Melkein nelja viikkoa Monroviassa, ja vielakin tuntuu ettei ole ihan ehtinyt sulattamaan kaikkea. Maata rakennetaan hurjalla vauhdilla lahes olemattomalle pohjalle. Liberiassa ei juurikaan tuoteta mitaan, maaseudulla on omavaraismaataluotta, joka juuri ruokkii perheet, mutta suuri osa elintarvikkeista tuodaan ulkoaa. Uusi hallitus on ollut vallassa puolitoista vuotta ja he ovat joutuneet rakentamaan koko hallintokoneiston lahes tyhjasta. Maan infrastuktuuri on olematonta, korrupotio edelleen suuri ongelma ja ihmisten kouluttamattomuus vaikeuttaa kehitysta. Hallitus on presidentin nimittama ja suurin osa ministereista koulutettu ulkomailla. Paikallisvaaleilla valituista parlamentin jasenista vain noin puolet on lukutaitoisia. Joten ero hallituksen ja parlamentin valilla on suuri, eika presidentin puolueella ole enemmistoa parlamentissa. Tama kuvastaaa aika paljon koko maan tilannetta. Erot ovat suuret, hallitus on uudistusmielinen ja paljon tapahtuu kovalla vauhdilla ainakin ylimmalla tasolla. Se miten hyvin se kuvastaa kansan tahtoa jaa nahtavakai. On aivan uskomatonta nahda milla vauhdilla lakeja ja linjauksia tehdaan. Nyt alkaa hallituksella olla todella kovat paineet saada konreettista nayttoa, teita, kouluja ja terveyspalveluita. Ihmisilla on kovat odotukset parannuksista ja jos niita ei tapahdu on levottomuuksien riski aina olemassa.
Tyo on todella intensiivista ja paivat venyvat helposti reilu 12 tuntisiksi. Maailman Pankin politikkaan kuuluu olla ohjeistamatta liikaa ja tiputtaa uudet sekaan ja katsoa “pysyyko ne pinnalla”. Joten ensimmaiset viikot oon yrittanyt rapikoida. Nyt tuntuu etta alan hiukan hahmottaa missa mennaan, mutta edelleen on sata raporttia luettavien kansiossa. Pankin tyokulttuuri on jenkkihenkinen, ja suurimmalla osalla on tutkinto maailman huippu yliopistoista, joten Turun kauppiksen tutkinnon kanssa taytyy ansaita paikkansa. Rankkuudesta huolimatta tyo on todella mielenkiintoista ja tyoskennellaan paljon suoraan hallituksen kanssa, joten linkki paatoksen tekoon on todella lahella ja tuntuu etta saadaan jotain aikaiseksikin.
Vapaa-aikaa ei ole liikaa, eika aktiviteettitarjonta ole hurjaa. Monroviasta loytyy kuitenkin muutamia hyvia ravintolaoita ja yokerhoja. Tosin YK on asettanut tyontekijoillee ulkonaliikkumiskiellon arkisin 00-05 ja lauantaisin 02-05. Naiden noudattaminen ei kylla ole aina onnistunut…..
Kamppa on mukava ja meilla on ihana kotiapulainen Mary, jota ilman ei tallainen tyorytmi onnistuisi. Turvallisuustilanne ei ole loistava ja iltaisin liikkuminen on kaytannossa autoista muurien ja porttien taakse. Ollaan varmaankin ostamassa auto Rebeccan kanssa puoliksi, joka antaa hiukan lisaa itsenaisyytta. YK:n lasnaolon huomaa kaupungissa ja kaduilla saattaa tormata jopa valkoisiin panssarivaunuihin.
Pari viikkoa sitten oltiin kalastamassa libanonilaisten veneella avomerella. Aamupaiva oli todella upeaa aurinkoa, kunnes jouduttiin myrskyyn ja luotto Liberian meripelastukeseen ei ole hurja. Heilla kun ei ole veneita... Mutta selvittiin hyvin ilamnkin rantaan ja kuultiin paljon kalajuttuja satakiloisista tonnikaloista yms. Myrskyn takia meidan saalis jai heikoksi, mutta ensi kerralla tavoitteet on korkeammalla… Kalastuksen lisaksi sunnuntaiaktiviteetteihin kuuluu rannat. Hiukan Monrovian ulkopuolelta loytyy upeita palmurantoja ja taytyy viela kerran mainita etta ilmasto taalla on aivan upea. Yotapaivaa lampotila on 28-35 astetta, koskaan ei ole liian kylma eika kuuma.
Tullaan Rebeccan (ruotsalainen tyokaveri\kamppis) kanssa tosi hyvin toimeen ja toista selviamisessa on auttanut paljon et voi jakaa jonkun kanssa joka on samassa tilanteessa. Muutenkin on mukavaa jengia, tosin ikavan erottautuneet ekspatti- ja liberialasyhteisot. Turvallisuustilanteen takia paikallisiin tutustuminen on hiukan hankalaa. Muta ensi viikolla olen lahdossa koyhyyden vahentamisstrategian kirjoittamisprosessiin liittyen jarjestettaviiin maaseutukonsultaatiohin. Odotan innolla tutustumista Monrovian ulkopuoliseen elamaan, joka on kuulemma aivan eri maailma. Konsultaatioissa kuullaan eri kylien edustajia, ja peilataan suunniteltua strategiaa maaseudun tarpeisiin.
Yritan ehtia paivittaa blogia tasta lahin hiukan useammin
Koska unohdin mun kameran piuhan Suomeen on kuvien lisaaminen ollut hiukan ongelmallista. Koitan viikonlopun aikana saada Rebaccan kamerasta kuvia laitettua.

