So Mark, Gerry and Justin disappeared into the Congo on Wednesday and Thursday and they were supposed to meet with the UNHCR to talk about them doing piss all to help the 1.1million refugees in North Kivu alone. UNHCR didnt turn up theyre on holiday lucky them! But we delivered aid and my concoction to combat cholera ie salt and sugar! So far six kids in the camp have died from it the UNHCR remains adamant that there is no cholera!
Anyway Mark managed to get us into a party at the British Embassy through one of his friends so we Brited up though we thickened our accents and turned up late like true Irish and pretty much slagged everyone we talked to. We turned up it was a pub in the embassy called the Gorilla and the Goat drinks were cheap and the brochettes were awesome. The party was an eclitic mix: Rwandans who thought they were white and rich were in one corner but no white people talked to them then you had the tourists who had came to see the gorillas and had came to the embassy with their bumbags and rucksacks then the squaddies either mercs or private security, couple of volunteers, embassy staff and some white colonists relics from a time gone by still harking on about the empire.
We got talking to a couple of Norn Iron folk one guy called Ronan from Randalstown and Paul from Ballyclare - culcy as! But Paul was working for one of Bill Gates trust funds encouraging coffee cooperatives across east Africa. He made the mistake of trying to slag us and we ripped into him saying that he didnt go to Queens for "agricultural economics" but Greenmount and he was a glorified culcy.
We then got talking to his friend Kirsty who is the Rwandan Prime Minister's advisor ha mistake talking to me! I started off with what does your job involve then asked does the prime minister have any power considering its an authoritarian state. She used to work for Tony Blair so I asked her what it was like moving from democracy to a dictator her answer was 'interesting'. I asked her a few more questions on Congo 'its complicated' or 'I cant answer that' so I got bored and Mark and I tried to find another person to harass.
We met this expat, ex SAS claimed he worked on the Collateral and Bourne Ultimatum films said he served in Norn Iron and Iraq for six years and he is not working for a private security firm. His backers where Libya apparently and he was trying to get work in Congo. Though he said we were insane going to Congo - 'they eat people there you know' and 'Ive been is some shitty countries but I wouldnt go near Congo'. Love the old imperialists who dont trust Rwandans in their house or even to talk to. They were so racist it was crazy but after a few drinks I was advising him on the Congo ah me working for amnesty advising a mercenary that the Congo is where the real money is!
I managed to redeem myself by the end of the night by asking one of the embassy staff who works with the President if the whole justice/gacaca thing is going to work out and will Kagame survive considering that his predecessors died horribly - one starved to death and the other had his plane blown up and land in his house. She said it was a pretty big gamble and depended on the government showing that with out much electoral support they can achieve real results such as pulling people out of poverty etc which is happening in parts of Rwanda but that its gamble and if they lost it would be bad.
A fun night though most expats seem to stick together and they let bloody americans into the embassy! Most people went there every week and it seemed more of a pick up joint. Mark wanted to get his foot in the diplomatic door but nearly ended up in a fight with the SAS guy after he slagged Mark which Mark replied "I'll end you!" lol what a legend!
Friday, 17 July 2009
Saturday, 11 July 2009
Thnks fr th mmrs
So its been another crazy week in central Africa!
Last week we had the luck of being in Kigali on the 4th of July National Liberation Day and it was the 15th anniversary so Museveni, Nyerere and Zaweri were all there plus Kagame! We arrived after eight to find thousands of Rwandans around the gates waiting to get in and we were right at the back! Luckily waiting for Justin we found a side gate for white people with invititations however our invititations must have got lost in the post so we didnt have any. However after a while a large group of rwandans had spotted the gate and another crowd grew so much that the guards at the gate couldnt hold them back. So started the stampede for the gate people were falling everywhere but we managed to slip in before the gates were closed in front of the pile of bodies which were strewn on the ground. One woman was screaming in pain and rubbing her foot which was clearly broke I told some guy to stop massaging it and tried to get the medic 3m away to help but he just smiled!
We left the madness behind and tried to get into the stadium but there were presidential guards and metal detectors everywhere so running the guards wasnt a plan! There was a white gate again so we waited but didnt have an invitation so had to wait but it paid off and we managed to get into the VIP area n front row seats score!
There was a media section to our right with a massive army contingent beside that with some conspicous white people beside generals at the front! there were a few americans there too all dressed up for some reason we were rough looking literally rolled out of bed with all our water!
Kagame, Museveni and yer man from ethiopia all arrived in big jeeps n mercs only two meters from us got out and waved. The stadium floor was full of soldiers and police men who marched around and looked right which the crowd went crazy over - easy crowd. Then two red beret MPs marched around with the flags literally like duracell bunnies it was hilarous! Museveni looked like a turtle and barely smiled until he started speaking and he started cracking jokes and was quite funny. Somehow ethiopian troops had fought in 1994 surprisingly and Museveni and Pauly must have made up after Pauly killed his friend then tried to fight the ugandan army in the congo for the last few years over gold.
