Part 1
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August
01/08/2003
Our flight to
Ganda was a bit rough. Little “Cessna” plane of World Food Programme, which we flew
in to Ganda, could hardly keep on flying vertically, as the wind was so strong.
All inside the plane seemed to be jumping, and that included my very own
stomach. I fly a lot, but it was one of the few times in my life that I was
about to throw up in the plane. Nevertheless, the trip was beautiful. We flew
on the low altitude, above the mountains, which looked absolutely stunning. On
the way to Ganda, we stopped in the small village, whose name I do not remember
anymore, to pick up one passenger, who works there for Catholic Relief Service.
The landing was an experience. The airstrip did not seem to be very well
maintained. There were quite a few of wholes, which we could definitely feel,
when the wheels touched the ground. There was also tonnes of dust everywhere,
as the airstrip was not paved. Nothing unusual in Africa, however I always get
a bit excited, when I arrive to similar places. As a matter of fact, the
landing in Ganda was not much different, except that the airstrip seemed to be
more looked after (there were definitely no wholes in the middle of landing
area). I was happy to change the plane for the car, which took us finally home,
where we could rest a bit and have some lunch.
Ganda is a small town, in the middle
of Benguela Province. The surroundings of the town are all mined, and therefore
there is not much of life going outside of it. People move only within the
town, and on the main roads joining the town with villages outside of it. Ganda
suffered a lot during the war. Lots of the buildings got completely devastated,
while the others got destroyed slightly. Infrastructure also suffered, though
some basic things still function. Today, the town slowly becomes alive again.
The hospital, where we work, now looks fairly impressive. It is all renovated
and equipped with basics, necessary to help people, in case of emergencies.
There are also some new, small shops, which are being opened. The problems
remain immense. There are still people starving and dying of diseases, which
they should not die from. The town also receives huge numbers of ex-military
personnel, who got demobilised and told to go home. It is estimated that around
3 600 families (or 15 000 people) have either returned, or is about to return
to the area. All of them with one objective, which is to restart their lives,
as peace arrives to the country. The challenge is great. The ex-militaries, and
their families need to be accepted by the rest of the society, and need to
learn how to carry on normal lives. This is not easy, when you have nothing, or
very little. Will they succeed? It also depends on, how much support they will
get from their own government and those, whose job is to help them.
July
28/07/2003
I am off to Ganda on Wednesday.
I will be away from the Internet for a few days, so I will be unable to keep in
touch. Please keep on writing! I will happily read your mail, when I get back.
27/07/2003
Lobito is a town in the southwestern part of Angola, on
the Atlantic Coast. It actually creates an urban complex with Benguela, which
is situated just a few kilometres to the south. Both Lobito and Benguela are
special in Angola. Unlike many other cities, towns or villages in the country,
they are not destroyed by the civil war, which just finished last year. Today,
in post-war Angola, Lobito and Benguela are the trendy places, where it is good
to be, go on vacation or to set up business. Rightly so! The surroundings are
beautiful, the infrastructure provides minimal standards for a comfortable
life. On top of all, there is this wonderful charm of old colonial Portuguese
architecture. It actually feels a bit like a paradise, and it is so easy to
forget where you are. Yes, very easy. I am just sitting on the terrace of our
residence, which overlooks the postcard like beach with coconut palms and navy
blue Ocean. I am feeling like if I was one of the characters of “Out of Africa”
by Karen Blixen. The only difference to that is the way people dress, and the
cars they drive. All around me seems very modern. People walk around with the
mobiles, drive latest models of Toyota Land Cruisers, and manifest their
success to everyone around. In the evenings, we all meet up in the restaurants,
where we eat shrimp cocktails and discuss how difficult our work in Angola is!
Hang on a second… who am I working for? Was it a humanitarian organisation? I
am not sure anymore. Where are the people, we are here for? Do they all drive
fancy cars and eat shrimps? What has gone wrong with us, and with the idealism
we came here for? I’d rather pack my things and rush off to destroyed and
miserable Ganda, where there are no restaurants, mobiles and modern cars.
Maybe, I will find my lost idealism there… I will let you know soon.
24/07/2003
Monika and
Torbjørn,
my friends that I still got to know, while studying in Denmark, decided to get
married, after being together for something like 7 years. Unfortunately, I
missed the wedding, which took place last weekend, in Roskilde, Denmark.
Though, I could not make it there, I was there with my thoughts, wishing the newly
weds all the best in the lives together, whatever the fortune brings to them!
This time, I am actually updating my
page from Lubango in southern part of Angola. Things change here quickly. When
I arrived to the country, over a month ago, using the telephone lines in
Lubango was a real challenge. Now, not only it is much easier, but there are
Internet services functioning too! Obviously, this makes me very pleased, as it
will be easier for me to keep in touch with the world, when I am here. It seems
that I will be spending a considerable amount of time in Lubango in the future.
