Comment ça va CÔte d’ Ivoire
A week like a nightmare by Diana Tchasse Simo, Abidjan
Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast is just a few hours’ drive from Takoradi. Diana, a teacher from Lithuania, lives in Abidjan with her Cameroonian partner Wilfred and their small daughter Samantha. She has been writing an online diary about everyday life in Ivory Coast. Here she describes over the course of one week the impact of the recent turmoil on her family. Her article is a reminder to us of how fortunate we are in Takoradi and Ghana to live in peace and freedom.
M onday
Wilfred left for work with the last money we had in the house, the equivalent of less than two Euros. As on every other weekday I went to buy fish and carrots to cook for lunch. For the first time I had to say to the woman selling the vegetables that I did not have money and I would pay in a week’ s time. I started to cook when I got back as Samantha was still sleeping. Suddenly there was no more gas and I was then in the situation where I had no money, no gas, and my child would soon wake up hungry. Moreover, even if I had money to buy gas there had been none available for at least two weeks. I heard my neighbour passing by. I told her I had no money and no gas and was in the middle of lunch preparation. Her gas was also finished but she went to her flat and found me 200 FCFA( about 30 Euro cents) to buy coal. It was challenging but I managed to finish cooking and fed Samantha. Wilfred came back a bit earlier than usual. He said the streets were quite empty and his company had stopped operating. All the international banks had closed indefinitely; national banks had no money, so people simply did not have money to run their business. He had received a Western Union transfer from Italy for some research he did for the company there but he couldn’ t collect it because the WU offices are also closed. And even if one is open they refuse to pay out the money transferred from EU. Now I am wondering how I can get my flight back to LT because EU travel agencies as SN Brussels Airlines, Air France and others have closed
T uesday
Wilfred stayed at home because there was no activity at his company. We borrowed some money from Samantha’ s godmother and went to the hospital for my pregnancy check-up. I am happy everything is fine and the doctor said I must travel by the end of April because May will be too risky.
W ednesday
We’ re still trying to see how to get money. I am waiting for the last part of the salary from the school, but no news. They seem to be in a complicated situation as well.
16 OilCityMagazine