3 weeks until the end of my mission in the DRC. I can hardly believe my year is almost at an end. Looking back it seems to have flown by. So much has happened since my last blog. I have been on holiday with my family to Tanzania, settled into life in Lubumbashi, said some sad farewells to friends who have moved on and you find me now back in Manono having just had a donor compliance visit facing huge budget cuts (the two are not related!) and with a UNDP auditor about to turn up.
If you have never been on a Safari book immediately. Mum, Philip and I began our Tanzanian holiday with a week living in a tent in Selous national park. A tent may give the wrong idea of the luxury that surrounded our accommodation. This tent came with is own porcelain bathroom! The park was fantastic through a mixture of jeep rides, boat trips and hikes we managed to see a whole host of animals, birds and fauna. My Swahili came on treat as I expanded my knowledge of animals from not only those that appear as types of beer (Tembo; Elephant and Simba; Lion) to others that really need their own product lines Twega; Giraffe would make a great popsical stick or Keeboko; Hippo perhaps a washing powder line.
The safaris allowed us to see animals incredibly close up. In fact at times I think we would happily have taken a step or two back. Being sandwiched in a little boat between a hungry looking alligator and a hippo you are not sure which one to keep a closer eye on.
My favorite animal has to be the lion. In the park there were a number of female lions and a male. The King of the Beasts appeared the least shy of the photographers prey. A lioness happily lies by the side of the road fast asleep legs in the air while safari jeeps queue up to watch her dream. Little cubs crawl over their dozing mothers who are far too deep in their afternoon snoozes within the shade of a tree to take notice of the clicks and flashes around them. In Manono there is a little tom cat called Olie who is useless at catching mice. During the day he sits on the couch and dozes away meowing if he thinks there is a chance somebody may feed him. It was very easy to see the resemblance between Olie and his big cousins. Both seem completely lazy although you probably stand a better chance of living in a mouse free home if the cousin came to stay (of course you may not want to stick around for such a house guest).
My two most memorable experiences from the Safari will be breakfast with elephants and a brief toilet stop next to lions. If you take up the safari suggestion, have a look at what is behind the tree before squatting!
After the Safari we caught a small plane to Zanzibar. A friendly relaxing beach break was just what the doctor ordered with a couple of days at the end to explore the spice farms and the famous old stone town.
Mum won the prize for knowing your spices picked fresh from a tree rather than in a jar nicely labeled from Tesco. It is amazing how items taken out of context completely skip your mind. Vanilla pods smell vanillary but can you put a name to it. The same for the bark of a cinnamon tree – how could that ever go near a cake?
Roaming the streets of Stone Town was far simpler. No spices to identify, those on sale all came with little tags attached. The rabbit warren of alleyways, were a pleasure to explore, taking care to jump between shady spots to keep out of the sunshine. On the first night we sampled the street food market where you can try out the catch of the day directly from your local fisherman. King Solomon and Fisherman George saw us coming a mile off and treated us to the best seats in the house (a little wooden bench behind their stand right next to the bins). The fish was apparently excellent. I can only vouch for the fabulous chocolate pancakes.
And so our holiday came to an end. Mum and Phil headed back to the UK while I packed my bags and tried to renegotiate entry back into the DRC.
Having been in the Congo for 8 months I thought I had got used to boarder crossings. I quickly learnt that the Goma boarder was a soft touch when compared to that at Ndohla (Zambia). I left the boarder $10 lighter and with a stamp in my vaccination card telling me I had received a booster injection.
The short sharp introduction back into DRC living was not made any easier by the three hour ride back to Lubumbashi down one of the bumpiest roads I have ever encountered (remember by this point my knowledge of bumpy roads has improved immensely. A little lava flow hardly counts as bumpy any more!). The Boarder - Lubumbashi road used to be beautifully tarmaced (forty years ago) but now we have a potholed nightmare. Every now and again you came across 100m of good road. This normally coincided to where one or other ministry had been awarded a grant for fixing up the road. But rather than taking the trouble to actually fixing how much simpler to fix 100m, take a snap shot and pocket the difference (Okay! It may be that the Congo has just turned me cynical but how else do you explain perfect 100m stretches of road in the middle of nowhere?) Progress was slow and made even slower by broken down vehicles on route. I arrived back to Lubumbashi hot tired and ready for a holiday!
We have now been in Lubumbashi for about three months. We have moved into the team house and the office is up and running. For the house I’ve stopped asking when the oven will work or why we have no hot water. The toilet flushes at funny hours and the electricity comes on and off as it feels like it. I can’t wait to come home to running water and electricity 24 hours a day.
I have found time to do nearly all of the Lubumbashi tourist attractions. My top three would be the city zoo, then the cathedral and finally a trip to a mine.
- The city centre zoo attached to the president’s house was recommended to me by Daniel, our store manager. He took his children the other weekend and they loved it. They had never seen a tiger before. I am afraid I am a little less enthused. The zoo is home to some of the saddest animals I have ever seen. I am not sure animal rights have reached the DRC yet.
- The Cathedral, is situated right in the middle of town. The building is stunning inside boasting a copper roof and decorations. The music is fantastic to listen to although very traditional and not at all what I expected. The sermons leave a little to be desired generally involving a lot of shouting in French. I have now been to two services. The first of these on ascension Sunday I almost understood, but during the second I completely lost the plot. My friend Loyse translated some of the service afterwards and I’m not sure I agreed with the underlying doctrinal message so it is probably better to live in ignorance.
- A must see is a trip round one of the mines. Lubumbashi has a number of mines including copper and diamonds. We asked the driver if we could go and see one from the outside to get an idea. What we had not appreciated is that in the DRC private property is not really so private. If you smile at the guard and ask to take a peek inside you are free to drive round the mines under the excuse that you are ‘turning the car round’. The inside view gets you a little closer to the slag heap and a couple of surprised glances.
Not making it into the top three is the lake, the all you can eat Sunday buffet at bush camp, shots at the Chinese restaurant, the very bad singer at the Greek on a Friday night, Copper Lounge (one of the worst night clubs I have ever been to) or the Indian restaurant that doubles as our bank (No really you get served by the bank manager!). If the top three were based on amusement rather than culture these would have been higher up the list.
Lubumbashi has become home. It is a little harder to settle in than Goma. The Expat community is a lot more spread out and mixed. I think there is also a little of the fact that I know I am going home thrown into the mix. Finding the energy to make new friends again just does not come as easily.
Just before heading off back home Loyse has beat me to the finish. Loyse started a month before me and has been a great friend for the last eleven months. Having a French speaker to hand has got me out of some sticky situations and made everything a lot more understandable. I have now been left to my own devices and need to try to keep out of trouble for a month. I am not sure if this had any relevance to the fact that I am now spending 2 of my last 4 weeks in Manono.
So I am now back in Manono for my third visit. This time I am here to give some budget management training and to cut our annual budget by 1/3rd (Don’t ask! If anyone has any rich relatives who would like to fund a Watsan project now would be the time to dig them up).
The budget management training was going very well. We set up the projector in the tookle at the back of the office and had managed to get a picture projected onto a bed sheet which, thanks to lots of plastic sheeting, you could actually see rather than it being obliterated by sunlight. Everything was going well and the snores through the spreadsheets were at least quiet ones. Then the chickens turned up………. I’m not sure why the chickens decided budget training was for them. Perhaps they had just heard how great the training was and wanted to get in on the act. But in they came clucking away and pecking around……. And then the picture disappeared. Budget training was obviously not what the chickens had expected and so as a form of protest they decided to turn the projector off. How do you take heckling from a chicken?
My final visit to Manono has probably been the best so far. Louise’s donor compliance visit allowed me to tag along and see some of the projects in action. Finally I understand what I have been helping to put into place during the last year.
