Bahai Beach 59

Bahai Beach 59

Remembering Ethiopia

April 3, 2007.

At 04.45 this morning an emotional moment took place. I had to inform the chicken that I would be out of time for 1 month and that someone else will have to sing for them in the time being. Many people have warned me that in my absence the chicken will not be safe and might end up in the cooking pot. To lessen the threat I have bribed the guards and cooks to take extra care and there is a functional barbed wired gate with high movement sensor closed camera system in place. One cannot be lax with one’s family and investment.

The reason for the early rise and shine was a magnificent car trip from Bahai to Abeche, through Iriba (other refugee camps) and Biltine (proposed site, but also site of heavy combat between Chadian Government Troops and rebels several months ago. All in all it was a nine and a half journey. It was amazing to see how only about 30 minutes south of Bahai the landscape turned from austere Sahel to Savannah like heaven. It has to be said that in the entire journey we met only about 9 other vehicles (or I was sleeping). It reminded me of the contrast with the Netherlands were you go from bumper-to-bumper from and to work. Endless space, few people a camel here and there all with a background of red earth and thorny trees. Navigating through dry riverbeds called wadi’s. It took us about three hours to get to Iriba (the place we evacuated the triplets to remember).

From Iriba to Biltine was the most beautiful part of the route. Jagged peaks and a narrowing valley, winding paths through a low hill range, slithering snakes (1.5 meters this time) and we let him pass. Rocks stacked as if there was intervention of Titans to stack them up as building towers. An eagle soaring in the air, unexpected there were some huge trees in the middle of a wadi. Frisian Dutch (koetjeboe) cows as if lost in the landscape.

Ethiopia is on my mind. It is mainly the landscape but 7 charred Russian tanks strewn across the roadside help as well. David had overcome these Goliath Monstrous Machines. In Ethiopia I wondered often how many children you could give full vaccination for the price of one of these nonsensical War machines. There the tendency to decorate the muzzle of the canon with flowers I did not overcome. Sitting on top of the heavily steel clad Fools toys pondering on the use of these weapons. In Ethiopia as well the scarce water wells were heavily used by marauding bands of camels, cattle, sheep, goats and their herdsmen. Beautifully decorated while walking behind their living money bank.

This is what the young men living in Oure Cassoni used to do. Walk around with their herds to find those spots where grass and water was available in the dry season. Some say the fundament of the conflict on Darfur is the century old clash between nomads (pastoralist) and tribes with a more sedentary lifestyle (cultivators) With an increase of population and a decrease of available resources; water, wood, pasture/farming grounds have become hotly contested. It is sort of conflict of the sort you can find in different countries in Africa. Alas despite sparse positive environmental health from Africa (Notable exception Niger where because people have stopped chopped trees indiscriminately on their cultivation grounds amongst other reasons the percentage and density of forests has increased)

Combined with failing old reconciliation methods and increase in the level of sophistication of weapons. Rocket Propelled Grenades for example are a daily thing to see in Bahai. And there is a plethora of other reasons; projected oil revenues, uranium? , Quest for an arabization of Sudan and a de-Africanisation movement.

In Ethiopia it was called voluntary moves from the highlands to the sparsely populated low lands near the Sudani border. These regions were having so little inhabitants because of rampant kala azar (parasite disease), malaria and rampant malnutrition because of crop failures. Added to this deadly cocktail was; lack of health care services, HIV, Tuberculosis, lack of schooling, poor drinking water facilities.

The highlands in Ethiopia are indeed beautiful and highly populated. I am sure there is no easy solution but sending people ‘against their will’ to disease-infested areas without proper survival tools is not justified.

My stream of consciousness on Ethiopia came to screeching halt when we arrived in Abeche. Time to meet new colleagues and push for a ticket to India. The first hurdle (getting to Abeche) has been taken.

Namaskar

Ashis


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Bahai Beach 58

Bahai Beach 58

Mr. Mathias’ departure

April 1, 2007

Take a ride on the magic carpet. Hop along, sing a song. Smoke a sheesha. Share nonsensical stories and emotions of the day. All visitors leave with a smile.

Beam me up Scottie,

I clearly was referring to my mat yesterday an intriguing zone where reality and fiction get tangled. For today more sense; after all yesterday was March 31st Fool. It is not a coincidence that in Chad on March 31st one is taken for a ride by each and every one.

Cuckoo, cuckoo.