The town serves as the logistical base to our programmes in Huila Province, and
it is a handy place to get all the important information, for our humanitarian
activities in the field, thus making it important for me to be here.
For your information, I am planning to
visit Lobito and then Ganda, starting on 26th July. I will let you
know how the trip went, as soon as I am back to Luanda on the 4th
August.
19/07/2003
Our guests from Madrid that had come
for a visit, to our mission of Angola, already left back for Spain. The
Director General, the Director of Communication and the President of Action
Against Hunger Spain stayed here for a 5 days. They came to visit some of the
programmes that we run in the country. I was assisting the visit at all times,
while in Angola. We all flew to Ganda in Benguella Province and then to Caconda
in Huila. Although, the schedule was really tight and we were moving quite a
lot, I enjoyed it a lot. Firstly, I was pleased to be able to meet some of my
colleagues that work in Madrid, and secondly, as I had an opportunity to get to
know our own programmes here in Angola better too. Indeed, I have only been to
the country, for a few weeks, and there is still so much that I should see and
learn. What I really liked the most was the theatre presentation in Ganda. Our
health promoters that work in the villages around the town prepared a short
theatre presentation on the importance of hygiene, in fight against malaria.
The play was both funny and educative. I really believe that such activities
make the difference at the end of the day, for simply people, who need the
difference.
03/07/2003
Incredible, but I am freezing here in Africa! I have never expected that it could be so cold in Angola. The south of the continent is now going through its winter, and though it is not the same winter, I know from Europe, the nights are freezing here. Luanda, which is on the Atlantic coast is not that bad, but Lubango, in the mountains, requires warm clothes. At night, the temperatures can drop to as low as, 3 or 4 degrees Celsius, which you definitely feel in the houses without heating. Of course, personally, I can not complain at all. I have got all the blankets to cover myself, which is actually pleasant. However, the people in the surrounding villages often can not afford a blanket. I can not understand, how they can manage. Actually, sometimes they do not. Lots of people fall sick with pneumonia, or all kinds of cold. Frequently, the diseases are fatal. It is so difficult to accept that life treats people in such an unfair manner!
Tomorrow morning, we are planning to
drive over to Caconda. This is going to be one of my trips to see our
programmes in the country. The trip is going to take us around 7 hours, and the
road, we will use, apparently leads through magnificent forests and mountains.
I am looking forward to the meeting with African bush again! If we are lucky,
maybe we will meet some wild animals too. Sometimes, we have the pleasure of
doing so, when travelling. On my last trip to Chipindo, we met some monkeys
playing joyfully on the trees. I also saw a cobra enjoying the sun. What are we
going to see this time? I will let you know soon!
June
28/06/2003
Days in Angola
pass by so quickly! I have nearly been for a month in the country, though it
feels like I have just left Poland yesterday. It has been a very busy time. As
you could find out before, I have been travelling to the south of the country,
as well as, trying to learn about my new job here in Luanda. Now, on Monday in
two days, I will be off to another trip to the south. I will travel to Lobito,
Lubango and Caconda. I will be away for a week. In general, it seems that I am
going to have very hectic weeks in front of me. Just after I come back to
Luanda from the south, we will receive a visit of the President and General
Director of ACH Spain to Angola. The guests will be here to visit the
programmes. I will be assisting them for most of their stay in here. We are
planning that they would visit Ganda and Caconda. I will certainly let you
know, how all of these events will have gone.
22/06/2003
For those of you, who might have an interest to get in touch with me, here is my mailing address in Angola:
Accion Contra el Hambre em Angola
41/43 Rua Arsénio Pompílio
Pompeu do Carpo, Bairro Nelito
Soares
Cx. Postal 3663, Luanda
Angola
Office telephone is: +244 2 26 16 00
House telephone is: +244 2 35 10 31
Email address: roman_majcher@gazeta.pl
achangola@netangola.com (please
insert “For Roman” in the subject box)
21/06/2003
It has been such a long time that I have not been able to update my site. I am sorry, if some of you have been disappointed. The good news is that I will be able to re-start working on my page more regularly again, as it seems that I have finally settled here in Angola, got my “permanent” computer that I will be able to use for a longer period of time and started to understand, how the Internet systems work here in Luanda! All in all, I will be back online and all of you interested, will be able to visit my site again.
There has been such a dramatic change in my life, since I updated this page last time. Firstly, I moved out from Sudan to Angola, visiting France, USA, Poland and Spain in between. In a way it has been a difficult part of my life. After all, I lived in Sudan for over 3 years, and I got attached to the people of Sudan, to my colleagues and finally to the country in general. Today, it is clear that I miss it so much, though I do not want to say that I am unhappy here in Angola. A good thing is that, with technical advances of today, I will be able to keep in touch with my friends that I met there!