In Manono town I visited a Peer Education group which was discussing HIV/AIDs. The group of 40, 13 to 17 year olds worked together to put on a selection of sketches each which tackled a different aspect of the HIV/AIDS debate. Covering topics such as sex, breast feeding and cuts. I am not sure I understood much of the Swahili or French but the acting and sign language was pretty self explanatory.
I visited a nutrition centre which gives out plumpynut to malnourished children under five and allows them to be cared for in the community rather than making them stay in a hospital. Then there have been a number of clinics all in various stages of repair to ruin.
I have seen a lot of goats and seeds given to community groups as part of our livelihoods program. Some of the groups are really enthusiastic and have great plans for how the three goats today will make a huge difference to their village. One group we talked to received 4 goats two years ago. To date these have increased to 22. Of these they sold 10 to buy fish at a town several 10’s of km away which they then sold in the local area increasing their profits even further. They are now saving to make a fish farm which will allow them to cultivate fish locally and which will also improve their access to water (the area suffers from draught 3 months a year).
I sat in on a womens’ adult literacy group which promotes female education in outlying areas. The specific circle I visited started a year ago. It has helped 30 women who were previously illiterate to read and right. At the same time they discuss topics such as hygiene, health and household skills. The day we visited they were discussing household budgets (strangely appropriate). The women priced up how much it cost to feed their families for a day and then grumbled that their husbands did not give them enough money! The REFLECT program has been a huge success in the area the circle we visited was one of 25 now running in the region and plans are to grow the project further next year. It was heartening to hear the women tell their stories but also some of the husbands who funnily enough like their new empowered wives telling them to take a shower.
I’ve waved at a lot of smiley children and taken lost of photos which I promise to bore everyone with when I come home.
The final countdown is running. Three weeks till departure. So much to do and so little time. I started writing handover notes today trying to outline what I have done for the last year. I think I could sum it up in one word - Lots! I’m just not sure this will be sufficient for the person coming in!
Hope to see you all soon.
Julia
Sunday 25 May 2008
Saturday 1 March 2008
So Much to tell you.
Year end is over! The auditor has packed his bags and headed off, not noticing that opening reserves do not balance (I am not sure we received the most thorough audit).
But I am getting ahead of myself. The last time I wrote was November. Since then we have had Christmas, New Year, 2007 year end and an office move. Let me start properly at the beginning with Christmas.
Christmas in the Congo was a logistical feet. I volunteered GOAL to cook Christmas lunch for the handful of friends I expected to be staying in town over the festive period. What started as a handful of friends turned into 23 hungry mouths. 9 of these were my fault. GOAL had a party just before Christmas where the 'Turkey problem' came up. There are no turkeys in Goma. To get a Turkey it needs to be flown in and this is where the 'problem' kicks off. You need to find someone who is going to Uganda and has time to buy a turkey. This is the problem that was being discussed at the party when Airserve pipped up that they would provide a Turkey if we promised to feed them. This seemed like a reasonable compromise. There were three pilots stationed in Goma and though I knew to expect hungry mouths 3 seemed manageable. Bargain struck plans got underway for a feast. The Christmas pudding and cake were made to Mum's adapted home recipes and as preparations continued pilots started turning up. First off there were the two new pilots that started flying from Goma. 5 - Not to Bad, still mangeable, a little cheeky for not clarifying during the bargaining but fair enough. But then another one! 6 - I did not realise they had that many planes. Then the Kalemie pilot flew into town. 7 - Ummm. Then an engineer and a Finance Guy. 9 - Hang on a minute thats a lot of people and still no Turkey! But it's Christmas and 'The more the merrier' has to be the moto of the season so Christmas day approaches. Veggies are brought from the market and the phone call finally comes 'How many Turkeys do you want?'
GOAL worked upto the Friday before Christmas and then Christmas was upon us. And with the Christmas season came the tightened security restrictions. Our CD went on Holiday and we had a temporary CD step into the breach who liked the idea of lock downs, relocations and no moving after dark a little too much. A little knocked back by the security measures Christmas continued. We had the staff Christmas party on Christmas eve that then went into a Christmas eve party with friends and then Christmas Day, a seven o'clock start to begin cooking. And Cooking was the order for much of the day. All hands to the pumps and it quickly became obvious that none of us had ever cooked a Christmas lunch before. However, we had all cooked bits of one. Loyse got the turkey. Two Turkeys one oven! Andrew got to manage finding a second oven. Nic and I tackled the veggies, stuffing and gravy. The hungry mouths turned up to help set up and the wine started flowing as everyone began arriving.
Lunch was fantastic (even if I say so myself). Onion and goats cheese tart to start, a full Turkey dinner and christmas pudding, cake and fruit salade to finish. 23 hungry mouths were fed and we had leftovers! Drinks and chat made up the rest of the day. I went to bed at eleven exhausted and full. A Christmas Congo Style. I missed home but Congo can come up trumps if you just put in a little planning.
Boxing day rolled around, a day of snoozing and sleeping in late. Unless you are GOAL with a security conscious CD! Boxing day started for me at 7am when I needed to be at the office to empty the safe and collect my computer ahead of a temporary relocation to Rwanda. I am still not sure why we had a temporary relocation. A Peace conference was due in town on the 27th and the idea was that increased security around the conference might start problems in the Goma tinder box. But we were the only ones crossing boarders! Not a popular decision on behalf of our temporary CD. But looking back I have to admit I was wrong. Not about the security risk, the conference was delayed for a couple of weeks and when it did happen we hardly noticed. But about the brilliance of an idea that requires you to go and stay in a hotel free of charge just after cooking Christmas lunch. You effectively walk away from all the leftovers, and the slightly grubby floors and have someone else to do your cooking for a bit, and best of all there’s a pool!
The relocation consisted of three great days sitting by the pool, relaxing and exploring Gisenyi, the town directly across the boarder from Goma.
We were back in Goma for New Years which GOAL decided we were not hosting. Instead we met up with friends at Coco’s the local bar/restaurant/club. A cheesy evening of food and dancing that was a little let down by no midnight count down. At midnight the music just continued and we all stood around feeling a little confused. Someone ended up having a word with the DJ and after a little explaining the New Year came into Goma a couple of minutes late.
So that was Christmas and New Year in the Congo. But it seems ages ago now. Lots more has happened in 2008.
The year end finances started and have pretty much continued. I have new sympathy for anyone who has to get their numbers out as part of a fast turn around. Bridget (USAID expert from Head Office) came out for a quick USAID review on her way through to Sudan and we had the year end auditor turn up as well. For those of you who are doing audits now take note. Sitting in an office looking at paper for a week will not tell you anything about a company or its issues. Get out and talk to people. Our guy was great (from a being audited point of view). He liked his cupboard, in fact I think he got very attached to it, as he never came out. Maybe he had heard about the bad things that that can happen in Goma and he was taking no chances, but he stayed in his cupboard for a week, and at the end came and told me everything was fine and could he please go home now.
We all got a little shook up when an earthquake hit Bukavu and the surrounding area. I am a big fan of ground that stays put. Especially when you live close to a volcano and an explosive lake!
Combined with a new year has been the close of the Goma office and a move of all the administrative functions to Lubumbashi. Lubumbashi is DRC’s second largest town situated in the south of DRC, the capital of the Katanga district and home to NGO’s and mining companies. GOAL is moving as following the close of our operations in South Kivu in December our main projects are now in Manono which is in the Katanga district. All the coordination meetings for Katanga are in Lubumbashi so it makes more sense for us to be down here.
January and February in Goma saw staff applying for new jobs, going to interviews and in a few cases getting hired. We have moved a few of the most senior staff with us to Lubumbashi but most will need to find new jobs in Goma. My cashier Nestor is one of those who moved to Lubumbashi with us and so for the audit and office close he was in Lubumbashi and Marie our finance assistant came back from maternity leave to help me get through the close and audit.
