Hi,

 

I haven't written in a long time. Mostly life has gotten into a day-to-day so it's not terribly interesting to write or read about. The last month however has provided more interesting fodder for ruminating about. I would like to stress before you start to read, that at no time were we in danger. I know that immediately makes you worry, but before you get into what I'm saying, I don't want people freaking out. We were never in danger although it was a good time to be cautious.

 

The last time there was a curfew called where I lived was in 1986 when I lived in Scarborough and Paul Bernardo (aka the Scarboro rapist) was prowling my neighbourhood. Anyone under 19 had to be inside by 9PM. I'm in less danger at this point than I was back then. However when one has a child to consider, it SEEMS more dangerous.

 

Starting about a month ago, there were demonstrations over a University student who allegedly died in jail. Depending on who you ask - the government or the students - he either died of meningitis or of abuse. Schools were closed as striking students were going around the country, setting tire pyres and generally causing disruption. The kids just went back to school this past Monday. Ben was on break when that started anyway - he was in Fada with Loren so wasn't missing much. Ben's school went back earlier but they had to do recess out back and the police were a regular presence at their school to deter strikers. The school was very professional, keeping the parents notified of circumstances. One day when we were driving to Fada we went through the remains of a demonstration by students, burning tires on the road, and the national police in full riot gear with truck mounted weapons. The police were very good at cracking down on the demonstrations and I think managed to do it without killing any of the demonstrators.

 

Then last week early Wed morning, I was awoken in the middle of the night to hear gunfire - that's quite a frightening thing to hear. It wasn't immediately close to us, and I had been hearing it earlier that day when the airport was killing birds. The next day, all of downtown was closed, people fleeing the city as military were firing off their guns and ransacking stores, and shopkeepers were doing their best to protect their property. Apparently it had started the night before as young military stormed the military camp near Derek's house (Pauline, my secretary also lives near there) and took all the arms. They went around stopping taxis, dumping out the passengers and forcing the taxi drivers to drive them around the city all night as they created chaos. Again miraculously, no one was hurt. We closed our office for the day and I kept Ben and all his friends inside our courtyard - not allowing them to even play in the street near our house. The military were protesting the courtmarshal and imprisonment of 5 of their collegues who were involved in some kind of scandal. The stories were unclear as to exactly what happened but they seemed to have some right to what they were saying. It apparently had to do with a Minister's girlfriend accusing them of something. Clearly an issue between politicians and military which can't be pretty. By the next day, everything seemed to be calmed down. We went to Fada for the weekend to see Loren.

 

Sunday, I was too tired to drive home so we stayed til Monday morning. At 6AM we were having coffee with Loren, as we prepared to head back to Ouaga and saw a number of military sort of hanging about. We left quickly, and not an hour later, they had the same thing happen in Fada. We had no idea until we had reached Ouaga. We actually passed Derek heading to Fada, and he AND Clark got stuck in Koupela as the Fada military drove east and then south to Tenkodogo. Clark was heading to Togo so wandered south behind them (Tenko is on the road to Togo). Derek eventually made it in to Fada. I called Loren to see what was happening. He and Derek had gone into Fada from the jobsite. Apparently there was a baracade and the military were stopping people - if they happened to like your vehicle, they took it and left you on the side of the road. In front of Derek and Loren, they took the pickup of a white pastor, so they did a u-turn and went back to sleep at the worksite. Everything was closed in Fada anyway so they wouldn't be able to get anything to eat or drink, or to get fuel (they have a diesel tank on site). The military apparently fired a rocket at the main courthouse and went to Tenko to free one of their collegues again who had been tried and courtmarshaled but this time it was for the rape of a 14-year old girl. A delegation was sent from Ouaga and apparently things were settled and put back in order.

 

Then Tuesday night - I heard a rocket launched and explode, not close by, and more distant gunfire. I had to travel Wed and Ben's school was closed so again, had him stay in the court much of the day. Apparently there were more demonstrations and the military attacked both the Mayor of Ouaga's house and also a General's house.The Mayor tried defending himself and his family, and is currently in hospital. Other military around the country also held demonstrations to support those in Fada and Ouaga. The President spoke on tv Wed, without saying a lot. I'm trying to figure out why these people aren't in prison. I'm guessing the national police (gendarmes) are enforcing the curfew, not the military. The last time something like this happened was in 2007 and there was a big gunfight in town between the police and the army, the damage is still there to see. It was because one group was paid and the other not. Despite Blaise (the president)'s history as a captain, it appears he no longer has good control over the army and we're hoping that he will use this opportunity to regain that. He's one of the longest standing politicians in the world, having been president since 1992, and dictator for 5 years before that.

