Sunset on the National Assembly

While Miss Togo got recently elected and I was admiring the beautiful sunset from the swimming pool at IBIS Lomé Centre, neighbour of the National Assembly, the election campaign started in Togo.

The legislative elections are due on 14 October and everybody wonders how it will happen. The election following the death of Gnassibe Eyadema provoked unrest in the small - but bigger than Belgium - West African country.

To know more, read Doubts hang over Togo election.

Hope the sunset symbolises the end of a rule and the coming of a great leader for the Togolese nation.

IBIS Hotel celebrated Miss Togo

Cocktail served traditional

Mission au coeur d'une ville

C'est toujours au moment où on s'y attend le moins qu'on est le plus (agréablement) surpris.

Mon séjour à Lomé m'a montré une facette de l'Afrique que je n'avais que très peu expérimentée jusqu'ici.

Bien que je sois venue en Afrique pour travailler et que je me lasse vite des activités de touristes ou d'expatriés, j'ai profité de mon court séjour à Lomé pour nouer des relations - brèves - et renouer avec les sorties très prisées des francophones: alcool, danse et rires jusqu'au bout de la nuit.

J'ai découvert le charme d'une petite ville, Lomé en contraste avec Accra. J'ai pris conscience de la diversité, voire du manque, de développement entre deux capitales, Lomé étant à la traîne sur certains points. Paradoxalement, des salons de coiffure pour Blancs y ont pignon sur rue et j'ai pu me faire couper les cheveux comme si j'étais en France.

Reçois des claques et Souris

Comme je le pressentais, mon chat n'a pas survécu à mon absence. Elle était déjà patraque la veille de mon départ. Quand je suis rentrée à la maison d'hôtes, on m'a simplement dit qu'elle était partie à l'extérieur - comprenez sur la rue - et était morte. Une amie de perdu...

Médisance sans frontières
Je suis partie en mission à Lomé, Togo, où j'ai passé un séjour intense et agréable. Bien que mon séjour m'est plu, j'ai essuyé les critiques d'un chauffeur qui voyait mal le fait qu'un Blanc soit venu parler au cours d'une réunion. Celui qui se présentait sankariste a gardé une rancoeur du passé, il est vrai pour le moins sinistre, à l'actif des forces occidentales.

Alors que je me trouvais à Lomé, une amie journaliste m'envoyait des nouvelles de son journal L'Evénement (Burkina Faso), plus précisément du rédacteur en chef qui faillit être assassiné à Lomé. Heureusement, des journalistes bienveillants sont venus l'aider. Toutefois, d'autres se sont accaparés de la mésaventure pour diffamer. Affaire à suivre. A lire absolument "Je devais être assassiné à Lomé"
et Les remue-méninges des éboueurs de la presse sur le blog de Ramata Sore, Journalisme engagé.

"J'ai sauvé une vie !"

La jeune femme, motivée par la volonté d'aider les pauvres en Afrique, a réussi en un an et demi passé au Ghana à sauver un chat. Comme on dit que les chats ont sept vies, une survie équivaut à beaucoup de vies préservées en une fois !

Je me charge de sa nourriture et le cajole. J'ai accepté beaucoup de ses caprices mais ce n'est pas lui rendre service. Grâce à ce chat, j'ai découvert la fibre maternelle en moi.

En maman attentive, je l'observe chaque jour grandir et sa fourrure se modifier. Des rayures caramel ont recouvert ses pattes comme pour rendre hommage à sa mère biologique disparue dont le pelage était roux. Ses yeux bleus azur se sont délavés pour virer au gris comme pour imiter ceux de sa tutrice. Son ronronnement m'apaise.

I and others as One week flies

Although I did not travel during my leave - within the limited period of one week, I managed to experience two things and could spend time looking after the cat and pampering her.

Thanks to my friend Gigi, from Haiti, I started learning to play tennis at the Accra Lawn Tennis Club and I flew on an aircraft at Kpong Airfield (Eastern Region), home to WAASPS, West Africa's leading light aviation specialists.

I also got the chance to meet one of Gigi's numerous friends, called Francis, who had been in Bristol for almost six months. It made me feel nostalgic about old good times and realize that I forgot some places' names. Francis is an interesting man, whose lifestyle changed radically four years ago when he became a vegetarian raw-eater.

