Strike

I have mixed feelings about sharing the following.  So let me preface it by saying

We're fine.  Our friends are fine.  Everyone we know is fine.  And things are very quiet where we live.  

So --

There is a taxi strike going on in Yaounde.  We can't get to work.  There is also a taxi strike in the bigger port city of Doula as well, and that one has turned into some general unrest that has included some violence.  

Here's today's "warden message" from the embassy here in Yaounde:

(deleted, basically says not to travel between cities, mentioned trouble in Douala)

I'm currently at the CTC complex near our home; we live near lots of people who work for a mission organization called SIL.  We got an account to have net access here; there is housing and a school here, and some administrative offices.  The street was quiet when I walked here, since more than half the traffic on a normal day is taxis, and there are no taxis today.

Here's a story about what's going on in Douala.  This is a bit grim, so let me repeat that we have seen nothing like this here in our area, or heard about any such thing here in Yaounde.  To put this in perspective, the country to the north is Chad, where there was recently a big armed rebellion; SIL simply evacuated its people (many who have little kids) in an orderly fashion.  We have met several.  They're living in the neighborhood, lunching at the CTC canteen, and waiting to go back to Chad.  Unrest and even evacuation is something that just happens to ex-pats who live over here from time to time; nobody likes it, but people roll with it and keep on with their work and lives.  And things here are nowhere near that point.  

From Reuters AlertNet:

CAMEROON: Douala burns as taxi strike turns into general rioting
25 Feb 2008 15:14:39 GMT
Source: IRIN
Reuters and AlertNet are not responsible for the content of this article or for any external internet sites. The views expressed are the author's alone.
DOUALA, 25 February 2008 (IRIN) - - Residents of Douala awoke to heavy gunfire on 25 February. Columns of thick black smoke rose over the city as youth burned buses, cars and tires, blocking off major arteries in the city.

There are also reports of widespread of looting.

"We can't leave our homes," a man in Akwa, in the city centre, told IRIN. "I live near a school and can see teachers sending home all students that arrive."

"Rioters are occupying other schools in the area," he said.

At least two dead bodies have arrived at the city morgue with gunshot wounds to the head, a journalist told IRIN.

IRIN also saw people with serious gunshot wounds being carried to a hospital.

The rioting appears to have been sparked off by a taxi strike planned for 25 February. Many people say they are in sympathy with drivers' complaints of rising fuel prices and the cost of living.

IRIN saw no vehicles in the city centre other than those filled with security forces.

Political tensions have been high in recent days with the government attempting to push through constitutional reforms that would remove restrictions on the number of terms that Cameroon's long time leader Paul Biya can be re-elected. He has been in power since 1982

An unauthorised demonstration took place on 23 February in Newtown, a suburb near the airport, at which police reportedly fired tear-gas and water cannons at a crowd of several hundred people. One protestor was killed, according to government officials but eye witnesses said at least one other youth also died.

The following day, Sunday, the city was calm until the evening when gunfire erupted again near the airport.

Then by Monday morning rioting broke out throughout the city.

Accounts of the violence

One of the main bridges to the city has been blocked by burning tires, according to an eyewitness living nearby. "We see smoke everywhere and hear constant gunfire," she said.

The national radio reported that many government buildings were on fire, including a town hall and one of the finance ministry buildings

The main road between Douala and the capital, Yaounde, is blocked by burning tires and IRIN saw a number of petrol stations being looted along that road.

Youth have also reportedly broken into at least one major retail store..

In the city centre IRIN saw large gangs of youths moving through the streets with no police around. But elsewhere police were seen arbitrarily arresting civilians.

"I saw two people in front of my office being stopped by the police and arrested for no reason," said human rights advocate Madeline Afite, of the Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture.

People catching flights out of the city had to walk to the airport. IRIN saw youth attempt to enter the airport compound. Some appeared to be armed and shooting at the police. Police also appeared to be returning fire.

"I think what is happening is that youth saw recent events in Kenya and are now trying to copy," Mary Mballa, a mother in Newtown told IRIN.

If I Google "Yaounde strike" I see stories that the taxi strike in Yaounde was called off.  This is manifestly not the case; today is the second day of the strike here, and the usual river of yellow taxis in the road has dried up completely.

So we're fine.  But this is an unhappy part of life here for now, and unlike us, most Cameroonians are not free to leave at the end of a year and go somewhere stable and wealthy and leave it all behind.

I used to wonder whether the affluence of the US and weathly countries was somehow at the cost of other poorer countries.  I knew a lot of people believed this, but had never really seen a demonstration that satisfied me, and some of my smart, well-read American friends scoffed at the idea.  But if you talk to people here, smart people, educated people who follow world events and have lived here a long time, as well as to people with fewer opportunities in life, you find a lot of people saying that the political order here is decided far away in France, that the west provides arms and support for the political elites in Africa, in return for access to resources, and that the majority of the people play no role in decision-making, see no benefit from this arrangement or the resources of their country, and are left to eke out a living as best they can.

We've met a lot of people here, Cameroonian and American, NGO workers and missionaries, working hard to help people, but all the successes are on an individual, person-to-person level, or (in the case of the remarkable food-bank program at RELUFA), the family and village level.  But nobody has talked about successes on a larger scale in ameliorating the conditions that make life so hard for people here.  And nobody we've met, not one person, has voiced any hope that the lives of most Africans will improve in the future.  Nobody.

I'm new here, and I'm no expert, and I'm not staying very long.  And of course, any opportunities that people find on an individual level to improve their lives matter tremendously to them, to their families, and to the world in unknown ways.  This is simply what we've seen and heard and noticed, nothing more.  I am in no position to judge.  But what we've seen is not encouraging.