The Otter Trail – Tsitsikamma National Park, Eastern Cape, South Africa

If there is one thing I have learned in my 42 years it’s that there are no coincidences. I was thoroughly depressed after sitting for 3 days in the “alien” waiting room at The Department of Home Affairs in Barrack Street, Cape Town, trying to sort out my permit. I struck up a conversation with a woman who I had seen, two days earlier, cleaning the room. Sure, I thought the place was a pigsty and I was bored to tears but she actually saw that as an opportunity while I was content to silently curse the situation. I thought she was weird when she demanded that a staff member give her a plastic garbage bag then tore around the room picking up discarded candy wrappers, coffee cups and crumpled up immigration forms. I saw her again and told her I recognized her from the prior day and we exchanged a few words. She was Miems Swanepoel and her son was a tennis coach in Boca Raton, a few towns up the coast from Fort Lauderdale where I spend time when I am in the States and where I play lots of tennis. Her day job was sorting out other people’s immigration problems but she soon told me about her passion for hiking and adventure and what she had planned. We spoke about my dog, Andy, and she insisted I come by for tea so her husband could meet this dog that had come all the way from America. I had a lovely visit with Miems and her husband, Swannie, and Andy was on his best behavior. The tea and homemade rusks were wonderful. Of course, I was slowly being caught up in Miems’ web but I let it happen willingly knowing the there might be a reward in the end. A few weeks later I was off to hike the famous Otter Trail.


The Otter Trail was a tremendous experience, physically and emotionally challenging but incredibly beautiful and full of surprises. Five days of hiking along this beautiful rocky coastline included some really precarious rock climbing sections and several steep, steep ascents and descents. At the end of each day, a sense of accomplishment and a delicious meal cooked by Miems in a large tin can as she called out for the ingredients and utensils stowed away in different hikers’ rucksacks. My rucksack, initially light with only my stuff, weighed at least 60 pounds after food, a stove, fuel were added. On one ascent, sweat was poring down my face and my left knee started to buckle. No problem – I just switched legs so that I was raising myself up with the right knee. We were 12 altogether and there are 2 cabins with bunk beds at every stop. After the first few kilometres of Day One, we didn’t see another person. The group came together as the time passed and I soon started to recognize the uniqueness and charm of people with whom I initially felt I had nothing in common. There were lots of jokes, skits and singing around the fire every night. I soon realized that Miems doesn’t like to go to bed – to her the camaraderie and team building is as important as the physicality. I can honestly say that I haven't felt that youthful and happy in a really long time. At one stop five of us swam in a gorge where the water was so cold my heart stopped beating for the first minute. We swam though a long narrow, nave-like tunnel with only a little sun coming in 60 feet above. What sun there was reflected off of water dripping down off the high rock walls. At the end of the tunnel was a pool and small waterfall. We climbed the rocks on the side of the waterfall to reach a large pool on another level and swam through that to another waterfall and so on until we reached a large waterfall feeding what Miems assistant, Jannie, called the "Pool of Eternal Youth". I said "Well thank God you got here while you were still young!" but I plunged into the icy water hoping there was some truth to what he said. I can't tell you how great I felt at that moment -- I was so happy and excited about seeing what was beyond the next waterfall that I swan and climbed the rocks without any fear or desire to stop and go back. If only I could approach the rest of my life with that same fearless enthusiasm.

Thank you Miems for helping me explore the World outside my box!

Nkosi Sikelei ‘i Afrika* -- Gugulethu and Brown’s Farm – 3 March 2006

Today I had the opportunity to visit two community-based primary health care facilities -- Gugulethu 24-hour Community Health Center and Brown’s Farm Community Health Center. The visit was coordinated by Dr. Robert Martell, Medical Superintendent for the Cape Town Metropolitan Health District.

Gugulethu is one of the older townships within the Cape Town metro district. The community is primarily formal settlements (i.e. non-shack dwellings). There are approximately 300,000 persons in the catchment area for the CHC. The CHC has a maternity ward for ante-natal care and non-problem births. Gugulethu CHC also features a trauma center that treats a large number of gunshot and knife wounds, most related to alcohol abuse, and victims of domestic violence.