I have modified my habits since I came to Ghana and broke up with the past destructive impulse. This transformation was shaped by circumstances, such as sickness, and people very different from me. It is good to share things in common and explore one another's idiosyncrasies. It is enabling you to learn about them and about yourself.

Only one more day left: it will be hard to go to work on Monday.

Encouragements welcome!

LOD

A disease coined in Ghana

Have you ever wondered where the term 'kwashiorkor' comes from? The name of this malnutrition type, usually affecting children, is derived from the language of the Ashanti in Ghana and means "one who is physically displaced" reflecting the development of the condition in the older child who has been weaned from the breast. (from Wikipedia)

Le kwashiorkor est un syndrome de malnutrition protéino-calorique sévère de la première enfance. Le terme, qui signifie enfant (kwashi) rouge (orkor) dans la langue des Ashanti du Ghana, se réfère à la rougeur de peau des enfants qui en sont frappés. Le kwashiorkor touche principalement le jeune enfant qui, âgé de 18 mois à trois ans, à l'arrivée d'un second enfant, est brutalement sevré et passe à une alimentation trop pauvre en protéines. (Wikipedia)

Crise humanitaire en Afrique

"Des pluies diluviennes localisées provoquent des inondations, "décrites comme les pires depuis 30 ans" dans des régions "allant plus ou moins de la côte Atlantique à la Mer Rouge" ('Inondations en Afrique : la situation risque de s'aggraver', Jeuneafrique.com)

"Plus d'une douzaine de pays africains sont frappés par les pires inondations connues depuis des décennies et la situation risque de s'aggraver encore, ont averti mardi à Genève des agences des Nations Unies pour l'aide humanitaire.

Environ un million de personnes ont été affectées depuis juillet par des pluies torrentielles qui ont balayé l'est et l'ouest du continent africain, le Ghana et l'Ouganda faisant les frais de plus de la moitié du bilan total, a indiqué le Bureau de coordination des affaires humanitaires de l'ONU (OCHA).

Les inondations ont fait 32 morts et 260.000 sinistrés dans le nord du Ghana, où ont été diagnostiqués des cas de choléra, dysenterie et diarrhées, a indiqué la porte-parole d'OCHA Elisabeth Byrs.

Les autorités ghanéennes ont déclaré l'état d'urgence et lancé un appel à l'aide internationale.

"Nous nous attendons à ce que la situation empire": "de fortes pluies sont prévues en Afrique de l'ouest entre le 18 et le 24 septembre", a indiqué Mme Byrs à l'AFP."

Le Nord du Ghana sévèrement affecté

"La Fédération internationale des Sociétés de la Croix-Rouge a (...) lancé (...) un appel préliminaire de 1,46 million de francs suisses (880.000 euros) destiné à 60.000 personnes pendant six mois, surtout dans le nord-est du Ghana. Le Burkina Faso et le Togo ont aussi été particulièrement touchés par les pluies les plus récentes, selon la Croix Rouge."

"Nous nous inquiétons du nombre croissant de cas de choléra et de diarrhées aiguës, ainsi que d'une invasion de mouches noires qui véhiculent l'onchocercose (la cécité des rivières)", a expliqué à Genève Niels Scott, coordinateur des opérations de la Fédération pour l'Afrique."

Inondations en Afrique : plus de 270 morts, menaces d'épidémies

Floods in Africa - Ghana hit hard

" In West Africa, Ghana has been hit hard, with at least 20 people killed and about 400,000 people made homeless.

The floods have submerged land which produces food for the entire country. President John Kufuor has declared the north of his country a disaster zone."

"Some villages and communities have now been totally wiped off the map of Ghana."
George Azi Amoo
Ghana's national disaster management co-ordinator

('Rains threaten flood-hit Africa', BBC)

"The whole country's food supply will be affected.

The flooding in Ghana intensified when water was recently released from a hydro-electric dam in neighbouring Burkina Faso.

This may have partially eased the problem there but the consequences downstream have been catastrophic.

Floods have also been a major problem in Mali and Togo but in recent years this region has been battling not with floods but drought, with electricity supply badly affected due to the impact on hydro-electric dams."

'Floods devastate northern Ghana'

Now there is plenty of water will Ghana's power outages cease or decrease? The facts do not show progress in the energy crisis.

Ironically I met John A. Kufuor in my dreams last night. He was friendly. Hopefully, the disadvantaged inhabitants of northern Ghana will see the aid they are waiting for.

