Cote D'Ivoire Photos
Graypix



Home Page
Maritania / Gambia

Senegal - Dakar
Senegal - N iokolo Koba

Senegal - Islands
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Mali



Gagnoa, a small town between Abidjan and Danane


About $10 a night


Great batiks and
tie-dyes


The famous masks of
the Man region
Graypix A Return from Danane

October 8, 1998

I arrived safe and sound in Dakar yesterday around 12 noon after typical delays in Abidjan with Air Afrique.  The delays gave me a chance to explore the shops, and I finally found some coffee to buy.  Cote d'Ivoire is the third largest producer of coffee in the world, I think.  We saw some coffee plantations growing near Danane, and all along the road we saw people drying the coffee beans on the edge of the highway on the warm tarmac.  I haven't tasted the coffee yet, but it smells great, even through the sealed bag.  I bought a kilo of coffee beans labeled "gastronomique" for restaurants and cafes, and then some ground coffee in a much smaller bag.  Of course, where we are puppy-sitting, they have a grinder, but their coffee press broke days before we moved in, and at our home, we don't have a grinder but have a coffee press!   Someday we'll get it together!

Unfortunately, the wires for the digital camera are back at our apartment, so I will try to have some pictures to send out tomorrow or over the weekend.  I got two rolls of film developed yesterday and the pictures are quite beautiful.  I was about 7 hours northwest of Abidjan, right on the border with Liberia.  For those of you who have been following the news, things have been simmering in Liberia.

[This news flash is from InfoBeat on September 30.  U.S. sends troops for possible Liberia evacuation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. has put a military team in the waters off Liberia to help evacuate U.S. citizens if the security situation in the West African country deteriorates, President Clinton said Tuesday. In a letter to Congress, Clinton said the 30-person team was split between the USS Chinook, a U.S. Navy patrol craft operating off the Liberian capital of Monrovia, and the city of Freetown in neighboring Sierra Leone. Liberia, a country founded in 1847 by freed U.S. slaves, is emerging from a seven-year civil war that pitted the forces of President Charles Taylor against those of fugitive ethnic Krahn leader Roosevelt Johnson.]

Johnson sought refuge in the US Embassy the week before this, as Taylor's troops were after him.  This latest power struggle sent about 500 Liberians fleeing into the southwest portion of Cote d'Ivoire, about five hours south of Danane, where I was working.   The UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) felt that their situation wasn't serious, but based on past events, these people were in fear of being persecuted because of being from the ethnic group, Krahn.

Civil wars in Liberia, and power struggles between the leaders (who were all from different ethnic groups) led to wars between the tribes of Liberia. When a particular government lost power, the people in that former leader's ethnic group were prosecuted.   Doe, one leader, was killed by the opposition.  Supposedly his body was mutilated, cut into pieces, and some soldiers ate his testicles in public.  I don't know if this story has been confirmed by outside sources, but certainly reports of the events are all brutal and mention the supposed mutilation and cannibalism as a sign of triumph.  Many people have been fleeing Liberia since 1991 because of their ethnic groups.  Former ministers in the government had to abandon their homes and hide in the jungle with their families, living a simple life of hunting, gathering, and some farming while living in mud huts.  Many people starved to death during this time.   Most women who ran from soldiers were raped, usually in front of their husbands and sons.  Those men who struggled were shot or stabbed.  The horror of the situation is still very real as they have the physical and psychological wounds to remind them.

I think there were over 300,000 Liberian refugees along the Cote d'Ivoire border since 1991.  Now there are about 60,000 refugees in the Danane area. Some have been repatriated, which seems to be UNHCR's preferred solution. The whole refugee process is long and frustrating.  Some cases were able to seek political asylum in America.   Those who did were able to file for relatives, parents, children, and siblings, in a family reunification program.  If filed before Dec 31, 1997, the refugees in Cote d'Ivoire would have a chance of making it to America.  Those people entered the process, interviews, and approvals, to end up selected for resettlement in America. The refugees I worked with had been approved by INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services).   There are four main steps after their approval, facilitated mainly by IOM (International Organization for Migration).  The refugees must have a medical exam by an approved doctor.  Anyone with HIV or a drug addiction is not allowed to travel to America, and their whole family is put on hold until that person agrees to remove himself or herself from the case.  If the individual doesn't remove himself from the case, the whole family is held back and will not go to the USA.  In any case, their departure will be delayed.  Anyone with contagious but treatable conditions must treat their problem and then be reexamined.  Such problems include malaria, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted diseases.  Again, the whole family is delayed.   In addition to having their medical, their names go through a security check, looking for anyone who has been a terrorist or anyone involved in genocide.  The last big thing they have to do is Cultural Orientation, which was my job.

I'll write more later about some specifics of my job and some sightseeing in the area that we were able to do.

Despite how hot it is, and the fact I may not see rain again until next July, I'm glad to be back!

Happy Ivorian children

Enjoying hills in Danane

Cultural Orientation for Liberian refugees

Sasha explains how to find a job in the U.S.

On the way home
from class

Sunset at Paloma

Favorite Sunday activity

La cascade de Man

Heading back through the bamboo forest

Lily and Sasha, my two training colleagues

Lieupleu village boys

Crossing the log bridge with half the village

Sasha relishing his African adventure

You have to remove  your shoes to cross the sacred bridge

Built secretly overnight by newly-initiated young men

Are there any crocodiles?

Paul, from CAR, and Lily, from Kenya, braved the Pont des Lianes for the first time

How do they do it?

I don't think we're
in Boston anymore!

Yamoussoukro's
US$300 million showpiece

Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, tallest Christian Church in  the world
Graypix

Please click on a thumbnail for a full-size photos.
Don't forget to use your back button to return here.

If you want to comment or ask questions please email us at wheelock@metissacana.sn