was a wonderful sight for me, and driving on nice, smooth paved roads was a real novelty! No massive potholes like I'm used to. And street lights....wow!

We visited the arts centre in Accra on our return, which is the only place you can buy Ghanaian crafts, so the place was hassle central! Got ripped off, but hey, these things happen. We also met 3 nice (and nice looking!) young guys at our hostel who were professional tennis players, so we went to the Accra international mens tennis tournament and watched them play for a couple of hours on our last day. One was Tunisian, one Moroccan and one Egyptian, so North Africa was well represented! The Egyptian guy knocked off the only Aussie in the tournament, so a black mark for him :(

So overall we had a great trip. I think it was a good intro to Africa for Ange, and we had heaps of fun. My 2,130 marriage proposals from Ghanaian men, including 2 policemen at one checkpoint, was a bit of an ego boost for me! hehe...I think it was the combination of white woman (=$$$) with african hair.... kinda amusing.

...and did I mention that it was totally great to see my little sister.

And now that I'm back, onto other news...Friday night I went to a university ball with a Liberian friend of mine, it was for his student council, they swore them in that day then had a party at night. I got to dress up and look totally hot! I was the only white person there, and that made it more cool!

Halloween being now, I also dressed up as the grim reaper on saturday night for a halloween party. The costume was great, pity the party was shit! Stupid US Embassy people.

Anyway, that's about all the news from here. Things are ok, although I am getting kinda sad at the prospect of leaving this place. Pretty excited at the prospect of being at home again soon though.

Are things on the improve in Monrovia?

Yo mornin! How everyting?

Ok back to proper (Australian) English ... hehe! Work/life is going well. I am sitting in the Roberts International Airport (well the domestic terminal, because the domestic airport isn’t operational yet), watching the BBC Food channel (such a weird thing to be doing in Monrovia) and waiting to go to Voinjama. I'm staying there til Friday. In a couple of weeks we have a WatHab workshop in Monrovia, where all of our WatHab staff (expats and Liberian) will come down for a big pow-wow on Saturday and Monday, so it will be good to have everyone together.

I spent two weeks in Harper recently, working with my hygiene promoters in the field and supervising their activities. I think I wrote to you about the adventures of Jacqui FC. Hehe!! Just before I left, my colleague and good mate Solange and I took a canoe ride in the estuary there, which was great fun. One of our security guards and his friend Frances took us out in their wooden canoe. The estuary is beautiful, as is watching the fishing boats come in, their patched-together sails taught against the breeze.

We had a big party on the weekend here in MON. It was a farewell for a Lebanese friend of mine who has been working for the UN, and is now going to the Democratic Republic of Congo to set up things for the elections there. It was a big party, about 100 people, we danced all night, drank lots of Red Bull and got home at who knows what time … I am still recovering! Not to mention I didn’t sleep well last night, I think my Larium malaria drugs are screwing with my brain, because I thought I had ants in my bed, or maybe they were fleas, but it felt like I spent the whole night trying to kill the little buggers. None there this morning, and this has happened to me once before, so I’m guessing it was just a dream. Doesn’t help my lack of sleep though!

Monrovia is such a contrast to our offices in Harper and Voinjama. Lots more people and services, lots more to do, always a party on, but I actually prefer to be outside of the city. It’s a bit of a depressing place; not so nice to look at. Buildings decaying, paint fading, lightposts full of bullet holes, and they recently chopped down all the beautiful flame trees in my street to ‘plant the poles’ as they call putting in the new street lights.

The most worrying thing at the moment is that there is a high crime rate; people are desperately poor, the National Police Force is totally ineffective, and the UN peacekeepers don’t really seem to be doing anything except sitting on their arses at the checkpoints (although to their credit I saw a night patrol recently). I’m not sure how much they are supposed to get involved in curbing crime, but they’re not doing enough. So there are lots of rapes, carjackings, break-ins, robberies and other petty crime. Some targeted at expats, but mostly against locals. Luckily we have a good reputation (and big cars) so we are generally ok. Some of it is apparently perpetrated by ex-combatants, but also it is just people desperate to get money.

The Minister of Justice recently encouraged people to form vigilante groups, or neighbourhood watches, which is all well and good if people are truly watching out for each other and detaining the perpetrators properly before the police take them. I think it is working well in some communities; I have spoken to people who are going to community meetings and receiving training in how to deal with the perpetrators. But in many cases, things get out of control when they take things into their own hands; often the perpetrators are beaten to a pulp before the police get there and take people to the hospital (and they take forever, so mostly the people just die before that happens; plus if they are not beaten by the locals, when the police take them to the station, they do the job there), or their bodies are thrown into the river. Last week I saw a body floating along by the bridge. It's really not a nice thing to see. It makes you scared about the security situation, but its just a part of life here. Life is not highly valued, there are a lot of scars remaining from the war and things are only slowly starting to recover.

But you can see some things changing for the better. More and more of the city is getting street lights, there are more cars on the road, the Liberian Water and Sewer Co. are beginning to fix the drainage, in a few places roads are starting to be repaired (although the rain spoils them just as quickly!), the water treatment plant will apparently improve from 20% capacity to 60% by the end of the year (but I’m not holding my breath) etc etc. In that respect its positive. But a lot of people are becoming frustrated with the government, who I think is almost as corrupt as they were before, even though they started positively. It’s a mammoth task to rebuild a country, and there is a miniscule budget compared to what’s needed, but Ellen needs to spend more time in Liberia getting things done than going on soirees with leaders overseas (although she has secured some good funding for country rebuilding). Also there is a real focus on Monrovia, and the people in the counties are feeling neglected. There are many signs of things deteriorating in the same way it happened before. I really hope the UN stays and keeps the peace over the long term, because if they pull out too quickly things will potentially degenerate again. This would be a total shame. The people here have suffered enough.