At the same time Lubumbashi was starting up. I got to make a quick two day visit for recruitment interviews and to find a bank before heading back to Goma for a mad packing session.
A busy couple of months but they are now behind me. I am writing to you from my new Lubumbashi office. Move complete and staff hired. I go on holiday in just over a week and am looking forward to seeing Mum and Phil again and a break.
If anyone is interested there is a FinCo job coming up with GOAL DRC in June. Start April/May. Any takers?
Julia
But I am getting ahead of myself. The last time I wrote was November. Since then we have had Christmas, New Year, 2007 year end and an office move. Let me start properly at the beginning with Christmas.
Christmas in the Congo was a logistical feet. I volunteered GOAL to cook Christmas lunch for the handful of friends I expected to be staying in town over the festive period. What started as a handful of friends turned into 23 hungry mouths. 9 of these were my fault. GOAL had a party just before Christmas where the 'Turkey problem' came up. There are no turkeys in Goma. To get a Turkey it needs to be flown in and this is where the 'problem' kicks off. You need to find someone who is going to Uganda and has time to buy a turkey. This is the problem that was being discussed at the party when Airserve pipped up that they would provide a Turkey if we promised to feed them. This seemed like a reasonable compromise. There were three pilots stationed in Goma and though I knew to expect hungry mouths 3 seemed manageable. Bargain struck plans got underway for a feast. The Christmas pudding and cake were made to Mum's adapted home recipes and as preparations continued pilots started turning up. First off there were the two new pilots that started flying from Goma. 5 - Not to Bad, still mangeable, a little cheeky for not clarifying during the bargaining but fair enough. But then another one! 6 - I did not realise they had that many planes. Then the Kalemie pilot flew into town. 7 - Ummm. Then an engineer and a Finance Guy. 9 - Hang on a minute thats a lot of people and still no Turkey! But it's Christmas and 'The more the merrier' has to be the moto of the season so Christmas day approaches. Veggies are brought from the market and the phone call finally comes 'How many Turkeys do you want?'
GOAL worked upto the Friday before Christmas and then Christmas was upon us. And with the Christmas season came the tightened security restrictions. Our CD went on Holiday and we had a temporary CD step into the breach who liked the idea of lock downs, relocations and no moving after dark a little too much. A little knocked back by the security measures Christmas continued. We had the staff Christmas party on Christmas eve that then went into a Christmas eve party with friends and then Christmas Day, a seven o'clock start to begin cooking. And Cooking was the order for much of the day. All hands to the pumps and it quickly became obvious that none of us had ever cooked a Christmas lunch before. However, we had all cooked bits of one. Loyse got the turkey. Two Turkeys one oven! Andrew got to manage finding a second oven. Nic and I tackled the veggies, stuffing and gravy. The hungry mouths turned up to help set up and the wine started flowing as everyone began arriving.
Lunch was fantastic (even if I say so myself). Onion and goats cheese tart to start, a full Turkey dinner and christmas pudding, cake and fruit salade to finish. 23 hungry mouths were fed and we had leftovers! Drinks and chat made up the rest of the day. I went to bed at eleven exhausted and full. A Christmas Congo Style. I missed home but Congo can come up trumps if you just put in a little planning.
Boxing day rolled around, a day of snoozing and sleeping in late. Unless you are GOAL with a security conscious CD! Boxing day started for me at 7am when I needed to be at the office to empty the safe and collect my computer ahead of a temporary relocation to Rwanda. I am still not sure why we had a temporary relocation. A Peace conference was due in town on the 27th and the idea was that increased security around the conference might start problems in the Goma tinder box. But we were the only ones crossing boarders! Not a popular decision on behalf of our temporary CD. But looking back I have to admit I was wrong. Not about the security risk, the conference was delayed for a couple of weeks and when it did happen we hardly noticed. But about the brilliance of an idea that requires you to go and stay in a hotel free of charge just after cooking Christmas lunch. You effectively walk away from all the leftovers, and the slightly grubby floors and have someone else to do your cooking for a bit, and best of all there’s a pool!
The relocation consisted of three great days sitting by the pool, relaxing and exploring Gisenyi, the town directly across the boarder from Goma.
We were back in Goma for New Years which GOAL decided we were not hosting. Instead we met up with friends at Coco’s the local bar/restaurant/club. A cheesy evening of food and dancing that was a little let down by no midnight count down. At midnight the music just continued and we all stood around feeling a little confused. Someone ended up having a word with the DJ and after a little explaining the New Year came into Goma a couple of minutes late.
So that was Christmas and New Year in the Congo. But it seems ages ago now. Lots more has happened in 2008.
The year end finances started and have pretty much continued. I have new sympathy for anyone who has to get their numbers out as part of a fast turn around. Bridget (USAID expert from Head Office) came out for a quick USAID review on her way through to Sudan and we had the year end auditor turn up as well. For those of you who are doing audits now take note. Sitting in an office looking at paper for a week will not tell you anything about a company or its issues. Get out and talk to people. Our guy was great (from a being audited point of view). He liked his cupboard, in fact I think he got very attached to it, as he never came out. Maybe he had heard about the bad things that that can happen in Goma and he was taking no chances, but he stayed in his cupboard for a week, and at the end came and told me everything was fine and could he please go home now.
We all got a little shook up when an earthquake hit Bukavu and the surrounding area. I am a big fan of ground that stays put. Especially when you live close to a volcano and an explosive lake!
Combined with a new year has been the close of the Goma office and a move of all the administrative functions to Lubumbashi. Lubumbashi is DRC’s second largest town situated in the south of DRC, the capital of the Katanga district and home to NGO’s and mining companies. GOAL is moving as following the close of our operations in South Kivu in December our main projects are now in Manono which is in the Katanga district. All the coordination meetings for Katanga are in Lubumbashi so it makes more sense for us to be down here.
January and February in Goma saw staff applying for new jobs, going to interviews and in a few cases getting hired. We have moved a few of the most senior staff with us to Lubumbashi but most will need to find new jobs in Goma. My cashier Nestor is one of those who moved to Lubumbashi with us and so for the audit and office close he was in Lubumbashi and Marie our finance assistant came back from maternity leave to help me get through the close and audit.
At the same time Lubumbashi was starting up. I got to make a quick two day visit for recruitment interviews and to find a bank before heading back to Goma for a mad packing session.
A busy couple of months but they are now behind me. I am writing to you from my new Lubumbashi office. Move complete and staff hired. I go on holiday in just over a week and am looking forward to seeing Mum and Phil again and a break.
If anyone is interested there is a FinCo job coming up with GOAL DRC in June. Start April/May. Any takers?
Julia
Sunday 25 November 2007
Month End, Training and a Little Holiday.
Another two month delay in writing a blog. And surprisingly enough I am again sending it while visiting our operations in Manono. My trip this time is to complete our 2008 budgeting. Next week will see me cajole our operations managers into solidifying their grand ideas into cold hold facts. The big question, ‘How much will it cost?’ Followed by the question everyone hates, ‘Do we have that much funding?’
In 2007 DRC has spent out on a budget of €4.4m. We have funding secured next year of around €1.3m. On the assumption that we want our development program to expand next year we have to find funding for around a further €3.1m. I remember this time last year Oxfam was selling Christmas cards where you could bye your friend a goat for Christmas. The only problem being they would need to travel to Africa and wrestle back their prized possession from a local farmer. We currently have several thousand goats on order for distribution after the rainy season at the start of next year. Please if anyone was thinking of giving a goat this Christmas consider the merits of a GOAL goat!
My time has not only been spent on budgeting. I have now got through two month ends and am becoming a dab hand at journals. If Dublin is lucky they may even get the November month end on time! So far my success with timetables has been limited. Timetables assume your computer will turn on in the morning or that you will be sitting at your desk on the first of the month. Both are lovely ideas that just don’t seem to happen. This month end will be performed remotely from Manono on subject to the goodwill of an internet connection and the generator.
