End of Chapter 1

It's 9.00am and a bright and sunny day here in Lusaka. My morning has involved nothing much more than stuffing an already full stomach with a buffet breakfast and seeing off the crew of a 2nd plane that was here.

My time in Africa is drawing to a close. I'm outbound to Joburg on Sat and then out to Sydney on the long haul on Sun.

It's not quite time to get excited yet, still a couple of days to go.
I'm 'home' for a couple of days then off on a long awaited break in Thailand and Malaysia.

So while I wait for the time to pass, I might as well pop my introspective up now. What follows is my little slice of what I've seen in the past few months.

Before I got here, Africa was just one big country. Kind of like Australia, big in size, but where ever you go people would pretty much be the same. After all, an Aussie is an Aussie whether from Sydney, Perth or God forbid Brisbane. So why wouldn't all African's be the same?

Well that got shot to pieces very soon after I got here. Africa is as diverse as places as the likes of Europe and South America. With as many differences and troubles as any truly multi-national continent would have. Within it there is a scope of living and people that range from the chaos and fighting of Mogadishu in Somalia, to some of the most decadent coastal communities near Capetown in South Africa. There are so many things, and so many issues going on here that it's almost an impossible task to get a grasp on it all. So like any stubborn male, I'll have a go.

Firstly I want to separate the countries that are getting somewhere and have a clue about what they're doing. Places like Botswana with their tourism. South Africa (to a point) with primary industry, tourism, modern living and healthy exports. Zambia, an up and coming country who has a big potential for tourism, business and export.
These places and the people who lead them understand the value of what they have as a country. But more importantly they seek to educate themselves and are willing to build the infrastructure required to make the most of it.
They understand the place they take in the wider world and understand the balance between national identity and foreign trade.

Now this brings me to the other 75% of Africa, the people and in particular the leaders there. This is the scenario. You have a tribal culture, where most of your day is spent just trying to get by. Food, shelter raising kids and the like. For the most part, if that were all there was, there would be nothing wrong at all. People like the Kalahari bushman, the native amazonians are all seen as intersting and rich cultures that can be studied but otherwise left alone to exist as they should.

Now however, put several billion dollars worth of gold, diamonds, minerals, oil and gas under them and it all changes very quickly. No longer are they of novelty value to the western world, they are now obstacles in the way to getting very, very rich.
So what do you, pour in 'aid'. Help 'lift' their standard of living. Show these people what life is like on the other side, but by the way, let us dig up those little bits of glass that you have no real interest in. One thing though, don't want to pay everyone, just enough people at the top of the ladder to get things done.
After a while, people catch on to what they're sitting on. They start to like what they are getting in return for these bits of glass and now they've got the weapons to take over other areas and start working on a 'to kill one day' list. As long as you keep the money and guns coming you can keep digging.
A few years and CNN reporters later, the leaders of the western world develop a concience and sends in support to the 'government' to combat the bad guys who are getting out of control. The shit starts to rise and 'aid' starts pouring in to help the people on the bottom end getting shot and starved. Handouts, food, endless freebies. After all, the guys at the top are getting fatter, so the bottom should as well.
Given enough time, it prevades the culture. Instead of being happy with who they are and what they have, they embroil themselves in conflict, fighting over all the cash that's flowing into the counrty. Little do they realise, if they just got together, organised their resources and built some infrastructure they'd have more money than they could ever know what to do with. But at the end of the day, tribes are tribes and what's mine is mine, and if I can get yours as well, even better. The idea of co-operation and the common good is non existent. They are still just living day to day, only instead of spears they have guns. Instead of horses they have cars. Instead of growing food, they can now just import.

This situation, although taken from what's happened in the DRC is represented through so much of Africa. It's caused a situation where children are growing up expecting to get a hand out from anyone who isn't a local. The moment someone sees you, the hand goes out as though you were expected to give them something and those that have heard the words utter 'Mister, mister, money money'. Interesting at first, but infuriating after a few months. I never thought one could know what an ATM feels like. You can see people trying to work out where the money is on you and how to get it out.