Anyway enough about that. It’s too depressing! Did I mention I have been here for 6 months now? Only 3 months to go. I am already looking forward to my end of mission, and even though it would be good to extend my mission and continue working here, there is a lot I want to do. Like spend Xmas with the family in London, and travel a bit in Africa. And of course, get home. I am however hoping to be able to organize for the dates of my debriefings in Geneva and Melbourne to be pushed out so I can travel in northern Africa, and meet up with Matt in mid January. I’m almost more excited about what I want to do after my time here, than what I want to do while I’m here! Still, life and work goes on and there is always plenty to do.

What else can I write? Well we have had more plane dramas. Our usual plane, which is usually plagued with mechanical problems, had yet another one a few weeks ago when it landed in Zwedru….a judgement error caused one of the plane's wheels to land off the edge of the runway, causing one wing to dip down and the propeller to hit the ground. One of the blades sheared off and apparently ripped through into the cabin. Luckily no-one was injured! So now our plane is grounded (again) in Zwedru, and we had to get another one in. Only problem is, its just a single engine plane, so a lot of people are worried about taking it! Doesn't worry me at all. And because its so small and can't carry much fuel, or refuel outside of Monrovia, it has to do 2 separate flights to get around to all of our offices. So things are always complicated with this machine!!!! Bloody thing. The roads are too bad to drive many places, in fact just coming from the airstrip here in Voinjama (so I can now finish this email!) we drove through 2 big mud spots that luckily were passable because it hasn't rained today :) Anyway, its all good.

I am living all alone in a big house at the moment. It’s supposed to house 8, and I am the only one upstairs. Downstairs our South African pilots and our database manager stay there, but they are hardly there. I have the whole top floor to myself! At least I can wander around in my underwear if I like. I get guests every now and then, and I was very happy yesterday to sit down at the dinner table with 2 kiwis and a Brit who was previously working in Australia, and enjoy a nice steak dinner with potatoes, carrots, apple sauce (it’s a kiwi thing, they apparently don’t do the gravy!) and a nice bottle of wine. WOW! This is a rare treat :)

Our new WatHab delegate for Harper arrived yesterday, she is a Malaysian-born Kiwi called Bernice, who is replacing the Swiss delegate (she almost epitomizes the Swiss stereotype; they locals have nicknamed her the Iron Lady). I am looking forward to working with Bernice; she is the same age as me, much more approachable and friendly, and more positive about everything than her predecessor. First mission for ICRC too. That means that not only will working in Harper be a lot easier, but now in the WatHab team we have Mike, myself and Bernice, all Kiwis/Aussies, and our boss Julie is a Canadian. So working should be a lot easier (ie no Swiss)! I am going to Harper at the end of September to begin/supervise a program of Hygiene Promotion workshops with my field officers, that will run until the end of the year (although I'm not staying there that whole time). So that should be good.

Lucky last piece of news…I have planned my next holiday: Ghana. A couple of new flights have opened up with Air Senegal to Dakar and to Accra, and we are actually allowed to take this airline (woohoo!), so it gives us a few more options for our week of compensation leave. And it’s a lot cheaper to go there than to fly to Europe, like we used to have to. So Ghana here I come, mid October. Anyone want to join?!

... and the winner is ... soccer!

I participated in my first ever soccer game on sunday. It was so much fun, and we even won 2 - 0.

But back to the beginning of the story. I am in Harper at the moment, and have just come back from a yummy grilled fish dinner down at the port 'restaurant' for our new delegate's arrival, and the departure of my good friend Solange and our head of sub-delegation Jan (who will now be based in Monrovia). So a leaky roof aside (it has been pissing down all night) and a sprint back to the residence in the rain, but some good French company for dinner from our good friends from Solidarites (another water/sanitation NGO), we had a few beers and a good night.

I spent the last 2 weeks in the field in the county of Grand Kru, working with my Field OFficer, two hygiene promotion contractors, and our 4 Liberian Red Cross National Society volunteeers. I have been accompanying them and participating in their activities where they run hygiene promotion sessions with the community and meet with the water committees that manage (or are supposed to!) the pumps we build in their communities. Not always successful, but the idea is that in the long term they need to be able to manage the infrastructure themselves and not rely on ICRC when a little rubber seal breaks inside their pump, because they don't know how to fix it.

I really enjoyed my time in the field, it was great to get out in the countryside and be involved in the field activities we do. Its very depressing and unmotivating being stuck in the office in Monrovia.

Ok back to soccer now. A Liberian friend of mine, Roland, one of our security guards, has been trying to start a football club for a while now, and he approached me to be the sponsor. So, I agreed, this being a good cause - I can contribute to something beneficial for a heap of kids! As sponsor I agreed to buy them one set of uniforms for the junior team, and they have to put the money together for the senior team, both of which I would organise from Monrovia. So I went and bought the first set of blue and yellow jerseys, and sent them to Harper, only to find on my return visit that they had named themselves "Jacqui Football Club", come up with a logo, and printed it on all their jerseys, not to mention the JFC t-shirts with my name blazened across the front. Hilarious.

And so I went to watch them play their first game in uniform two sundays ago. And, perhaps buoyed by my presence (actuallly I think it was the jerseys... yes, that is definitely the reason! I think their awesome coordinated presence was a bit intimidating for the opposition!) they managed to kick ass and win 5-0.

And then I also discovered that an ICRC soccer team had been in training for the past few weeks in order to take on a challenge from the CivPol crew who also had assembled team. Not only this, but I was told on my return from the field (the day before the game) that I would be required to participate in this illustrious match, because CivPol would not play unless we had equal female representation on the field. Not withstanding the fact that I have never played soccer in my life, and don't even know all the rules, I agreed to play. I've been telling myself I should learn to play while I'm here anyway.

