Gamle artikler

Jeg har været i gemmerne. Utallige mennesker har opfordret mig til at skrive om mine mange oplevelser i Afrika, men den seneste motivation var da en veninde sms'ede, at nu havde hun en artikel i Weekend Avisen. Jeg skyndte mig ind på biblioteket og læste den og tænkte: det er sku sejt!! Kognitiv kapitalisme handlede den om - så blev man så klog:-)

Jeg fandt derefter flere gamle artikler frem fra gemmerne og læste dem igen. 10 år er der gået. Jeg bankede mig selv lidt i knolden og tænkte, jeg sku jo være blevet journalist alligevel. Men det var også en lidt skræmmende konstatering, hvor lidt jeg har flyttet mig, når det kommer til tankerne om udvikling i mindre bemidlede lande. Jeg er stadig tynget af samvittighed over, hvorfor nogle er rige og andre fattige. Det er en tung burde at bære, når man oveni købet kræver af sig selv at skulle gøre noget ved sagen.

Det næste der sker er, at jeg skriver en artikel til Dagbladet Information. Jeg er tilbage. 'I write what I like and my pen is sharp', tænker jeg hovmodigt. Problemet er blot, at jeg efter 5 år på Uni med en engelsk eksamen har undertrykt det danske. Det flyder ligesom ikke længere - ikke som dengang i datiden, da jeg var ung og håbefuld. Nu har jeg erhvervet mig den akademiske og diplomatiske skrivestil: måske, eventuelt, til en hvis grad, vil nogen mene, på den ene og den anden side......

Dengang i mine skrivedage, da jeg ville være journalist og drev flere Sydafrikanske journalister til vanvid med mine evindelige spørgsmål og min konstante tilstedeværelse, der var stilen skarp og ligepå. Jeg vilde noget. Jeg ville påvirke med ord. Kan jeg finde det igen - et sted i gemmerne?

The organised society - food for inspiration

Its amacing how a crazy, stressful, panic-like lifestyle, such as the one I had in Ouaga, offers much more imput for writing. Gosia, thank you for reminding me that even the orderly, peaceful og and down to earth circumstances of living in Denmark can be interesting for others to read about.

I've started reading 'Dagbladet Information' every day. Its a great way to start the day and even up north in Aalborg, it reaches my doorstep at 5-6 o'clock in the morning. For a while I was wondering how to follow up on whats going on in the world. Sorry but the news on TV just doesn't cut it. What is happening with the 10 min. hot spot news on TV2 followed by the sport for another 10 min. I become restless and stressed from this flicking through the world in seconds. It only represents our modern bigcity lifestyle (I know I'm in Aalborg and not New York:-)). As my yoga guru Jens would say: 'det er noget af det væreste du kan gøre ved sindet'.

I'm attempting to find stressfree ways of living, as so many other western people are today. Stress has become one of our top 10 enemies and in attempting to avoid it, the business world has jumped on the wagon. There's a whole range of services and products to be bought and tried out: yoga, meditation, health and spa, massage, exercise, buddhism, stressfree foods, etc. One can actually get stressed by the offers alone!!

My personal search of a stressfree life has taken me down many a roads. At the moment, I'm taking up meditation as an extension of yoga. My (exciting?) life in an organised world to be continued..........

Back home

Someone reminded me that I haven't updated my block since July last year. Well, life has been turned upside down since then and I've had a lot on my mind. I got back to Denmark at the end of July to get a check up on the nasty malaria that I struggled with for a month plus in Burkina Faso. A few days after arrival to Denmark, I got hospitalized with severe stomach pain. The same day my appendix was removed.

Since then its been uphill getting well and also dealing with an important decision as to my future and stay in Ouagadougou. After much reflection, I finally decided that I would end my contract and move back to Denmark. I was simply send on a 'mission impossible' to Burkina Faso. It was SUCH a difficult decision though. I desperately wanted to finish my contract with the UN and make it work. However, after 1 year of serious struggle at RECIF, I had to face realities. The ship was going down and it would take much more than 1 person's determination to turn things around. I struggled with corruption, threatening mails, bad leadership, lack of cooperation between colleagues, lack of funding, lack of activities, lack of proper housing and I could continue - the list is long!! Shortly after I left RECIF, my colleague from Canada left as well. The latest news that I got from there is that everyone has now been fired and RECIF is closing down.

Although the news was sad, I was also relieved that I took the right decision to leave before the very last pieces fell to the ground. I feel sorry for the people at RECIF who were actually attempting to make some sort of difference. However, the problems we were facing were enourmous and ran deeper than we could have ever imagined. Ultimately, I feel that given the situation at RECIF, the decision to shut down was a good one that also serves the purpose of showing consequences of bad development.

