Fraser's blog

Just thought I might as well make use of having a reasonable internet connection before heading off to Danan?This is a view from the balcony looking into the next door compound. It's not Bristol, or even Birmingham...

We were playing around with antennas this morning up on the roof – we’ve been experimenting with various satellite devices (phones and radio) but the main purpose was to try and work out why we can’t get TV5 anymore. The main installation up here is the HF loop – you can see one corner in the above picture. You can’t see all that far from up here as it is flat and hazy and picture can’t portray how hot and humid it is, nor the strong smell of chocolate

Another hot and sticky day in Abidjan. At least yesterday we were able to go around the corner to buy some fresh veg and mangos (100CFA each and have some beer and chicken at the local 'maquis'. All is quiet again today - but more protests planned for next week. The government is still sticking to the figure of 25 dead last Thursday, but other sources put the number at between 45 and 300. Amazingly there is a good chance that the real figure will never be known. So no beach trip this weekend - we'll just have to hang around watching DVD's instead....

Although I thought I was heading off to Danan?traight away, it turns out that for the moment I’m working with the Logistical Coordinator here in Abidjan. I should be going up to Danan?ext Tuesday to look at various bits of equipment that need to be sorted out to reopen the surgical unit. I’ll probably be coming back the following week, so for the moment I have (slightly flaky) dial up internet access, and am checking existing email addresses. When in the field I’ll only be on satellite phone, but since there are various address depending where I am, I’ll only give those out when I’m there for a longer than an week. Abidjan, from what I have seen of it, is a highly developed big city. The airport is modern and arriving went smoothly. I have not seen all that much of the town, as yesterday demonstrations by the Forces Nouvelle were planned and so all traffic and business effectively stopped. During the day we heard reports of clashes between the police and demonstrators, and although local news, BBC and websites all had conflicting information, it is clear that there were quite a few deaths. The upshot is that some of the Forces Nouvelle have pulled out of government, more protests are planned for today and so far everything is just about as quiet as yesterday. It does not bode well for the peace process.

Well, I'm back in Utrecht after a very busy day in the MSF office in Amsterdam, meeting all the people I had to meet. I also picked up over 5kgs of mail, books, even some car parts. Coupled with the magzines, Gouda, Stroopwafels and Cote d'Or chocolate I'm taking out, I'm pretty much on the limit. I fly tomorrow morning to Paris, then on to Abidjan. Email is going to the be the best way to get hold of me – my normal accounts will be only visible to me every six or so weeks when on a dial-up line. There is also a sat-phone email address, but I won't be giving it out on the blog – contact someone on the mail list. Mail can be sent via Holland:

Artsen Zonder Grenzen, Plantage Middenlaan 14, 1018 DD Amsterdam, NL

But this is hand-carried by people like me, so can take a while to get out. Larger items are likely to be skipped as most people will already be carrying a lot. It is also possible to post stuff directly to C?d'Ivoire:

MSFH, 11 B.P. 2656, Abidjan, C?d'Ivoire.

It might be quicker, but non-recorded delivery post sometimes go astray. It's probably fine for things like CD-Roms with that can easily be duplicated and sent again. (Note that CD- and DVD-Roms are probably an ideal way to get stuff too me: If all the paperwork I'm carrying at tomorrow was on CD-Rom I could probably carry another kilo of chocolate!!!!!)

Today I'm at the Amsterdam office, ticking off a long list of people and departments that have something interesting to say to anyone going into the field. I've picked up some items to be carried out, I've got my ticket (8.45 tomorrow morning!) and spoken to Watsan, Public Relations, Procurement, Field Support and others. I've even picked up a couple of MSF t-shirts: Only two for 6 months? It will be interesting to see what colour they are by September!

I've pointed various interested people towards documents on reliefweb and similar. There are some very interesting articles and maps on the situation in Cote d'Ivoire. However, I have found a shorter summary of the situation, which I include here. Read More

It's finally all falling into place. Unless there are any last minute hitches I'll be flying off on Monday afternoon to Amsterdam, and from there out to Abidjan on Wednesday (via Paris CDG I expect). After a briefing at MSF-H's base in Abidjan I'll go out to do logistics work at the hospital they are running in Danan?which is right over on the west side of the country, near the Liberian border. When in Abidjan I'll have dial-up internet access, but that will be only once every six weeks. Most of the time I'll only have access through an expensive satellite phone, so any email will have to be kept as small as possible - no attachments, no large disclaimer blocks, no HTML. I'll send out the address for this service once I'm out there. This means that subscribing to the maillist will probably best way to get up to date information, since posting stuff to the blog will be much harder. If you want to know how to subscibe to the mail list, email me or someone who knows me well! Mail apparently gets through to the field from the Abidjan about once per week. You can send stuff via Holland at P.O Box 10014, 1001 EA Amsterdam, NL or directly to MSFH, 11 B.P. 2656, Abidjan, C?d'Ivoire. So this weekend I'm rushing around saying bye to people, but it's only six months, so I'll probably be back before you've noticed I've gone!