So we rocked up to the 'stadium' (use this word tentatively... it's a dusty field with a broken down grandstand in the middle of nowhere) to play, and about an hour after we were supposed to start the match, they turned up and we actually did start (a good illustration of 'Africa time'). None of their females turned up, and our security guard Patience and I were the only participating females, but we didn't care. We just wanted to play.

We had also had trouble finding some soccer jerseys...so Jacqui FC to the rescue! It was quite hilarious to be part of a team with my name on the front. I managed to be on the field for about 25 minutes, not bad considering we had about 2 1/2 teams worth of players. While the ball tended to be on the other wing for most of the time, I was still able to get in there and have a go. Let's just say I was crap, but had a blast, and leave it there :)

We even managed to score 2 goals, and beat the CivPol team who were spearheaded by a Yankee with the unfortunate but VERY appropriate name of Philip Schmucker (and true to his name, he was an absolute schmuck!). So sticking the boot into him was extremely satisfying, and not dampened at all by the fact that afterwards he claimed that we cheated because we had too many more local players than expats (difficult to avoid considering there are only 4 ICRC expats living permanently here, plus a couple of ring-ins like myself!). So all in all, it was a great day, not to mention a good team building exercise that has been talked about all week at the compound.

Tomorrow after work, Solange and I will be taking a canoe trip up the river here, to check out the mangroves and the general river environment. Harper is so beautiful and I am trying to see more of it. By canoe sounds even better!

I am looking forward to the weekend as Solange will be staying with me in Monrovia. Together with a couple of other expats we have lots of plans including a cocktail night, 8-ball, a little road trip to Buchanan, shopping in the market and downtown (we REALLY need to eat some salad after a diet of rice, pasta, pineapple, cucumbers, tinned tomatoes and palm oil here in Harper - our cook is trying hard but the fresh produce available here is very limited to, well, rice, pineapple, palm oil and cucumbers).

In April in Zwedru, the poor UN had a plane crash. The plane went off the edge of the runway and, as a result of its wheels becoming broken and causing the plane to become unbalanced, one of its wing tips got totally ripped off. Kinda paints an accurate picture of the difficulties of travelling in Liberia! The roads are so shite that planes are essential for our movements around the country.

Speaking of plane crashes, our RED plane had its own altercation last week, where it landed, not so spectacularly, in Zwedru (I think that place is cursed!) and the propellor hit the ground, wrenching one of the blades off which sheared the front end of the cabin (luckily no-one was hurt!). The engine got severely damaged and now we have no plane, and so are relying on the UN plane (a non-broken one) to ferry us around. I was supposed to leave for Monrovia yesterday but because of the plane situation I am waiting til Friday. Apparently we have a scary, one-engine plane coming to shuttle us around, but I don't like the sound of that. Ahhh ... life in Liberia!

Brainwashing in Nyeri; Hippos in Lake Naivasha; and beautiful Mount Kenya.

Jambo!

How are you all? I hope all is well. Thought it was time to make you a bit jealous of the fun I've been having over the past few weeks. I've just come back to earth (literally) after my 3 weeks in Kenya, during which I had a great week's holiday.

I got to watch the world cup final in the Roberts International Airport terminal (hooray!) but at least I had 3 other ICRC buddies to join me, and they also made the flight to Brussels fun. It's kinda crap to have to fly to Europe just to get to Kenya, but it's because our little ICRC plane is unreliable and can't be trusted to get to Freetown where I would normally be able to fly directly to Nairobi. Sigh. So, instead of around five hours on the plane, its more like 15. d'oh!

The first couple of weeks of my time in Kenya I spent on an ICRC Field Integration Course. This is a course to which we are sent in order to better understand the role and functions of ICRC – how and why we do what we do. It's also known as the brainwashing course, for good reason! 10 days of 8am – 7pm of ICRC ICRC ICRC. We covered the activities of all of the ICRC departments, security issues, mandate and principles, finance, International Humanitarian Law, and participated in lots of role plays and group exercises in order to better understand the workings of ICRC. We were arranged into four groups made up of people working right across Africa – Ethiopia, Liberia, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia. We even had a token Yankee visiting from Washington J. It was a really multicultural group, and I especially enjoyed it because the expats were the minority – of a group of around 25 there were only about 4 or 5 of us, and the rest were national staff. Everyone, including the facilitators, was great fun!

The course was held in the town of Nyeri, in central Kenya. Our hotel was quite luxurious compared to Monrovia! It was an old British manor set in beautiful gardens just outside of Nyeri – it didn't even seem like we were in Africa, apart from the massive hornbills and ibis flying/running around and the Kikuyu tribal dancers that appeared every lunchtime to put on a show for tourists. During our time there we managed to fit in quite a few beers at the nearby tavern, some games of tennis and soccer, and a river walk (including a visit to a mystical tree that apparently changes your sex if you walk around it 7 times…I tried but my colleagues wanted me to stay as I am…makes you wonder! hehe!).

Once we had completed the course we travelled back to Nairobi. I spent a night in a hotel there as did almost everyone from the course, so the fun continued! We managed to fit in some shopping at the Masaai markets and dinner together, which was a nice way to finish before people flew home. A girl that works for ICRC in Nairobi offered to put me up for a few days, which was great. We have a mutual friend who previously worked here in Liberia. Nice to have a 'local' to show me around. Anna Maria and I went out for leisurely lunches and dinners, more shopping, cruised around town in matatus (taxi buses), and watched girly movies. It was great to do some 'normal' things again.