Joy FM rallies support for disaster victims, Photo report on floods in Northern Ghana, Situation report on floods in Northern Ghana, Japan to provide emergency assistance, Concerns over sanitary and food, France sends two choppers for flood relief effort, More latest Ghana news

Des illusions & Décisions

Pour moi, l'option, la décision et l'action sont centrales; la réflexion qui guide est cruciale. il faut assumer ses choix dans le long terme. Quel serait le sens d'avoir sauvé le chaton et de ne plus m'en occuper ensuite ?

La plupart des sociétés prospèrent sur le malheur

Bien sûr, je conçois que certains ont moins de capacités et de liberté de choisir et d'agir. Le combat est que chacun puisse jouir de l'autodétermination. Ceci serait un grand pas vers le meilleur. Mais je ne me fais pas d'illusions : le Bien et le Mal vont de pair. Je dirais même que le Mal devient nécessaire à partir du moment où l'on pense à ce qui nous fait vivre et avancer. Que deviendraient des professions - même honorables - comme médecin, avocat, prêtre, policier, gardien de prison, soldat, si le mal n'existait pas ? Que ferais-je moi-même d'ailleurs si la pauvreté et le sous-développement, la corruption, ne proliféraient ?

C'est sans doute cynique pour certains. J'essaye seulement d'être civique. Des expériences m'ont montré qu'un acte de bonté peut prêter à confusion et facilement se retourner contre soi. Ce qui conforte parfois est la pensée qu'on est tous logés plus ou moins à la même enseigne, qu'on navigue dans le même bateau. Ce bateau évoqué pour symboliser le réchauffement climatique est difficile à arrêter. La mondialisation, l'homogénéisation du monde dans une course effrénée à la conquête de l'argent, n'est pas étrangère à tout ça. Cependant, elle paraît insignifiante à côté de son impact dévastateur enclenché.

One kitten survived

The whitish female is the only survivor among six kittens orphaned after their mum left about 2 weeks ago.

Some died very quickly whereas I started looking after three. Another - brownish - was last to die as he refused to eat and was too weak to continue living even though he was also injected antibiotics.

The survivor is pretty strong. She's been injected again on Saturday because of an infection at the neck. I was amazed when I first saw her eating canned tuna one week ago while I was still feeding her with a syringe filled with baby milk!

She quickly became autonomous and is pretty clean. She looks healthy. She enjoys pampering, purrs and likes playing. I called her 'Souris' (meaning 'Mouse' in French) because her fair-coloured hairy body and dark tail made me think of a mouse.

I will soon post a picture taken by my colleague when she visited me with three children who scared the cat.

Torrential rains - 275,000 diplaced in Ghana

In a previous post, I highlighted the problem of exceptional heavy rains in West Africa. The situation extended to Eastern Africa, causing serious damage on the continent. Ghana is said to have been the worst hit but attracted little attention from the international community. ('Nearly 275,000' affected by floods in little-known disaster,IRIN)

"The government’s National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) says floods have affected close to 275,000 people in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions of the country." (idem)

"Imminent famine"

"(...)with the flood damage, government officials and aid workers warn of serious food shortages, due to the destroyed crops and farmlands (...)" (idem)

"“There is an imminent famine in the area,” added Nana Akrasi-Sarpong, public relations manager at the Ministry of the Interior, appealing to the international community for help" (idem)

"(...)the Red Cross (...) warned: “We are looking at a major, major disaster in the months to come.”" (idem)

"Floods in the Greater Accra Region in June killed six people, according to NADMO. In May, a rainstorm in Tamale, the capital of the Northern Region, destroyed schools, hospitals, homes and government buildings. The government had been sending relief items and construction materials to the thousands of people affected. They were in the process of rebuilding their homes when the latest floods hit, NADMO’s Amoo said." (idem)

Mobile phones and cultures

Yesterday I was talking to a Ghanaian man I met about the cultural mobile phone uses in Ghana. Here is some feed for thought:

'As an anthropologist, Bell tells us that she has a basic belief set, centered on the idea that behavior changes far more slowly than technology does, and much more slowly than technologists hope.This belief is informed by ethnographic research in 15 countries and 300 or more homes, discovering that cultural context matters a great deal more than the power of emerging technology.'