At the start of November I had the opportunity to leave DRC again. (Having read my blog so far it sounds like I spend very little time in the DRC!) This time I packed my bags and headed off to OFDA compliance training in Nairobi. Oh my word! Nairobi is busy. For those of you who face a rush hour commute give a thought to the poor people of Nairobi whose rush hour lasts for around four hours each morning and evening. I got to top up my exhaust fume blood content levels to ensure when I finally come back home I will not suffer too much. It also made me realise how lucky we are in Goma. No cars or roads equates to no traffic jams.
It also made me realise some of the quirkier parts of Goma. For example I have not told you of the photocopy shop in town that consists of a photocopier under a big parasol. Brilliant…… until it rains. Or the internet café called ‘The storm of God’. On the food front there is ‘Goma cheese’. Cheese is a big plus. I know Sudan cannot get cheese for love nor money. Goma cheese is a bit like Edam. The locals are so proud of it that it gets added to everything, the expected; pizza, pasta, fondue, quiche (all available in Goma) and then the more unusual; soup, rice. For those of you interested in finding new outlets for Edam I suggest looking elsewhere than soup and rice. I’ve tasted the result and really… it is nothing to write home about!
Shortly after returning from Nairobi with worries of the OFDA paper trail I headed back again, this time for a weekend of R&R. Loyse found free flights from Goma with ECHO (European disaster relief donor who will not pay for flights and has instead set up a flight carrier.) When a free flight is on offer it would be rude to turn it down. My return trip was the full holiday experience. I got to go on my first African safari - a bicycle safari so no large game but I did get to see zebra, warthog and antelope. I visited hells gate national park and walked through a gauge with hot springs. I fed giraffe at the giraffe sanctuary and got to learn about the antiseptic qualities of their saliva (not sure you will want to try it at home!). For retail therapy we went to the Massi Market and wandered between the stalls smiling at everything and paying over the odds for souvenirs. My finance assistant has just had twins so I found some lovely wooden animals to take back.
We took full advantage of the wide variety of restaurants from Ethiopian to Western. And I stocked up on ice cream to get me through the next couple of months. For those of you who came to my leaving dinner at the Ethiopian – The food is just the same over here!
I returned revitalised to Goma ready for the budgeting challenge.
What else to fill you in on?
Cake making continues. I now have the ingredients for the Christmas pudding which I will make in a couple of days time.
Salsa lessons are coming along, although it is very difficult to adapt to Congolese music.
My French is improving very slowly. I need to knuckle down over Christmas and make sure I improve for February when I move to Lumumbashi which is a much more francophone area.
On a serious note I see the BBC has picked up the increased troop movements in North Kivu. The head of the DRC army has apparently said that he has given up all hope of a peaceful solution to the conflict in eastern Congo. Gen Nkunda (leader of the opposition forces) has threatened UN troops, accusing them of backing the army and the United Nations peacekeeping mission in DR Congo. The United Nations (Monuc) says the army has been sending reinforcements to the region ahead of a possible major offensive against Gen Nkunda. Fighting is reported to be taking place in Rugari, 19 miles from Goma, towards the border.
I am fine, currently sunning myself hundreds of miles away in Manono. If there was fighting in London, I would be in the equivalent of the south of Spain with no road access and one weekly flight. Monuc has said they will protect Goma. GOAL is back under curfew and when I return to Goma I am a five minute walk from the boarder.
Please think about those who are not so fortunate. It is reported some 375,000 people have fled fighting in eastern DR Congo this year, on top of 800,000 who were already displaced. IDP camps north of Goma were shelled at the start of last week with no clarity as who implemented the action. As fighting comes closer to the city the number of IDP’s in Goma could increase leading to internal instability. I can run across the boarder. Our staff and those caught up in the conflict may not be so lucky. In the last week one of our drivers found his son shot in the street following a mugging. He was rushed to hospital and is making a good recovery. The transport manager’s teenage son went missing for a day. He apparently fell into a bad crowd at school and had been skipping lessons without his parent’s knowledge.
In the UK a bad crowd may get you into drinking or drugs. In Goma it could get you into the army.
I continue to enjoy my time in the sun. Thinking of you all as we head into chilly December. I hope you are wrapping up warm. I am sitting at my desk in a strappy top and currently spending my nights sleeping in a tent. Roughing it NGO style!
Julia
In 2007 DRC has spent out on a budget of €4.4m. We have funding secured next year of around €1.3m. On the assumption that we want our development program to expand next year we have to find funding for around a further €3.1m. I remember this time last year Oxfam was selling Christmas cards where you could bye your friend a goat for Christmas. The only problem being they would need to travel to Africa and wrestle back their prized possession from a local farmer. We currently have several thousand goats on order for distribution after the rainy season at the start of next year. Please if anyone was thinking of giving a goat this Christmas consider the merits of a GOAL goat!
My time has not only been spent on budgeting. I have now got through two month ends and am becoming a dab hand at journals. If Dublin is lucky they may even get the November month end on time! So far my success with timetables has been limited. Timetables assume your computer will turn on in the morning or that you will be sitting at your desk on the first of the month. Both are lovely ideas that just don’t seem to happen. This month end will be performed remotely from Manono on subject to the goodwill of an internet connection and the generator.
At the start of November I had the opportunity to leave DRC again. (Having read my blog so far it sounds like I spend very little time in the DRC!) This time I packed my bags and headed off to OFDA compliance training in Nairobi. Oh my word! Nairobi is busy. For those of you who face a rush hour commute give a thought to the poor people of Nairobi whose rush hour lasts for around four hours each morning and evening. I got to top up my exhaust fume blood content levels to ensure when I finally come back home I will not suffer too much. It also made me realise how lucky we are in Goma. No cars or roads equates to no traffic jams.
It also made me realise some of the quirkier parts of Goma. For example I have not told you of the photocopy shop in town that consists of a photocopier under a big parasol. Brilliant…… until it rains. Or the internet café called ‘The storm of God’. On the food front there is ‘Goma cheese’. Cheese is a big plus. I know Sudan cannot get cheese for love nor money. Goma cheese is a bit like Edam. The locals are so proud of it that it gets added to everything, the expected; pizza, pasta, fondue, quiche (all available in Goma) and then the more unusual; soup, rice. For those of you interested in finding new outlets for Edam I suggest looking elsewhere than soup and rice. I’ve tasted the result and really… it is nothing to write home about!
Shortly after returning from Nairobi with worries of the OFDA paper trail I headed back again, this time for a weekend of R&R. Loyse found free flights from Goma with ECHO (European disaster relief donor who will not pay for flights and has instead set up a flight carrier.) When a free flight is on offer it would be rude to turn it down. My return trip was the full holiday experience. I got to go on my first African safari - a bicycle safari so no large game but I did get to see zebra, warthog and antelope. I visited hells gate national park and walked through a gauge with hot springs. I fed giraffe at the giraffe sanctuary and got to learn about the antiseptic qualities of their saliva (not sure you will want to try it at home!). For retail therapy we went to the Massi Market and wandered between the stalls smiling at everything and paying over the odds for souvenirs. My finance assistant has just had twins so I found some lovely wooden animals to take back.
We took full advantage of the wide variety of restaurants from Ethiopian to Western. And I stocked up on ice cream to get me through the next couple of months. For those of you who came to my leaving dinner at the Ethiopian – The food is just the same over here!
I returned revitalised to Goma ready for the budgeting challenge.
What else to fill you in on?
Cake making continues. I now have the ingredients for the Christmas pudding which I will make in a couple of days time.
Salsa lessons are coming along, although it is very difficult to adapt to Congolese music.