It is also clear that the people, I will be working with, here in Angola, are very nice and devoted individuals, and that there is lots of great team spirit here too. I am sure that I will be enjoying the experience of Angola. Some of you might know, or remember me saying that it is not my first time in this country. I already lived and worked in one of the Angola’s cities called Huambo, some 6 years ago. It is very interesting now to come and rediscover the country, and its people, and to observe what has changed.
Since I arrived to Angola three weeks ago, I have been experiencing nothing but an extremely warm welcome from everyone around. My Angolan colleagues in Action Against Hunger, or Accion Contra el Hambre, as they call it in Spanish, are very hospitable and great teachers of Angola. It is also great to know that the expatriates’ team that I am now meeting is wonderful too. I am working with the colleagues from Spain, Argentina and Mali. Great fun to be with them, and a great experience too. All of the people are committed professionals and I am definitely inspired by their enthusiasm, which they show at work. It will be hard to keep up with them, as they set the standards highJ!
Here in Angola, Acção Contre a Fome (Portuguese version of our name) works actively in 4 towns, or communities in the provinces of Huila and Benguela. The places are Matala, Chipindo, Caconda (Huila) and Ganda (Benguela). We also have got 3 supporting offices, which are trying to provide that logistical and administrative service to the programmes. These are Luanda (capital of the country), Lubango (Huila) and Lobito (Benguela). I have already managed to visit Matala and Chipindo, where I saw our running programmes, and Lubango, which serves the towns in the province of Huila. The visit was very short, but it was enough to get excited by the whole thing. Matala has got some wonderful water and agricultural programmes, whereas Chipindo runs therapeutic and supplementary feeding centres, food distribution and at the moment we are also trying to help the local authorities to renovate a health centre, which is ruined by the war. I was very happy to see that there was so much happening, though the conditions of work are tough and difficult. I also enjoyed my visit to Lubango. Though, we do not have active programmes there, we are trying to work hard to support the ongoing humanitarian operations by delivering logistical and administrative services from there. Lubango is one of the few cities in the country, which has not been destroyed by the war, and therefore kept much of its former charm, enriched by today’s rich Angolan way of life. Beautiful mountains surrounding the town make it very attractive to visit and explore.
I have also had some other interesting highlights, since I arrived. It seems like that my social life will be busy here. I have already managed to establish some contacts with my “old” friends that I know from the past, and I also got to know many new people too. I am very lucky to get to know the staff of the Polish Embassy here in Luanda. The Ambassador of Poland and his wife are both very friendly and hospitable. They are not only offering me a helping hand in dealing with some administrative aspects of life in Angola, but they introduced me to some very interesting people living here in Luanda, both Angolans and non-Angolans (including Poles). As you can see, I am very well taken care of, so there is no need to worry of me being here. Now, I just need to make sure that I brush off my Portuguese language abilities to the highest possible standard, so I can easily interact with people around me.
I will stop here for now, before it becomes too long and too boring. I will be online more frequently now, so please make sure that we meet soon, at least virtually!
April
This is a short update on my plans for next couple of weeks,
before departing
I have included some new pictures in the Galleries. The new
photos are mainly from
I have been off line for some time. Last time, I wanted to update
this page, there was something wrong with the Internet connection here in
When I think of what to tell you about the trip to
I actually travelled both ways between
It was fascinating to be able to see different landscapes and
more interestingly different tribes of people inhabiting this vast area we
drove through. The part between
Just, when you pass Medani, the gardens or fields of Gezira
start. Gezira is a rich agricultural province of Sudan, where lots of fruits,
vegetables and crops are produced. This kind of landscape goes on more or less
until you reach the city of
Just before reaching Kassala, we noticed some very beautifully
dressed women. They were the members of the nomadic people coming from
Then we travelled again towards Sinkat, through the dunes of
sand and rocks of stunning mountains. We were often caught in by the small
tornados, which just threw sand into our eyes, ears, under the clothes,
everywhere…, and there was this unbearable heat of at least 50 degrees Celsius.
Sinkat was also amazing. We managed to visit the hospital,
without patients inside! We found out that all the nomadic people of the area
just can not accept staying in the hospital, they can not adapt and they refuse
to be treated, as soon as the treatment requires stay in the hospital, far from
their huts, family and animals. This left big medical structures unused and
left the doctors desperately trying to figure out how to convince people to use
the services, which they need after all!
Finally, we reached
Now, I am sitting in front of my computer trying to comprehend
what I saw and experienced and realising that what I am telling you can not
really describe what I wish I could share with you.