On Sunday, Anna Maria, two other friends and I set off for Naivasha in central Kenya. We travelled through the Rift Valley (beautiful scenery; it's the breadbasket of Kenya) to Lake Naivasha, where we visited Crescent Island, a private property owned by an English woman. They filmed some of "Out of Africa" there and so they stocked the island with lots of animals, which are now managed on the property. We spent the day wandering around the island, checking out the antelope, giraffes, zebra, wildebeest, hippos and pelicans. It was a great environment to just be a part of, and the scenery was beautiful. We took a boat ride at the end of the day from the Lake Naivasha Country Club to see the hippos more closely. A quick meal and drink at the end to finish off, and it was all gratis. Sweet. It's always good to know people who know people.

Then, the best part of my trip: four days of trekking in Mt Kenya National Park.

AND:

I came, I saw and I conquered that mountain! The highest point that trekkers can go (ie without mountaineering/rock climbing gear) is Point Lenana, at 4985m (the bastion is a lot higher and scarier!). So, with my guide Chris and porter Joseph in tow, I set off on Monday afternoon on the Sirimon route. The scenery was absolutely beautiful, with long sloping misty valleys, rocky outcrops, strange succulent-like plants, and mountain streams. The journey was almost completely quiet apart from the sound of your feet crunching on the stones. Wildlife was almost absent, apart from a few species of birds and some cute little critters called Rock Hyrax (that looked a bit like giant hamsters!). Well actually, I thought they were cute until I tried to give one of them a bit of my biscuit, and the little bastard tried to bite me.

There are mountain huts along the way in which you can stay, so you don't need to take a tent (although you can if you want to lug one up a mountain). It was really nice to have someone to carry all the food and cooking gear, and to serve up hot meals and cups of tea! The nights were bloody freezing, and so I was wearing all of the clothes I packed while sleeping in the huts. They didn't have fires in the huts (you can't take wood from the park) so hot drinks, beanies and hot waterbottles were in order. My toes felt like they were missing for most of the trip.

Unfortunately it seemed that it was peak noisy-English-schoolkids-outdoor-ed-camp season, and they filled the huts each night. At least they were having fun. For the rest of us it was nice to meet people from all around the world. I got to know an Aussie and Kiwi best, who were travelling together and maintained the same pace as me.

It wasn't tough going until the actual ascent up the peak; the first day was three hours of trudging through the rain (although spotting elephants made it worthwhile), the second day was 6 hours to Shipton's Camp, which is right under the mountain. I spent the third day there to acclimatise for the climb. I'm glad I did, because some people attempted it early the next day straight after arriving, got altitude sickness, and had to come back down the mountain. It was also a beautiful place to hang out and absorb the scenery. I took a climb up the mountain to a saddle and could look down on another valley which had two Tarn Lakes, and there are also some glaciers on the mountain you can view from above.

The fourth day was the toughest. Arising at 3am, head torches ready to go, 6 of us (4 Dutch guys and a pommy gal), plus our guides, set off up the mountain. It was a 3 hour slog up some steep, slippery, rocky terrain (and I'm glad I couldn't see how close I was to the edge), but totally worth it when we reached the summit to see the sunrise. It was absolutely beautiful to see the light fall on the peaks jutting out around us from a sea of cloud, and to see the changing colours of the rocks as the sun rose. There was also a huge glacier that we looked down upon from our lofty perch.

It was about four hours walking back down the other side, to the Mintos campsite, where I had a much-needed breakfast and sleep in the sun! We took the Chogoria route, which is longer but very scenic; beautiful deep valleys carved out by rivers, with proteas and other wildflowers abundant along the ridge which the track follows. There had recently been a fire come through, but the vigorous regrowth of the wildflowers provided a beautiful contrast with the black stalks of the proteas. It was 6 hours of walking the Chogoria route until we reached the bandas (huts) at the campsite, where we had an awesome warm log fire...

Unfortunately the last day's walk proved to be a long, wet and muddy one back to the National Park gate. The track, navigable by vehicles, was thick with red, sticky clay, 10km of which which we trudged through for 4 hours until we reached the waiting troupie. I managed to stack it twice, good work Jac! My guides were quite amused. My Aussie and Kiwi mates were there waiting for us – their original plan to walk the 30km back to the gate was foiled by the rain and mud! Chains on the wheels were a great help for the troopy J. We were transported to the town of Chogoria and then by taxi back to Nairobi. I was totally buggered afterwards…Friday night was spent definitely crashed out on Anna Maria's couch.

I had all of Saturday to do some last minute sightseeing and shopping in Nairobi, and had a nice dinner with Anna Maria and my Kenyan mate Robin before heading to the airport. It was a really enjoyable, although exhausting, 3 weeks in Kenya.

I'm writing this having only been back for one day, and tomorrow I fly to Voinjama to spend a week following up on the WatHab assessment that I arranged before I jetted off to Kenya. A few interesting things have been happening here since I left; some parts of Monrovia actually now have street lights (it was one of Ellen's presidential campaign promises, and although they chopped down a lot of the street trees (sigh!) and the lights are running on generators, the upside is that you can see when you're driving). The government is also working on repairing the hydroelectric plant, so hopefully they soon won't be using megalitres of fuel to light the city.

There was also a fire in the presidential palace on Independence Day (26^th July) – and there is a UN investigation happening as we speak.

So, lala salaam ('good night' in Kikuyu). Kwaheri!

Airport, boring!

I'm currently sitting in Brussels Airport trying to kill the six hour stopover ...blah... but at least I'm on my way to Kenya.

I can't wait for my workshop to finish so I can have a week's holiday. Shopping in the markets, climbing Mount Kenya, checking out Nairobi... ahh I love it! It will be a nice change from Liberia.

I'm a bit weirded out just from being back in civilisation here in the airport - everything is too shiny! It's a strange feeling after being in Liberia, which is a lot more rough around the edges.