My French is improving very slowly. I need to knuckle down over Christmas and make sure I improve for February when I move to Lumumbashi which is a much more francophone area.
On a serious note I see the BBC has picked up the increased troop movements in North Kivu. The head of the DRC army has apparently said that he has given up all hope of a peaceful solution to the conflict in eastern Congo. Gen Nkunda (leader of the opposition forces) has threatened UN troops, accusing them of backing the army and the United Nations peacekeeping mission in DR Congo. The United Nations (Monuc) says the army has been sending reinforcements to the region ahead of a possible major offensive against Gen Nkunda. Fighting is reported to be taking place in Rugari, 19 miles from Goma, towards the border.
I am fine, currently sunning myself hundreds of miles away in Manono. If there was fighting in London, I would be in the equivalent of the south of Spain with no road access and one weekly flight. Monuc has said they will protect Goma. GOAL is back under curfew and when I return to Goma I am a five minute walk from the boarder.
Please think about those who are not so fortunate. It is reported some 375,000 people have fled fighting in eastern DR Congo this year, on top of 800,000 who were already displaced. IDP camps north of Goma were shelled at the start of last week with no clarity as who implemented the action. As fighting comes closer to the city the number of IDP’s in Goma could increase leading to internal instability. I can run across the boarder. Our staff and those caught up in the conflict may not be so lucky. In the last week one of our drivers found his son shot in the street following a mugging. He was rushed to hospital and is making a good recovery. The transport manager’s teenage son went missing for a day. He apparently fell into a bad crowd at school and had been skipping lessons without his parent’s knowledge.
In the UK a bad crowd may get you into drinking or drugs. In Goma it could get you into the army.
I continue to enjoy my time in the sun. Thinking of you all as we head into chilly December. I hope you are wrapping up warm. I am sitting at my desk in a strappy top and currently spending my nights sleeping in a tent. Roughing it NGO style!
Julia
Saturday 29 September 2007
All Change
Wow two months since the last blog! That means there is a fair lot to fill you in on.
The biggest change is that I and my appalling French are now staying in the DRC. GOAL needed a new Finco here when Helen left and the Finco in Malawi wanted to extend.
I told Dublin I was happy to stay in the DRC just after writing the last blog and a week later they sent me on a French course to Vichy for three weeks. This goes a long way to explaining the black hole in my posts.
Vichy was a brilliant escape. The French course was very good. I started off at level A1 (yes bottom of the class) and finished, you’ve guessed it at a respectable A1. I do not think this fairly represents the progress I made in the three weeks but it does show that even after three weeks of studies I still cannot speak the language although my understanding is getting better. I now have just over 10 months to learn French in the Congo there is definitely room for improvement.
I managed to spend a weekend in Paris and Suzie came over for a visit. It was lovely to see an old friend and not have to worry about a funny language or work. She even brought muffins from the UK which went a long way to softening my return to the DRC.
I have now been back in the DRC four weeks and the time has just flown by. I had a week and a half handover with Helen before she left. I think everyone was a little surprised when we started preparing salads for her going away BBQ while discussing the finer points of Pooled fund budgeting restrictions. We were a little pushed for time and every minute counted!
With Helen’s departure it has been my turn to pick up the reigns. So far things are going well if a little busy while I try to find my feet.
I had my first trip to the field last weekend. Mannono is our main focus of operations in the DRC. Before the war the town was prosperous. A Belgium mining company was managing the mine and employing nearly all of the locals. When the war started the Belgium’s pulled out but the local inhabitants stayed on and kept the town going. It was only at the end of the war that things started falling to pieces. Retreating soldiers looted the town and left it as it is today, a ghost town. The slate roofs of the European buildings were a prime target for looting and today the buildings are falling down. Local services crumbled education, health and transport.
Today the town is starting to rebuild and like the rest of the DRC there are many who remember what it was like before the war. The locals can still point to the crazy golf course and while the swimming pool is empty and has trees growing in it. It is a constant reminder of what was before. There is a long way to go to build it back up.
Today the local community live in traditional mud huts with straw roofs. Some hold onto the one room brick houses from the mining days but these are harder to repair. Most still work at the mine. You see them leave early in the morning with pick axes and giant buckets for sifting through the rock. Going off to the mines is similar to panning for gold. The locals do not know where the ore is only that there is some somewhere. At the end of each day they hand over their find to one of the local middle men who then travel to Lumumbashi or another large town and sell it for ten times what they paid. In this way the money from the mining never reaches the local community.
Working in Mannono are the WFP for food security and the UN. GOAL is the only development NGO. During my trip I was fortunate enough to see some of our projects.
I visited one of the local villages where GOAL has put in a well and pump and is now working with the community to improve awareness of water bourn diseases. We are also building latrines for the local school.
The local clinic was rebuilt by GOAL last year and is now supported by the medical team for drug distribution and vaccination programs.
One of the successes in the area has been the women’s literacy program REFLECT. It has the aim to educate local women to read and write to demonstrate the benefit of having literate women in the community. The long term strategy is to try to get families to send daughters to school for longer. While I was at Mannono the optician from Goma was visiting to test everyone’s eyesight.
We are just starting up the livelihoods work in the region having secured funding for the next six months. I am learning how much seed costs and how expensive it is to transport.
The main problem we face working in Mannono is getting resources into the region. Goods are not available locally so everything must be shipped in. There is a three month truck journey from Lumumbashi or a 4 hour flight from Goma. Flights are easier but very expensive and liable to be cancelled at the last minute. Flight costs have almost doubled in the last year as planes keep crashing. GOAL can only use a handful of carriers which are deemed safe and only one or two are trusted to fly people.
The war is still a security threat although there is less fighting around Mannono than Goma.
I was only in Mannono for three days but it was an excellent experience. My excuse for going was to go over budgeting and forecast spend-outs to year end with our project managers but I was very lucky my visit coincided with Sophia, our logisticians, birthday. We celebrated with a party on Saturday night and a trip to the lake on Sunday. The lake is the pond left over from the mining. I was told it was safe to swim so long as you did not stay in too long. The arsenic levels in the water are safe in moderation!
I wandered round the market on Saturday and realised my true potential as a stand up comic. The children kept giggling with the phrase ‘femme, pantaloon!’. I was apparently very funny!
Returned to Goma on Tuesday and am very glad to be back in the shade of the Volcano. Mannono is VERY HOT.
I flew back with one of my friends from Airserve, Dave. There are benefits to having pilots as friends. First off you can bypass the cargo restrictions. I managed to bargain a swap between Goma and Mannono for Avocadoes and Mangoes. Dave brought the team 20 avocadoes and we in return gave him 4 mangoes. There had originally been more but our Livelihoods team got a little peckish the night before and did not realise they were eating our bargaining chips. I think I owe Dave a pint or at least 16 mangoes.
The second and more exciting part of knowing the pilot is that you can ask to be co-pilot and sit up front. I even got to fly the plane! My flight stile is apparently meandering. I think that is a nice way of saying I can’t keep it straight and I tend to zig-zag. Nothing a few more lessons won’t cure. The passengers did not seem to notice.
Working in the DRC is a long way from working at home. For now I am more than happy to stay here ‘roughing it’. Sunny days, bad French and flight lessons. It is a long way from accountancy back home!
Got to go our logistician has just informed me we have a last minute flight tomorrow and he needs cash.
Wish you were here.
Julia
The biggest change is that I and my appalling French are now staying in the DRC. GOAL needed a new Finco here when Helen left and the Finco in Malawi wanted to extend.
I told Dublin I was happy to stay in the DRC just after writing the last blog and a week later they sent me on a French course to Vichy for three weeks. This goes a long way to explaining the black hole in my posts.
