Here I'm in Angola, after a long period in UK for my Development program finally i can start this experience of volunteer work in a project that fights malaria.
I arrived yesterday, early in the morning.
The city of Luanda is a surprise, of the 15-16(some database says 19) millions of Angolans, 8 leave in Luanda, the capital.
Arriving in the night you can see the lights of some big building (a stadium, i discover) and a lot of small small lights, as a cemetery, or a chaotic and massive amount of candles. Instead it is Luanda...as i discover with the day light, a big amount of small houses -??- one next to the other, with small soil street. The poor part is in contrast with the new and rich town, big street in concrete, big houses -unbelievable but some are build as “chalet” of Switzerland- and a lot of new buildings and structures that will host the football teams for the African coup 2010.
Today I had a tour in the city by car (i was coming back again from the airport) and the driver took inside the slums...red soil everywhere, a big “river” at the border of the street, where people wash things and throw inside water, and i think also “toilet waste”.
Some small business, a lot of “electric generator” shops -no electricity-, many “car repairs” and street food sellers (water, fruits and sometimes also barbecue meat).
It was nice to go inside the town also if the fear of being stopped and hijacked was always there -actually they said that happens in the night and in the smaller streets-.
I'm hosted in the ADPP headquarters in Ramiro (near Luanda),along the cost and just in front of t"o saco de flamingos” (the bay of flamingo – a kind of bird-)...where the ocean came inside the land and the migration birds stop for the reproduction and to rest.
A wonderful place where the bird watching is really easy to do.
The bay is full of crabs that dig holes in the sand making a strange nice effect.
Everywhere there are enormous, but really, enormous baobab (embondeiro in the local language), with not so many leaves but still some fruits.
They look likes houses, with a big base and small naked branches. The fruit is big and heavy, so big that could be dangerous if happens to fallow on your head (but i don't know if someone stop under the baobab :P ) and when they are dry you can use the internal part to make a sort of juice or ice cream (i don't know the exact process but I'll learn more with the time).
The weather is not so hot, because the rain season is coming...but i hope it could keep not raining a little bit,I'm just arrived!!
It is difficult to explain this place, i have just a positive first impression, full of things that i see. With the time I'll be able to give a better idea of Angola. :)
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento