Arrival and Starvation
The eight hour daylight flight from Paris was very pleasant. I have read much history of events in France, the Med, North Africa and the Sahara so I was looking forward to seeing what I had read about. Except for falling asleep for most of the Sahara, I did. It would have been better to have known exactly which part I was looking at, but at least I did see a part.
We debarked in Kinshasa shortly after dark and walked to a new arrival area. I was amazed. It was newly painted and brightly lit. There were enough immigration and customs inspectors to speed us through. The wait was only a little longer than arriving in the States. There was a working baggage carosel(sic), AND, there was nobody, nobody at all in the baggage claim area to fight off; no porters, no taxi drivers, no "protocal" people, nobody.
I retrieved my things, went outside and started making my way to where my ride was parked. A porter and a taxi-driver accosted me, no, not accosted me; they approached me and mildly suggested they were available for service. Then the most amazing, remarkable thing of all happened.
An airport official, with a badge and everything, came up to us and said "You know, you don't have pay these guys anything." I was thunderstruck.
But this is still the Congo as I discovered when I got to the car. The company protocal guy said our driver had been arrested for trying to bluff his way through a gate he couldn't go through. 1 hour, $5.00, and lots of negotiation later the driver got sprung and we went home. My part in the negotiation was to stay out of sight.
During the course of all this, an officer of the army unit responsibe for securing the airport approached and asked what was going on. A young guy, he spoke good English and wanted to involve himself in the situation. We fended him off and when we left he stopped the car and tried to beg some money for a Coke.
I think it terribly sad when an educated, commisioned officer has to hustle the passersby. Regardless of his personal character, with which I can't be familiar, it compromises his dignity and demeans his stature, the stature of the army and the standing of the government in the eyes of the populace.
It shouldn't happen, but it does because these guys don't get paid. Worse yet, in other parts of the country, they not only don't get paid; they don't get fed. We get regular reports of soldiers dying of starvation in the east. In Goma, there was a unit posted to the airport to await transport. Last I heard, they had been there 2 weeks; no transport, no food.
It is hard to build a proficient fighting force when you don't feed your men.
We debarked in Kinshasa shortly after dark and walked to a new arrival area. I was amazed. It was newly painted and brightly lit. There were enough immigration and customs inspectors to speed us through. The wait was only a little longer than arriving in the States. There was a working baggage carosel(sic), AND, there was nobody, nobody at all in the baggage claim area to fight off; no porters, no taxi drivers, no "protocal" people, nobody.
I retrieved my things, went outside and started making my way to where my ride was parked. A porter and a taxi-driver accosted me, no, not accosted me; they approached me and mildly suggested they were available for service. Then the most amazing, remarkable thing of all happened.
An airport official, with a badge and everything, came up to us and said "You know, you don't have pay these guys anything." I was thunderstruck.
But this is still the Congo as I discovered when I got to the car. The company protocal guy said our driver had been arrested for trying to bluff his way through a gate he couldn't go through. 1 hour, $5.00, and lots of negotiation later the driver got sprung and we went home. My part in the negotiation was to stay out of sight.
During the course of all this, an officer of the army unit responsibe for securing the airport approached and asked what was going on. A young guy, he spoke good English and wanted to involve himself in the situation. We fended him off and when we left he stopped the car and tried to beg some money for a Coke.
I think it terribly sad when an educated, commisioned officer has to hustle the passersby. Regardless of his personal character, with which I can't be familiar, it compromises his dignity and demeans his stature, the stature of the army and the standing of the government in the eyes of the populace.
It shouldn't happen, but it does because these guys don't get paid. Worse yet, in other parts of the country, they not only don't get paid; they don't get fed. We get regular reports of soldiers dying of starvation in the east. In Goma, there was a unit posted to the airport to await transport. Last I heard, they had been there 2 weeks; no transport, no food.
It is hard to build a proficient fighting force when you don't feed your men.
posted by Carl at 12:53 AM
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