 

So last night - Wed, they called nation wide curfew - 9pm to 6am - until further notice. There is nothing open, no pharmacies or even the airport. Since most flights heading to Europe are at night, this complicates things. We were the chosen neighborhood to receive military attention. It was quite frightening to hear gunfire from automatic weapons as well as rockets and heavy artillery go off at close range. They were close enough I could hear them yelling and chanting, close enough to tell there were women in the group. And this went on from 9:30 PM til about 1:30 AM, then it was just intermittent and further away. After 3AM I was sound asleep so couldn't tell you if it continued. It was very stressful, and the only really saving grace for keeping the fear under control was knowing their intent was not to harm civilians. I do have to say tho, in that time, I gave some serious thought as to Plan B should things get out of hand. I had a bag packed with 2 days of clothes, our papers, meds, flashlights etc. and I spent a chunk of time thinking through places to go. This isn't an easy task as my car is basically an egg shaped sewing machine on 4 bicycle wheels and many of the roads leading out of the city are under construction, even if you wouldn't potentialy run into military on them. Bush roads in this thing are out of the question. And then of course, there's Andrews. I would have to go get him. He's a Ghanaian who hardly speaks french and I wouldn't want to leave him in the midst of all this. We have a pickup at work, or it's about 20km ( a long walk) to the farm... Anyway, that's where my thoughts were going. I think the most useful thing I did during that time was a short workout, kept my mind occupied and relieved some of the stress.

 

There is considerable solidarity with my neighbours. We have taken the opportunity to reconnect and look out for one another. Many of my neighbors are military or retired anyway - they don't seem bothered by this. Not sure if that is helpful or not.

 

Tonight is quiet... so far. I guess they decided to share the love with a different part of the city. I recorded some of the gunfire from last night and relistened to it. I can hear my cat meowing and the gunfire sounds like it's just outside the window, which it more or less was.

 

I wonder if that's something you get used to. I mean does being African and/or born in a place where a shaky political situation is the norm, does that help you develop coping mechanism that I as a soft, upper-middle class Canadian may not have? I know that you can get used to a lot of things. Like I used to get really grossed out by cockroaches and over time I just got used to them. Physical aggression, I used to want to throw up watching kids push each other around in the playground, now I like watching mixed Martial arts and the UFC from my martial arts training. I even like to fight. I think of the monologue of Chris Tucker in the movie Rush Hour, how he became a cop because he basically grew up lying on the floor so they wouldn't get caught in the cross fire of bullets from the gangs fighting. Something like that has to do something to a person. Make them hard, talk about adrenal fatigue. You would live in a constant state of drowning in cortisol. On the flip side, has living the good life for the last 20 years changed the President from a hardened military Captain who supposedly killed his best friend to become dictator, into a soft, flabby politician? If things get ugly, will he pull that military side out that hasn't been seen in 10 years?

 

The general mood here is mixed. Some are thinking it should all blow over in a week or two. Others think its an opening for another revolution. The people are tired of the corruption, of seeing big contracts go to the President's family members, of politicians getting away with literal murder without retribution, public funds being used for personal purposes. Most seem to think it's time for the President to step down, but few are agreed on how that should or will proceed, or who could or should succeed him. There is no clear alternative, which may be a good thing given the situation in Ivory Coast. We just had elections in November, I don't think I know a single person who voted and yet he was the clear winner. I don't recall seeing any propoganda for any other candidates, there was no debate on tv, and of course it's not known if taxpayers money was spent on his campaign.

 

So that's the deal. I don't really have a good head for looking at a political situation and reading it or understanding the forces at work, even whithin Canada. Just trying to deal with day-to-day and make a Plan B. It's hard with Loren and much of his family away. I'll keep you posted as to what happens next.