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| May 20, 2008 |
g along the scheduled road, I flew here to Bossangoa on a UN airplane . The UNICEF drivers decided to take the vehicles via another, longer route. They,too, left this morning . They plan to "go village by village". I asked to accompany them but UN security wouldn't let me. The drivers were stopped by a menacing group of Presidential Guards . The men couldn't call us for help because they were forbidden to use their sat phones. They were taken to the Colonel and threatened. Finally, after it became clear that the men worked with the United Nations, they were released with an apology. They are safely here but shaken. The Presidential Guards are not supposed to harass UN personnel.Ester Guluma, UNICEF regional Director (and my friend) is with me on this trip as she was the last time I came to CAR. Big delight - Ettie Higgins (picture right), my friend from UNICEF in Darfur, where she spent two years in El Fasher. She has been working here for nearly a year. We've kept in touch and it's GREAT to see her again. She will be going home to Ireland this week. Ettie is one of the heroes.