pandorra in Congo

some of you might be well aware that in eastern congo there is constant and now increasing unrest, since the rebelgroup around Lt Nkunda captured the city of Goma and is keeping the congolese army under fire. That part of congo isnt very far from South-Western Uganda, and we had an influx of around 3000 refugees now so far (increasing though). so not noticable at all in kampala.
BUT: although rebel activities have been ongoing since some months, there is a chance that it will be become a more regional conflict.

• the rebel activities (Tustsi) against congolese army and Huti-milicia have their clear roots in the Rwanda genozoide. so the rebels are supported by Rwanda government, which is also a good partner of Ugandan president.
• however there is still unsolved conflict in the congolese- north ugandan border, which Lt Nkunda accused to much interference from neighbors
• congolese army is supported by armies from 2 african countries; Angola and zimbabwe. very unlikely allies, but if you know that China has a contratc with congo governemnt about more then 4 bl $ for getting resources, and is selling weapons to them you can clearly see the combination

SO? IS IT ALL ABOUT RESOURCES ???? very sure!!

• france is loosing its strength& politcial power in Rwanda and congo as well, (also through the genozide) and is struggeling to keep it. and has not played the best role in supporting UN/ Hutu milicia. while France is a steady member of UN Security council, it is also in charge of UN peace keepers. Since 2 months Uganda is the african representative, and both follow very different interests in the region. Now also Germany has contributed a step stone, by arresting last week a high rwanadan offical who was under french arrest request.

ADDITIONALLY IT IS ALSO ABOUT DIPLOMATIC AND POLITICAL POWER in the region.
so far, i dont see any problems for Uganda, and any insecurity upcoming.

WHEN 2 ELEPHANTS ARE FIGHTING, ITS THE GRASS THAT SUFFERS (swahili saying)
Because the ones who affected are again the normal population, having suffered enormusly by the unstustainable lowpaid extraction the local gold/metal resources, and the brutal luting & Raping by both rebels , government army and milicia, and finding themselved between tribal, regional and now even global fights for power.

leisure is a lodge in Africa

If you want to have a real leasure, pleasure experience, you should go to Africa and stay in one of those fantastic luxurious lodges. its not cheap (at least 100$ pp per night) but all money and minutes spent there are worth it. alice and me stayed this weekend at "Mihingo Lodge", a lodge build 1,5 years ago in Lake Mburo National Park. which is 4,5 hours carride from kamapala. its build on a high rock in a fantastic much organic natural way, using p.e. old olive tree stems as poles for the houses. But the most stunnig thing is the pool! From the tents and main place you can oversee the savannah and observe the water hole where antilopes, impalas, warthogs and zebras come for drinking. in the evening you could feed bushbabies, just before you have your own fanatsic dinner.
in the morning, waking up with the first sunstrokes at around 7, the clouds are slowly fading away over the downlaying savannah, the birds start to TSHILP and PILP under the fog, and the sun is risin majesticly over the scenery. the new day is unfolding beneath you, while the the frehly brewed ugandan coffee is waking up your organism likewise. then a hot shower , where you can still observe the scenery through the open windows.
hach, a day in life....
the oh-so-cool pool!!
wakeup morning scenery
Alice enjoys the stunning view observing the waterhole
(more animal photos to be followed)

insurance

in the aftermmatch of the nighty incident, but its not only me sleeping nervously, my housemate getting more security-paranoid, but my guard actually suffered from severe head shock. so last Friday we have been trying 3 clinics to |check his head| (as the fabulous beastie boys would sing). the first clinic could only do malaria testing (one never knows....) and in the second place posh "doctors plaza" the doctor wasn't in the whole day. but at least they had - besides a huge noisy TV - also an Xray. so thirdly, we tried the real hospital, where Wonjiale was diagnozed not to have a bad brain. puh. also we did not need to pay service fees. maybe because the doctor appreciated his burglar chasing efforts.

what stroke me is our expat luck again: we have a good health insurance paid by our company and can go to the expensive doctors and hospitals without hesitation, and get the money repaid later. but the average Ugandan, and especially my staff has no insurance as such, and whenever someone is ill, it costs them a fortune of their salary. and insurance is so expensive, especially if you consider the whole family (of 6 people at least....). so what is often done is to insure the mother, the dad and the first son as priority. mmmmm, depressing, isn't it.

for more personal sleep insurance, we have by lucky incident a friend staying here with us: and he is not only huge but also a fantastic pastacook :) and since today we are also razorwired.

Obama saved my house from burglars!

i slept nervously last night, having 4 misconnected phone calls in the night at around 2, dreaming uneasily of my heavy workload and feeling cold - but to lazy to get out to fetch a warmer shirt. The wind was getting stronger, blowing through the banana leaves and while the clouds were getting dark in front of the moon, it felt to start raining soon.
Then suddenly at 3.30sh, I heard running and shouting in my garden. Jumping out of my bed, I saw my nightwatchmen Wonjiale chasing a man through the garden directly in front of my window. That burglar tried to escape over the wall, he put him back down. fighting & running away, Wonjiale tried to get a hold on him, and was threatened by a knife. then Wonjiale - shouting for help from the neighboring watchmen- grabbed a stick and hit the men severely, while him climbing the wall again . it was a bambus stick, so not very effective, but the burglar got chased away. There was a second one, taking in the meanwhile the opportunity to try grabbing the bike, but could only get hold of Wonjiales mobile phones before he left.
And me? In the first moment I dared not to leave the house, thought my nightwatchmen still captured the second one. but he was just very very exhausted and his adrenalin was pumping. was i afraid? mmmh. it was all very strange happening in front of my burglar fenced window. and i was just glad, that those men had not ENTERed the house. as this is my most serious fear: lying in bed and hearing someone in the house, someone in my room, being forced to give away the things, maybe even worse….. and my staff not entering the house early enough, and the burglar attacking me... that’s my general fear, though normally I felt quite safe in the house, where noone entered the last years before.

But actually in that same moment I was more afraid of Wonjiale himself, him having a young daughter, and being hurt for life. And angry and confused about the neighbors watchmen not helping out.
My dog had not interfered the break-in. she barked from a distance. And when she came later to join us sitting at the terrace steps (Fred came out too, Alice was on a fieldtrip), she had probably more shaking bones than us all. Well, not a protective dog this one. mollymollymolly

This morning we were inspecting the scene: the 2 burglars left a chisel and a cutter behind to stem open locks or windows. and it seems they also had chloroform'd cloth with them (for the dog, nightwatchman, myself...). They might have tried to break in at the neighbors first, as it seems the cloth came from them. they also left behind the 2 SIM cards from Wonjiales phones. In that moment I got more scares, and same time very much relieved.

Interestingly, the same night waking up at 2am I just though I should inspect on Wonjiales duty, as assumingly he is often sleeping in his room. And maybe, no surely, we were lucky that night, because he was watching the US elections and therefore awake. So: Big Thanks to Obama!

and now? i think there is need to inspect with the landlord on the general house safety, and take more measures for protection. as it cannot be USelections every night.....