There are changes coming to the Health Unit in Embassy Luanda. Marina, the nurse who has maintained the unit for 7 years is now leaving this job. She and her husband (one of the Embassy’s facility’s supervisor) are returning to their home on the coast of Namibia to take over a Wimpy’s franchise in a coastal city. (Wimpy’s is a UK hamburger chain in much of the world other than the US). Philip and Marina are an interesting couple. Both are S. African born (although Philip spent most of his childhood in Namibia) and met while serving in the S. African army. Philip spent many years as part of the SA forces fighting with UNITA (the opposition to the present government led by Jonas Zavimbi and funded by SA and other anti communist governments like the US) in the long 30 years war. After he left in the 90s, he worked in much of southern Africa in de-mining and other construction projects. He ended up in Angola to help build the present Embassy. They both enjoy traveling overland in their Range Rover and camping in the wilderness. They have some interesting stories to tell. The last few years have been more difficult for them here with long commutes to work and difficulty obtaining work visas. So, their life in Namibia will be different for them but they are very happy to return to the home they own and where Philip’s parents live. Namibia is a sparsely populated country (2 million) relying heavily on tourism with its lovely, sparsely populated beaches, sand dunes and interesting game parks. As a former German colony, there are still many German tourists and retirees that spend time there each year.
While I will miss Marina as a friend, it became increasingly obvious that there isn’t enough work to keep both of us busy. I have requested a clerk to sit in the health unit to deal with people dropping by, answer the phone, perform some clerical duties and translate for me as needed. Luckily there is a clerical worker in another section who was not as busy as should be. So, she will come to my office, free up some needed work space in another section and perform both duties. Hopefully, it will work out for all of us.
I am asked frequently, how I like my job and living here. I am still tentative about it. The job is fine at the moment although I wish I was busier clinically. From a daily life standpoint, I find it still difficult. I hoped that as time went on, it would be easier to be here without Jim. That has not changed and his arrival at the end of June seems a long way off. I worry about how he will adjust here, if we will be able to find something he will like to keep him busy and whether this kind of life is what he wants. He tells me not to worry but I do. We keep in daily contact either through email or Skype. Yet, I am happy that he is there helping Colin through his next transition and our parents when needed.
The other stressor here is the language barrier. Most of the DOS officers receive some language training before arrival; but Med does not. In the past, I managed well enough when I was traveling as there was always someone who could speak English. But living here is different and only a handful of people do so. There has been minimal sustained contact with the English speaking world here as the main connection has been with other Portuguese speaking countries like Portugal or Brazil. Even the government ministers have difficulty with communication once they leave here to try to deal with the rest of the world.
However, I am making an effort to learn Portuguese. I have a teacher 2-3 times a week for an hour and am also taking a distance course from DOS. It is helping and I am making progress. But, as usual for me, it is too slow. I understand much better than I speak and I find it so very frustrating to try to communicate. I remember when I lived in Israel and tried to learn Hebrew. I would try to speak but all my co workers would just look at me as I struggled, sigh and tell me just to speak to them in English. Here, no one does that but outside the Embassy, they are very impatient if I try. However, those in the Embassy have been very supportive and help me when I do try.
As I was walking today on the Marginal, I saw a young boy wearing a Cincinnati Bengals’ shirt. Certainly, it was not from loyalty. You can find all those Tshirts you gave to the Goodwill at the local open air markets. I went to a very large one where you could find just about anything you want laid out on the ground for inspection. There were piles of second hand clothing waiting to be sifted through. T-shirts, hats with old logos or those T-shirts with past events that you gave away—they are there. I am glad to know that someone is using them.
I had a recent conversation with one of the new political officers about her recent experience traveling with the Ambassador outside of Luanda to the provinces. She is a young African American woman on her first tour and other than her time studying in Brazil, had not been to any third world countries. She expressed shock at the poverty and living conditions in the cities she visited. Welcome to Africa and the third world.
Angola is typical of so many other countries yet it has an amazing number of resources that go untapped. Indeed with 30 years of war and so many people being driven from the provinces into the city, it is difficult for fertile land to be utilized for farming to its potential. Land mines are interspersed everywhere and the de mining process is slow. Even once the area has been deemed safe to return, the repatriation and education of farmers is even slower. USAID and many NGOs are involved in this process.
For now, oil is the main economic fuel for the growth of the country. The majority of it is pumped off shore in the north of the country although there is exploration occurring in other areas. Various companies have bid and been assigned blocks of land in the interior to explore. I went on a geology trip with a Canadian geologist, who took us to areas where the oil seeps through the rocks. Angola’s economy did take a hit when oil prices dropped last year. Numerous projects underway were halted as a result. Apparently, the government realized that they needed to diversify their portfolio and have looked into other opportunities. Diamonds are still mined especially in the east but it seems more of a quiet business than oil. Apparently the diamond trade helped fund UNITA’s ongoing operations during the war despite the ban on such a practice.