March
The beginning of the war in
You might remember that some time ago, I tried to encourage you
to visit the site of the humanitarian organisation MSF and sign the petition,
aiming to urge the authorities of Russia and Dagestan to reinforce their
efforts to find out about the fate of the humanitarian worked that had been
kidnapped during his mission more than 6 months ago. We have just learnt that
Arjan (his name) is alive! There is no more news about him yet, but it is a
first time since his abduction took place that we have got any news of him. We hope
that he will soon be returned to his family in the
My Portuguese course book that I had ordered in the online shop
finally arrived to
Guess what! Two friends of mine, who
live in Akureyri in
My last trip to Bentiu has finished. I just returned back to
February
The Polish Archaeological Mission to Sudan consisted of the
scientists from University of Warsaw, Jagiellonian University (Krakow),
Archaeological Museum of Poznan and Mediterranean Archaeology Section of the Polish
Science Institute discovered the Nubian Royal Tombs in Banganarti, northern
part of Sudan. The tombs are situated in the church, which had been discovered
earlier on (by the same mission) and which had been erected in the 7th
Century A.D. The scientists will soon be trying to enter the tombs. This will
happen, as soon as the necessary work protecting the site is completed. The
tombs belong to one of the kings, whose name has not yet been established, and
to the army officer, whose name is Markos (died on
(Source: News portal www.interia.pl
Since I am going to leave
It is Saturday evening and the weekend here in
I have already announced to all of you that I would be leaving
I would like to ask all of you, who read this message to visit
the site of "Doctors Without Borders" http://www.msf.org
and sing a petition to the Government of Russian Federation and the Authorities
of Dagestan urging them taking steps to find out the fate of the organisation's
humanitarian worker that was kidnapped more than 6 months ago and whose fate is
unknown until today. Thank you!
Big piece of news! It seems like that I am going to leave Sudan
for good soonL. Action Against Hunger is
offering me a next post in
My annual leave has finished, and I am back to Sudan
again after staying in Poland for more than 3 weeks. Like many other trips
home, also this one was really special and full of experience. I enjoyed every
moment of my holidays, right from the beginning to the very end. As I arrived
to Europe in January, when I got off the plane in Vienna I could not stop shaking
for 30 minuets. Indeed, the temperature was a respectable – 15 degrees Celsius,
which was some 40 degrees Celsius colder compared to the temperatures in
Khartoum, when I was leaving the city. Somehow, I enjoyed the temperature shock
and I really liked the white snow covering the hills of Slovakia (on the way to
Poland from Vienna). Of course, it was not only the cold weather that I enjoyed
so much, while being at home. I was so very pleased to see my Nowy Sącz family
doing well and being happy. I was overjoyed to see my nephew, little Krzyś
starting talking and his older brother Adam becoming a handsome young
schoolboy. I was also lucky enough to receive a visit from a very good friend
of mine from the college time – Marta. Marta came to see me for a weekend all
the way from Norwich, and though she actually fell sick in Poland, we still
enjoyed being with one another quite a lot. I managed to meet two other friends
of mine too. I know them from Nowy Sącz, though they are from the USA. Paz and
Jack used to work for Peace Corps three years ago (in Nowy Sącz) and now
decided to return to Poland on their own. Nowadays, they teach English in two
different colleges in Nowy Sącz – and they like it! Interestingly enough, I met
a Sudanese friend, who has lived in Poland for last 15 years. It was a great
experience to meet him up in Warsaw and to listen to his story in my own
country! Anyway, I am sure that you will be able to read about Abdul (that is
his name) on this site some time later. All of the fun was enhanced by a visit
to a picturesque town of Szczyrk, in the Polish mountains on the border with
the Czech Republic and a full day in Vienna, just before returning to Sudan.
Though, I had such a good time at home, arriving back to Sudan was not
difficult. I am actually pleased to be back and to be able to resume my duties
relaxed and full of energy that I accumulated by being with my family and
friends.
January
As you know, I am off to Poland on the night from Saturday to
Sunday (that is tomorrow). I will be back to Sudan on 6th February
2003. While I am in
I have completed work on a new version of "My Work"
page. You can check it up by clicking here.
The Desk Officer for East Africa from our headquarters in Paris
arrived here to Khartoum for a field visit a couple of days ago. He will stay
with us in the capital until Sunday, then he will travel for a short trip to
Bentiu in the
There are only 9 days left for my trip to Poland. A nice piece
of news is that my boss here in Khartoum suggested that I should take some more
days off than initially scheduled. All in all I will be able to stay at home in
Nowy Sącz for 3 weeks, which is just perfect. I hope that I will be able to
meet some of you while in Europe. In any case stay in touch at my usual email
address: roman_majcher@gazeta.pl.
I have started working on new version of "My Work"
page. I expect that it would be ready before my departure for holiday on 12th
January. Anyway, I will keep you updated on the progress.
I would like to wish all the readers of "What is new?"
a very happy and prosperous New Year!