Justin Derbyshire
Justin Derbyshire, who's from Britain, is project assistant for medical aid agency Merlin in Central African Republic. Justin grew up in Nigeria, Ivory Coast and the Middle East. He worked for eight years in London before returning to university and changing career to work in the humanitarian sector.
A journey into Central African Republic's bandit country
Author: Justin Derbyshire
The car is packed tight with supplies: an assessment kit, medical kits, enough water and food for six days, plus emergency phone numbers and a satellite phone. Pete goes through the security briefing again and explains we're likely to come up against "coupeurs de routes" - bandits. They're a huge problem here. They're armed, well-organised gangs from Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad, they act with impunity, holding up cars and trucks, kidnapping and extorting money from organisations and families.
Before we set off, the team goes over the objectives of our health assessment mission. Maxence, our logistics co-ordinator, and Pete wish us well. To increase security, we will travel in convoy with Mercy Corps, an American NGO that has just started a project in Nana Mambere. Travelling out through Bangui we stop at the security check point. The area is surrounded by a sprawling market place where we stock up on bread. I discover later that bread-making stops at the edge of Bangui. Getting out of the car, I attract the normal fuss associated with a potential foreign customer. Having skipped my morning coffee, I feel ill-equipped to deal with the attention and make a hasty retreat to the car.
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Author: Justin Derbyshire
The car is packed tight with supplies: an assessment kit, medical kits, enough water and food for six days, plus emergency phone numbers and a satellite phone. Pete goes through the security briefing again and explains we're likely to come up against "coupeurs de routes" - bandits. They're a huge problem here. They're armed, well-organised gangs from Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad, they act with impunity, holding up cars and trucks, kidnapping and extorting money from organisations and families.
Before we set off, the team goes over the objectives of our health assessment mission. Maxence, our logistics co-ordinator, and Pete wish us well. To increase security, we will travel in convoy with Mercy Corps, an American NGO that has just started a project in Nana Mambere. Travelling out through Bangui we stop at the security check point. The area is surrounded by a sprawling market place where we stock up on bread. I discover later that bread-making stops at the edge of Bangui. Getting out of the car, I attract the normal fuss associated with a potential foreign customer. Having skipped my morning coffee, I feel ill-equipped to deal with the attention and make a hasty retreat to the car.
...
My first day in Central African Republic
Author: Justin Derbyshire
My flight lands in Central African Republic (CAR) just after midnight. The small passport control and arrivals area - the size of a tennis court - is awash with passengers, officials, families reuniting and unlicensed baggage handlers attempting to whisk my bags off to their favoured taxi. I feel lucky to have Bruno, my country director, to lead me through the bewildering process. He has an effortless way about him and a polite manner that seems to take all the officials by surprise. Within minutes I am safely seated in Merlin's car and on my way to the Merlin base in Bangui, the capital.
CAR is one of the world's forgotten crises, a country the size of France with over 4 million people who have suffered instability and civil unrest since independence from France in 1960. Frequent government coups and regional tensions continue to create conflict. A peace deal has only just been signed between the current government and rebels in the northeast.
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Author: Justin Derbyshire
My flight lands in Central African Republic (CAR) just after midnight. The small passport control and arrivals area - the size of a tennis court - is awash with passengers, officials, families reuniting and unlicensed baggage handlers attempting to whisk my bags off to their favoured taxi. I feel lucky to have Bruno, my country director, to lead me through the bewildering process. He has an effortless way about him and a polite manner that seems to take all the officials by surprise. Within minutes I am safely seated in Merlin's car and on my way to the Merlin base in Bangui, the capital.
CAR is one of the world's forgotten crises, a country the size of France with over 4 million people who have suffered instability and civil unrest since independence from France in 1960. Frequent government coups and regional tensions continue to create conflict. A peace deal has only just been signed between the current government and rebels in the northeast.
...