Vichy was a brilliant escape. The French course was very good. I started off at level A1 (yes bottom of the class) and finished, you’ve guessed it at a respectable A1. I do not think this fairly represents the progress I made in the three weeks but it does show that even after three weeks of studies I still cannot speak the language although my understanding is getting better. I now have just over 10 months to learn French in the Congo there is definitely room for improvement.
I managed to spend a weekend in Paris and Suzie came over for a visit. It was lovely to see an old friend and not have to worry about a funny language or work. She even brought muffins from the UK which went a long way to softening my return to the DRC.
I have now been back in the DRC four weeks and the time has just flown by. I had a week and a half handover with Helen before she left. I think everyone was a little surprised when we started preparing salads for her going away BBQ while discussing the finer points of Pooled fund budgeting restrictions. We were a little pushed for time and every minute counted!
With Helen’s departure it has been my turn to pick up the reigns. So far things are going well if a little busy while I try to find my feet.
I had my first trip to the field last weekend. Mannono is our main focus of operations in the DRC. Before the war the town was prosperous. A Belgium mining company was managing the mine and employing nearly all of the locals. When the war started the Belgium’s pulled out but the local inhabitants stayed on and kept the town going. It was only at the end of the war that things started falling to pieces. Retreating soldiers looted the town and left it as it is today, a ghost town. The slate roofs of the European buildings were a prime target for looting and today the buildings are falling down. Local services crumbled education, health and transport.
Today the town is starting to rebuild and like the rest of the DRC there are many who remember what it was like before the war. The locals can still point to the crazy golf course and while the swimming pool is empty and has trees growing in it. It is a constant reminder of what was before. There is a long way to go to build it back up.
Today the local community live in traditional mud huts with straw roofs. Some hold onto the one room brick houses from the mining days but these are harder to repair. Most still work at the mine. You see them leave early in the morning with pick axes and giant buckets for sifting through the rock. Going off to the mines is similar to panning for gold. The locals do not know where the ore is only that there is some somewhere. At the end of each day they hand over their find to one of the local middle men who then travel to Lumumbashi or another large town and sell it for ten times what they paid. In this way the money from the mining never reaches the local community.
Working in Mannono are the WFP for food security and the UN. GOAL is the only development NGO. During my trip I was fortunate enough to see some of our projects.
I visited one of the local villages where GOAL has put in a well and pump and is now working with the community to improve awareness of water bourn diseases. We are also building latrines for the local school.
The local clinic was rebuilt by GOAL last year and is now supported by the medical team for drug distribution and vaccination programs.
One of the successes in the area has been the women’s literacy program REFLECT. It has the aim to educate local women to read and write to demonstrate the benefit of having literate women in the community. The long term strategy is to try to get families to send daughters to school for longer. While I was at Mannono the optician from Goma was visiting to test everyone’s eyesight.
We are just starting up the livelihoods work in the region having secured funding for the next six months. I am learning how much seed costs and how expensive it is to transport.
The main problem we face working in Mannono is getting resources into the region. Goods are not available locally so everything must be shipped in. There is a three month truck journey from Lumumbashi or a 4 hour flight from Goma. Flights are easier but very expensive and liable to be cancelled at the last minute. Flight costs have almost doubled in the last year as planes keep crashing. GOAL can only use a handful of carriers which are deemed safe and only one or two are trusted to fly people.
The war is still a security threat although there is less fighting around Mannono than Goma.
I was only in Mannono for three days but it was an excellent experience. My excuse for going was to go over budgeting and forecast spend-outs to year end with our project managers but I was very lucky my visit coincided with Sophia, our logisticians, birthday. We celebrated with a party on Saturday night and a trip to the lake on Sunday. The lake is the pond left over from the mining. I was told it was safe to swim so long as you did not stay in too long. The arsenic levels in the water are safe in moderation!
I wandered round the market on Saturday and realised my true potential as a stand up comic. The children kept giggling with the phrase ‘femme, pantaloon!’. I was apparently very funny!
Returned to Goma on Tuesday and am very glad to be back in the shade of the Volcano. Mannono is VERY HOT.
I flew back with one of my friends from Airserve, Dave. There are benefits to having pilots as friends. First off you can bypass the cargo restrictions. I managed to bargain a swap between Goma and Mannono for Avocadoes and Mangoes. Dave brought the team 20 avocadoes and we in return gave him 4 mangoes. There had originally been more but our Livelihoods team got a little peckish the night before and did not realise they were eating our bargaining chips. I think I owe Dave a pint or at least 16 mangoes.
The second and more exciting part of knowing the pilot is that you can ask to be co-pilot and sit up front. I even got to fly the plane! My flight stile is apparently meandering. I think that is a nice way of saying I can’t keep it straight and I tend to zig-zag. Nothing a few more lessons won’t cure. The passengers did not seem to notice.
Working in the DRC is a long way from working at home. For now I am more than happy to stay here ‘roughing it’. Sunny days, bad French and flight lessons. It is a long way from accountancy back home!
Got to go our logistician has just informed me we have a last minute flight tomorrow and he needs cash.
Wish you were here.
Julia
Wednesday 25 July 2007
Mon Tete est dans la Nuages (my head is in the clouds)
This weekend I succeeded in making myself battered, sore, bitten and grazed. It was worth it!
The DRC boasts Africa’s most active volcano. It towers over Goma at 3,470m high and in 2002 flattened the city when it blew up. The Volcano is also the main tourist attraction in Goma, and last weekend I climbed it.
I cannot really say the experience was fun, or that it is necessarily one to repeat. But -Oh my! You have to do it once, just for the view from the top. If you have ever sat gazing mesmerised by a fire just think how much more captivating is the burning hot lava of the crater and the roar of the volcano beneath you.
I went with Loyse, my friend from work. I now have a range of French phrases associated with body parts being in clouds and hurting feet which will continue to expand my dinner party conversation.
The climb took us 5 hours. It was uphill all the way. Loyse, demonstrating her Swiss roots, noted that the Congolese do not go in for the European windy footpaths that allow a gradual climb. No instead they go for the shortest distance between A and B and ignore anything that gets in the way. I was glad that we took advantage of the relaxed child labour laws in the Congo and hired porters at the bottom. I don’t think I could have carried myself and a tent to the top.
The porters are fantastic they and the guide can climb this Volcano up to three times a week with fully loaded back packs while wearing Wellington boots or flip flops. (If you have any spare climbing boots at home send them to the DRC park commission.) The money you pay them generally goes back to supporting their families or for paying for schooling during the week. Two of them were practicing geography homework on the way back down.
The scenery was breathtaking. You start with an hours hike through forest before moving onto the lava flow of 2002. At the bottom this is lots of loose rocks, each ready to twist your ankle. As you climb, the rock becomes denser, and the loose stones become more infrequent. It is a bit like climbing over a large dragon. The stones are red and black with ripples and cracks from where the rock cooled. Halfway up you reach the start of the 2002 lava flow. As you go above it the vegetation gets older and you return to forest. The trees are all really short as you are so close to the cloud line. The last bit is the steepest, all up hill and vegetation dies away. And then you are at the top looking back over Goma and down into the crater.
We climbed up on Saturday, camped at the top, and then made the decent on Sunday. If you want to experience an uncomfortable night try sleeping at the top of a volcano. You are above the clouds, and even in Africa, that means it is chilly. I took with me every warm piece of clothing I had and borrowed jumpers from others. You would think that four jumpers, two pairs of trousers, three pairs of socks, a sleeping mat, ground mat and tent would be enough to keep you warm. You would be wrong. I am not sure what kept me awake more, the cold, the rocks or the wind. I do know that morning was a welcome relief.
On Sunday we started back down. In parts my legs decided that they had done enough work for one weekend and so let my bottom have a go instead. I gained some great scrapes due to those pesky loose rocks. Going down is definitely easier than going up. I learnt that gravity is my friend.