The weekly rest and recreation at the UNHCR is in full progress (sauna and spa facilities supplied by Jerome and Audrey) and it gives an escape from ‘Work, work, work’ to quote the little civilians in Warcraft.

Today however given my lengthy break I need to prepare a handover for next month for the national staff, give a little (mis)-guidance. Something to look forward is the party to celebrate Mr. Mathias’ near one and a half year stay here. Although he is moving on to greener pastures it has been a great pleasure to have worked with him. Always a smile, happy-go-easy, great knowledge of his work and of the project, the refugees, great drinker and the best dancer of Bahai by miles. I wish him a great next assignment with numachoma in mountains, Primus or Castle in barrels, environmental challenges to work on and a place nearer to his family. The unforgettable moment with him was surely when after an extended drought rains finally hit Bahai. My o my the pressure must have been dragging you down, but the joy in your eyes and the 2 hour rain-dance justified your massive headache the next morning.

So this afternoon/evening I am putting on my dancing cap (paraphrasing Alphan’s thinking camp) and shake the good old tail-feathers.

Never all is roses and sunshine. In the camp one of our staff members has been assaulted with a stick. Also some of our national staff members have difficulty sleeping. It is a mixture of workload, stress, insecurity, isolation from family and friends, lack of quality of life. They need to be praised for doing the difficult work they are doing. It is not an easy job. This afternoon I am sure we can all forget for some hours and give Mr. Mathias a great farewell.

Namaskar,

Ashis

Bahai Beach 57

Bahai Beach 57

Snakes, camels and spiders

March 31st, 2007

Take a ride on the magic carpet. Hop along, sing a song. Smoke a sheesha. Share nonsensical stories and emotions of the day. All visitors leave with a smile. The leisure dome is also by connection to the sand and elements. The elements are in the form of wind and sun, but also snakes and spiders. Several days ago a huge serpent slithered passed my mat. Dangerous or not was the main question in my mind. According to Alphan the education Meister it was, Dr Ponce said it was too small (20 centimeters) to do any damage at all. But before any of us could cage the reptile it was chopped in two by the guards and eaten by one of the Mimi’s. Yes indeed the little kittens have become big cats, climbing our trees, dashing out of the compound and coming back hours later and now utilized as a serpent protection force. Yet the chickens still in their mind are still mysterious creatures. They are not sure how to handle the feathery creatures. My chooks in the mean time are officially labeled not sane. I called in a veterinarian to study their breeding behavior and indeed there seems to be a casual link between their owner and themselves. We are going into family therapy starting April 2, 2007.

I am looking forward as it may solve the riddle of the eggs and lead to swift production of the well-needed eggs. We have fallen slightly behind the targets for control of the egg market in Bahai. In the mean time Sunday I have arranged a tour to Oure Cassoni by camel. It has been a while and there is a need to explore alternative transportation methods. Of late there are petrol ruptures in Bahai and several NGO’s are looking in to the possibility of using camels as transportation means. After all they are sturdy and steady animals, require freely available food and water. The camels come in shades qualities. It requires a trained eye to spot out the bargain and when you are being taken for a ride.

Saturday it was the day of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed. This is a festive day for our Muslim brothers and sisters. Due to some miscommunications several of our staff got a well-deserved long weekend. Bare in mind that Friday and Saturday are working days albeit half days.

So on Saturday I went with an action plan to sir some pots. Using big ladles and with the help of the traditional birth attendants food is mixed and prepared. All hyped to work on my triceps I was mildly disappointed when we arrived late in the camp. The reason was bemusing; the gendarmes in fine frenzy left Bahai without petrol in their vehicles. After 5 minutes they realized and we had to return for another car. I missed out on my physical exercise but the good news is we will catch up later this week.

More good news, after lengthy deliberations it has been decided we will build a near Olympic size swimming pool (6 by 3 meters) and a diving board. The water we will smartly harvest by catchment of rainwater, storage in under water cisterns and to reduce evaporation we shall build an overhead shelter. Soon we will be twisting by the pool drinking pina colada and risking third degree burn wounds. Our new piscine will be the heart of social life in Bahai and there are plans to add an out side bar with state of the art sound system. Lounging in the afternoon, deep house at night and in the early morning low fi. We hope the theme park in our compound will be a major success and that the peeps will be queuing up to join the Bahai Party Squad. The motto: ‘Here to serve humanity while having a good time’

Namaskar,

Ashis