In Abidjan

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.