We sat in the airport terminal last night and watched the world cup final on the tiny, fuzzy tv set...hehe! Unfortunately we didn't get to see any of the penalties (we had to get on the bloody plane, d'oh!) but I bet it was exciting. I must say that I am rather annoyed that Italy won. They are such drama queens.

Well, my internet time is out. Must go.
Take it easy-oh!

Traffic jams and Kofi Annan

how da body? Greetings from Liberia. I begin my latest entry with a story of a traffic jam extending all the way from Capitol Hill, where the UN headquarters is, down into the city. I think Kofi Annan caused more trouble than he realised when he arrived in Monrovia yesterday. I sat in traffic for almost 2 hours. Not really what you expect from a city of 1.5 million people; in fact it is the first traffic jam that I have ever been stuck in. So, intelligently as all governments are, they blocked off access to the UN building, forcing all the cars into gridlock and a snail's pace along the only other route, a parallel side road (which is really a potholed, dirt track). The main problem is that there is really only one main route from Bushrod Island, where our delegation is, to Sinkor, the part of town in which I live.

The layout of the city is restricted by the big estuary here and is elongated along the coast, a bit like Adelaide really. Monrovia was built on a swamp; I really don't know why (well actually I do, it's to do with the location of the port) but it seems to be a really bad site choice to me, especially as it means that half the city gets flooded in the rainy season and malaria is rife. Anyway, I could think of plenty of better ways to spend my time than sitting in the car for two hours. If only I had a passenger to take over the driving, as I would have joined everyone else and walked home.

I have spent the last 4 weeks in Voinjama, which has been great as it has been a good amount of time to become familiar Lofa county and the work of the WatHab team. I spent a lot of time in the field meeting with communities and learning about their needs and the operation and construction of our hand pumps, latrines and health clinics. I also interviewed and recruited two hygiene promoters and introduced them to our program in Lofa. We planned an assessment of the communities in which we work, both technical and social, in order to help plan our activities over the next couple of years.

The Voinjama delegation office and residence are the same building, and while it's a bit depressing to live where you work, it also means you get to know everyone there a lot better (and you can sleep in!). The expats there are good fun and like to get out and do plenty plenty things (I love Liberian English, just quietly), and because Voinjama is a small place, all the expats from different NGOs know each other well.

We took some good walks on weekends: to the top of Tennebuh hill, near the airstrip; to the Pakbatt hill to watch the sunset; and to a nearby village called Betejama, in order to climb the biggest hill in the area of the same name. Unfortunately it's almost impossible to climb and is also a sacred place, so we decided against it and walked through the forest to the next village, Lawalazu, instead. We also spent many nights drinking club beer on the terrace of 'Sweet Africa', one of the local watering holes, which is also a good place to watch the traffic (most of it clapped out old taxis or NGO vehicles) go by.

The World Cup has also been fun here. In Voinjama many ICRC people and some of the other NGOs are French speaking, so there has been strong support for France. We watched a couple of games down at the local video club, especially the Australia v Brazil game, and the atmosphere is great. I would say that 99% of Liberians follow Brazil (they always barrack for the best team, no matter what sport!), so apart from myself and Corey (my American companion) and one other Liberian in the club, everyone was barracking for Brazil! So it was a bit one sided, and Corey and I were the only tubabu (white people) there, but it was still fun. On Saturday night here in Monrovia I watched the France v Brazil game at an old cinema near our residence, which no longer operates (it's just a bullet hole-pocked shell) but still has the fold-down seats inside. Someone managed to find a projector and screen and set up a temporary video club there. I think they would be making a bit of money!

We also had a farewell party for our administrator Quentin and protection delegate Nicole while I was in Voinjama. It was an African-themed party, and everyone made a great effort to get dressed up.
So I have been back in Monrovia now since Wednesday. When I got back I moved house¡K well I moved from downstairs to upstairs, which is a much nicer apartment, especially as you can see past the bleak, grey concrete wall with its delightful barbed wire adornment. And we also have a cat, called Figaro. He's a bit crazy but fun to have around. At the moment Nicole is living with me, but the other two rooms are free. She finishes her mission on Sunday, so I will be the only person left in the apartment!

However on Sunday I shall also be flying out of the country, to go to Nairobi. So maybe I will have some new housemates when I return. The reason I am going to Kenya is because I have been booked on an ICRC Integration Course (all employees do this course at some stage in their employment with ICRC). It's also known as the "brainwashing course". So it should be interesting: 9 days with ICRC staff, both local and expats, from the West Africa region. It will be held in the town of Nyeri, which is just north of Nairobi.
Then, I have my first compensation -1 week's holiday. Yay! (we get one every 3 months, although I have been here for 4 already).

So, the plan is: climb Mount Kenya. I have organised a guide for the five day trek, and now have to scrounge to borrow hiking gear from people. I also need to take some winter woollies, because it's really cold there at the moment, let alone at 4880m above the ground!! Bring on the challenge!

Life in Voinjama

I am enjoying Voinjama. I will have been here almost one month by the time I leave on Tuesday, how time flies. It's better than being in the 'big' city; this place is just a town, and I get to go out in the field a lot. All the people here are great, many of them are young (we just got two new young staff) and like to get out and do things. We had a farewell party for our administrator Quentin and protection boss Nicole, the latter who will be living with me in Monrovia. Today the new administrator arrived so we took him for a beer. The party was cool fun, it was an African theme so I got an Liberian dress made and got my hair plaited. I took the plaits out yesterday because they were driving me mad, although I enjoyed having long hair again, even if only for a week!