At Gugulethu there is a dedicated Anti-Retro Viral (ARV) Clinic with approximately 1,300 persons on ARV Therapy. The Clinic is housed in a purpose-built pleasant building with a large waiting room. Newly diagnosed patients could distract themselves by watching the highly dramatic Afrikaans “soapies” on a large television while waiting to be attended to. The unique ARV program relies largely on HIV-positive counselors (who are themselves stable on ARV Therapy) to counsel and encourage patients in their adherence to drug regimens. The program also uses the “Buddy System” and cell phone text message reminders and has a high rate of patient compliance. According to the Clinic Director, budgetary constraints limit treatment to basic ARV drugs. Patients that fail on these treatments might be able to participate in clinical trials for other HIV/AIDS medications. There is a Buddy Room that has days dedicated to common illnesses – Diabetes, Asthma, Hypertension, etc. – where patients get treatment, special information and support groups meet.

Browns Farm is a large community consisting of both formal and informal (shack) settlements, including the infamous Crossroads squatter camp, where residents survived Apartheid government harassment (including murder) and countless attempts to level their shack community with bulldozers. Not surprisingly, the community runs a tight ship at the Browns Farm CHC. The current facility, a rabbit warren of shipping containers and connecting sheds, is immaculate and patients proceed through intake, preparation and treatment in an orderly fashion (see picture). Construction of a 5 Million Rand ($800,000) new facility is well underway and expected to be completed by August. The new facility will be air-conditioned with sky-lights and a spacious waiting area and several consultation rooms. The gentleman who showed us around let us know how large the community was and mentioned to Dr. Martell that the CHC needed two more doctors.

* God Bless Africa

My Nephew James

St. Mary's James Sheehan controls Spalding's Mitch Reece in a match he won by pin to help the Saints record their eighth straight win this season. The Capital (Annapolis, Maryland)

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Christmas Tree, Ka De We, Berlin, November 2005

Family Kit Distribution, November 2004, Lofa County, Liberia

Dry Season? Monrovia, January 2005

I am back in Liberia. I spent almost 5 weeks in South Africa over Christmas and the New Year and, frankly, that was way too long. No offence to South Africa but I think any place would grow old if you spent that amount of unstructured time there.It was interesting how my perceptions evolved while in SA. At first I was amazed at how successful they had been in the transformation from minority (white) rule to majority (non-white) rule. After some time in the country and after meeting and talking to several South Africans I realized that there was a lot more going on than first appeared. The government is controlled by the ANC which has a solid majority and is unlikely to lose control any time soon. There is a new elite class of non-white government officials and business men and women who have benefited from “black empowerment” programs. Due to the restructuring of governmental institutions (hospitals, universities, governmental agencies) and mandated private-sector affirmative action, there are vast numbers of whites (mostly male) now out of work for the first. When you drive down the main streets in Johannesburg you see billboards touting the government-sponsored “Homecoming Revolution” campaign inviting and encouraging South Africans who left after the end of Apartheid to move back. There are just as many billboards for emigration services which promise to assist people in relocating to Australia. A lot of white South Africans (especially those with male children) are emigrating because they feel they and their sons have no future.Not much has changed in Liberia in my absence. We are into the dry season and it it hotter and more humid with only occasional rain. Tension builds as people scramble to prepare for the October elections. The security situation is also fragile due to the upcoming elections and unrest in neighboring countries like Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Guinea. At Concern we are continuing some of the prior programs and doing some proposals for new ones. I have inserted myself and my staff into the planning and budgeting process by pointing out how some of the over- and under-spends from last year’s program budgets might have been avoided. Some of my input is well received but quite often I think people do not know how to deal with me. There continues to be some friction between me and my boss (the dictator) who is not used to anyone questioning his edicts, especially in a logical, articulate and, at times, public way.Andy had a birthday party at the beach which my staff and some others attended. His chocolate cake read “Happy 1st Birthday Andy” and we had food, beer and soda. A band was playing African music nearby so there was some dancing. Andy stayed under the food table and wouldn’t even come out to blow out the candle on his cake.I have heard that it is cold and snowy in New York and Baltimore and I am actually reminiscing about real winter weather. I am sure that would grow old fast!I hope everyone is well. Please send me some news.I hope to be home for Easter.Regards, Philip

