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?!
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