Then the attack helicopters which had been flying over our house the last few days flew over all ten of them would hate to meet them in the Congo! Kagame spoke in english then some itora dancers came out with like three dozen drummers it was awesome! We as the army was moving out but couldnt leave and so had to stand surrounded by soldiers and all the top guys in Rwanda and at one point we were standing beside a couple of generals they didnt want a photo with us harsh!
We left the stadium and had the worst lunch ever in the Le Banjo just down from the stadium we ordered some chicken n chips and the chicken came out and you couldnt eat it it went everywhere as we tried to split it then the fanta got spilt a few times by the time we finished we were covered in orange sauce and were still so hungry!
Most of this week we have been writing up testimonies and our report and newspaper article it has been so long and boring but we got it done!
Yesterday we had to meet with human rights commission to get permission to visit the prisons were children are being held but we ended up get half a dozen different buses to four different ministries to get permission and in the end we were told we just had to write a letter rage! but we somehow ended up in the defence ministry which was fun mark was taking sneaky photos but his camera is so bloody noisy that the guards at the front armed with aks nearly caught us!
Then yesterday afternoon we were in the amazing market near our house were you can buy anything and mark started teaching the locals irish dancing it was hilarous! Then last night with the locals we had a wee concert singing and playing the guitar it was alot of fun some guy came up in the dark took the guitar and started playing the house of the rising sun in kinyarwandan it was excellent!
Now we are chilling this afternoon then heading to an ethiopian restaurant beside our house! food here is amazing and so cheap!
Probably heading to congo on wednesday I have been in contact with the UNHCR about how the children in the camp we visited are now dying in droves from cholera so they want to meet but they say that no children have died my arse! they also say they feed everybody in the camps and there have people working in the camps and are surprised I didnt meet any of them!
Last week we had the luck of being in Kigali on the 4th of July National Liberation Day and it was the 15th anniversary so Museveni, Nyerere and Zaweri were all there plus Kagame! We arrived after eight to find thousands of Rwandans around the gates waiting to get in and we were right at the back! Luckily waiting for Justin we found a side gate for white people with invititations however our invititations must have got lost in the post so we didnt have any. However after a while a large group of rwandans had spotted the gate and another crowd grew so much that the guards at the gate couldnt hold them back. So started the stampede for the gate people were falling everywhere but we managed to slip in before the gates were closed in front of the pile of bodies which were strewn on the ground. One woman was screaming in pain and rubbing her foot which was clearly broke I told some guy to stop massaging it and tried to get the medic 3m away to help but he just smiled!
We left the madness behind and tried to get into the stadium but there were presidential guards and metal detectors everywhere so running the guards wasnt a plan! There was a white gate again so we waited but didnt have an invitation so had to wait but it paid off and we managed to get into the VIP area n front row seats score!
There was a media section to our right with a massive army contingent beside that with some conspicous white people beside generals at the front! there were a few americans there too all dressed up for some reason we were rough looking literally rolled out of bed with all our water!
Kagame, Museveni and yer man from ethiopia all arrived in big jeeps n mercs only two meters from us got out and waved. The stadium floor was full of soldiers and police men who marched around and looked right which the crowd went crazy over - easy crowd. Then two red beret MPs marched around with the flags literally like duracell bunnies it was hilarous! Museveni looked like a turtle and barely smiled until he started speaking and he started cracking jokes and was quite funny. Somehow ethiopian troops had fought in 1994 surprisingly and Museveni and Pauly must have made up after Pauly killed his friend then tried to fight the ugandan army in the congo for the last few years over gold.
Then the attack helicopters which had been flying over our house the last few days flew over all ten of them would hate to meet them in the Congo! Kagame spoke in english then some itora dancers came out with like three dozen drummers it was awesome! We as the army was moving out but couldnt leave and so had to stand surrounded by soldiers and all the top guys in Rwanda and at one point we were standing beside a couple of generals they didnt want a photo with us harsh!
We left the stadium and had the worst lunch ever in the Le Banjo just down from the stadium we ordered some chicken n chips and the chicken came out and you couldnt eat it it went everywhere as we tried to split it then the fanta got spilt a few times by the time we finished we were covered in orange sauce and were still so hungry!
Most of this week we have been writing up testimonies and our report and newspaper article it has been so long and boring but we got it done!
Yesterday we had to meet with human rights commission to get permission to visit the prisons were children are being held but we ended up get half a dozen different buses to four different ministries to get permission and in the end we were told we just had to write a letter rage! but we somehow ended up in the defence ministry which was fun mark was taking sneaky photos but his camera is so bloody noisy that the guards at the front armed with aks nearly caught us!
Then yesterday afternoon we were in the amazing market near our house were you can buy anything and mark started teaching the locals irish dancing it was hilarous! Then last night with the locals we had a wee concert singing and playing the guitar it was alot of fun some guy came up in the dark took the guitar and started playing the house of the rising sun in kinyarwandan it was excellent!
Now we are chilling this afternoon then heading to an ethiopian restaurant beside our house! food here is amazing and so cheap!
Probably heading to congo on wednesday I have been in contact with the UNHCR about how the children in the camp we visited are now dying in droves from cholera so they want to meet but they say that no children have died my arse! they also say they feed everybody in the camps and there have people working in the camps and are surprised I didnt meet any of them!
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