The thing is there is not silver bullet. While there are riches to be dug up, the western world will want it. While there are freebies being flown in every day, people won't want to work. While everyone is trying to grab the first thing they see, their nation will continue to suffer.

Let me throw some statistics at you. Year round rainfall, rich soils which extend in some places as much as 10 meters. An abundance of minerals, metals and of course diamonds. And a river so vast and so powerful that with a proper hydro scheme, could power the entire continent of Africa. Imagine having that amount of resources in Australia. Imagine the wealth and the standard of living we could have. Yet they choose to live in straw huts next to concrete buildings. Drive around potholes instead of fixing them. Ask every foreigner for money instead of learning how to earn it for themselves. Dig half hearted diamond mines instead cultivating land.
It is a shame and it makes you sad, angry and frustrated all at the same time. They could live the lives that they dream and see us westerners living, but they just don't realise what they have to do to get it.

Having said all that, there are some great people and some amazing places here. My experience has seen more dark than light, but I do know there is a lot that this continent can offer. You could come here, and see none of what I've just talked about, and most people will do just that.
They'll do the safaris, stay in the lodges, buy a few pieces of endangered wood. For them Africa will be the sunsets and sweeping savannahs of the National Geo's. And that's fine.

For me though, I'm glad I've seen what I have. To have lived it, breathed it, swore at it.
I can jump on a plane and book a tour anytime. But to see the real Africa. The Africa most people here live. The Africa that will ultimately guide the future of the whole continent. That was worth all the heartache and pain. And to be paid all along the way, even better :)

At the end of the day there is still a lot more to see. More dark, more light and I think I'll be coming back for more.

A different kind of paradise

Here we are, back again. In the paradise of all paradises the DRC. The moment I stepped off the plane I was reminded how bad a shithole this place really is. It seems in the week or so I was away, everyone got a bit more arrogant and a bit more corrupt. Trying to get a car into the airport was harder than getting a hooker into heaven but eventually after much swearing and gesturing we got through. The problem? I simply refused to pay the 'entrance tax' to the airport guards especially when we were getting charged drive on fees from the airport officials anyway. The guards simply wanted their lunch money.

Someone told me it takes 2 days for a tourist to become a racist in Africa. Well it took 2 months but I'm really sick of the hoops you have to jump through to get anything done. The DRC is a real fuckker of a place and I can't wait to get done here.

The upside it that we've moved to a nicer place where there's 24 hour electricity and decent food. Cheaper overall as well so the powers that be should be pleased. Also, we've managed to fix 90% of the equipment to the point where we can do some work and the weather seems to be holding out as well. So with any luck, I'll be out of Kananga and into Mbuji Mayi in a week or so. Sometimes you have to walk through hell to get to heaven.

Back to civilisation..... almost

The nature of this job is always on 2 ends of the scale. Weeks and weeks of nothing, then 5 days of absolute ball tearing work which leaves you very much wishing for a long sleep followed by sun soaked beach.

I'm back in Praetoria after a whirlwind trip covering a few thousands kms and about 20 hours of flying. Back to fix a plane that should have been fixed a month and a half ago.

Lusaka was nice. And by nice I mean no "you must pay, you must pay" at customs. No cold showers and 'holy' tar roads. And most of all, no locals who look like they're going to fleece you of everything you have the moment you're not paying attention. Bought a few trinkets there which was nice. Other than that there's not much to report.

Really at the end of it all, if you read back a few posts to when I first got here, that's where I am now. Waiting, waiting to go back to my beloved DRC to get some work done. Hopefully this time it's done properly and the company I work for can stop flushing thousand dollar bills and start earning some.

When you talk about pink elephants

you end up seeing pink elephants.

After a few emails asking me what's happening with the blog aka 'Am I still alive' I guessed it was time for an update.

Motivation has been bordering the non existant to the point where I wonder if there's any use getting out of bed. Still stuck on the ground with no work to do while we're waiting on a new part to arrive here in deep dark Africa.

Oh and I got malaria. No need to panic, put the phone down. Yes malaria can kill you and mortality can be as high as 20% even when treated in severe cases but I caught it early and it wasn't cerebral or terminal malaria.

