Field Trip

So up in G-Town. It is not as bad as I thought it would be. Sometimes you can’t tell that you are in the middle of 20 year old civil war, it’s just a poor city in the developing world. Other times you are reminded that there’s a war going on, usually by the numbers of soldiers around and the stories people tell. I’m living at base camp here with two other ladies who are just joining the team for the Mine Action programme and a new reproductive health programme that is just starting up. I don’t get stared at very much here because of the high numbers of aid workers plus I’ve started to adapt and don’t notice as much. The drive up was interesting, 7 people in a land rover type thing for about 4 hours over what I now call decent roads but would rival anything a logging company has made on the island. Saw some baboons on the side of the road!!!! Now there’s only 3 of us from the main office up here and I’ll be staying here for at least a week for mine action training, then when I get back I can move into my apartment. So up here I’m helping them get the 2nd year report done for this mine action project the funny/frustrating thing is that I was give last year’s report to update but I have no idea what has been done in the past year. At the moment I’m writing in a word document b/c this laptop isn’t currently connected to the internet while waiting for like four different people to come and tell me what to change. Annoying!!!!

Yesterday I went out in the field. It was very interesting, the only word I think I can use was jarring. Physically and mentally jarring. Someone had reported some UXO near one of the camps to the office so we had to go make sure that the army dealt with it properly. Bet you’re all loving to read this. So we went out to a camp about an hour away. So there’s me, Douglas the MRE coordinator, Cathy (one of the other people from the main office), Alfred the driver and a military engineer who has to sit in the middle because he’s in uniform and therefore cannot be seen in our car because it would make us a target. We drove along some of the most bone jarring roads I’ve ever experienced at relatively high speeds for security’s sake. Pretty proud of myself for only smacking my head on the window twice. Wasn’t that concerned about the rebels as all the roads were busy with people walking, biking and other vehicles, would have been worried if we were the only people around. Arrived at the IDP camp and was introduced to the leader of the camp and the lead community counselor who we have been working with. I cannot describe the camp, it was like those World Vision/Christian Children’s Fund ads but it was reality. Then we were taken to the local army barracks (each camp as a military detachment to protect them from the rebels) to meet with the commander. So surreal sitting on a little chair in a low thatched hut with half mud walls listening to Douglas and this commander discuss the UXO in a language I didn’t understand and the community counselor translating for me while the radio blared Shania Twain with the occasional chicken or turkey wandering through my line of vision. Then a number of soldiers (well-armed soldiers – saw my first real AK-47) got into the back of the truck and we drove as near as possible to the UXO site. (This just keeps getting better and better doesn’t it Mom?). I stayed at the car with Cathy and Alfred while the rest went to examine the shell. It was determined that it was harmless because it’s fuse was gone so it was brought back to the barracks. While waiting at the barracks before going back to G-Town, two little kids came to see what this big white truck was doing in their neighbourhood. It appears as though I was a bit of a curiosity as they tried to watch me from the other side before coming around the car to my side but staying as far away as they could. I just smiled and waved a bunch. It was actually pretty common that kids would wave at the car when we drove by so I spent much of the drive home waving back. The countryside was gorgeous – the stereotypical big African sky with tons of greenery and everything.

Went out for dinner with some of the other people from the office. Have become rather accustomed to some aspects of the local food but I tried millet last night…. Looks like fudge, tasted like dirt – will be staying away from it from now on. It was weird walking around at night with Richard and Cathy as there are no street lights and yet there are people everywhere, walking, biking, or scootering (only a few cars) and the oddest establishments are open and blaring music – like a grocery store or a tire store. So G-Town is home to the mosquitoe I've determined - it reminds me of many a childhood camping trip only now I huddle under my mosquito net for much of the evening instead of in the tent/eating tent. Oh, I have been trying to text message people but it’s not working so I’ll work on it once I get back down south. Don’t know what I am going to do tomorrow without work, maybe I’ll attempt the market…..