Wandering Around Brazzaville

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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HOPE in Haiti

HOPE has had an active organization in Haiti since 2005.  We have received confirmation that all of HOPE’s staff members are safe, but we have not yet been able to contact all of our clients.  Additionally, many of HOPE’s staff members are still awaiting news of their own families’ survival.  The HOPE Haiti Relief and Development Fund has been created in response to the tragedy.  Click here to make a donation and read the updates from the  HOPE personnel on the ground.

Here is the rundown on HOPE's response:

The HOPE Haiti Relief and Development Fund reflects HOPE International’s two-tiered commitment to the earthquake that has devastated Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas of Haiti. HOPE is seeking to raise funds that will be put to use first to meet the urgent needs of Haiti’s population and later to help the people of Haiti rebuild their lives.  

HOPE’s relief efforts are being coordinated through a network of sister organizations with over two decades’ experience in Port-au-Prince.  We will bring emergency supplies such as bottled water, food, personal care and hygiene items, first aid kits, and medication across the border from the Dominican Republic to Haiti.  This localized approach will ensure that goods arrive quickly, without the delays of container shipments and customs processing.  

As urgent needs begin to subside, HOPE will evaluate Haiti’s mid- to long-range needs and determine the appropriate response mechanisms to move from relief to development and dependency to self-sufficiency.  Please join with us now to help the people of Haiti.   

In and Around Brazzaville

I have been in Brazzaville for a little over a month, so I figured it was time to get some pictures up.  At some point I will post a description of the city and daily life, but for now, these should help start to tell the story.

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Togolese Football Team

Togo's football team had been training this week in the Republic of Congo prior to the Africa Cup of Nations, a continental tournament hosted in Angola that starts next week.  The team left training camp today by bus, and shortly after they crossed the border into a disputed Angolan territory, the buses were ambushed by rebels from a separatist group with machines guns who opened fire on them for twenty minutes.  The driver of the players' bus was killed and at least six players were injured.  Currently some of the professional club teams who have players from across Africa scheduled to play in the tournament are considering having them return to their clubs and not play due to the obvious safety concerns.

Rwanda's Gacaca Reconciliation Courts

Here is a WSJ article on the wrapping up of Rwanda's government-sponsored reconciliation courts that were set up to process many of the accused perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.  (See the NYer reconciliation article linked to in the right margin)  This Journal article does a good job of briefly describing the progress the courts have brought about but also the significant human rights concerns they raise.

Funding of the Congolese Rebels in Eastern DRC.

Here is a NYT article describing a new significant internal UN report on how the Congolese rebels have been financially supported and allowed to operate in Eastern Congo.  The conflict in this region has resulted in over 4 million deaths as factions within the country, other nations in the region, and international economic and diplomatic interests worldwide have been involved in the ethnic clashes, highly profitable mining of several essential minerals, and failed and flawed peacekeeping efforts.

Trip to Kinshasa, DRC

Shortly after arriving in Brazzaville, I went with the rest of our team across the river to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, for a couple of days of meetings and work with HOPE's operation that has been serving DRC since 2004.  It was a great opportunity for us to understand their team's best practices and lessons learned.  However, I didn't get to explore much of the city, and its technically illegal to take photographs in public in DRC without permission, so the pictures are limited and often a little crooked as I tried to take them stealthily.

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Quick Stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

On my way from Kigali to Brazzaville, I had a brief stop over in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.  The shuttle dropped me off at the hotel around midnight and picked me up at 6 the next morning, so I didn't have time for much beyond taking some pictures out of my hotel window.

See how many satellite dishes you can spot in the picture below.  Pretty incredible for corrugated aluminum shacks.

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