Winter Has Come – Friday, March 14, 2013
Well it has been over a month since my last blog post, but
with good reason. The last month has
been full of travel, training, collaboration, a lot of fun, and some surprises. Once again, so much has happened that I’ll
have to break it up into a couple of posts.
The first thing is that winter has come, personified in this
case, by Boko Haram. If you are not into
Game of Thrones, then that may mean
nothing to you. Suffice to say, Boko
Haram is not a good thing. Their name
means Western Education is Sacrilege,
and they are one of the most active and dangerous terrorists groups in the
world today. They are fighting the
French in Mali, and several volunteers were evacuated from Mali to Cameroon
about six months ago. They also control
large parts of northern Nigeria and are active in many countries around Central
and West Africa.
Many of the posts in Cameroon in the North and Extreme North
regions are very close to the border with Nigeria. For those who have not heard, a group of
seven foreign workers were abducted and later executed in northern
Nigeria. Around the same time, a French
family was abducted close to Waza Park in the Extreme North of Cameroon, and
then taken back to Nigeria. I have also
heard that there was an attack on a northern Nigerian police station very close
to Cameroon, resulting in ten deaths. As
far as I know, all of these attacks have been attributed to Boko Haram and
their affiliates, but my access to news out here is limited.
Peace Corps reacted fairly quickly. The consolidated everyone in the Extreme
North into the regional capital, Maroua, where there is a case (compound) that
they can all stay in safely. They were
there for a few weeks, and have since been changed to stand fast, which means
that travel is restricted and you must stay at your post. This is what the North region has been under
for the duration. When we travel
anywhere in the North or Extreme North, we have to get permission from Peace
Corps and let them know when we leave and when we arrive.
Unfortunately, there have also been posts closed. There are around 20 now in the Extreme North
and North, including a lot of my friends, and we are hearing of more daily. Others are moving because they feel
unsafe. My cluster lost 2 out of 7, and
another one or two may leave as well. They
are only about 25 km from my post, which is about 40 km from the border, but
since Guider is a larger city with Gendarmes it is still open. If the attacks continue, my guess is that it
will be closed within a few months, but I am told there are no plans to close
it.
Either way, I am losing some good friends from my cluster
and my region. I already know at least a
couple of people that will be moving to the Grand South, and I’m sure that they
will place many more down there. Most
people whose posts are closed will stay in country, though there will be some
going home.
The good news is that many people whose posts have been
closed want to stay in the Grand North.
They will probably be opening more posts, though I doubt many will be
close to me considering my proximity to both Nigeria and Chad. I know at least one of my good friends will
be going to Garoua, the regional capital, so I am really excited for that – it
is only about an hour and a half from me.
I’m not really worried for my safety at this point; I think
any more attacks, if they happen, would be further north than where I am. I am worried that my post will be eventually
closed, and if that happens I would rather it be sooner than later. I really don’t want to get started on the
projects I have planned (which are awesome by the way, read a later post to
hear more about them), and then have to move when I start getting some real
work done. Either way, the situation is
really bad for a lot of people, and I hope that everyone who moves because
their posts are closed or they feel unsafe gets a new post that they really
like. I also hope that we get some good
new people in the North from the Extreme North, there are some real gems we
could get.
Be safe, Graham!
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