We met a couple on a cruise (he was Jessie Helm’s cousin!)
that told us they had visited every country on the UN country list. We asked
the most difficult country to get into, expecting something like North Korea
(they posed as missionaries to go there!). Instead, they named Angola. It was
during the Civil War, they took a small boat across the Congo River from the
Congo, put their feet on Angola soil and went back to the Congo. We visited
Luanda Angola today on a cruise ship.
Angola was a Portuguese colony until 1975. Independence was
followed by 27 years of Civil War. Since 2002, there has been peace and
democracy, with much corruption. Our tour was very expensive and, when we
questioned why it cost so much, were told that a lot of palms had to be
greased!
Angola is still a dangerous country to visit—people are
warned to not take off on their own. There are wonderful national parks to
visit outside Luanda, but there are no roads and robbery and murders are
common. We had a lovely morning in Luanda! We took the ship-provided tour—8
buses with about 20 passengers each, led by a motorcycle with siren and a van
of people to assist us. The national television station videoed and we were
treated like visiting royalty. Obviously, they want to develop a tourism
business and we’re a start.
Luanda is a place of contrasts. As the city view in Picture
1 shows, there is construction everywhere. Unfortunately, new construction
seems to take precedence over renovation of older colonial buildings (Picture
2). Across the street from the British Embassy, we found a shantytown for the
city’s poor, filled with garbage (Picture 3).
Picture 4 shows their Cathedral, which was built in 1655 and
is the cathedral of Angola and the Congo. Picture 5 shows the simple, but
lovely interior—beautiful plasterwork above the altar, metal balconies around
the sanctuary and polychrome statues of religious figures.
We did visit their Museum of Anthropology, which is housed
in a renovated colonial building. Picture 6 shows a hallway with exhibits on
the left and beautiful arched windows, with internal shutters. There weren’t a
lot of exhibits and the vast majority of exhibits were behind glass, which made
for difficult photography. Betsy’s favorite exhibit was the beautiful
hand-woven textiles shown in Picture 7.
We also visited Fortress São Miguel, which was built in
1576 by the Portuguese. It sits on a hill above the city and it’s where Picture
1 was taken. The entrance today is a star-shaped arch (Picture 8) and it’s used
as a Military Museum. We have little-to-no interest in Military Museums, but
the 360-degree views were spectacular.
Our final stop was at the Mausoleum for António
Angostinho Neto, the first president of an independent Angola (Picture 9). It’s
quite large and impressive and photographs were not allowed inside the crypt.
The best part, however, was the terrace on the 3rd floor. From there
we had views of the new Presidential Palace and government area (Picture 10).
Photographs of the government building are not allowed, but a little distance
and a little zoom makes anything possible!
It was a good morning. We feel like we know something about
this country now. We will probably never come back, but we feel like we’ve
finally gotten to a real piece of Africa.
We have had excellent lecturers that have made us think
about the situation in Africa and it’s troubling. The following are thoughts in
no particular order.
1)
In the late 19th century, European
countries met in Berlin and carved up Africa into nice random countries,
without regard to tribal or religious boundaries. When the European nations
left in the last half of the 20th century, the country boundaries
remained. When we question why there is constant civil war and military coups,
it might be worthwhile to understand the underlying situation. Forcing people
into boundaries that are of someone else’s making seldom works. Nigeria is a
perfect example; it used to be 2 countries, Northern Nigeria, which was largely
Muslim, and Southern Nigeria, which was largely Christian. Some British
Governor decided to combine them to get a really big country. Now there’s Boko
Haram in the North killing Christians there and kidnapping schoolgirls and
converting them to Islam, while Christians in the south fight back.
2)
Population growth is out of control. In 1950
Africa’s population represented 4% of the world population. It is projected
that in 2100, Africa will represent 40%. In many countries the AVERAGE number
of children born per woman is 6. At the same time, droughts have reduced
agricultural production. This is obviously unsustainable. One speaker expressed
some hope that women are becoming a more powerful force in controlling their
bodies and, in some countries, contributing significantly to their local and national
governments. Maybe they can turn this problem around.
3)
Ebola is only one health problem here. New AIDs
victims have been reduced, but AIDs remains a major concern. Malaria too
remains an issue, although steps have been taken to eradicate the mosquitoes
and provide netting for sleeping. There are water-born parasites that kill
people regularly. Betsy’s theory on disease: if Ebola, malaria or parasites
occurred in the United States or Europe, there would already be cures for these
diseases. AIDs treatments are available because they DID occur in the United
States and Europe. We have to make a serious effort to find cures for these
diseases because they could become prevalent in the United States. Mosquitoes
could hop an ocean to the tropical regions of the Americas and move north with
climate change—“killer” bees did. What we don’t need are the scare tactics used
by the press and politicians. We’ve shown we know how to TREAT these diseases
in the United States, but it would be far better to ERADICATE them.
4)
A lot of financial aid to African countries is
not getting to the people that need it. Many African countries are controlled
by men who pocket the money. The number of attempted military coups in these
countries is amazingly large. Interestingly, coups are often NOT about
improving the country, but it’s more about more men wanting a piece of the
money flowing into the country. The only way you can insure that money gets to
the right people, is to deliver it directly. Sending people to fight Ebola has
been far more effective then foreign aid.
5)
The people here need to understand more about
the environment. Like the Amazon, the Congo River is the “lung” for tropical
Africa. Unfortunately, land adjacent to the river is being cleared, reducing
the oxygen the trees provide and causing flooding of the river. They need to
understand good farming techniques to improve their ability to feed the people.
They need to respect their wildlife, rather than decimating the rhinoceros and
elephant populations for their horns and tusks.
6)
Finally, watch out for the Chinese. China is
pouring huge amounts of aid into Africa. As we visit places we’re told about
the dams, roads and other infrastructure the Chinese have built. In return, the
Chinese got fishing rights off Cabo Verde, forestry rights in the Congo and oil
from Angola. Today, Angola sends 10,000 barrels of oil per day to China; China
pours in hundreds of millions of dollars (and Chinese workers) for
infrastructure development and has provided a $2 billion loan. African countries
are selling their “souls” to provide resources for the Chinese. Europe and the
United States tend to help with social problems while the Chinese build things.
The Chinese are currently “winning” the hearts and minds of the people of
Africa.
I know this is depressing. It has certainly been a wake-up
call for us. There are signs of hope. An African Union is slowly growing more
powerful. Women are becoming active participants rather than repressed baby
machines. Education is improving. Unfortunately, many problems regarding
borders, coups and corruption require local solutions. Wherever we can, we should help educate
and improve these situation. The health
and environmental issues here could become our problems in our constantly
changing world.
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