Jeremy has an awesome post about recent events that I couldn't write any better if I tried...and well, I haven't really tried because lets face it I'm lazy...and my computer broke, so now it only works when its plugged in which means no working past 5pm when the solar power gives out, and even during the day we don't really have enough power to run a computer all day and charge Jeremy's, soooo I haven't had a chance to write my own blog this week. Sorry. But I promise you won't be disappointed with his.
With the recent outbreak of violence in Meheba, FORGE decided it would be best for me to spend the past week in Lusaka, staying away from the conflict, and meeting with people here to assess the situation. Jess was already scheduled to be in Lusaka to do work with the University students for a week, so it was convenient I accompany her. It has been an interesting week. I feel like I’ve gained a much better appreciation for the city, had some fun with friends, been to productive meetings, and survived the ride from hell to get here.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t excited about the prospect of spending a week in Lusaka. True, Lusaka has just about everything Meheba doesn’t, good food, a movie theatre, showers and internet, but it is also a long, painful bus ride from Solwezi. I was excited to learn though that Jess had organized herself a ride to Lusaka, leaving at 7am the next day, and that the guy was happy to take me as well.
At 7 Jess and I show up to the royal, bags packed, ready for the ride. If we made good time, we should arrive in Lusaka around 4pm, time to grab a shower and get ready for dinner with friends. By 8am we were a bit worried, as our ride hadn’t showed up. At 930 he stumbled over to our couch, clearly feeling the effects of a long night of partying the previous evening. “We’re leaving now” he said, “just have to get my money”. I’ve been here long enough to know when someone tells you something is happening ‘now’ it means anytime between right now (highly unlikely) and next week. I settled in for a long wait.
By 11 I was pretty annoyed. I had plans for dinner in Lusaka, and I didn’t want to waste the day sitting around the hotel. Our ride came back with bad news. He had lost his car keys. Well, he claimed they were stolen, but I’ll bet all my kwacha he lost them. “Its ok though” he grinned, “I’m a certified mechanic- I’ll hotwire it”. Jess walked out to the car to watch him hotwire his own vehicle, I decided it was something I didn’t need to see. 10 minutes later Jess came back, impressed. The car was running, ready to go. He just needed his money, a paycheck from the hotel. I slumped down in my chair, ready for another long wait.
At 1 our driver came back, clearly annoyed. His boss had gotten wind of his hotwire scheme and decided it wasn’t safe for him (or the company car) to travel so far without an ignition. So he had to go to town to buy a new ignition. This is something in the States that I just wouldn’t have guessed. The option of going to the hardware store and buying a new ignition just isn’t within my realm of understanding. Worst, the ignition cost k 60,000 (a bit more than $11). Something told me this would be a problem on the road.
At 3pm we finally left. Our driver’s boss came up to him with an envelope of cash and a huge grin on his face. The driver opened the envelope to find k 3,000,000, nice pay for a vacation. The catch was, he was paid in k 5,000 bills. My calculator tells me that’s about 1,667 bills. Personally, I thought it was a funny gesture, the driver did not agree. We walked out of the hotel and over to his vehicle, a Land Rover Defender. The Defender is a safari vehicle, great for rides in the bush but not built for comfort. There are two seats and a long bench in the back. For the beginning of the trip I drew the bench, and armed with a pillow and blanket, I settled in for the ride.
To cut a long story short we got to Lusaka at 4am. About 10 hours in, the battery on the car died and Jess and I had to perform a push start, an impressive feat for two sleepy Americans and one 3 ton truck. I felt like I’d been put through a washing machine after laying in the bed of the truck all day and couldn’t wait to get to the FORGE flat to rest. We took a cab to the house, or at least as close as possible. With the onslaught of rainy season the road to the house had been flooded. And I mean hurricane flooded. It is almost possible to canoe from our house to the main road (I’m only exaggerating a tiny bit).
The next day I had a meeting with UNHCR to discuss the incident in Meheba and how to move forward. Sitting with two of the top ranking HCR officials I had an amazing meeting as we all struggled to figure out how Meheba can come together again after this awful incident. After a few hours we put together a small plan, and the UN asked if FORGE would help lead the program. I was blown away. The UN was asking for my help! I left the meeting full of ideas, itching to get back to Meheba. I was even offered a ride back to the camp, on Sunday, meaning no bus! Day couldn’t have been better.
But when I pitched the idea to FORGE they dismissed it. They didn’t want me back in Meheba yet, and they certainly didn’t want me publically involved with the UN’s reconciliation efforts. In their minds, I’m not qualified, not having gone through any trainings on the subject and FORGE is politically neutral, and we didn’t want to change that fact in the camp. I was furious. Here I was, being offered the opportunity to help put the camp and the community back together after this awful event, and it was turned down. I fumed for a day or two, but it has slowly dawned on me that staying out of this process is the best way forward. As many people have reminded me, this is a community that is doubtlessly upset and angry. FORGE works very hard to cultivate a great relationship with the community, and we work in development, not dialogue. We would not want to jeopardize our projects, our community status or our physical safety to be involved in something like this. I can now say, having had a few days to think about it, that I’m happy with the decision from the Oakland office, and while it would have been amazing to help the UN, its best to help by doing what I’m good at, staying within Forge’s boundaries.
The rest of my time in Lusaka has been pretty uneventful. I’ve spent a lot of time with friends, gone to some pretty amazing (well, amazing for Zambia) restaurants, seen a pretty terrible movie, and generally done my best to stay occupied and not thinking about Meheba. I head back on the bus tomorrow and I can’t wait to get back home. I’m scared to see how the violence has changed the community, scared to see that nothing has changed at all. I feel bad for spending so much time outside of the camp. I feel like FORGE staff needed our presence, and while, for safety reasons, it made sense not to be there, there is a part of me that feels bad for running away. I can’t wait for Thursday, to get back on my bike, ride down to road 36 and be with my friends and the Meheba community.
p.s. you can read about the violence here: http://allafrica.com/stories/201002250146.html
Posts
