I know it is odd.... two posts in two days. Im sitting here at the office on a Sunday enjoying the A/C, the internet and electricity. For the past 3 days, we have not have electricity at the house. The generator broke a few days ago which means it has felt a bit like camping. Luckily, I brought a headlamp that has come in useful for providing light while I take a Liberian shower, while I eat, read and get ready for bed. It also means no fan blowing on me when I sleep. This is truly the worst part. It is so hot and muggy every night and I wake up in sweat every morning. Gross, I know. I guess the part for the generator has to come in from Monrovia and will get here sometime this week.
This past Wednesday, there were rumors going around that the locals were getting restless. I guess a contract for some workers was not held up here by the UN and they were mad (obviously) because they hadnt receive pay in 3 months. The rumors were passed that there was going to be demonstrations and rioting. Once the rumors were received by the base, all the contingents spun up and donned their battle gear. There were tanks, riot police, security, guns and troops out everywhere. We received a phone call that they wanted the MILOBS to go to the two closest towns, Suakoko and Sgt Kollie Town (SKT), and ask around whether there was going to be any aggression or problems. We grabbed our body armor and helmets, and drove off. We followed the armored personnel carriers out of the base and headed towards SKT. They sent us to the towns because we have already developed a personal repoire with the locals. The MILOBS are the ones that build relationships with the people, so they are going to trust us ... we hope. When we got there, nothing was going on. It was civil and calm and we obviously got weird looks. We stopped and talked to a few locals on the street and asked if they heard of any fighting or problems. They all said no. After a few people confirmed there was nothing going on, we headed to Suakoko and found out the same thing. Nothing was going on and they were looking at us like we were idiots with our tanks and battle gear. We headed back to the base and sent back our reports to the sector that all was peaceful. It did not surprise me that nothing was going on. The people out here just want to get by and live in peace. They dont have much, but they are happy with what they got and they just want to put food in their mouths and live day to day. I have yet to feel threatened out here. The Liberian people are just coming out of their civil war where a lot of bad stuff happened. They want nothing more then to NOT relive those days. But, I still do not trust them and I will NOT let my guard down. I know things could change in a drop of a hat. I was glad there was no problems and the base eventually calmed down.
Alright, here are some more pics:
This is a town we visited this past week. Capt Jawo (from Gambia) visited the town of Blon-Mu. This picture was taken in front of their school. The man on the left is the principal.
This is one of the "roads" we took while on Patrol. Driving is definitely a perk of this job, we have covered some pretty remote roads and areas.
This is the Heliport at Gbarnga Cari Camp. The Helo on the left is permanently stationed here and available for medevacs and other uses. The Ukrainian aircrew lives at the airfield and launches on alert missions, if required.
Here is a little scorpion friend I found while walking to get my haircut at the Bangladeshi Engineers. The 8 inch monster was dead before I arrived.... thank goodness.
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