The whole mess has left me with some scares. I've gone through a period being really upset with the whole area of development. It still battles me how enourmous sums of money and human ressources are spent on projects like RECIF. Anyway, I'm not even going to get started.

Status quo is that I'm VERY happy to be back in Denmark and I feel that I'm exactly where I want to be at the moment. Physically I'm okay, though emotionally it takes a while to fully recover from all the stress and disappointment that the African adventure entailed. I'm taking one step at a time, meanwhile enjoying my newborn niece to the fullest. I have a feeling that everything will be okay again -with time!! Patience is the keyword once more.

Le jardin aprés la pluie

The banana palm and papaya tree that I plantet. Unbelievable how fast they grow.

Advice I was given while ill/ill advice?

An enormous amount of (well meant?) advice was given to me while ill - some of it entertaining, some of it surprising, but most of all confusing…………..

Various people’s comments in random order followed by my thoughts;

Nurse: Perhaps you should just stop the malaria treatment now if it makes you feel bad
(Not such a good idea if you want to actually get rid of the disease)

Doctor: Drink lots of juice (nice general advice I guess)

Doctor: There is only one type of malaria. Malaria is malaria (Hmm I thought there were at least 4 types)

Doctor: Take these energy shots in the morning and at lunchtime. If you take them at night they will make you very tired (What kind of logic is that now?)

Maid: Drink lots of water (Always a good idea when the temp peaks at 40°c)

Colleague: Eat lots of fruits (Yes okay fruits are said to be healthy)

Doctor: Eat, sleep and rest well (My granny could have told me exactly the same)

Guard: Drink lemon juice after each meal (A pattern of vitamin C is becoming evident)

Friends: Go to Denmark and rest (VERY tempting, but would I come back again and how would I pay for the ticket?)

Doctor: Quinine does not have any side effects apart from a ringing to the ear (I know now by experience that it’s mere poison for the body and should be taken with loads of glucose. The good thing is that it is poisonous enough to kill the parasites)

Friend: Avoid getting bitten by applying lemon juice to your skin (Not very practical I should think)

Doctor: Quinine and Malarone is not the same thing (Even I could have come up with that reply, but it still does not answer my question as to what is the preferred treatment?)

Friend: Eat vitamin B and it keeps the mosquitoes away (And people unfortunately)


Overall, if there is one thing this period taught me it is to trust yourself and take all the advice with a grant of salt. Find a doctor that you feel confident with. It might take a while.

Realist or Pessimist?

An old fellow student sent me a quote the other day from an opening phrase of a book that she is reading. This was her reply to my complaining about the state of Africa:

"I have experienced the coming of an African rain. It comes with force, the rivers get full, water covers the fields. When the flooding is over, there is just a dry bank of a river. This is how I see our work. We have worked, hoping to leave something behind, but all that there is left is dry sand, where footsteps cannot be seen."

-Swantz (now over 80 years old, spent most of her life as a development worker in Africa).

This lady has ennough experience in Africa for anyone to give her statement some thought and consideration. Unfortunately, the development work that I have experienced so far does not seem to come even close to the positive utterances such as 'it (dev. work) comes with force'?? Ha ha thats really funny - what force? Force of etnocentrism/westernisation perhaps, rather than force of positive change for the poor. 'The rivers get full, water covers the fields'....hmmm sounds great, even if just for a while......

In Burkina Faso we have plenty of dry rivers. Of course there is now the rainy season, which leaves the rivers full of water. Burkina is also a NGO heaven filled with development workers at all levels. Do we manage to fill up the rivers slightly or is mother nature 2 steeps ahead?

Although life is an eternal struggle for the Bukinabe, there is still this attitude of 'Ya pas de problem', 'Ca va aller' or 'Hakuna Matata' if you prefer. The Bukinabe are experts in their own survival strategies. No room for pessimists!!

A high price to pay

I'm sitting on the veranda of my friends' house and the rain has started after a very hot and heavy afternoon. It cools me down as I'm spending my 3rd week being ill with bronkitis followed by a strong malaria that has forced me into a second round of treatment, which I pray will now send the last parasites to hell. This has left me with plenty of time to probe questions regarding my choices in life. As a friend asked me today: 'Is there anything left for you to pick up or experience here'? Well I can think of a few nasty experiences that I have not yet dealt with, but overall it has been a TOUGH year!!

Nevertheless, life in Ouaga continues although at a slow paste at the moment, as I switch between lying in bed, sitting on the veranda or lying on the sofa. This will change I keep telling myself while dreaming of life back home, comfort, health, strength, good medical systems, etc. In Africa, I'm confronted with plenty of adventure and uncertainty on a daily basis, which makes life exciting. Yet at the same time there is a price to be paid. When confronted with disease this becomes all too clear.

Now I was supposed to write a whole long and clever section on choices of life and prices that we pay but my level of energy is failing me. To be continued!!