Woman and Child - Zorzor, Lofa County, Liberia

Thangs fall apart - November 2004

Depending on your affiliation -- congratulations or condolences on the election outcome. I cast my absentee vote from the US Embassy a few weeks ago. But it looks like it all hinged on Ohio rather than “Absentee Votes from Liberia”.Things are fairly calm here for the moment. Today is Liberian Thanksgiving – all the National staff have the day off. The international staff (myself included) just are working because there is nothing better to do. Last Friday was crazy with looting and gas station burning all over Monrovia. A gas station right next to my house was set on fire and another nearby gas station/convenience store/pharmacy was looted and burned – we watched the whole thing from our office, which has balconies on the front and side. My house filled up with smoke and I took out all my “important papers”, including several soda receipts from Duane Reade. The tensions are religious and there is much animosity among Liberians against “Mandingos”, economically successful Muslims from the Northern part of the country, Liberians. Clearly someone is stoking up the rhetoric and encouraging the lootings, mosque and church burnings, rapes and murders – probably Charles Taylor. Many of his former ministers, bodyguards, etc. are still here and he is more than capable of pulling the strings from exile in Nigeria.Two weeks ago I was in Zorzor, Lofa County in northern Liberia. I travelled up to assist with an OFDA Health & Hygiene Kit (plastic buckets and soap) distribution to about 2,000 families. We are targeting communities were we have installed or are installing wells and pumps. My role was to gets quotes for the kit items, analyze the quotes and then purchase the items, arrange transport, store and dispatch the items and supervise the distributions, keeping all relevant records in case of an audit. I have a team of 2. The Program staff (about 20 people) is responsible for registering and verifying the beneficiaries. They also decide the “methodology” which I assume to be who should get soap and how much. As you can see I am developing a huge resentment. The chief difficulty was transporting the kit items up to Zorzor. I contracted for the items delivered to our office up-country so the transport headache was borne by the vendor. The first shipment, a 20-foot container filled with buckets and soap, took 5 days to travel 180 miles from Monrovia to Zorzor. There are places in the dirt road that are virtually impassable due to mud. Trucks are stuck all the way from the Lofa County line to Zorzor.The distribution was somewhat disorganized (not my fault) but, I the end, everyone was happy. It is a chance to see the beneficiaries directly benefiting and there is a tremendous amount of gratitude. I find myself amazed at how poor the beneficiaries are and feeling a little guilty about the disparity between my situation and theirs but at the same time strangely wanting to flaunt my “bling-bling”. In one village my driver pointed out to me that the ground was littered with spent AK-47 shell casings and the one decent building in the village had no roof, doors, windows and was riddled with bullet holes. I certainly cannot identify on any level with the trauma that the people have been through. In 2003 and early 2004, there was apparently a series of battles between the rebel group LURD and government forces for control of Zorzor. Each group would take the town for a few days and then the other would take it back. This went on for months and, needless to say, there is nothing left but destroyed buildings. It apparently was a thriving regional town with nightclubs, hotels, and electricity. Now there are only a scattering of families back here from the refugee camps in Guinea and the IDP camps near the coast. Some men are here preparing shelter so that their families can come back. They seem genuinely happy to be home but I can’t help but think that they must not have much confidence that the peace will last long. They have been down this route a few times in the last 15 years and there is talk that the disarmament is not going well, that there are organized rebels across the border in Guinea, and that unless Charles Taylor is prosecuted he will be coming back. I should try to put my own pessimism on the back burner while I am here.One of the program staff, Alfred, was telling us about how he lost his parents and was being cared for by his sister who got a scholarship to study in the US. Alfred was a young boy and his sister sent him to live with an elderly Americo-Liberian woman. He only knew his tribal name and when she heard it she said that wouldn’t work in her home so she called started calling him “Heathen”. He had us rolling when he described how she would yell “Heathen, come here” and he would come running saying “Yeah, Mom”. He said he was 13 before he found out what “Heathen” meant. He was proud that she had given him an “American” name. It sounded like slavery to me since he mostly worked around the house and got whippings but he pointed out that she did send him to a good school. It is very strange but only people about 35 or older have formal education. The chaos of the last 15 plus years has completely sidetracked the school system. Part of the UN mission is the retain of a civilian police force but they cannot find anyone to recruit because the only people with the right educational credentials exceed the maximum age for recruits.The sale of co-op apartment closed the other week and I feel a strange sense of freedom – no fixed address. I am fantasizing about living in strange and interesting places -- Buenos Aires, Capetown, Tucson……. My sister Jane really stepped up to the plate to represent my interests in the sale. I am very grateful. Also, if you are thinking of selling (or buying) in Park Slope/Prospect Heights I can recommend Barbara Stewart of Corcoran Group on 7th Avenue. She handled the listing, marketing, open house, and bidding skirmish brilliantly and helped me get the best price for my place. When there were virtually no phone lines working in Liberia Barbara would get through to give me information to make the closing happen.I have a major distribution of “Family Kits” (Blankets, sleeping mats, lanterns, pots, plates, utensils, lapas, jerry cans, etc.) up in Lofa County which I want to complete before the 2nd week of December when I mark my 3-month anniversary here and take my first “R & R”, which will be combined with a week of annual leave and the Christmas Holiday. I will be gone for almost 4 weeks. I may try to ship Andy home to Baltimore before then or he will be looked after by one of my colleagues, Arthur, the transport manager.That’s all from here. We are watching the security situation closely and hopefully the recent trouble was just a bump in the road. Keep me in your prayers and remember that, no matter who’s President, we have it a whole lot better than most people in the World.Philip

