Volcanic ash grounds Britain to a halt!!!

Watching the news, it looks as if the whole of Britain has come to a standstill because all flights have been cancelled. A few months ago, Britain came to a standstill because of a bit of snow. It makes me laugh, because it shows what an over reliance the ‘modern’ world has on intercommunication, technology etc. Here, if you weren’t able to fly over all of Congo, most people wouldn’t even realise that was the case. And those who do rely on flying (like us humanitarian relief workers) are used to flights being cancelled/delayed. Admittedly, I haven’t had much experience yet, but a couple of the others were saying that it’s a fairly regular occurrence to be hanging round in Goma/Bukavu for a few days until there are enough people to fill the plane. They just get on with some work whilst waiting. Or if they have a few extra days of holiday, great!

Maniema has the problem that it’s so remote it’s not connected to the outside community at all – there are no workable roads out, trains only come once a month, river takes 3 months, planes are expensive… Which means that goods and markets aren’t accessible. I definitely thing that more external communication would be good. But it also means that they are far more self-sufficient – the food is planted, produced and eaten locally. And I think that’s a good thing – transport costs are down, it’s better for the environment etc. Maniema and Britain need to be put together to find a happy medium. In Britain, people work an average half hour away from their home, buy food that’s produced over the world, and buy goods that are hardly every produced in the home country. We’re incredibly dependent on others – so when volcanic ash is in the skies over the UK the country comes to a halt!

Things do stop work here – there’s been flooding (692 families have lost their households) which means that the ferry can’t cross the river (but the pirogues can) so none of our vehicles can cross. Ridiculously heavy rain means that things start later – you expect Church to be 30 minutes late or for people to be late into work. But it’s normal.


Visitor to our office auditioning for Robot Wars. Looks quite impressive, but moves slower than a snail and was fine to touch and even pick up....Just avoid the pincers.