Changement de roue. Une première!!!!!

Republica Dominicana

Hola Chicos,

Just had a lovely Easter WE in Dominican Republic (DR) with my sister and my flatmate. It was great, we went by bus, it is 5-6 hours driving from Port-au-Prince. It was a nice trip in a very comfortable air-conditionned coach. Food/drinks were even served, we also watched movies!!!! We booked a nice and cosy hotel located in the center of the Colonial Zone in an old 16th century restored convent. The building is classified as "World Heritage" by UNESCO. The building was used as the foundation of a "Beaterio" by the widow Doña Maria de Arana little before she left for Spain in 1556. We had a great fun, visited the city, went to Boca Chica beach, danced salsa/merengue/bachata/reggaeton, drank Mojito and Pina Colada (avec modération évidemment ).

On sunday, it will be the 1st round of the senatorial election in Haiti so we all have to work on the WE to monitor the situation. The atmosphere is already a bit tense let's see........

I will keep you posted.

Bonne après midi

Hugs

fatouxxx

Easter WE in DR

Easter WE in DR

Fort Jacques

Second Wend-End in Port au Prince

Sweethearts,

I spent my second WE in PaP which was pretty nice.

I finally found a house but will be able to move in only in May. Actually, I will take the house of a former colleague from Abidjan who came to work in MINUSTAH last September. It is funny because we used to leave in the same compound in Abidjan, Residence Cascades in 2 Plateaux. The house is located in a nice and secure compound 5 to 10 minutes drive to the Office. My office mate, Vaness is also leaving there which is quite handy for the car sharing (here we are not allowed to take public transports and there are almost none anyway so it can be difficult to move around without a car). The house is on three different levels, the 3 rooms are upstairs, the living room downstairs and the dinner room and kitchen in the middle floor. There is also a small garden with direct access to the swimmimg pool. We (Aspa and myself) have already planned to organize a house warming party yay!

At the moment we are staying in the house of a colleague (he is from Guinea) who went on leave. We moved in last Saturday and already almost blown up his house with gas and finished the whole water tank because of a water leak in the bathroom…No comments. I think the landlord is already missing Saliou and might think that we are real nuisances. On Sunday, we went to Fort Jacques and Kenscoff, up in the mountains. It was beautiful, there is a nice view of PaP from up there (see pictures). Yesterday evening Aiss cream arrived in Haiti and went directly to Leogane (a city located an hour away from PaP). I have not seen her yet. For the Eastern break, I would like to go to Santo Domingo with her, Aspa and some other friends. We will see if there are still some tickets left.

I am getting used to Haiti little by little....still not used to wake up at 6 am everyday boo.

I wish you all a nice Easter.

Baci

fatou xxx

First Picture in Port-au-Prince, Ayiti Cherie

Air France menu in Business

First Week in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Amigos mio, I am now and will be in Haiti for some time, I have finished my mission in Côte d’Ivoire. I have just got a new contract with United Nations. I will be working in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haïti/ Mission des Nations Unies de Stabilisation en Haiti (MINUSTAH) in the Human Rights Section. I will be in charged on writing reports on human rights violations as well as coordinating with the 8 regional human rights offices spread out in the country. So far I really like the country. I have not really started to work but I am sure I will like it as I love writing. My colleagues are very nice. They never left me alone all the time they make sure I was fine and was not missing anything. I was really treated like a real diva I am telling you! So I left Paris on 26th march after having spent a week in Brindisi, Italy to attend the Pre-Deployment Civilian Training. It is a compulsory training for new staff that will be deployed in the field. The training aimed at informing new staff on how to live in the field what to do, what to avoid, how to use a radio, security, medical briefings, presentation on UN rules and regulations as well as on the UN Peace Keeping Department (DPKO). It was quite interesting even if I was aware of most of the things for having been exposed to the field for more than two years in Côte d’Ivoire. So as I said, I left Orly airport on 26th march. I flew with Air France. As usual I had too many kilos so I had to pay 35 kg exceeded for an amount of 372 EUR!!!!!!!!! I shopped a lot in Paris, thank you Funky Suze. I was allowed to have 40kg checked baggage and 18 kg hand luggage because I was traveling in Business, cos I worth it! I still do not know how to travel light. I am glad that they did not check the weight of my hand luggage which was soooooooooooo heavy. In total I think I carried approximately 100 kg. You never know you have to be prepare to any situation that’s why I had to make sure I had enough shoes to go with all my trousers, you are a Diva or not lol! The travel time was 8 hours from Paris to Pointe à Pitre (Guadeloupe, West Indies). It was great because I was in business for the first time in my life. When you enter into the plane the stewards and air hostesses are taking your jacket to put it in a cloakroom on a hanger with your sit number! We had aperitif with crackers de chez Fauchon (famous French traiteur) and the menu was just amazing. As starter we had foie gras (I am still vegetarian so did not try it) then some delicious fish, un plateau fromage, desert, coffee/tea. Few hours later we had a trendy appetizer. All dishes were very well presented in a nice chic colorful manner. You could order drinks whenever needed. The seats are so spacious that you can lie down like in your bed. You just press a button and you can even get a massage….It was a pleasure to travel for such a long time. I could watch 4 movies, Largo Winch, Madagascar 2, Four Christmases and the last James Bond, Quantum of solace. Then I arrived in Guadeloupe with a delay so had to rush not to miss the next plane to Port au Prince, Haïti. I had one hour flight and arrived in Haïti. A colleague from MINUSTAH was waiting for me. Then a friend of a friend brought me to a nice hotel up hill. Port-au-Prince is a nice city surrounded by hills and mountains. I have a good feeling about this city. Now I am flat hunting, a nightmare I am telling. I am so picky as well so that’s gonna be difficult to find my dream apartment. I am gonna share an apartment with a nice Greek girl called Aspa who just arrived in the mission as well. There are nice houses in the mountains where you have an amazing view of the whole city but a bit far from work. Especially because here work start between 7.30 and 8 am sooooooooo difficult for me to wake up at 6 am everyday, la marmotte a du mal à se lever as you can imagine. Traffic is UNBELIVEALE it can take 1h to get to work; it is sooooooooo bad you are stuck during 30-45 mins without moving sometimes. Will go to visit more houses in the next days hopefully we will find something nice. I will keep you posted. It is funny here because people think that I am Haitian so they start speaking in Creole (kreyole Ayitien) and when they see that I answer in French (when I understand because actually it is not so easy to understand sometimes even if you are a native French speaker), they ask me: “Are you African?” I answer “Yes” and they are like “You do not look African” I still do not understand what does this mean but maybe I will discover it later… My first impression about Ayiti (Haiti in Creole): I definitely like it! Take the opportunity to come visiting the carribean, you are most welcome.

I forgot to tell you that my sister, Aiss cream, will be on mission in Haiti as well for the next 3 months. I am so happy yay! Nice coincidence: "Le hasard fait bien les choses."

Lots of hugs fatou xxx

ps: I am looking forward seeing you Aiss Aiss baby

Les derniers jours a Abidjan....I miss you guys

The last touch but not the least

Chers amis, Le temps est venu pour moi de voguer vers de nouveaux horizons, en effet ma mission au sein de la Division des Droits de l’Homme de l’Opération des Nations Unies en Côte d’Ivoire va bientôt prendre un terme. Je voulais ainsi profiter de l’occasion pour vous exprimer ce qu’à était pour moi la Côte d’Ivoire en quelques chiffres. 0 Accident Yay, 1 évacuation, medevac, 1 fievre thyphoide, 1 visite au Sénégal, 1 amoureux, 2 intoxications alimentaires, 2 visites au Ghana dont un road trip, 2 office mates, 2 superviseurs, 2 visites de ma famille, 2 ans et demi passés en Côte d’Ivoire, 3 superbes colocations, 3 anniversaires, 5 déménagements, 5 semaines formidables à Bouaké, 5 malaria, 6 hospitalisations, 7 ORB, 10 centimètres de cheveux en moins, 10 jours sur les routes en tournée à l’Ouest et au Nord de la Côte d’Ivoire. Des centaines de belles/surprenantes/incroyables/inoubliables rencontres. Des milliers de souvenirs plein la tête. Encore merci de m’avoir Amusée, Boostée, Conseillée, Divertie, Epaulée, Fortifiée, Grandie, Hyper-aidée, Impressionnée, jamais Jugée, K, Logée, Motivée, N, Occupée, Protégée, Q, Respectée, Supportée, souTenue, U, Valorisée, W, X, Y, et Zurtout pour votre sincère amitié. Je reste en Cote d'Ivoire pour le moment en attendant the next destination. Merci de m'avoir suivi tout au long de cette aventure d'une Diva in Ivory Coast.... ....To be continued.... Lots of Love fatou xxx

PS: Je vous souhaite beaucoup de neuf pour cette nouvelle annee.

Vive les vacances!

La coupe de l'ete

Bonnes vacances à ceux qui n'ont pas encore repris le travail et courage pour les moins chanceux.

Moi je fais parti de la catégorie des gens qui débutent leur vacances pusique je pars ce soir pour un mois pour un farniente entre la France et l'Italie! Lucky me I know ;) Les chefs ont eu pitié de moi après avoir cumuler les maladies tropicales.

Bises à tous

fatouxxx

A month in Bouaké

Dear all,

Long time......

I have been temporarily redeployed in Bouaké (northern Côte d'Ivoire, Forces Nouvelles (FN) area) for five weeks to replace a colleague who went on training. It was GREAT! Really. Bouaké is the HQ of the Forces Nouvelles (rebellion).

