Obama Girl!

I knew before traveling that there’d be a great deal of Obamania on this side of the hemisphere considering how closely the elections were followed around the world and media images and stories I’ve seen from African news outlets. I expected lots of questions about the elections and what I thought Obama would do for Africa. However, I haven’t really gotten much of that, but since arriving in Cameroon, my colleague and I are being constantly referred to as “Obama girls”. Luckily it’s an endearing term because I love Obama. I couldn’t imagine if I was referred to as a “Bush girl”. YUCK! It has so many negative connotations.
But the funniest part about being an “Obama Girl” in Cameroon is that most people consider the two of us “Black American” because we are here representing a US based organization. It’s a bit odd for me to be referred as such because I consider myself Cameroonian American, but it is even odder for my colleague who was born and raised in Cameroon! And it gets even funnier when we meet expats who try to educate us on the ways of Cameroon.
However, I credit this to the diversity of Cameroon. For instance, there are certain countries in the world where their citizens are easily identifiable by their features. But Cameroonians throughout the country look completely different. Im sure it has a lot to do with its central location on the continent, but I also think it has a great deal to do with the open door system of the land and its people. During this trip, I’ve witnessed how easily people flow in and out of the country. I’m sure this is an issue of border control, but its also influenced by how welcoming the people are. Right now I am traveling throughout towns bordering the Central African Republic. You can see CAR from here and Central Africans are constantly crossing the border. Below are pictures of Central Africans crossing a small river into Cameroon.

The City is POPPIN

It feels so odd to be back in such a lively environment considering how relatively isolated I spent the last week and a half. CAR was completely desolate and the streets were usually empty by 9pm each night. But in Yaounde, I can barely sleep because people are outside my window singing, dancing, and talking loudly in the streets until all times of the night. There’s definitely a deejay on my block spinning hits from the last three decades. And it’s great (as long as I can fall asleep at a decent hour!).
Yaounde has definitely changed quite a bit since I was here. I don’t remember it being so New Yorkish, but it’s a great feeling. I can see myself living here if I’m given the right job with the right salary. I think it’s a great combination of the modernity Ive become accustomed to and the warm weather, great food, and sense of a familial community that I seek.
It’s also great to have options of food to eat. I hate to continue to compare the two, but my diet was quite static in CAR. I’ve already told you about our adventure trying to find dinner in the North, but even in Bangui there were very few choices. Choices were very limited because of security in the town. Though there is no fighting or rebel occupation like in other places, because the streets empty out by 9, its mostly people who are up to no good who are out during dinner hours. So during one of our first few nights, my colleague and I were harassed by a few street kids who were clearly high off drugs and it wasn’t a comfortable feeling. Also, everyone kept recommending to us the spots that expats frequent and they were usually not local restaurants. I did not come all the way to Central Africa to eat Chinese, but I was forced to on one night. Though I will say it’s the best Chinese food I’ve ever had! But Yaounde has been completely different, besides the plethora of street vendors, there’s a million restaurants on every block with absolutely delicious food and a varied selection. I’m definitely happy to be back in Cameroon.
Tomorrow I will be traveling to Bertoua, which is the capital of the Eastern region. The East is historically one of the poorest regions in the country and I am told that it is nothing like Yaounde or Douala. However, considering what I witnessed in CAR, I’m sure it will still be an upgrade!

Au Revoir Bangui

Today I’m on my way back to Douala and then I’ll head out to Yaounde the following morning. This leg of the mission has ended on a good note. We got a lot of new information about the humanitarian situation and I was glad to visit the Central African Republic. Unfortunately, I don’t have much good to share about the country. I really hoped that stories I’d heard were exaggerations, but they weren’t. This is a chronically underdeveloped failed state. The government concentrates itself on Bangui (the capital) and completely neglects the rest of the country. And I’m not even sure what they’ve done in Bangui because it’s the most bare and basic capital city I’ve ever visited.
The country is land locked, road locked, and as a result access locked. It is virtually impossible to travel freely throughout the country despite the security situation. The presence of rebels and bandits only further exacerbates the situation, but roads connecting major cities are not paved, there is virtually no policing, and there are no ports of entry. It’s a truly sad situation and there needs to be an overhaul in the regime in order to start addressing the needs of the people and the country.
On a more exciting note, when I thought traveling through rebel territory was frightening enough, my colleague and I decided to stop and talking to a group of rebels on our way back to Bangui. I was a nervous wreck because they all had rifles (old, but they still worked!) and they looked RUGGED! They called the commander of their unit out of his hiding place to speak with us and he was scary looking. He looked like he had been living in the bush for months, but I am almost positive he was simply living off the villagers. He had locked hair that was extremely dirty and was just scruffy. We spoke to him and second in command and though they wouldn’t go into details about their cause because they have an official spokesperson, one said he wanted peace while the other said he wanted power. Considering the fact that the peace dialogues between the government and rebel group begin on Monday, it may be a good idea for them to decide on an agenda…Unfortunately I did not take a picture of them. I was too scared to ask, but in the end it was a harmless encounter. A few of the rebels were peeking into our truck to see what we had, but it was more so curiosity because they didn’t touch anything or ask any questions. Even though I’m happy the rebels allowed us to travel through their occupied territory without disruption, its unfortunate that they often completely terrorize and loot the villages and communities they are supposedly fighting for.

