TIA: This is Africa

---

December 18th, 2004

Dear friends,

I had hoped that my recent experience travelling India would have prepared me somehow for the culture shock inherent in switching continents. But it has only helped me to find out that, besides being completely different from Europe, the feeling of the DRC has nothing in common with the Indian subcontinent.
We arrived late yesterday night at N'Djili International Airport of Kinshasa, after a pleasant flight with Air France - they certainly know how to make their passengers feel at home. We were supposed to leave tonight on the MSF charter flight from Lignes Aeriennes Congolaises (a carrier banned from flying to the EU, by the way) carrying medical supplies directly to the airstrip outside Bunia. Some of our luggage had gotten 'lost' and was suddenly 'found' after I left a bottle of J.D's. unattended at the lost luggage desk and went for a stroll. How remarkable. Luckily, hotel reservations had been made in advance for our group. It's hard to imagine the riot that broke out as soon as the taxi drivers and hotel sharks outside realised that no less than 30 white men and woman had landed at 2.30 in the morning. I remember the screaming and pleading from Indian rickshaw drivers very well, this was vastly different. At least three drivers claimed to be our chauffeur organised by the MSF (they even had official looking vests on!), while the majority fought each other and some tried to force those of us stupid enough to face them with an apologetic excusez-moi into taxis hardly worth the name. There actually was someone supposed to pick us up, and it was Hubert who finally spotted the poor guy - recognised him from an earlier tour- being manhandled somewhere in the back, his voice drowned out by the shouting of his 'colleagues'. We formed a phalanx and broke into a near-run heading straight for our guy, trying to stick together and drive the mass of bodies of by sheer force of movement. We reached the guy and spotted the coach waiting around the corner. Three security guards with heavy automatic weapons were making sure no one got near the vehicle, and the started waving at us frantically once we rounded the corner. We practically leaped aboard the bus, which started driving as soon as the last person had gotten on. "TIA", Hubert yelled, laughing a big hearty laugh while trying to regain his breath. And, when he saw I and some others didn't understand. "This Is Africa! - a phrase that goes with everything. Welcome to Kinshasa, people!"

The hotel actually is pretty good - there is even some Internet, now and then, so we all got a good night's sleep. In the morning, we were briefed on the current status of MSF projects in the DRC and the political situation. That last one warrants a whole post by itself - I'll see if I can throw something together later. The long and short of it: things were not looking up, but appeared to be stable. That is, if you count kidnappings and murder in regular intervals as 'stable'. The local director of MSF did give a heart-warming presentation about the amount of medicine passed out last year and about some highly successful project. Needless to say, the Bunia project was not in that list. I still feel a little shaken, as the numbers and statistics are becoming more of a reality, but I know what I signed up for - I've set a secret personal goal to try and get Bunia on that list of successes for next with everything I've got. Grim determination and such. I'm trying.

But then -TIA!- someone told us the charter was being delayed by the local military commander, possibly to extort a bribe, possibly to get a share of the goods. MSF was not about to give in and is pulling strings with the government. So far, they have bounced it back claiming that local regulations supersede agreements with the central government. In other words - they also need to be paid or placated. It's frustrating beyond belief. You might speculate that these 'arrangements' have to be taken into consideration by the MSF budget makers as well. I think I will not go into that here, though.

So now we're stuck. Perhaps there will be a U.N. flight tomorrow or in two days time. Perhaps we'll be cleared for departure suddenly. Perhaps the DRC will become world champions in soccer. I will keep you posted.

Best,

Jon

---