Wednesday, 1 December

This has been another busy week... A delegation from the Government of Uganda are here for the week. They include Taban Amin, the son of the Ugandan dictator from the 1970's!
We are also busy dealing with reports that Rwanda has invaded Congo - separating rumour from fact. We are not too far from the Rwandan border here in Beni - so if the invasion is happening we could be in a difficult situation.
Today we had a party in the office organised by two Romanian army officers to celebrate the Romanian national day. On 1 December 1919 modern Romania was created in the Treaty of Trianon - you learn something new every day! I am also celebrating the fact that I only have 7 more days left here in Beni!! Not long now...
Here is a picture of the UN staff in Beni celebrating the Romanian national day:

Romanian national day in Congo.

Sunday, 28 November

I have been kept very busy this week as we have been visited by two politicians from Kinshasa and a delegation from Uganda. I have been busy talking about local security problems. In the area where I work there are 13,000 soldiers who cause many problems for the local population - they take food and steal from villagers; they have also killed some villagers for no reason. The Ugandan delegation is here to encourage Ugandan rebels operating from Congo to return home under an amnesty agreement.

We have also been busy dealing with unconfirmed reports that Rwanda is planning to invade Congo - I am only a few hours from the Rwandan border!

Apart from work, I went to a good party at the house of an NGO manager. There are several NGO's with offices in Beni - together we make up the Beni international community.

I have also been enjoying the sunny weather here - we are coming to the end of the rainy season, so days are getting warmer. Sometimes here in Beni I see some great things - like this sunset from the balcony of my house:

Sunset in Beni
Originally uploaded by jweatherlake.