The African Safari!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Found this one on th WWW. brief but insight full.
Make Your life worth living
This week, an Indian soldier serving with the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) died after having been hit by a stray bullet. The incident happened during a gunfight with local militiamen in the eastern part of Congo, near the border with Rwanda. Earlier this month, a Nepalese peacekeeper met the same fate when gunmen opened fire on a human rights investigation team elsewhere in the region. The soldiers’ deaths illustrate the dangers that peacekeepers face in the former Zaire. In the DRC, in fact, the UN is now engaged in one of the largest and most challenging peace missions ever.
Inter-ethnic violenceAccording to a UN spokesman, about a million people have died in the eastern DRC in the past few years alone, the result of inter-ethnic violence and the activities of a myriad of militias. Although the UN mission (know by its French abbreviation MONUC) has been in place in the DRC since 1999, things have changed dramatically in the past months. MONUC is now aggressively taking on the militias, after being given a robust mandate by the UN Security Council and sufficient troops to do the job.
The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps’ Major-General Patrick Cammaert is UN commander for the volatile region. He is probably one of the UN’s most experienced field commanders, having served in Cambodia, Bosnia and as commander of the UN mission in the borderland between Ethiopia and Eritrea. He is also well-versed in complicated UN politics, having served in the New York headquarters as chief military advisor to Kofi Annan until earlier this year.
We can’t do everythingGeneral Cammaert explained to Radio Netherlands that the 15,000 troops under his command in Eastern Congo may sound impressive in terms of numbers, but is in fact small, given the size of the area involved.
“My area of responsibility in Eastern Congo covers the Ituri province, North- and South Kivu and Katanga. That’s roughly an area the size of Texas plus two times France. The Security Council has given us a certain amount of troops; that means we can only carry out a certain amount of tasks. We certainly cannot do everything.”
On the new, unusually ‘assertive’ approach of this peacekeeping mission, General Cammaert said:
“In order to keep the peace, we have to enforce it sometimes. We have the mandate to do so; we have the rules of engagement to do so. We are allowed to use all necessary means to implement the mandate. We try to be as restrictive as possible in the use of force. However, when we are challenged, in order to protect the local population under imminent threat, we have to act. Then we act with the robust weaponry that we have available.”
Women and children.The militias that MONUC is confronting include women and children. General Cammaert:
Fierce clashes have taken place in recent months; almost every day, MONUC’s units are actively protecting the local population and taking on members of militias that have refused to lay down weapons. The days when UN peacekeepers had to watch passively as atrocities occurred around them - simply because the UN Security Council did not allow them to intervene – now seem gone.
“When people are firing at you, you don’t ask ‘how old are you’. People of a young age are often called ‘child soldiers’. I always say that they are soldiers from whom their childhood has been taken away. And women with a weapon can be fierce fighters.”
The troops under the Dutch general’s command include brigades from India and Pakistan. Despite traditional rivalry between the two countries, in the eastern part of the Congo, they work closely together.
“In this mission we have Indian attack helicopters supporting Pakistani ground forces when they are engaged with armed groups. That is, I think, unique, and I’m very proud of the way those two contingents are operating in a very professional way. We never discuss domestic problems; we make fun of it sometimes, and they themselves as well. But they are brothers-in-arms in carrying out the mandate.”
Abundant resources
General Cammaert is trying to get more high-tech military assets onto the MONUC mission, to improve the operational capabilities of his troops. But he also wants to improve the often-complicated UN rules and regulations:
“I think we can make huge improvements in doing a better job with the UN administration, with the system as such. That’s not a negative remark, it’s a fact. We should streamline those regulations and make sure [they] - and bureaucratic procedures - are destined for operations in the year 2005, and not […] like they were carried out ten years ago. Friend and foe will agree that, often, the present rules and regulations are not the best to operate with.”
Make Your life worth living
A boy was drowning in a river and he shouted for help.A man passing by jumped in the river and saved the boy's life.As the man was leaving the boy said "Thank you".The man asked "For what".The boy replied "For saving my life".The man looked into the boy's eyes and said "Son,make sure when you grow up that your life was worth saving" !
--------X-------------X---------------X------
My First hand Experiences in AFRICA (DR Congo)
The Roads Were Lovely - and Left Behind...
Sometimes, when you stop and take stock, you find that you have changed into someone else. I have changed. Or more precisely, I have accepted that part of me that was always there. May be it is being in Africa, having to unlearn a lot of things before re-learning from a scratch. May be it is what I hear or what I see. Or just the realization that I can plan to drop out from my persent race despite being in the top slot. But with each passing day I find that things which seemed to be very important till recently have now become so trivial and inconsequent.
I never realised what poverty was, till I saw young grils selling their bodies for a pack of biscuits. I did not realise what hunger was till I saw people eating human flesh. I never realised what greed was till I saw Legal governments arming people to kill people, just to meet their energy , financial and other needs. I did not realise that human race could survive for so long inspite of the adversity till I saw the perseverance of the human soul in this continent.
Not dificult to realise why slavery existed out here till recently. People are ready to work for 16-18 hrs a day if you could give them one meal. Value of human life here is so low down here that cattle out here is worth 10 times the value of a human life(or maybe more).
The toll the war, hunger and diseaese has taken in this country has crossed 10 million and still counting with 1,000 people dying every day. While all this is going on out here there is a component of Indian contingent making its humble contribution in trying to bring peace to this part of the strife torn continent. No SEA(sexual exploitation and abuse) cases against the local population, no involvement in local politics and no bias against any warring side, does make its contribution that much more credible.
