Ola, Bom Dia, Boa Tarde, Obrigada!
Trip Start
Apr 27, 2010
1
14
23
Trip End
Oct 26, 2010
São Domingos, Cacheu, Guinea-Bissau
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Our trip to Guinea Bissau started off on a slightly frightening note – our Sept Plast, was shall we say a scary thing to be inside let alone drive it – it was pouring it down with rain, we could see nothing outside and that was partly because of the rain but partly because our entire windscreen was smashed in – To top it off our driver was an arsenal fan – I thought we were doomed so as you can imagine the journey was a little traumatic and slow. From Ziguinchor it only takes around 15/20mins to get to the border and before we knew it we were crossing another international boundary with passports in hand and smiles on faces! We went as far as Sao Domingos and would spend the day observing and attempting to meet people and looking at the impact of the conflict from another international perspective. One of the first things I noticed was the change of atmosphere compared with Gambia and Ziguinchor and you as a tobab (white person) were not automatically accepted as I would have thought. There was a distinct shift in attitudes across the border and people seemed more suspicious and wary of who you were and what you were doing across the border. I have done little work looking at the conflict and refugee situation on the Guinea Bissau border but it is completely different to what I have experience here in The Gambia and it has left a lasting impact on the community. We went to find Oumar’s brothers (best not to ask too many questions) who were part of the MFDC rebel faction based in Guinea Bissau and as expected spent most of the morning on a wild goose chase around Sao Domingos. We were led into the bush where the majority of refugee families have their compounds and the reaction to us arriving could not have been less pleasant. You can see just how the conflict has affected some families, especially as many this side of the border have been driven out of Senegal because of family members related to the MFDC rebel movement. At first I thought we were being led to a dark space never to be seen again but obviously those who are part of the rebel movement are not going to be based on the roadside for everyone to see their activities. We finally caught up with Dwarda Manga who openly revealed he is a combatant of the MFDC movement. He has belonged to the movement since 1990 and joined because of his father and because of the persecution many suffered at the hands of the Senegalese military. He explained that no assistance has really been given to the refugees since arrival and many have been fleeing across the border since the mid 1990’s and although UNHCR have completed a registration, no further assistance has followed. This has in many cases led to the exploitation of refugees by the local population but interestingly enough is not always the case and Dwarda was keen not to overstate the issue and didn’t want us to generalise that all refugee experiences this side of the border is a horror story as is the general story (This could have something to do with that he is an active MFDC combatant and is free to live in Guinea Bissau without fear of being sent back to Casamance!!)
What I found most interesting from our conversation was how Casamancais refugees are viewed as foreigners and this makes it difficult for them to fully integrate within society. This of course is in complete contrast with the situation on the Gambian border as refugees are fully integrated within society. This has much to do with the different colonial histories of both Gambia and Guinea Bissau. Gambia is a former British colony and those in the Foni districts speak the local tribal language Jola just like the majority of the Casamancais. Guinea-Bissau is a former Portuguese colony and the local language is Creole and so the cultural and ethnic traditions are therefore in complete contrast and has much to do with how the refugees are treated this side of the border!!
We stopped off at a local joint to have some lunch which I must say was very nice but again is another variation of meat and rice and then headed back off towards Ziguinchor. We stopped off at a border village called Mpak which has suffered mass displacement. Some of the village displaced internally and the others displaced across of the border. As a result, the village has separated into two upon return – the majority of the village relocated into a smaller compact space and those who have returned from Guinea Bissau have stayed on the border. We interviewed the chief and his family (who were all drunk but very lively in conversation). Overall their specific experience was not ideal but they did not seem to have such a difficult time compared to other Guinea Bissau returnees. We can partly attribute this to the fact that these returnees have family based in Guinea Bissau and they are of Manjack origin which is the ethnic group of Guinea Bissau. The improved security issue pushed return as well as a desire from the youth movement to return! The villagers discussed the lack of assistance they have received from various agencies but Martin found this hilarious as this village in particular has been pumped with humanitarian aid!! The villagers also claimed that no cross-border trade occurs between Mpak and Guinea-Bissau but this is very hard to believe as this village is situated on the border (passport and security control is based a few hundred yards down) just like many communities in Gambia that are based on the Casamance border (and there is sooo much cross-border trade!)
As a result of the past week I seem to have created my own lingual dialect of 'FraPorOla’ which is a mixture of French, Portuguese and Jola which as you can imagine can get very confusing at times! Tomorrow is our last full day of our trip so we are finishing it with a pirogue trip!! Do some tourist sight-seeing!!!!! We are also going to have dinner with Martin’s friends and they have promised to help me with my French – Multi-lingual here I come!!!!!!
Charlie-Ray
Comments
oi! a little less gooner bashing please! x