'Cultures can create entirely new uses for mobile phones. In Ghana, where Bell tells us that the local phone networks have been destroyed by copper thieves (...) mobile phones have linked up seven times as many Ghanaians as are linked by land lines (...) Close analysis of their call patterns revealed a new behavior - “flashing” - where callers dial numbers and hang up before calls can be completed. A pattern of flashing can contain a message - one flash might mean “everything is okay” while two might mean “call me”. Ultimately, flashing was a function of tarrif structures - the companies needed to reconsider their tarrifs to get people to actually complete calls.'

Genevieve Bell complicates the mobile phone on Ethan Zuckerman's blog 'My heart's in Accra'

Letter to Mr Bush

Mr. Bush,

I was focused on the news where you appeared today. First, in reaction to Osama Bin Laden's latest video message; secondly, for the APEC meeting where 'Asia-Pacific leaders agreed an "aspirational" goal to restrain the rise of greenhouse gas emissions'.

Commenting on the video, President Bush expressed that 'the world is a dangerous place' and mentioned 'extremists who kill civilians'.

Warning to the US and the Western world in general near the sixth anniversary of 9/11 or fake video? This analysis does not intend to answer the question, nor does it mean to give a definitive opinion on who/what is right or wrong.

Rather I raise another question: Mr. Bush, do you really believe that the greatest threat emanates from Bin Laden, a mortal man? Don't you see there is a bigger challenge that you seem to prefer ignoring for now?

As a matter of example, floods have this season affected over 130,000 people in 9 West African countries.

'In what the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) called “unprecedented” flooding in West Africa, tens of thousands of people in Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, The Gambia, Liberia and Nigeria have lost their homes or their livelihoods, and dozens have died. Rains have also destroyed critical water and transportation infrastructure.' ('Floods prompt greater focus on risk reduction', IRIN)

Only in Ghana torrential rains in the north east and a dam break in Burkina Faso has caused tremendous damage ('Floods force some 10,000 from their homes'). The Daily Graphic announced that a famine stares the three northern regions.

In Burkina, according to experts, flooding is the worst in 54 years. 'So far, more than 35,000 people have been affected across the country, and 80 percent of them are homeless, according to the national council for emergency aid (CONASUR). The death toll has reached 33, with another 73 injured. Of the country’s 13 regions, 11 have been affected.' '(...) more than a month after flooding began, the government says it is not receiving the aid it needs. ' ('Lots of rain, little aid')

It Happened in... New Orleans

Remember Hurricane Katrina was one of the biggest natural catastrophes of our modern times?

If Bin Laden is missing you are at the centre of attention. The world is watching you. Your rhetoric sounds targeted at an electoral deadline but do you forget it is soon getting to the end of your last mandate? Is it not time to stop business as usual?

Other links:
'Bin Laden threatens Iraq escalation', Al Jazeera
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change available to download

Save The Kittens

He arrived in his white Mercedes: the vet.

For days I have tried to keep alive three orphan kittens at the guest house after the mother left. Before they were six but they remain only two.

I met the vet whom I called regularly to explain the evolution and ask for advice. I bought a feeding bottle and baby milk powder and with the manager we started trying to feed them by force. Quite unsuccessfully. Lately, the kittens were only licking a bit of water with glucose from a plastic spoon.

This afternoon, the vet came to see the cats. He injected antibiotics in their skin because they are sick and have diarrhea. He showed us how to give them the glucose and milk with a syringe. As I experienced, they wont be able to take much but we should try give them frequently.

I swear if they survive I will take one!

News from Sahel

Landmines in Mali

"In a spate of attacks by armed militias in north-eastern Mali over the
last week at least 35 soldiers have been kidnapped and 11 people killed
by newly laid landmines, raising fears that escalating violence in
neighbouring Niger is spreading to Mali."

Mali: Indignation dominates reaction as attacks in north escalate

Landmines kill 11 in Mali desert conflict

Child dying after forced marriage

"Two years ago, in the western Malian village of Korera-Kore, a
13-year-old girl was forced into marriage during her school summer holiday. She
died after complications during sex on her wedding night."

"Enforcing the law is an 'arduous task'
because family members are often accomplices in the forced marriage."

Mali: Child marriage a neglected problem

Niger: NGOs in north calling for peace

"A mayor in northern Niger has warned that civilians are increasingly
being caught up in insecurity caused by fighting between the Nigerien
army and armed militias, and has called for an end to hostilities."

"Nigerien President Mamadou Tanja has imposed a three-month state of emergency on the Agadez region of northern Niger."