We really couldn't leave it....

...and went to see the pope.

He was passing in front of our door - that is, in reality, on the top of our road. So we went out for an late afternoon stroll and came back with these pictures:









However dubble the feeling is, looking at the preparations the government did and its consequences, people were really happy to see him passing by. The president was trailing behind, but most people (as us) did not wait to see him...

We went to town yesterday and took the opportunity to take some pictures of the demolishments still going on:

Cameroon demolishes street stalls for Pope's visit

It appears that now also the international press is aware of the recent ongoings in preparation for the visit of the pope. Here is an article by Reuters news agency:

Source: Reuters

Security forces clear street-side stalls for Papal visit
Police beat stallholders, youths at weekend, witnesses say

By Tansa Musa YAOUNDE, March 10 (Reuters) - Cameroonian security forces have smashed up the street stalls, where thousands of people earn a living, to give the capital Yaounde a face-lift for a visit by Pope Benedict next week. Pope Benedict makes his first trip to Africa as pontiff next week, visiting Cameroon before continuing to Angola to mark 500 years of Christian evangelism there. "My 10 years of investments have been ruined. I don't know now what to do to survive," wailed Mariane Ngoupendji on Monday when she found her typing and printing shop reduced to rubble. "Will the Pope's visit replace what I've lost?" she said. Ngoupendji, 43, collapsed weeping to the ground as youths pulled pieces of corrugated iron, girders and planks from the ruins, hoping to sell them or use them to build elsewhere. Many people make their living through informal stalls or boutiques, selling everything from imported electrical goods to local produce in a country where millions of people live in poverty even though it boasts one of Africa's biggest economies. But authorities say the stalls, ranging from simple wooden shelves to secure lock-ups built with steel and concrete, are an eye-sore and began to tear them down last week. No compensation will be offered, the government said. "On Monday the authorities of the Yaounde urban municipality continued pulling down illegally erected structures down in the town centre with the support of security forces," state radio reported on Monday. "They vowed that the process will continue as part of efforts to embellish the city and give it a new face-lift." Yaounde council officials could not be reached for comment. Security forces have deployed in large numbers to prevent trouble. Previous attempts to clear traders from African cities have triggered widespread violence, including in Senegal before last year's Organisation of the Islamic Conference summit. Police beat youths and stallholders at the weekend on Yaounde's Avenue Kennedy, where many hawkers sell cell phones and other electrical items imported from Dubai, witnesses said. "I saw gendarmes and police chasing after fellow Cameroonians, beating them up with such ferocity and smashing their goods," said a Cameroon Telecommunications company worker, who watched from a third storey window as police cleared stalls near Avenue Kennedy on Saturday. "Why not simply ask them to assemble their goods and move away instead of destroying everything. Must the Pope's visit bring so much trouble for the people?" said the worker, who declined to be identified for fear of reprisals. But a senior police officer said stallholders had refused to comply with several previous requests to move on. "Now, with the Pope coming, the authorities are left with no other choice than to use force to get them out," he told Reuters. "African traditional hospitality demands that you keep your house clean when expecting a guest." (Writing by Alistair Thomson; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

The long-awaited visit of the pope

The pope is paying a visit to Cameroon next week - he's arriving Tuesday evening and leaving Friday morning and he's doing a mass in the big stadium of Yaoundé on Thursday. "Great!" I can hear you say. "How nice of him to visit Cameroon." Well yeah...

As a consequence - or should I say precursor - of this visit, some dramatic measures have been taken.
1 All small shops, houses, vendor's stalls that don't look nice enough are being destroyed with a large caterpillar. The truck comes by, looks at your stall/house/whatever and if the driver doesn't like, he just destroys it with all its content. It all started about a week ago in the city centre. Suddenly the streets did not house streetvendors anymore, all the local shops at the post office disappeared etc. Now it's been extended all the way to the airport.
2 The road to the airport has brand new streetlights. But then ONLY the way from the airport to the town centre.
3 Tuesday (for sure, other days to be confirmed) the road between airport and town centre will be blocked. Note: the pope arrives in the evening, but the road needs to be blocked from EARLY MORNING. Hence nobody can get to/from work, school etc.
4 It has been announced on the radio that all shops and houses on the road to the airport etc need to keep all windows and doors closed on Tuesday - police will patrol to make sure orders are followed.
5 As a result of all this, tension has risen in town centre among street vendors and shop owners and riots cannot be ruled out... Keep indoors I would say.
6 As said before, the Pope will do a mass on Thursday in the Stadium. It's open for the public but tickets are 1000 FCFA (almost 2 Euro) and people will have to walk kilometers to get there as the roads will be blocked, obviously.

It's a pity that a major event like this has to become such a disaster for so many people. People struggle so hard to make a living, selling a few papaya's on the side of the road, put all their savings in a little stall and then, wham, a caterpillar passes by and you've lost everything.

Pictures of the destructions can be seen on Sander & Elke's blog.

>To be continued...

a few movies

Jara and Lisa are full of life! See below:

Nothing special

Nothing special happened but I saw that it has been nearly a month since we wrote on the blog...
What happened in the last month?

- Thorsten went to Maroua of a week for partner visits. Very nice for him - not so nice for me. Jara's usual game in the car on the way home from the crèche is listing all the people she'll see at home: waw waw (the dog), baby (Lisa), Didi (Denis, day watchman), Cati (Catherine, nanny) en papa. Only I had to tell her everytime papa wouldn't be home yet. As the week went on, she found it more difficult papa wouldn't be home and was obviously very excited when we went to the airport and pick him up! Wouldn't let go of him.
Thorsten was given, by some partnerorganisations, a few live chicken... Nice, but how the hell was he going to get them on the plane??? So they traded the chicken for a nice fabric for me - you won't hear me complain.
- Lisa has been growing a lot. She's confidently rolling over and if you're not paying attention she 'crawls' until she's off the mat. A very active girl but wants to be in the centre of the attention.
- Jara has been her usual self - a diva with a temper...












-I started looking for work. Hopefully something will come up. On the other hand I've been keeping myself busy with the kids and started writing a little booklet/website for expatriats in Yaoundé.
- This week, I took our car to the 'Visite Technique'. Decided to go early (less hot and less cars waiting) which paid off well: It only took me 45 minutes. Considering the state of the majority of cars driving around and knowing that the 'visit technique' is mandatory, I didn't expect any difficulties. Our car would definitely NOT pass any car inspection in Europe, but here, no problem. They test the brakes (which were not balanced but hey ho), have a quick look under the car (where certain parts have been welded together), you pay the bill and get an 'accepté' for another year. Taxi's need to do this every 6 months. I think it's just a quick way to make money because it's a wonder how half of the taxi's drive at all! But they all get their 'accepté'.
- Al along our street, all the way to town, they have put streetlights! And they work!! After a second check, we realised it is ONLY on our route to town, which incidently is also the preferred route for the president and his entourage to go to the airport... any coincidence?
-Miko, our dog, is no longer a virgin... There was a bitch (dirty street dog) in heat a few weeks ago and, oh boy, have we known!! Every night, for more than a week, Miko was crying al night long. He wasn't too happy he was not allowed to leave the compound (he'd gone missing one day for more than 2 hours... think that's when he lost his virginity). The same week, he was attacked. Had to take the poor lad to the vet to get stitched up but he's doing all better now and has calmed down.