What are two Cameroonians doing in CAR?

This was the silly question asked of me and my colleague today by an expat who has lived throughout Africa for over 10 years.
The question should be what are the French, Americans, Canadians, Germans, British, etc. doing in CAR? And more importantly, what have the French done to CAR in over a century of occupation because this country is still chronically underdeveloped!
I find it ridiculous, though unsurprisingly that many people we meet are surprised that two Cameroonian women are conducting an assessment of the situation in CAR. Besides the fact that we were sent here by our organization, I don’t see why anyone should be surprised that Cameroonians are concerned about the humanitarian situation in a neighboring country, considering the conflict has directly affected Cameroon! I think that is an issue that needs to be dressed on so many levels. Too often we expect and wait for Western powers to come to our aid and as neighbors are not as concerned as we should be for our welfare. In fairness, the countries of Central Africa, have come together and formed a peacekeeping force for the Central African Republic. And many countries, including Cameroon and Chad, have opened their doors to refugees from the Central African Republic. This being said, we need to be as proactive as possible in helping one another solve problems within the continent, so that foreigners are not shocked that neighboring countries are interested enough in the wellbeing of their nation that they would conduct assessment missions in order to deduce the necessary level of response and fill gaps in coordination. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, “If we don’t save ourselves, who will?”

Traffic Takes on New Meaning

While riding down the roads in the northwestern part of CAR, I’ve felt like a celebrity. Children rush out of their homes when they hear the truck rumbling through the dusty, bumpy roads and drown you in a chorus of “Bonjours” and “Barraallahs”, the main greetings in CAR, while waving feverishly. It’s the cutest most joyous site ever and it never stops feeling good. Even four hours into the ride when it’s still happening.
As a person of African descent, I’m not used to this type of attention in rural settings. My white counterparts almost always get it because many times children in rural settings have seen very few and sometimes never seen a White person. But in a truck with two Blacks, two Central Africans and two Cameroonians (the neighboring) country, this type of rejoicing seems odd.
But then I thought about what these villages and children have been through. Consistently for the past two to three years, Central Africans in the Northwest have heard trucks roll through their villages only to be caught in the middle of government and rebel cross fighting and having their homes looted and burned in retaliation for “supporting” military factions that have taken control of their villages. For years the rumbling of trucks has been an ominous sign to gather your family and belongings as quickly as possible because trouble was coming.
But in the last year, the rumbling of trucks has taken on new meaning. As aid agencies have began to set up in CAR, their trucks brought assistance to these families in great need. What was once used as an alarm of intruders has now become a ring of hope for improving their living conditions.
So though it was apparent that in some villages, the citizens where still petrified of foreigners in trucks (especially those villages who were currently occupied by military factions), there were others that rejoiced at the site. It was especially powerful that the children recognized what the presence of aid agencies meant for them and sent their good blessings.

Week in Review

I can’t believe I’ve only been away for one week! It hasn’t been a bad week, but very long. The long days everyday have all seemed to run into each other and it doesn’t feel like a weekend at all. Besides the fact that I’ll still be working, CAR doesn’t have much to offer on the social front. In the northern region it has gotten very dark by 6pm each night and even if I felt safe venturing out to find the nightlife, there isn’t one to be found. Even on the UN Compound in Paoua, where I stayed my first night in the north, everyone was in their rooms by 9pm. Expats have never had a problem partying and drinking in the midst of development and humanitarian crisis, but I think it’s different in CAR because the security situation here is so insecure that no one wants to take a chance and getting caught in the crossfire.
In Bocaranga, where I am now, things definitely seem livelier because this community seems to be doing much better, but many expats are just recently arriving to the community and don’t seem to have their social networks set up yet. And I would prefer to socialize with locals, but again considering the security situation, my American accent and inability to speak French fluently would make me a prime target for mischief.
When I was in Bangui, we went to a few restaurants and tried to stay out a bit later to enjoy the warm nights, but even though we were staying in a seemingly secure apartment/hotel there were tons of street children outside relentlessly asking for money and at one point our apartment guard even misbehaved.
But I will admit that ending the nights earlier have given me enough energy to get through my extremely long days and also enough time to go through all of the things I’ve seen and heard throughout the day. And, I’ve been consistently updating this blog, so that’s always a good thing!