In all it took us 5 hours up and four hours back down. I think this was due to the perfect conditions more than our physical fitness. The guide decided we were lucky. We had beautiful weather on both days - no rain, not to hot. The crater was clear and we even saw a blue monkey on the descent.
It has been three days since I got back. This morning was the first time I woke up without my legs hurting. We have been providing great amusement amongst our friends for our John Wayne walks. Those who have been up and lived to tell the tale are sympathetic, others just laugh.
I have three weeks left in the DRC. I filled my flight request in today for the 18th August. I am currently playing at FC while Helen is away. This is proving to be great fun. I generally get to order large amounts of cash and then refuse to pay anyone who cannot provide me with things signed in triplicate. Tomorrow I get to talk to the drugs supplier about certificates and start the Goma fixed asset verification – it is almost like being at work! If anyone wants to take up the reigns once Helen leaves then contact GOAL they are currently recruiting - must have some financial background and want to climb a volcano.
The DRC boasts Africa’s most active volcano. It towers over Goma at 3,470m high and in 2002 flattened the city when it blew up. The Volcano is also the main tourist attraction in Goma, and last weekend I climbed it.
I cannot really say the experience was fun, or that it is necessarily one to repeat. But -Oh my! You have to do it once, just for the view from the top. If you have ever sat gazing mesmerised by a fire just think how much more captivating is the burning hot lava of the crater and the roar of the volcano beneath you.
I went with Loyse, my friend from work. I now have a range of French phrases associated with body parts being in clouds and hurting feet which will continue to expand my dinner party conversation.
The climb took us 5 hours. It was uphill all the way. Loyse, demonstrating her Swiss roots, noted that the Congolese do not go in for the European windy footpaths that allow a gradual climb. No instead they go for the shortest distance between A and B and ignore anything that gets in the way. I was glad that we took advantage of the relaxed child labour laws in the Congo and hired porters at the bottom. I don’t think I could have carried myself and a tent to the top.
The porters are fantastic they and the guide can climb this Volcano up to three times a week with fully loaded back packs while wearing Wellington boots or flip flops. (If you have any spare climbing boots at home send them to the DRC park commission.) The money you pay them generally goes back to supporting their families or for paying for schooling during the week. Two of them were practicing geography homework on the way back down.
The scenery was breathtaking. You start with an hours hike through forest before moving onto the lava flow of 2002. At the bottom this is lots of loose rocks, each ready to twist your ankle. As you climb, the rock becomes denser, and the loose stones become more infrequent. It is a bit like climbing over a large dragon. The stones are red and black with ripples and cracks from where the rock cooled. Halfway up you reach the start of the 2002 lava flow. As you go above it the vegetation gets older and you return to forest. The trees are all really short as you are so close to the cloud line. The last bit is the steepest, all up hill and vegetation dies away. And then you are at the top looking back over Goma and down into the crater.
We climbed up on Saturday, camped at the top, and then made the decent on Sunday. If you want to experience an uncomfortable night try sleeping at the top of a volcano. You are above the clouds, and even in Africa, that means it is chilly. I took with me every warm piece of clothing I had and borrowed jumpers from others. You would think that four jumpers, two pairs of trousers, three pairs of socks, a sleeping mat, ground mat and tent would be enough to keep you warm. You would be wrong. I am not sure what kept me awake more, the cold, the rocks or the wind. I do know that morning was a welcome relief.
On Sunday we started back down. In parts my legs decided that they had done enough work for one weekend and so let my bottom have a go instead. I gained some great scrapes due to those pesky loose rocks. Going down is definitely easier than going up. I learnt that gravity is my friend.
In all it took us 5 hours up and four hours back down. I think this was due to the perfect conditions more than our physical fitness. The guide decided we were lucky. We had beautiful weather on both days - no rain, not to hot. The crater was clear and we even saw a blue monkey on the descent.
It has been three days since I got back. This morning was the first time I woke up without my legs hurting. We have been providing great amusement amongst our friends for our John Wayne walks. Those who have been up and lived to tell the tale are sympathetic, others just laugh.
I have three weeks left in the DRC. I filled my flight request in today for the 18th August. I am currently playing at FC while Helen is away. This is proving to be great fun. I generally get to order large amounts of cash and then refuse to pay anyone who cannot provide me with things signed in triplicate. Tomorrow I get to talk to the drugs supplier about certificates and start the Goma fixed asset verification – it is almost like being at work! If anyone wants to take up the reigns once Helen leaves then contact GOAL they are currently recruiting - must have some financial background and want to climb a volcano.
Tuesday 10 July 2007
The DRC mellows
I’ve made it to week three. On my original plans I should be getting ready to pack my bags and head over to Malawi, instead I am settling down for (at the latest count up) five more weeks. And I’m really looking forward to them. It would have been a shame to leave now. I have only just started to know everyone’s names at work and more importantly in the pub. Plus I am getting more confident in my absolute lack of French and have come to the conclusion that speaking English slowly with the odd French word thrown in for fun is a lot less confusing for everyone than making them struggle through my bad pronunciation or for that matter vocabulary.
I have not given up on learning French completely. Helen taught me lots of kitchen implements while making an omelet this week. My French now extends to being able to describe omelet making in great detail. A useful conversation filler! This weekend I am going shopping with Loyse (My lovely Swiss flat mate who does HR for GOAL here) so I am hopeful that I may be able to extend my repertoire to fabric buying at the market. My polite conversation will make me an asset at any French dinner party.
The last two weeks have seen me continuing to ticking at work. Thankfully the 2006 audit is almost finished and I just need to submit a final report. The work is a little dull but my main bugbear is that, here, 2006 is a longtime ago. Next week I start reviewing 2007 to see if things have improved and whether the controls they have introduced actually do what they say on the packet.
Not everything is work. Last week I attended a UN award ceremony. The troupes receive a medal for every 6month term they serve in the DRC. Most terms are for a year. This time the award ceremony was a little special as the unit was also receiving a general recommendation from the UN secretary general for their actions during fighting earlier this year. The day consisted of a parade, speeches (thankfully in English), and then a cultural display and lunch.
The cultural display was very unusual as it consisted of four dances performed by different troupes. My favorite was the one where the guys waved silk scarves while wearing colourful pajamas. This may make more sense if I explain that the troupes station in DRC are an Indian regiment. Lunch was curry and ice cream. Hurray for the UN who are the sole providers of ice cream in the country!
This weekend instead of packing my bags I will be making a cake, watching the Wimbledon finals (if electricity is returned), going to the market and trying to find out if Pimms has made it to the DRC by trawling through the ‘Jesu’ shops in town. (All shops in town generally have Jesu somewhere in the title whether they are the tailors or the general convenience store.)
If anyone has a good cake recipe that needs only basic ingredients please send it on. At the moment the only cake recipe Loyse and I can remember is the four part milk, sugar, flour, butter combination with chocolate chips thrown in for good measure. A carrot cake recipe would go down really well.
Internet was down this weekend so you can have the follow up email too.
The weekend was great fun. Learnt absolutely no French (nothing new!) but did manage to have a dinner party for 9. Not bad when the cooker does not work! We originally expected four, but Joanne (lovely irish friend with Concern) was out with friends and brought them along too. Thankfully she did give us a couple of hours warning – at least long enough to double the pasta, cut up some more veg and dash to the office for a couple more plates.
Cake was a huge success. A fruit tart for Saturday (in the style of M&S) with pie base and custard/mouse middle and fruit on top. I think Loyse was concerned with my original plan custard and fruit! Plus how do you cook a mango? But I put her fears to rest when we found packet mouse and left the dessert in the freezer. I have managed to win the Swiss over to cold fruit pie – Hurray.
Made chocolate brownies for a friends Sunday BBQ. I have finally worked out who uses the recipes on the back of packets – I do! Hurray for the coco powder people they made me many friends at the BBQ.
