Making a life-saving impact for 379 Angolan people

We continue to reach the most vulnerable people

ANGOLA/December, 3
With protection, we make a life-saving impact for 379 people in this Angolan village,overcoming massive challenges to do so. We continue to reach the most vulnerable people and ensure that they receive the nets for the next 4 years. Right now our 'Congo to Kalahari' journey include building hope and confidence for the communities in remote territories.

Message for David from Cameroon

 

''We accompany David with prayers. You people have been very brave and reaching out in kindness to so many people that you have touched their lives. Certainly God rewards all good done so let's be sure that the almighty will guide and protect him during this challenging and useful journey.'' 

Dr. Esther T.N. Tallah,

Cameroon Coalition Against Malaria 

Each mission takes it's toll

Health attack !

LUANDA / December, 2. For many white people, the African environment is often deadly when it comes to malaria. For instance, decades ago, when white people set feet on African soil for the first time , 60% of them died within their first eight months on the African continent. But even today, during our hazardous journey, there are health dangers and high malaria deaths. 
In this long journey we passed the river Djah area in Cameroon, with a sky-high infection-rate of Filariases caused by a worm. After infection the worm can stay in the body for years. In my case the worm entered, made a trip of 25 centimeter, and left my arm again. Filaria is rarely fatal, but the consequences of infection can cause significant hardship. 21 Million people in Africa suffer from it and is the world's second leading cause of permanent and long-term disability. Fortunately this Angolan doctor has the right knowledge and the right medication for me, that's why I am still smiling!

 

Reunited with good friends

Reunited with good friends

LUANDA: It's a great day. I am finally able to meet up with my friends again. It's great catching up with James. We met him for the first time in Angola in 2006 during a malaria campaign. We spent long nights talking, sharing stories and good laughs.

Ministry Of Health welcomes David Robertson

David Robertson receives a hero's welcome

At the head quarters of the Ministry of Public Health Angola, in the capital city Luanda, David Robertson received a hero's welcome back to Angola, by the Ministry of Health, the NMCP (National Malaria Control Program),  WHO (World Health Organisation) and PMI (President's Malaria Initiative).

It all came back to me, how friendly and inspiring they all are. As soon as I arrived, meetings were arranged, agenda's changed, press arranged. Fantastic! We had our first campaign together in 2006. Together we continuously strive to have a meaningful impact in the Angolan communities where we have a presence.

Arrived in Luanda, the most expensive city in the world

Arrived in Luanda, the capital of Angola

(November, 30)
It is fantastic to be in Luanda again. It has changed a lot. Not as busy, not as expensive as the last time..But it's still the most expensive city in the world. To rent a two bedroom apartment, you will pay on average an astonishing $ 6.800 per month. It surprised me, the prices had come down 'remarkably' not just property, but in supermarkets as well. How bad can things go? Angola is completely dependent on oil production. Sky high prices create difficult situations and people suffer from it. If you have something to celebrate, a nice cake cost you over $ 300 ! But these are just macro-economic figures and just by looking at them you can feel how bad it can be. Even when they are as huge and shocking as these. I have witnessed at first hand how people are being affected by the prices, lack of products and lack of variety. In fact, the lack of all problems in Angola is the lack of foreign currency. Angola's only source of USD is selling oil. And when the oilprices drop, Angola has less USD to buy things from outside, and the Kwanza is losing value. Keeping in mind that Angola's imports are 80% of its consumable goods.

November, 30: Press release Land Rover Netherlands

Selfie: smooth road to Luanda

The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost (1874–1963).  Mountain Interval.  1920.

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;          Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,           And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.           I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

M'Banza-Kongo in Angola

A shower, food, water, the internet and a bed

(November, 29)
M'BANZA-KONGO - ANGOLA
Traveling really gives the appreciation for the things we take for granted. Nothing beats arriving at places with a bed after a long journey. On my missions around Africa, I got myself into quite a few situations where I came to truly understand how lucky I should call myself for having the opportunity to be able to enjoy these luxuries. Knowing and understanding that there are many people in the world who are not fortunate to have them.

DRC : nation of friendly people, always eager for a big smile

Nation of friendly people eager for a big smile

(November, 28)
A mother prepares the morning meal above a fire for her family. As we pass she looks up, smiles and waves. After devastating wars, this is a nation with friendly people, eager for a smile and eager to talk with strangers. Nobody gives us an unpleasant hassle. Even the customs, military and police are very easy-going. And that's a relieve, after irritating roadblocks and gendarmes in Cameroon and Congo Brazzaville, who invented new laws on the spot, to find drivers guilty of breaking them, and force a fine. Here, in Congo DRC, they leave people in peace. No monkey-business in this country ! 

