Today
I traveled north to the city of Beni in a chartered United Nations
plane. So I can tell everyone I have traveled by a chartered plane.
Flying in style! The reason we took the private flight is because the
rebels are very active in the national park that separates Goma and
Beni.
I feel like describing today in first person....
Stepping
off the United Nations plane into the dry African heat was relief.
Vince later told me he was nervous during the flight because of the
small size of the prop plane and the turbulence. I on the other hand
kept my eyes glued to the farming communities below; searching for
suitable locations for the crash landing I momentarily considered would
be better than the motion/altitude sickness I was experiencing.
Thankfully, I made it to Beni in the nick of time.
The
city of Beni is an hour plane ride north of Goma and I assume an hour
car ride from the border with Rwanda. The city is dusty and hot. The
homes appear to be made of mud and grass. The mayor of the town was very
receptive of our presence and genuinely thinks our work in agriculture
is what the city needs.
According
to the mayor, the city lost most of its 22 agro processing businesses
due to coffee disease, degradation of the power supply (our hotel only
has a few hours of electricity today which is produced at the hotel),
high levels of violence and the break down in governance after the
former president Mobutu was thrown out of office.
I
think my anti-malaria medication induces dreams. I finally was able to
catch up on sleep today and I had a very emotionally taxing dream about
my father who passed away.
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