Lockdown

Things in our immediate neighborhood are still quiet, but the city of Yaounde has heated up considerably today. We hear that there is unrest in different areas, some cars have been burned, some people have been killed, the military was called out to disperse a crowd of a hundred thousand protesters downtown. We're up at CTC again, just across the road from where we live (we were told that this brief walk in the neighorhood was safe). We're on a Younde email list for the missionary community, and today's email traffic is a combination of the usual news about comings and goings, combined with notices about this or that person pinned down in this or that area by the unrest and unable to travel and waiting it out somewhere. There is a message about a mob on the street up the road a couple of miles, another about lockdown, requesting that people stay put for the time being. We have also had phone calls from Valery and Christi today, making sure we know not to travel, and suggesting we stay at home with the doors locked. It's nice to be at CTC, since it was safe to walk up here, around lots of other people, getting the news and checking email.

Here's the "Warden Message" from the embassy today. ...Hang on, there's a note at the bottom of it saying that these things are not supposed to be copied. I'll have to take that other one off the blog. Basically, it says that there is looting and unrest downtown and in some other areas of Yaounde, and Americans should not travel. And it suggests to make sure you have supplies for a week, review your travel documents, consider packing an emergency bag, and avoid public gatherings.

Things are calm here at CTC, and at the moment Ann is chatting with a young missionary here in the computer room just behind me. There is no sense of panic, and people are finding places to stay at night if they live across town.

Here is the very brief Reuters story on the situation from about an hour ago, courtesy of Google News:

Rioting spreads to Cameroon capital Yaounde

Wed 27 Feb 2008, 12:35 GMT

YAOUNDE, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Stone-throwing youths set up burning barricades and clashed with police in Cameroon's capital Yaounde on Wednesday as the city was gripped by anti-government protests that have raged for four days in the west.

Witnesses said shops closed and traffic disappeared from the streets as groups of protesters, who shouted slogans against President Paul Biya and complained about the high cost of living, blocked roads in the city centre and other districts.