Even though the work was tough it was very interesting. I had to meet with victims of human rights violations, listen to their testimonies and then met with the Forces Nouvelles authorities or people involved in the abuse and try to find a solution. It was difficult sometimes cos as you might know there is no tribunal or judges in the Forces Nouvelles area, no administration of justice...It is really depending on the willingness of the Forces Nouvelles authorities to handle a case. I have to say that all the FN elements I have met were very cooperative and helped me a lot during the investigations. A big "thanks" to all of them. I was scared at the beginning to meet them (all armed military men wearing the uniform) but they were all relax and welcomed me since day one. I went to visit prison, to the mortuary to see dead bodies, to hospital in cases of ill-treatment or rape, police station, gendarmerie, military camps....

We (Solange, Mesmin, Doumbia, Sara, Mme Zongo, Ahoua and I) also organised a one-day sensitisation campaign on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Katiola. We choose to focus on that theme as the summer holidays are the time where young girls are sent to villages for "excision". People were satisfied and requested to extend the sensitisation in other northern cities and villages where the practise is frequent. Articles about the activities were published on national newspapers and on FN as well as ONUCI websites.

Bouaké has changed a lot since the Ouagadougou Political Agreement, people are back in the city, many had fled during the war. Of course the stigmas of the war are still visible but it is improving every day. I love that city.

The problem is that there is not much to do in terms of entertainments. In a way I was glad to have been very busy at work so the time just flew. I was in the office from 8.30am to 8pm. On evenings, went home had dinner and straight to bed. No time for sports unfortunately.

I stayed in the house of my colleague Manuela. Nice house very close to the office. The only inconvenience is that water was cut on regular basis. I stayed a week without running water. The whole kitchen was full of water buckets!!!!!! one to wash the dishes, another to wash the clothes, another to clean the house, some to cook, for the shower, to flush, ect.....soooooooooooo annoying. I can tell you that the number of shower I took was not very high, I probably was smelly some days yuk a bit discusting I know!!!!!!!!!!!

At 6 am every morning, pigeons held a meeting on the roof... the roof is made out of metal so each time a pigeon was walking it felt as if a bomb was exploding...Fist time it happened I was so scared. Then I used to wake up go outside and throw stones at them I know I was not really animal friendly but I was so angry to be awake like that. As you know sleeping is vital for me.

I was living in the house with Cheeta, the cat and her three newly-born kittens. She propably hated me cos I would not let her in at night and I was not sharing my lunch with her!!! The kittens were so cute but unfortunately one of them (the nicest one) disappeared and was never found again. Poor thing snif snif

I had a great time in Bouaké, everybody was sooooooooooo nice. I wanted to stay in Bouaké even if there is less comfort than Abidjan but workwise it was more interesting, less stress, people are way nicer and closer to my beautiful "dolce vita" in Daloa;)

The only thing was that I was sick..as usual, I know...I had malaria and the flue at the same time and 15 days later malaria plus thyphoid fever," le duo gagnant". That combination really killed me, I had to be medically evacuated on the helicopter of the Ghanean Air Force, vive les Nations Unies, to hospital in Abidjan. I know it is not environment friendly and it is $$$$$$$$$$$ spent but I was not well at all. I stayed a week in hospital in total then 10 days at home and another 10 days under antibiotics now I am back at work since last week. I will finish the treatment tomorrow yay! It is a really long and tiring treatment. Now I feel much better I even went to capoiera yesterday evening.

I will go on holidays on 28 August for a month, I am so looking forward you cannot imagine. I need a long break to perfectly recover. I will go in Italy with my "dolce vita" and then visit my dad's family in Guinea (I have not been there since 17 years).

I hope all is fine for you. Sorry I won't see you that time but hopefully in December.....

Love

fatouxxx

The wedding hairdo

Marathon of celebrations

Whatz up guys?

I have spent the whole WE celebrating...

First I was invited to Rudolf and Korede 's wedding. The wedding started on friday till saturday in Grand-Bassam and Assinie-Mafia (Beach area of Abidjan district). It was very lovely the weather was also very nice. The official ceremony was on friday then we had the dinner and party in l'Etoile du Sud (the nicest hotel in Grand-Bassam). We slept there and then had a brunch in a luxurious villa of Assinie-Mafia. Then I went back to Abidjan to celebrate the birthday of a colleague's twin daughter. They just turned 1. It was in the garden of our residence next to the pool. Stayed there till 8pm then went to the farewell party of another colleague. Finally went to bed around midnight exhausted.

The celebrations were not finished...

On sunday went to the baptism of the friend daughter till 5pm and finally went to the birthday party of another friend till 8pm.

It is weird how some WE are just boring cos I have nothing to do nothing is happenning and others where you do not even know how you will manage to attend all the ceremonies.

Hope your WE was also full of happiness.

Lost of hugs

fatouxxx

Visite de ma sista Aissatou a Abidjan, mai 08

Photo prise lors de la reception a l'occasion de la celebration de la fete nationale du Cameroun le 20 mai 2008 au Golf Hotel (Abidjan).

Few days in Paris, May 08