Bahai Beach 35

Bahai Beach 35

January 10, 2007

And just when you think the worst has happened…

The beach in Cameroon was still sounding in my ears. Sand in my hair a smile on my bronzed face. Very relaxed. And then you hear that 10 kilometers from the Oure Cassoni bombs were dropped by a Sudanese Antonov. This in an open attempt to destroy the dam or perhaps a scare tactic? What is clear that Omar el Bashir is toning down his voice on intervention of UN troops in Sudan. But his action speaks for it self.

What must go through the mind of the refugees? This is how they were chased from their home villages. Fleeing to Chad in the hope for safety and then…
It seems that their hometowns of Kornoi and Omboro have been target for bombing as well. Split tongue president, master of divide and rule. But I just read the United States have worked hard to prepare for their embassy.
And the Chinese they just smile. Oil is coming their way so our buffoon has his buttocks covered in the Security Council as well. I must say that reading Jung Chang’s Mao biography has put me off beat a bit. He was such a ruthless leader. For his own personal fief 70 million people were executed, tortured or starved to death and the entire population suffered from his megalomania. In those days it was said that what happened was suppressed from the collective memory. Yet what refrains us from see the ugly reality in Sudan?

There is a painful unwillingness to interfere from the regional and international side. Time to speak up.

While events in Darfur are heating up the avian flu crises is popping up in Africa as well. Culling of the poultry as has been done in South East Asia and Europe has not been done yet. But it remains to be seen if these drastic measures are required.

And then the Chadians on the run are now over 100000 people. As we speak a mission is underway to investigate if IRC can help out in setting up a camp for those who have fled their homes. There is another IRC team in the Central African Republic to find out if the needs are there for a camp as well and then there is Cameroon where camps are considered as well. Cameroon being a very fertile country it for sure gives a different feel to camp life of Bahai.

Oure Cassoni now is under sand storms quite often. The chooks have built a windscreen as their lazy boss was too busy bumming around in Cameroon. Their food comes from their underground lair. When the wind gets really bad I am sure we can hide there.

Boys and girls, I will be on route again towards Bahai on Friday. I am curious to know how the camp is doing. Are people terrorized about the plane movements? Are they considering moving? How do they feel about the threat to the dam? These and many more questions come to mind.

But for now I am off to sleep.

Wielenklem,

Ashis