For those of you wondering what it feels like to have malaria try this:
Swim 10kms or do a 3 hour full body session at the gym,
that night go on the piss like it was New Years Eve,
then eat really old and bad curry that would burn the bark off a tree.

How you feel the next morning is pretty much on target except it only gets worse not better.

I first had symptoms last Tues and went to a local military hospital to ge tested. Blood work was back in half an hour and showed parasites of simple Malaria. Must have been bitten in the first few days as I'd only been here about 12 days and it takes that long to show symptoms.

Anyway, I had meds given to me by a field medic working for one of our clients and I took them as instructed. 24 hours later feeling better, 72 hours pretty much 100%. I was lucky.

My public service announcement. If you're going to a malaria zone, bring a treatment option with you as you never know what type of malaria you're going to get or what treatment you'll have access to. The best for Africa is Coartem (Artemether-lumefantrine) along with paracetemol for fever. Unforunately Coartem isn't distributed in Australia but you can pick it up in a travel clinic when you get where you're going. Artemisinins are distributed by the WHO and bring parasites counts down quickly. They also work better for parasites resistant to cholorquinine which is the most used form of treatment.

Anyhow, all is well now. Just waiting for time to tick over as usual.

There's been a bit of a fuss going on here with one of the Fathers who is causing a bit of trouble for us, so we're going to pack up and move locations. We'll actually save money AND have 24hour electricity as well. Why we didn't know about this new place before is beyond me, but we do now so we're off probably on Sunday.

I've taken a few more photos around the traps and I'll update quick snaps a bit later.

Other than the above, not much else to report which is half the reason I've been AWOL for a while.

Til something interesting happens again, adieu.

What does one do when they have their birthday in Kananga? Head to the local chinese restaurant of course. These two characters have been here for 4 years from Shen Zhen I think. I never thought I'd have to pull out the old chinese school lessons in the DRC but here I was, looking at a menu in French, and trying to order in Mandarin. Well I got 2 dishes out of 3 of what I wanted.

The meat quality was the same as everywhere here (ie. tire rubber) but at least the spices and sauces were good. And for those of you thinking it, yes I need a shave and yes I look ridiculous in that hat, but out here they don't know any better.

Anyhow, I've been diligently planning my break and holiday. At the moment it looks like trekking in Chiang Mai for a few days, climbing in Krabi for about 10, then back to KL to do whatever for another 10. Very much looking forward to it.

Oh and I've realised I'm not going to be at home much in the next 12 months (even when I'm in the country) so I'm coming back for Christmas to catch up with everyone. I'll probably rent an apartment for the 10 days or so people can come and go as they please. Should be fun.

Well I'm off to go outside and do a happy dance coz a massive storm is brewing. Storms = no fog and no smoke haze = work getting done = Alex not shooting himself from boredom.

See ya.

Going to have some strange dreams tonight

If I start publishing instructions on how to surgically remove malaria parasites from my liver using only a teaspoon, please contact my office and have them fly me home.

Type in 'Mefliam' into Google and look up side effects.

I didn't really notice any huge changes from my first dose last week but after today's dose my head is swimming. It would also explain the little bit of a downer I had a few days ago that dissapeared over night.

Anyway, Mefliam is the best option for anti-malaria meds in this area. Type in 'cerebral malaria' in Google and look up side effects and you'll understand why I'm taking them. I'm off to make apologises to the cats because I haven't been feeding them lately. Then I'll put the fairies to bed.

It's not a competition

Ok, this has come out of a few conversations with people.

Firstly, if you open one of my emails and the next thought out of your head is "Geez he must really be bored", you DON'T have to reply with one of equal length.
Even a quick description of what you've been doing in the last 5 minutes is something I appreciate.

Secondly, I know I have a propensity to get a little heavy in some of my longer short stories, please read them with consideration that I am stuck in the vacant room next to hell and I haven't done nor will be doing any work for weeks. I can be a little melodramatic at times.

Other than that. :) All is good in the hood.