Monrovia October 2004

Things are going well here. At the very least I will come home with a>tremendous amount of gratitude that I was born middle class in >the>United States. Things are pretty depressing here but the Liberians remain>pleasant and hopeful. The transitional government has already been exposed>as corrupt and there are allegations that the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)>staff is also on the take.>>At Concern we are gearing up for a distribution of 3,500 "Family Kits">(Blankets, cooking pots, soap, buckets, sleeping mats, latterns, utensils,>etc.) to refugees returning to Lofa County way up north near Guinea.>Procurement and transport are very challenging here. The cost of the>distribution -- several hundred thousand US dollars -- is being paid by the>US Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). I am looking forward to>being at the distribution and seeing some much needed items getting into >the>hands of the beneficiaries. As logistician, I worked with the national >purchasing agent, Roland, to get bids on the Family kits, samples, etc. We >then put together a bid analysis>and met with an ad hoc purchasing committee of Concern staff to compare>samples of Kit items and prices, etc. We want our kits to be as good or>better than those of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),>which bulldozes around the country throwing stuff off the back of their>trucks willy nilly with no coordination with other NGO's. Our sleeping >mats>are durable and the design is quite fabulous. As I pointed out to the>committee, just because you're a refugee doesn't mean you have to sacrifice>on style. The ex-pats laughed but the Liberians knew just what I was>talking about.........Tuesday I went down to Buchanan with Fiona,>the Assistant Country Director, to see our office there. Buchanan is>Liberia's second city and is about a 3 hour drive down the coast. Prince >Jomah, the storekeeper went with us as well as a new hire -- Emmanuel >Boayue -- so we could do some counts and famiarize Emmanuel with the >storekeeping system. We do wells and latrines there and a large Food >Security program there funded by the European Union -- seeds, tools,>pigs, blacksmithing, guinea fowl, etc. and some lessons on agricultural >practices, animal>husbandry, etc. John Reid, an Irish farmer with a masters degree in >Agriculture,>heads up this program. The road to Buchanan passes through the Firestone >rubber plantation which is a longterm rip-off concession dating back to the >1920's. The plantation is very beautiful and well-maintained and there is >a great grocery store where I bought some Dijon mustard. Just past the >plantation the road deteriorates big time with potholes, rickety bridges, >etc. Prince was laughing and said "these are our good roads leading to our >major cities". The country is beautiful though and there are some large >rivers coming from the interior. We did quite a lot of recordkeeping >clean-up at the Buchanan stores/warehouse. We got some lobster from >Fantitown -- a Ghanain fishing village on the beach just outside of >Buchanan -- and John the cook made an awesome dinner. I noticed a lot of >blind people walking along the road outside our compound in Buchanan and >was told that "River Blindness" remains a big problem here -- I just >pretended to know what River Blindness is...if anyone knows give me a >shout.>>On a lighter note, I have been playing some "lawn tennis" at the>Catholic Hospital near my house with some of the locals -- fun!>Physically I am feeling very well (better than in NY) except for a slight>stomach problem -- all the ex-pats got sick off of this lunch we had >catered>for the entire local and international staff last weekend. I am planning >to>go to Jo'burg and Capetown for Christmas. It is extremely expensive to fly>anywhere from here. I have a total of 8 weeks vacation and R & R plus we>close for 10 days at Christmas and travel days do not count against >vacation. Now why don't we do that in the US? I will be in South Africa >for 3 weeks. Looking>forward to hanging out in the mall, seeing Soweto and the beaches of>Capetown!!>>My dog Andy is adjusting slowly. Last Thursday evening, I found him>watching Liberian TV in Arthur the Transport Manager's house. I have a big>yard at my house for Andy to run and play in but he seems very nervous and>just wants to get inside. I have had some landscaping done in my yard and>had a bunch of cement pots put on the verandah as well as some hanging>baskets, got some rattan furniture for the verandah and Whanga the>seamstress is making cushions out of some traditional lapa fabric I bought >at>Waterside, the market area in central Monrovia. In my haste to pack a lot>of strange things ended up in my suitcases, including some temple bells I>got up in Woodstock. I hung the bells on the verandah. On>Saturday morning Andy and I sat out on the verandah flowers and listened to >the BBC World Service. I ate some warm coconut rolls from the lady down >the road. All very pleasant.>>I miss so much about my life in New York, family and friends! I took so >much>for granted....