It is sad to see the state of this country despite being endowed with natural resources and good weather but then we to have a similar situation back home --in Bihar.
"Kept cribbing about my torn shoes till I saw a man without feet" sums up my feeling tonight.
Well a senti blog entry, but have been thinking about this aspect in the recent past and couldn't help putting it down in writing.
An interesting news article for those of you who might be interested:
DRC: the UN’s most challenging peace-keeping mission
by RN Security and Defence editor Hans de Vreij, 16 June 2005(Read it on http://www.monuc.org)
Major-General Patrick Cammaert (photo: MONUC)
by RN Security and Defence editor Hans de Vreij, 16 June 2005(Read it on http://www.monuc.org)
Major-General Patrick Cammaert (photo: MONUC)
This week, an Indian soldier serving with the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) died after having been hit by a stray bullet. The incident happened during a gunfight with local militiamen in the eastern part of Congo, near the border with Rwanda. Earlier this month, a Nepalese peacekeeper met the same fate when gunmen opened fire on a human rights investigation team elsewhere in the region. The soldiers’ deaths illustrate the dangers that peacekeepers face in the former Zaire. In the DRC, in fact, the UN is now engaged in one of the largest and most challenging peace missions ever.
Inter-ethnic violenceAccording to a UN spokesman, about a million people have died in the eastern DRC in the past few years alone, the result of inter-ethnic violence and the activities of a myriad of militias. Although the UN mission (know by its French abbreviation MONUC) has been in place in the DRC since 1999, things have changed dramatically in the past months. MONUC is now aggressively taking on the militias, after being given a robust mandate by the UN Security Council and sufficient troops to do the job.
The Royal Netherlands Marine Corps’ Major-General Patrick Cammaert is UN commander for the volatile region. He is probably one of the UN’s most experienced field commanders, having served in Cambodia, Bosnia and as commander of the UN mission in the borderland between Ethiopia and Eritrea. He is also well-versed in complicated UN politics, having served in the New York headquarters as chief military advisor to Kofi Annan until earlier this year.
We can’t do everythingGeneral Cammaert explained to Radio Netherlands that the 15,000 troops under his command in Eastern Congo may sound impressive in terms of numbers, but is in fact small, given the size of the area involved.
“My area of responsibility in Eastern Congo covers the Ituri province, North- and South Kivu and Katanga. That’s roughly an area the size of Texas plus two times France. The Security Council has given us a certain amount of troops; that means we can only carry out a certain amount of tasks. We certainly cannot do everything.”
On the new, unusually ‘assertive’ approach of this peacekeeping mission, General Cammaert said:
“In order to keep the peace, we have to enforce it sometimes. We have the mandate to do so; we have the rules of engagement to do so. We are allowed to use all necessary means to implement the mandate. We try to be as restrictive as possible in the use of force. However, when we are challenged, in order to protect the local population under imminent threat, we have to act. Then we act with the robust weaponry that we have available.”
Women and children.The militias that MONUC is confronting include women and children. General Cammaert:
Fierce clashes have taken place in recent months; almost every day, MONUC’s units are actively protecting the local population and taking on members of militias that have refused to lay down weapons. The days when UN peacekeepers had to watch passively as atrocities occurred around them - simply because the UN Security Council did not allow them to intervene – now seem gone.
“When people are firing at you, you don’t ask ‘how old are you’. People of a young age are often called ‘child soldiers’. I always say that they are soldiers from whom their childhood has been taken away. And women with a weapon can be fierce fighters.”
The troops under the Dutch general’s command include brigades from India and Pakistan. Despite traditional rivalry between the two countries, in the eastern part of the Congo, they work closely together.
“In this mission we have Indian attack helicopters supporting Pakistani ground forces when they are engaged with armed groups. That is, I think, unique, and I’m very proud of the way those two contingents are operating in a very professional way. We never discuss domestic problems; we make fun of it sometimes, and they themselves as well. But they are brothers-in-arms in carrying out the mandate.”
Abundant resources
General Cammaert isn’t overly optimistic about the future in this part of the DRC. He believes it may take another 10-15 years to establish peace. One of the reasons is because the conflict is fuelled, not only by political and inter-ethnic rivalry, but also by the abundant presence of natural resources in the area: gold, diamonds, bauxite and precious metals.
General Cammaert is trying to get more high-tech military assets onto the MONUC mission, to improve the operational capabilities of his troops. But he also wants to improve the often-complicated UN rules and regulations:
“I think we can make huge improvements in doing a better job with the UN administration, with the system as such. That’s not a negative remark, it’s a fact. We should streamline those regulations and make sure [they] - and bureaucratic procedures - are destined for operations in the year 2005, and not […] like they were carried out ten years ago. Friend and foe will agree that, often, the present rules and regulations are not the best to operate with.”
In the end, a Snippet from Somewhere...
God, Make me strong, and weak.
Give me the courage to run the race,
and say no to it.
Give me friends, and keep me detached.
Teach me to laugh, cry, and to feel.
Teach me to let go, and forgive.
Teach me to remember, and thank.
Teach me to avenge.
Help me, to say no, and yes.
Help me, to bend and to be rigid.
Help me to trust,
but don’t make me naïve.
Help me learn about new things
And let me be.
Help me out with these...
I do not know where the road leads,
which turns to take...
what waits for me at each turn...
and whether anyone is to join me on the way...
posted by Beyond Doctorate at 10:27 pm
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