Pimms has not made it to the DRC – To bad!
I have not given up on learning French completely. Helen taught me lots of kitchen implements while making an omelet this week. My French now extends to being able to describe omelet making in great detail. A useful conversation filler! This weekend I am going shopping with Loyse (My lovely Swiss flat mate who does HR for GOAL here) so I am hopeful that I may be able to extend my repertoire to fabric buying at the market. My polite conversation will make me an asset at any French dinner party.
The last two weeks have seen me continuing to ticking at work. Thankfully the 2006 audit is almost finished and I just need to submit a final report. The work is a little dull but my main bugbear is that, here, 2006 is a longtime ago. Next week I start reviewing 2007 to see if things have improved and whether the controls they have introduced actually do what they say on the packet.
Not everything is work. Last week I attended a UN award ceremony. The troupes receive a medal for every 6month term they serve in the DRC. Most terms are for a year. This time the award ceremony was a little special as the unit was also receiving a general recommendation from the UN secretary general for their actions during fighting earlier this year. The day consisted of a parade, speeches (thankfully in English), and then a cultural display and lunch.
The cultural display was very unusual as it consisted of four dances performed by different troupes. My favorite was the one where the guys waved silk scarves while wearing colourful pajamas. This may make more sense if I explain that the troupes station in DRC are an Indian regiment. Lunch was curry and ice cream. Hurray for the UN who are the sole providers of ice cream in the country!
This weekend instead of packing my bags I will be making a cake, watching the Wimbledon finals (if electricity is returned), going to the market and trying to find out if Pimms has made it to the DRC by trawling through the ‘Jesu’ shops in town. (All shops in town generally have Jesu somewhere in the title whether they are the tailors or the general convenience store.)
If anyone has a good cake recipe that needs only basic ingredients please send it on. At the moment the only cake recipe Loyse and I can remember is the four part milk, sugar, flour, butter combination with chocolate chips thrown in for good measure. A carrot cake recipe would go down really well.
Internet was down this weekend so you can have the follow up email too.
The weekend was great fun. Learnt absolutely no French (nothing new!) but did manage to have a dinner party for 9. Not bad when the cooker does not work! We originally expected four, but Joanne (lovely irish friend with Concern) was out with friends and brought them along too. Thankfully she did give us a couple of hours warning – at least long enough to double the pasta, cut up some more veg and dash to the office for a couple more plates.
Cake was a huge success. A fruit tart for Saturday (in the style of M&S) with pie base and custard/mouse middle and fruit on top. I think Loyse was concerned with my original plan custard and fruit! Plus how do you cook a mango? But I put her fears to rest when we found packet mouse and left the dessert in the freezer. I have managed to win the Swiss over to cold fruit pie – Hurray.
Made chocolate brownies for a friends Sunday BBQ. I have finally worked out who uses the recipes on the back of packets – I do! Hurray for the coco powder people they made me many friends at the BBQ.
Pimms has not made it to the DRC – To bad!
Saturday 23 June 2007
Nairobi - DRC J'ai arrive!
Bonjour mon aimée. J'ai arrive en RDC. Mon francais est disastrous! Which is a bit of a shame seeing as that is the language in which we work.
So back to the beginning. Travel out here was surprisingly uncomplicated. I flew to Nairobi on Monday and then on to Kigali on Tuesday where there were two friendly taxi drivers to ferry me across Rwanda to the DRC boarder. The taxi drive was an experience. Only one of the drivers spoke English so they decided to teach me Swahili. Languages have never been my strong point which very quickly became obvious as I tried to say 'My name is' and got confused with 'I am going to the market'. After four hours my Swahili had marginally improved - I could now also go to the bar!
Rawanda was very beautiful and surprisingly green. Lots of banana trees and very little tarmac. The taxi driver was 29 it was strange to think that he had lived through the genocide and while I had heard about the events as a teenager at home he had been in Rwanda experiencing them first hand.
At the DRC boarder I was met by Helen (my friend from home) and more GOAL people who were able to get me through the boarder process. No one here queues, the person with the longest arm gets served first.
The base is about 10 minutes from the boarder. It is just on the edge of Goma and close to lots of other NGO buildings. Generally it is really quiet apart from when the plane's fly overhead at which point you imagine yourself on an airbase.
I've now had three days at work and it really is not like being at work back home. It is amazing what natural sunlight and a relaxed atmosphere brings. It rained on Thursday so on Friday the office was a little damp. We waited to turn on the computers until the biggest puddles had been mopped up.
It is strange working as an expat. DRC is still considered a security risk so you go everywhere by car. Can only go to certain bars at which everyone else also works for an NGO. Everything is very transient as people are coming and going all the time. So far Doga's has been the bar of choice and we have been almost every night.
Today is the weekend so Helen has shown me the tourist sights. This morning we went to the market, the supermarket and the dress makers. The main/only tourist attraction is the volcano which takes a couple of days to climb so will probably be another weekend. This weekend I have to learn French. This afternoon I will be sitting down with 3 French CD's that promise they can teach me the rudiments of the language in 13 hours - I await the results!
Tomorrow I think we are playing/loosing at tennis in the morning. I tried to find a church but services not in Swahili are in French so I might priorities learning French and download a service from home. If anyone from St James is reading this please update the website.
Looks like I may be here for longer than expected. My three weeks are likely to become 5 which may become 7 - it is all highly flexible. As such I don't have a phone number or address so it is email for me.
Off for Bacon Sandwiches.
Keep in touch. I am missing everyone loads.
Julia
So back to the beginning. Travel out here was surprisingly uncomplicated. I flew to Nairobi on Monday and then on to Kigali on Tuesday where there were two friendly taxi drivers to ferry me across Rwanda to the DRC boarder. The taxi drive was an experience. Only one of the drivers spoke English so they decided to teach me Swahili. Languages have never been my strong point which very quickly became obvious as I tried to say 'My name is' and got confused with 'I am going to the market'. After four hours my Swahili had marginally improved - I could now also go to the bar!
Rawanda was very beautiful and surprisingly green. Lots of banana trees and very little tarmac. The taxi driver was 29 it was strange to think that he had lived through the genocide and while I had heard about the events as a teenager at home he had been in Rwanda experiencing them first hand.
At the DRC boarder I was met by Helen (my friend from home) and more GOAL people who were able to get me through the boarder process. No one here queues, the person with the longest arm gets served first.
The base is about 10 minutes from the boarder. It is just on the edge of Goma and close to lots of other NGO buildings. Generally it is really quiet apart from when the plane's fly overhead at which point you imagine yourself on an airbase.
I've now had three days at work and it really is not like being at work back home. It is amazing what natural sunlight and a relaxed atmosphere brings. It rained on Thursday so on Friday the office was a little damp. We waited to turn on the computers until the biggest puddles had been mopped up.
It is strange working as an expat. DRC is still considered a security risk so you go everywhere by car. Can only go to certain bars at which everyone else also works for an NGO. Everything is very transient as people are coming and going all the time. So far Doga's has been the bar of choice and we have been almost every night.
Today is the weekend so Helen has shown me the tourist sights. This morning we went to the market, the supermarket and the dress makers. The main/only tourist attraction is the volcano which takes a couple of days to climb so will probably be another weekend. This weekend I have to learn French. This afternoon I will be sitting down with 3 French CD's that promise they can teach me the rudiments of the language in 13 hours - I await the results!
Tomorrow I think we are playing/loosing at tennis in the morning. I tried to find a church but services not in Swahili are in French so I might priorities learning French and download a service from home. If anyone from St James is reading this please update the website.
Looks like I may be here for longer than expected. My three weeks are likely to become 5 which may become 7 - it is all highly flexible. As such I don't have a phone number or address so it is email for me.
Off for Bacon Sandwiches.
Keep in touch. I am missing everyone loads.
Julia
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