 

We had our new WatHab boss start with us in Voinjama last week, Mike, who's a geologist so is always picking up interesting bits of rock from anywhere he can find them! The field officers have a lot of respect for him already; I think much of it is to do with age. Older men here get called 'papie' here (older women 'oma') as a sign of respect, and it didn't take long for the field officers to give him that name! They are really interested in learning from him so I think they will work well as a team.

 

We have just hired two new hygiene promotion field officers too, and I have needed to stay longer to interview & recruit them and to brief them about the program. It will be a new experience managing some staff. We have also hired two hygiene promoters in Harper, so more things to do! I need to go back there again to check on the progress of my program and to meet them.

 

But on Friday I will hopefully be flying to Nairobi for one week's R&R. Currently I'm on the SN Brussels flight waiting list, so I'm keen to know if I fly or not. Hopefully it will be confirmed, because two ICRC people, one Aussie and one Kenyan, will also be there the weekend I arrive so we can party together! If not, I will be flying on the 9th July and will do my course followed by my week's break. This option is good work-wise as it will give me time to get to Harper, meet the new field officers, brief them on the program and check out what's happening. either way it will be good to get away from Liberia for a while, as while I'm enjoying it, it is quite tiring and a break will be nice. Now I just have to remember how to relax and decide what I'm going to do! Maybe a safari or cruise around some National Parks.

 

I need to learn some French in order to better communicate here, there are so many french speakers and particularly here in Voinjama, being close to the Guinean border, many locals speak french. Although maybe I should polish up my Mandingo, Kpelle, Kissi or Lorma ... it is a real mix of people here, which makes the town even more interesting. I got given a Kissi name when I visited a village called Mandikoma last week: Kumba, which means second female child in Kissi (this is because Julie, my boss, got the elder name of Sia. Mike got Sah, which is the name for the eldest male child. hehe... it was great fun. they even provided us with lunch, and it was great to share a meal with the villagers).

 

Voinjama has a resident horse that apparently used to belong to Charles Taylor. It is a big, white, grumpy bugger that doesn't belong to anyone but is fed by the locals wherever it goes. It needs a bit of TLC though, a good brush, scrub and haircut. Mike has already decided he's going to try and tame it! It's kinda strange seeing a horse just wandering around the town, in behind all the shops or near the clinic.

 

I'm missing the footy, and hearing that the crows are on top of the ladder makes me want to see a game! Although am loving the world cup here, espcially as we have pay tv we can watch the games, and they're on at a reasonable time too. It's more fun to go down to the local video club to watch though, and hang out with the locals. for the brazil v oz game, a yankee chick and i were the only tubabu's (white men) in there, and only two of three people barracking for oz! Good fun though, and great atmosphere. cool that we pulled off the draw against the croats, final 16 here we come! Don't know much about Italy's team, but it will be an interesting game nonetheless.

 

This morning my aussie mate Noela and I got up at 6 and took our cameras for a bit of a photography session. It was great wandering around at that time of day and we got some beautiful pictures. I've been a bit snap happy here, and have some great images. I also got my hands on a cd of images we had taken for ICRC by a professional photographer, which show the range of activities that ICRC undertakes in Liberia.  They are all great quality, high res, beautiful pics and I will definitely be able to decorate my next living space (wherever that may be!) with some awesome shots of this amazing country.

Work and Play in Lofa, Grand Kru and Monrovia

Today is a public holiday in Liberia, Reunification Day, so I'm very happily bashing away on my laptop with my music on. We even have Pay TV here; a big luxury. I was surprised when I arrived to see this. The main thing it's good for is keeping up with world news, but it also has other benefits…so I also have the cricket on – England vs Sri Lanka!

I have been in the field for the last 2 weeks, and just came back yesterday. I went to Grand Kru county, a small coastal county in the south-east. Harper is our base in the neighbouring county of Maryland. The purpose of my trip was to do some hygiene promotion training and also to observe some health education training in the town of Garraway. Our health team train community health educators at each of the regional health clinics (which, incidentally, our WatHab program is responsible for building), whose role is to spread general health messages to the communities in which they live. The health training also covers some hygiene topics, which is the link between our programs. My hygiene promotion program involves training ICRC and Liberian Red Cross field officers, who then train community hygiene promoters. These hygiene promoters are members of community water committees responsible for the management and maintenance of the hand pumps and latrines that ICRC build. So I went along to observe the health training before undertaking my own program of training, to see how they do it and to make sure the messages are consistent between the two programs.

The training was in a coastal town called Grand Cess. It's a beautiful place but the people are still very poor and have a lack of knowledge of many issues including hygiene (ie people still take a dump on the beach instead of using the latrines we build them, even if its further to walk!). I held a workshop over three days, with community meetings at night for the field officers to test what they have learnt during the day. The first meeting wasn't too successful because the field officers didn't have a good enough idea or skills of how to run a meeting, but after the second day and some more focused sessions on running a community meeting, the second meeting was great. About 50 adults and kids attended, and one of the field officers translated the messages into Kru, the local dialect. This was particularly important for the kids and the women to be involved. Unfortunately it is difficult to involve the women because by the time they return from working in the fields, cook their family's dinner, clean the house, wash the kids and themselves, its about 8 or 9 at night. While the men work hard here, they don't work half as hard as the women do! Often they are sitting around and are therefore most available for community meetings. Involving the women in hygiene education is particularly important because they are almost solely responsible for any activities involving hygiene. Anyway, involving the kids in the meeting was also important, but they also made the meeting fun and could answer a lot of the questions better than the adults! We taught them a hand washing song which went down a treat, especially when we got the kids to translate it into Kru. So overall the meeting was a success.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to complete the third day of my training on Thursday. The ICRC expat with which I was supposed to be travelling back to Harper was ill and didn't come to Grand Kru, so his assistant came instead and wanted to leave early on Thursday morning. Because we didn't want to risk missing the plane on Friday, which arrives around midday, I left with the assistant. I was very disappointed because it meant I had to leave the training before it had finished, so I didn't get to complete it, go to the third community meeting, or do any evaluation of its success (or otherwise!). So this week I will evaluate it based on feedback from the delegate and field officers, for development and implementation in Lofa county.