Despite the existence of oil, there is only one refinery in Angola. Gas stations are at a premium, especially in Luanda, although you see more being built in the provinces. Obtaining gas for the big SUVs in Luanda is an ongoing headache and can consume up to 2 hours of your time to fill up your tank. There is a large station down the road on the Marginal which I can see from my balcony. I usually check it out to see how long the line is before venturing out. Luckily, the line moves rather quickly with 8 pumps (unless the gas tanker is there) going at any time 24 hours a day. No self service here at about $1.70 gallon. I end up spending about 45 minutes or so to fill up and luckily I don’t have to do that very often due to my short commute.
The Angolan government recently changed the constitution to allow the party in power to appoint the president. The present president (Dos Santos) has been in this position since 1979 and even if he resigns from the presidency, he will, most likely, remain head of the party MPLA that has been in power for many years. The party in power also appoints the ministers and the provincial governors. There was parliamentary elections last year that gave the MPLA about 86% of the vote. Their campaign promise was stability after 30 years of war. There is much corruption and cronyism making some people very rich. Despite calls for change, little has changed. A co worker told me that one of the large condo (about 25-30 floors) high rises under construction has already sold all the units each costing $1-2 million. Last week, a new club behind my building opened up. A friend had made acquaintance with the owner’s son, so we had a chance to see it before it opened. A nice place--$5 million dollars worth that will cost $150 for entrance but if you want to visit the restaurant or VIP lounge, it will cost $10,000. But outside, the roads are full of potholes, mud and you have to step over the garbage to get to the entrance.
Unless you are well connected, the chance of opening a business is slim. The average Angolan barely gets by but is resourceful given the restraints. As there are few true “stores” there are thousands on the streets selling everything from food to clothing to car accessories. While you are stopped in traffic or waiting in line for gas, they are there. The ladies carry their items in baskets on their head with the baby on the back. On one trip, we needed to fill up the cars with gas but the station was out of gas. But nearby, the ladies were sitting with their cans of gas waiting for people like us desperate to fill up at a premium.
The rest of the world has taken notice of this country’s undeveloped wealth and have come calling. The Angolans seem to choose what seems best for them. The Chinese are here in great numbers building roads, high rise buildings and industrial parks. They bring their own people to perform much of the work which aggravates many people here. The Brazilians and Namibians also are here building much better roads than the Chinese. S. Africans bring their expertise in business and goods manufactured in SA. The Americans have a presence with Chevron and Exxon. Other companies are knocking on the door as well. The American government has made some progress over the last few years with the Angolan government over the last few years which was evident with the brief visit by Secretary Clinton last summer. However, the Angolans make it clear they are in charge and still have a very Russian leaning. Many of the older government officials from MPLA spent time in the Soviet block for education and training many years ago.
So much of the problems here stem from the Portuguese presence for 400 years. Their colonial rule and the way they treated the people was different from the other European countries. There is a website you can visit that is actually from the area studies program for the US government. It gives a good overview of the history of Angola through the 1980s. http://countrystudies.us/angola/12.htm
I continue to have opportunities to see the rest of the country. About a month ago, I spent a 4 day weekend with others traveling to the south almost to the Namibian border. Again, once outside Luanda, the country side is minimally inhabited. The other larger towns are easier to navigate and have vestiges of life in Angola prior to independence albeit still limited. The distances between places are deceiving in terms of time to drive as in the US. The roads for the most part are new with minimal traffic (except for cows, goats and dogs). Carnival (Angola’s Mardi Gras) was festive and an interesting mix of Rio and Luanda. Last week I joined the Angolan Field Group again for a history tour to view monuments and places dedicated to the first president of Angola—Aghostino Neto. He died mysteriously in Russia while being treated for cancer. There is a rumor that the Russians were not happy with him once he was president. They had strongly supported him during the war years but once he was president he had a mind of his own.
During this trip, I was challenged with off road driving in the Land Rover—lots of mud and water. But I gained respect from the men in the group as I plowed through with mud and water flying!!
I have included some photo albums to view. This is what has taken me awile to get organized. You can click on the photo for the albums--you may want to open it in a new tab.
This album is Luanda scenes.
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| Luanda Scenes |
I have been "kind" to the views of Luanda for now.
The next album are some views of the beaches near Luanda.
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| Beaches near Luanda |
Here are some photos of people I have seen mostly outside of Luanda. I especially like to take photos of the women
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| Angolan People |
Luanda celebrates Carnival (Mardi Gras) on a smaller scale but it is a holiday. The festivities occurred on the Marginal not far from my apartment. I did take some video which includes all the sounds and music. For now, here are some photos.
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| Carnival Luanda 2010 |
The remaining albums include my various trips around the country.
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| Rio Longo Trip |
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| Malanje Trip |
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| Benguela, Lubango, Namibe Trip |
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| Geology Trip |
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| History trip |