Entering Rebel Controlled Territory

Today was by far the most daring and dangerous day of my life! I remember a few years ago when I was shook over getting lost in the woods in Uganda, considering the civil war. Well in that case, I was no where near the area where the conflict had happened. But it was my first time in the country, in the woods, with no guide and a bunch of people who were as clueless as me about where to go. That hike has NOTHING on what I did today.
Right now there is a civil war in the Central African Republic (CAR) that has compounded the already destitute situation in the country. The main factors of the conflict are the government soldiers and a rebel group who does not want the current president (Bozize) in power because they are supporters of the previous president (Patasse), who the Bozize ousted. After a series of clashes for the past two going on three years, the two groups have taken control of different territories in the north. The situation is much more complicated than I am describing, but for the sake of understanding the basics of what I did today, I’ll leave it at that.
I’m sure you may be wondering how a group takes control of a territory in almost 2009. Well as I explained in a previous post, CAR is a very large country that is governed from the capital, in the deep south of the country. Due to the government’s low capacity, neglect, and downright indifference to the northern part of the country, rebels groups have been able to oust appointed state authorities (ie. mayors and other representatives) and take over complete control of provinces- authorizing the rule of law and even levying taxes. The government has sent forces to battle these groups and reclaim the land, which has led to several clashes within villages and thus the displacement of people.
Because the purpose of my trip is to assess the patterns of forced displacement, I have to go into these controlled areas and speak to villagers. And because CAR is severely lacking in infrastructure villages and towns are connected by single roads. Meaning everyone, citizens, humanitarians, rebels, and government forces all travel on the same road. Meaning if the government forces or rebels decide to battle that day one the road (which is where almost all of their battles occur) there is no way to escape it, except by running into the bush (which most displacement in this region has occurred).
So today, in order to find people who have been affected by conflict I ventured out into rebel territory. As daring and dangerous as this move was, it went quite well. Unlike other conflicts I’ve discussed on this blog, the main targets of this conflict are not civilians. Though civilians are affected because they are displaced due to fighting and often have their homes looted and burned in the crossfire, the rebel groups actually seek and fight government soldiers. For this reason, we were unable to drive through rebel controlled areas with ease. We slowed down each time we entered a village where they were posted, we greeted them and told them where we were going and then we continued. It was quite surprising. Though, I will say I was definitely uncomfortable seeing plain clothed males, some clearly as young as 15, holding rifles. I wish that they’d wear uniforms so that they could be more identifiable, but they are a rogue force and it is very apparent. And it was also apparent that in some communities the villagers were absolutely traumatized by their presence because they weren’t sure what violence they may bring in the form of looting or attracting other military factions. I couldn’t imagine living in a community that was controlled by a faction other than the state. It influences other groups to begin to force their own method of authority as well (which is being seen, but I will discuss in other post). All in all, it’s definitely the closed I’ve ever been to rebel forces and I’m happy things went well and I was given the opportunity to tell this story!

Je suis arrive au Paoua

Today I flew to Paoua, in the Northwest part of CAR to conduct field visits of displaced people in the area. The trip here was much smoother than I thought it would be. I traveled on a small UN plane. I'm not sure what the capacity is, probably about 16 passengers, but there were only 8 of us. Considering how small the plane was, I slept the whole way. Could be because I havent been getting much sleep, but I didn't feel much turbulence at all and was knocked out before we even reached the highest level of elevation.

Once we entered the city, I was shocked that it was even considered a city or town... It is the most rural, country, and underdeveloped place I have visited in a loooong time. People still live in huts, the roads are not paved, there is no mobile phone service (which is unheard of for even the most underdeveloped communities!), and access to clean water, health care, and education are virtually non existent. It is quite disheartening that this region is referred to as an "urban center".

The people in this community have been through quite a lot. They've been displaced quite a few times due to political insecurity and through it all, have suffered from government neglect. Its a classic case of the failure of a centralized government, except Bangui, the capital of CAR, is in the deep south of such a massive and sparsely populated country, that the north doesn't seem to exist.

I'll have pics up in the coming days.