Speeding over bumpy tracks

Speeding over bumpy tracks : Congo DRC

(November, 28)
Heading to the border area of Congo DRC into Angola.

Speeding over bumpy tracks, now the road conditions has improved a lot. This road end a day out of the border with Angola. The red dirt road continues southward to Matadi and can be crossed in one day under ideal dry conditions.

I was told, the next road to be paved is the road which runs through fine forest between the border and Luanda in Angola.

 

Bad roads hurt the poor

 Bad roads hurt the poor the most

(November, 27) CONGO DRC
The absence of roads hurt the poor people the most. Bridges have deteriorated and have become impassable, isolating many communities. The simplest way to measure the hard caused by bad infrastructure is to look at how prices change as you move away from the big cities. All products for example, less than 100 km down the road in small villages, prices rise by 25%. Once you leave the 'main' road, along the steep muddy tracks, prices rise sharply. In village that can only reached by 4x4, and for the villages only on foot, the prices double. At the same time, the food that the poor have to sell - yams, cassava, fruit - fetch less in the villages than they do in the towns. Farmers are doubly squeezes by bad roads. They pay more for what they buy, and receive less for what they sell. Small wonder that we find a strong link between poverty and remoteness. We go to the remote people who need our help. That's just the work we do. The most vulnerable people are found only where the roads are the worst.

Heading to Luanda - ANGOLA

Heading to Luanda - ANGOLA

Route : Luozi - CONGO DRC  /   Luanda - ANGOLA
Distance : 1.024 Km
Time : 4 day's

Giving a helping hand to protect 370 people in Kiyade : Congo DRC

No 'No-Go-Zone' for us !

(November, 27)
DOOR-TO-DOOR distribution in KIYADE

To be certain everybody receives a net, we went from door to door in the village of Kiyade. Our nets are not only protection, but also the engine for the recovery of many communites. There is nothing 'wrong' with Africa that - what we hear way to often - cannot be cured. Families in Africa are people! And people in Africa have the right to assistance and protection. So today, we pledge an end to the era of judgment and assessment. 
With extra help, and extra protection, a new life starts for hundreds of children, in the light of posterity.
To help people, we must be determent. We must do what no organization is doing in these extreme remote, and often unknown areas. For us, there is no 'No-Go-Zone' because there are people, who live here too. 
We need to invest more in these people - their health and their future. 
And we must do so in all African countries that need us; we have to fight for every occasion. 
It will never be easy. It will require a lot. But it can be done and done fairly. We never act for our own sake, but for the sake of others.
We must care for our fellow human beings, in the same way that a mother and father care for their children.

We will never shrink our challenges for DRC

WHAT WE DID BEFORE 

ACTION:   760.000 nets for Kivu / DRC

 

It's good to be back!
I remember the gratefulness of the people, at the time we were in Kivu, after the blooddiest conflict since the end of World War II, played out in the country's eastern jungles, several years ago. Millions of people were displaced and suffered from lifetreatning diseases.
And while DRC does it's very best to rebuild, we will not shrink our challenges to fight malaria, nor fail to seize the opportunities for the people of this magnificent country. Together with our partner friends and allies, we work together to shape the change. Together with the largest UN peacekeeping mission (MONUC) in the world, we (DAM) distributes 760.000 mosquito-nets in Kivu. When our vital interests are challenged, we will act, whenever possible, with joined force when necessary!

 

Voice of Africa

 

''We are all stunned about David Robertson, who brave the elements to travel here. He is a person who may at times risk his own life to save our children in danger. Marked by courage and determination, in the face of Africa's difficulties. We thank you!''

 

No sight of a border post

No sight of a border post

(November, 26)
ROAD TO LUOZI

Driving somewhere in the middle of nowhere, the roads improved in comparison with the Brazzaville side, but still no satellite signal. I also wonder where the border post is for our Passport, Visa and 'Carnet-de-Passage' control. We are heading to Luozi, close to the mighty Congo River, and hope for an operating ferry crossing. Transport by road across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has always been difficult. The terrain and climate in the entire Congo Basin present serious barriers to roads, and the distances are enormous across this vast country. DRC has faces a tragic and tumultuous history; today chronic economic suffering and internal conflicts has led to serious obstacle. I must say, I have high respect for the lovely people of DRC, who did not lost their hospitality. With their friendliness, they make me feel very welcome.
I trust  'les douaniers' of DRC are friendly as well....