Searching for peace of mind after War in the Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast (Cote D'Ivoire) with Abidjan on the coast

During this week, a workshop was held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast (5.3N, 4W) to address climate change and air quality.  Young West African scientists and PhD students were there to learn how to use a regional climate model and apply it to relevant problems in their countries.  Lecturers from West Africa, Europe, Africa and the US  (I and another brilliant scientist from Texas) were invited to give lectures and to help generate ideas for the students and promote collaboration.  I have been to Abidjan once in the 1990s but was confined to the airplane as it refueled and picked up new passengers.  Abidjan lies on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea and is approximately 4000 miles from Washington DC.  Ivory Coast was subject to the forces of Slavery because of its proximity to the ocean and then colonized by the French.  There are 6 million people that live in the  city of Abidjan, with approximately 40% Christianity, 40% Islam and 20% traditional religions.  

Because of the large numbers of cars and people, the traffic is horrible.  It makes DC look like an easy commute.  The city is so large and there are lagoons running through the city. But there is something else about Abidjan that seems to trouble the heart and mind. 

When I was doing a Fulbright in Senegal, during 2003/2004 I heard about the Ivory Coast  because of the conflict between those in the North and the south where much of the wealth was at. This was the first civil conflict that ended by 2006.   Over time a  second full-blown conflict developed 2010 when the incumbent president Gbagbo lost the elections but would not leave. Ultimately this lead to the ouster of the President in 2011 by the winner of the election and his armed forces.  There were reports of people being killed in Abidjan and nearby towns during the conflict. 

The first thing that I noticed when I was riding around in Abidjan was the large number of fences at the various houses.   Upon closer inspection I saw that there were barbed wires or electrified fences around houses.  I also saw soldiers and many police in town, as if something was about to kick off.  

A gated house with Barbed Wires

  Then I began to look at bigger gates that seemed to house neighborhoods.  Essentially I was looking at gated neighborhoods.   People in the US talk gated neighborhoods in an exclusive type of way, where expensive houses and wealthy folks live.  This is different.  The gated neighborhoods in Abidjan represent a type of fear that I can only imagine.   I asked a student who lived in Abidjan during the  the conflict why these neighborhood were gated.  She told me that after the president had been taken from the country by the French (UN) before being captured by opposing army, everyone was so afraid.  I was also told that large numbers of weapons in the civil conflict had gone unaccounted for and that many people had guns in their house.  Again, this may not seem so different than what happens in the US, but it is.  In many African countries, guns are outlawed and so it breaks a peace of mind to know that violent crimes may be constrained.  

A gated neighborhood in Abidjan

 

I spoke to other young people and they told me that you could not talk about the current government leaders around party members without something bad happening to you.  So there is a fear that still creeps around the city.  We are told not to be out at night.  The size of the city makes me imagine what the last days were like before the President was captured.  People were running from place to place for cover.  The student also told me that she and her family had to flee.  They had only 2 weeks of food, which eventually ran out and they had to go out into danger to find food.   I have a very vivid imagination of this scene. 

There is also stark poverty in the city.  Yesterday I went to see the family of a friend from Dakar.  The level of poverty was like a hard slap in the face.  Look I have seen poverty up close and person in the US and Africa but sometimes the poverty in Africa just crushes your soul.  The people have nothing.. They live in small shacks and the seeing the children makes me wonder about their fate.  Even so, there is happiness and people invite you into their homes and that humanity is at the core of who we are.   The sad thing is that all around this neighbor are high-rise buildings and you can see all of the traffic on the highway.  The contrast between blatant poverty and wealth are light night and day.   I felt both helpless and angry and wanted to do something but I don’t know where to direct my anger or what to do because it seems so overwhelming.

So will there be another conflict in the Ivory Coast.  The conditions are all there for something else to kick off.  However, there one opposing force that is greater than all of the weapons that the police or army may have.  That is hope.  The young scientist will help to rebuild their country’s knowledge base.  They will serve their purpose out fixing what has been broken.  The government shut the university down for two years after the conflict ended.  They have rebuilt it through will and partnership with private industry.  The campus is so beautiful and students are hoping to return back to the university in November.  With hope there must be education and their must be discussion about the hurt that the civil war caused.   

The Engineering Center where computer model training sessions took place

Eventually there must be reconciliation and the guns must be turned in, the electrified fences and barbed wires must come down, the guards must leave the gated communities and the Sun must shine on every single person in the Ivory Coast.   

The hope for a brighter day:  Young Ivorian Scientists

Then the promise of hope will be fulfilled and true healing can begin for those who may have been injured, suffered psychological or lost a loved one.