Voinjama is the capital of Lofa, and I go there again next week. It will be interesting to see how to apply the hygiene promotion program here because the context is very different. Lofa is a large county that was greatly affected by the war, has a huge number of NGOs working in it, many of them also building wells and pumps, and thousands of displaced people returning from neighbouring countries to rebuild their homes and lives. Many of them have been living in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps where they had many things provided for them and the general attitude there seems to be that the NGOs and ICRC will provide everything for them for little or no input from them. Compared this to Grand Kru; a small coastal county which was largely unaffected by the war, only a few hundred displaced people and no other NGOs working there besides ICRC. The people here are more willing to participate in the sustainability of their villages and are not used to having everything provided for them. Given the scale and context, I think Grand Kru will be easier and more successful to implement responsibility and get input from communities for their water infrastructure. Lofa will be a very interesting exercise! So I'm keen to see how it will work, as well as being a bit apprehensive.

And then the travel sagas associated with Harper continue. After leaving Grand Cess on Thursday and travelling to Harper (a 4 hour journey), I found out that the plane had mechanical difficulties and was grounded in Freetown (Sierra Leone). So once again the plane didn't land in Harper. To avoid changing plans made a few weeks ago, and because the residence in Harper was full, we jumped in the land cruiser very early Friday morning for the first leg of a long journey back to Monrovia. 9 hours later and we arrived in Zwedru, our overnight stop. We even got to pull a van out of a big mudhole on the way. The roads are terrible already, and the rainy season hasn't even properly started yet! 11 hours of driving on Saturday and I was back in Monrovia. Nothing like taking the long route! So I'm happy it’s a public holiday today because I spent all of Saturday in the car. Thank goodness that the last 100km is paved road – although it has many potholes! Reaching 100km/h was a strange experience.

So enough about work. Since I wrote last I have been getting to know Monrovia better. I have spent a lot of time watching basketball down at the Sports Commission (the national stadium, which is really an open air concrete basketball court!), and going out to practice with a team that is already in the finals, and given I have been away in Harper, I won't get to play. In fact they play one of their finals today. The men's team I have been supporting, the Uhuru Kings, were put out of the finals but appealed against their loss because their opponents had an illegal player. So tonight they are replaying their last play-off game in a last-ditch attempt to make the finals. I really hope they win!

I have become familiar with the local market down the road which sells a lot of fish, peppers, potato greens, onions, salt, chili etc – all the local stuff you don't find in the supermarkets here. I have also become friends with two little girls and their mother that own a stall in the market, so each Saturday I go down there and hang out with them. They have invited me back to their house a few times and even cooked me lunch one day. I am going to learn how to cook proper Liberian food – which is basically potato greens and fish in palm oil sauce with rice. I have been living on it for the past two weeks in Grand Kru actually! I don't know how much more of it I can eat, but it’s the staple food for people here and while its very oily, its delicious.

While I was in Harper they opened a new nightclub called Black + White. The idea of a nightclub in a small place like Harper is quite amusing but it was a good club apart from the music being too slow…more for slow dancing than nightclubbing but maybe we were just there at the wrong time! The night we were there it was absolutely pissing down with rain, more water than I have ever seen falling out of the sky at once! The rainy season is here, and soon we will be experiencing lots of it on a regular basis. I have only seen it rain heavily once here in Monrovia, and it put the place into chaos; the street drainage system is clogged with rubbish so the water has nowhere to go, and many of the streets have huge potholes. Hence they turn into ginormous swimming pools.

There are lots of good places for entertainment here. The two main local clubs here in Monrovia are called Zanzibar and Pepper Bush. They're both quite good, although US$10 entry to Pepper Bush is a bit steep! There are many popular ex-pat hangouts, although I prefer going where the locals do. ICRC is quite an insular organisation, and people tend to just hang out with other expats. This is good, as I have met lots of great people, but it also means you don't really get to know Liberian life as well as you could.

So, I've been spending more time doing 'local' things, its more interesting and fun, and there's always someone to talk to. Unfortunately it also means you regularly get asked for money to pay for school fees or food, your phone number, marital status ...  For those that want to know, I am happily married in Australia with 2 kids.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon playing 8-ball in the Monte Carlo bar, which has a pokies room and big arcade games room. I was the only female in there, not to mention the only white person, but I would rather this than a room full of expats. Its funny what exists here, you just have to look to find it; many places aren't obvious. If I didn't get told about the basketball stadium I wouldn't have known it was there; there is also a cinema here and it shows only Bollywood films, which are great.

The Government recently evicted all of the market stalls from the Waterside market area because they are trying to clean up the city. Because the stalls were only temporary, people also weren't paying for the use of the land. Now they have to set up in designated areas, so hundreds of new wooden stands are being built. I can't wait until they are finished because shopping in the markets here is great. You can buy anything and everything and there's nothing like spending a Saturday morning rifling through clothes, shoes, and other stuff to find some good bargains. Just like op-shopping at home J

Stuck in Harper...

... life could be worse.

I have been in Harper, on the south eastern coast of Liberia, for the past week. It's been great; this place is beautiful. The town is built on a little peninsula that juts out into the sea, so we have beaches on both sides. The coastline looks just like the travel mags; palm trees swaying in the breeze, clear water, golden sand, black rocks dotting the beaches. Our residence looks out over a beautiful bay, and even has its own little beach. So in between working (and yes I have been, there's definitely not much play!), I've been spending most of my free time there with a book.

