Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Return to site after consolidation

I'm finally out of the Peace Corps center, which was kind of like a mix between prison and summer camp. We were allowed to return back to our sites this morning. It has been a really rough few weeks for me...especially because everyday has been so uncertain. One second I am having to adjust my mind for evacuation and the next for going back to site. Yesterday, we were told that we would be able to return to site, and last night at 10pm we received a text saying that there was violence in Tana again and that we had to wait again. Turns out it was false information, so today we are heading back to site. I have to spend the night in a small town south of my town, so I won't be back until Wedneday afternoon, but it feels good to be in transit at least. I am so excited to see everyone again and tell them how much they have affected my life and how much I appreciate their existence!

Anyways, last Saturday there was a lot of violence in Tana, as I'm sure some of you have read. The opposition party to the President named their government including the Prime Minister and other Ministers and then lead the crowd up to the Presidential Palace to install his government. It was a fairly small crowd, considering the crowds the President had been getting at his rallies, but none-the-less it was around 5-6 thousand people. Reports all differ though. So, he told the crowd to pass the baracades and enter the Palace. The President had put armed military men outside of it and warned them not to cross the three baracades. The people didn't listen, and the military opened fire on the unarmed crowd, killing 54 and injuring 200. It was a tragedy. Things have been calm the week since then, but Saturday there were more rallies, 30,000 people showing up for the President's, and 3,000 for the opposition party. On Monday, the old Tana mayor who declared himself the new President held another rally and again enticed the people to storm the offices of the ministries and install his appointed officials. A crowd of 10,000 people walked there and met a group of 200 armed soldiers before they could reach the offices. They told them they would shoot if they passed, and no one passed and the crowd walked back to the town square. On the way back, they happened to pass a ministry building (of a minister that he had NOT appointed yet) and tried to enter it. The guards shot tear gas and fired shots in the air, but no one was killed or seriously injured. I'm hoping this means the military has learned APPROPRIATE forms of crowd control, not just shooting down people. So, thats all there is right now. If there is any more violence, there is a high percentage chance of us still being evacuated. But, for now I am going to appreciate every second that I can spend in this beautiful, amazing country.

Thank you so much for all of your thoughts, prayers and emails. They help me more than you will ever know. Oh, and I promise to stay as safe as possible.