 

I was supposed to return to Monrovia today, but luckily for me, our plane (aptly named Red 607) wasn't able to land due to bad weather and rude UN helicopters landing when we were supposed to. Due to the safety rules, Red can't land unless the airstrip is totally clear, so they weren't able to stop here. Suits me! Another week here in paradise, away from the big bad city.

 

Harper is only a shell of its former self. It's a small place, but quite beautiful. Apparently before the war it was the playground of the rich and famous, and many of the buildings were obviously grand old holiday mansions. I really like it. It has five old churches, a bustling market and port, and fishing boats going in and out all day. There's even an old Morning Star Freemason's temple, the highest buliding here with its gothic columns and marble interior, and although it's abandoned and trashed, it has the best views of the place. It would have been amazingly beautiful in its time. From the balcony of our residence I can see two shipwrecks and the remains of a jetty.

 

Apart from our little beach I wouldn't swim here though. The current is really strong, and the massive waves are dumpers! Today I went for a walk on the beach with a work mate, and it sloped down to the water at 45 degrees for about 2-3 metres. The waves themselves were at least this high, and came in with massive force...you wouldn't last out there for more than about 1 minute. The little yellow crabs love it htough....they scurry into their holes on the sand when the waves come, and as soon as the water is gone they literally kick out the sand that's intruded into their homes and scurry out again. Over and over, all day long!!!

 

Speaking of dumping, unfortunately some sections of beach are pretty disgusting. Liberians don't know any better (or have any other systems or infrastructure) than to treat their beaches as toilets; ie, literally taking a crap on them. Yuck! In addition, there is always loads of rubbish washed up...old shoes, plastic, rubber, foam, driftwood, fishing line, bits of coconuts and palm trees.

 

But for the most part, the beaches here are beautiful. Too bad you can't swim at them (the clean ones, that is!).

First impressions of Liberia

Well, finally I made it to Africa! And what a place Liberia is.

 

I flew direct from Brussels, because Air Brussels is the only airline that fliesto Monrovia. The passengers are a mixture of UN peacekeepers (these particular guys were Swedish), NGO representatives (ie me and a UNICEF program assessor), weird American Christian missionaries, and Africans who have been living in America. We stopped in Dakar, Senegal, and 90% of people get off the plane. At this stage this worried me a bit. I wait for everyone to disembark, the plane to be cleaned, sprayed with disinfectant and refueled, while the air hostesses constantly tell everyone to keep in their seats. Out the window Dakar looks dry, dusty and polluted.

 

Then I took off again and head to Liberia, another 1:40 away. As we neared it, a beautiful emerald colour emerges on the horizon....and as it comes into view Liberia is a green, lush country, almost completely covered in forest, with little or no human habitation. It was a lot wetter than I imagined it to be after seeing Dakar. Amazing rivers make their way across the forest, just like you would imagine a snake sliding across a sand dune. As we get nearer to the capital, the forest turns into a patchwork of different forest cover types, and slash and burn farming becomes very evident as a primary land use...there are tiny flashes of orange down below as sections of forest are burned for later use as rubber and rice plantations. Roads dissect the landscape and fragment the habitat. More villages appear. Then the coastline does; it is a beautiful straight beach that forms a golden strip between blue and green, and the forest reaches right to its edges. We flew out over the ocean and turn around to fly into Robertsfield International Airport.

 

The use of the term 'international' seems like a joke when I saw that the terminal is only just bigger than my house. It is surrounded by forest and an old concrete wall, and scattered around are old drums of oil, old airport vehicles and tens of UN helicopters. A cracked and weathered tarmac and a few people await my arrival. Embarking the plane is like arriving in Cairns; hot and humid, it's windy, and its already getting dark at 7pm. The terminal is a hot box of madness filled with people lining up under the categories of 'liberians', 'resident aliens' and 'other'. I decide that I fit into this category and wait in line until finally someone checks my passport and arrival card and sends me on my way to the chaos of baggage collection and the gaggle of people waiting outside. By now its dark and I'm really hoping my International Red Cross driver has remembered to show up...

 

Fate prevails and Sam, the ICRC driver, is there waiting with his Red Cross badge. We get into a 4WD and drive the 65km back to Monrovia. Its dark as we amble along the road in the convoy of others returning to the capital and pass numerous people walking the road looking for a ride, thumbs out, not very visible due to the blackness of their skin. The odd abode goes past, most are not lit, a few with the odd bright light bulb shining into the darkness. The old football stadium looms dark and forboding; we pass through 2 UN military checkpoints without trouble. Honking is the law on this road, its organised chaos where rules don't exist...but we get there in the end.

 

I arrive at JFK residence, which is surrounded by barbed wire and security, but a humble looking 2 storey building set amongst the homes of Monrovians. My lovely colleagues have all gathered and have cooked me dinner...what a welcome! There are Swiss, aussies, americans, canadians, kenyans and monrovians. And they're all really friendly.

 

By about 9pm I'm all ready to hit the hay after a wake up time of 5:30am and 9 hours in the air.

And then a full on day of briefings at the ICRC headquarters. My brain is full of info! I got issued with a laptop and radio and fed a whole heap of info about the security situation, do's and don'ts, and the workings of the ICRC in Liberia. And then the news that I will be out in the field early tomorrow morning, for a week, in a town called Voinjama, which is where one of the sub-delegations is. After a weekend back in Monrovia I will be off to Harper, right in the south-east corner of the country, to our other sub-delegation for another week. Both of these trips will be to see the workings of the Water/Habitat unit, within which I'm working, and to see how the sub-delegations work. I will also meet my boss, Julie, tomorrow in Voinjama.

So that's it from me! I'm exhausted. Time to go home and pack for a week.