Ensivaikutelmia Monroviasta

Tassa jatkoa Lattareissa aloitettuun blogiini. Vuodessa olen siirtynyt ensin Ecuadorista Perun, Bolivian ja Argentinan kautta takaisin Suomeen viime joulukuussa ja nyt jalleen vaihtanut mannerta Afrikkaan, Liberiaan.

Viikko sitten perjantai-iltana laskeuduin Roberts Porttiin Liberian kansainvaliselle lentokentalle. Kenttä on pieni ja rapistunut rakennus, jonka pihalla lähimmä YKn koneita ja helikoptereita. Pääsin hyvin maahan ja kaikki kamat tuli perille. Maailman Pankin autokuski oli vastassa ja matkalla hotellliin sain esimakua tulevasta kotikaupungistani seuraavan kahden vuoden ajan. Ilmasto on ihanan trooppisen lammin ja luonto huikean vehreaa.

Monrovia on melko raunioina. Tiet, jotka on yksi maan suurimpia infrastuktuurin ongelmia, ovat lahes ajokelvottomia. Monroviasta ei loydy montaa sataa metria asvaltoituja teita ja hiekkatiet ovat taynna kuoppia ja vesilammikoita. Sadekauden aikana suuri osa maakunnista on taysin eristyksessa. Kaupunki yleisesti on raunioina. Sodan jaljet nakyvat ja YK-joukkojen lasnaolon todella huomaa katukuvassa. Tosin jalleenrakennus on alkanut ja kaupunki on taynna erinakoisia rakennustyomaita.

Reilussa viikossa olen saanut aika hyvin jarjestettya elamaa ja paassyt tutustumaan hiukan Monrovian sosiaalisiin ympyroihin, jotka expattien osalta ovat hyvinkin eksklusiiviset. Taalla on hurja maara kaikenlaisia kansalaisjarjestoja ja todella paljon lahetyssaarnaajia eri kirkoista. Jokaisella on omat missionsa, enka usko etta kenellakaan tassa maassa on oikein kokonaiskuvaa mita taalla tapahtuu.

Kasalaisjarjestoihmisten ja YK:n henkilokunnan lisaksi taalta loytyy erittain kirjava joukko erinakoisia yrittajia. Pelkastaan tullessa lentokoneessa tapasin mielenkiintoisia tyyppeja. Vieressä istuva nuori jätkätutki liberian viidakoita ja etsi kultaa ja kutsui minutvesihiihtämään heidän kanssaan, toisella puolella istui hollantilainennainen, jonka isä hoiti Taylorin (entinen hallitsija, nyt Haagissa syytettyna sotarikoksista) metsäbusineksiä ja on nyt Hollannissavankilassa ja sen vieressä jenkki nainen joka on naimissa Monrovianparhaimman hotellin pitäjän kanssa ja oli kertoi hotellin pitämisestäsota-aikana, kun paikalliset pojat nukkuivat hotellin alakerrassa kalashnikovien vieressa.
Toimistolla samaan aikaan aloitti ruotsalainen tytto, Rebecca. Todella mukava tyyppi ja muutettiin maanantaina kamppaan, joka on varmaan yli 200 neliota, melko uusi ja parvekkeelta voi ihailla auringonlaskua Atlantin ylla. Kunhan loydetaan hyva puseppa huonekaluja varten ja saadaan vahan sisustettua lisaa, saa kampasta tosi mukavan. Meilla on myos ylimaarainen makuuhuone vierailijoita varten…

Monrovia paivasaikaan on turvallinen, joskaan tietyille alueille ei voi menna. Iltaisin ja oisin ei periaatteessa voi ilman autoa kulkea mihinkaan ja kaikki asunnot ja toimistot on muurien ja piikkilanka-aitojen ymparoimia. Pankin toimistolla on talla hetkella liian vahan autoja, joten kulkeminen iltaisin ja viikonloppuisin vaatii hiukan jarjestelyja. Saattaa olla, jos ei saada lisaa autoja toimistolle, etta joudutaan ostamaan auto. Ottaen huomioon missa kunnossa tiet taalla ovat ja muutenkin liikenteen, en ole mitenkaan innoissani auton huoltamisesta yms.

Tyot vaikuttaa todella mielenkiintoisilta. Viime viikko meni aika pitkalti erilaisissa kokouksissa ja tutustuessa projekteihin. Maailman Pankin tyokulttuuriin kuuluu pitkat tyopaivat ja toimiston valot on paalla yomyohaan. Nyt alkaa pikkuhiljaa hahmottumaan oma tyonkuva, johon paaasiassa kuuluu meidan projektien hallintaa seka osallistumista koyhyyden vahentamisstrategian tekooon. Uskomatonta nahda, kuinka koko hallinnon pohjaa luodaan melkein tyhjasta ja huikealla vauhdilla. Eilisessa kokouksessa minut esiteltiin presidentille, seka hallitukselle, joten yhteistyota tehdaan korkealla tasolla.

Melkein kahden viikon jalkeen, johon kuului paljon toita, hiukan juhlia, paljon kokousia, paljon uusia ihmisia, ruokamyrkytys, muutama tunti upealla rannalla (toivottavasti myos ensii viikonloppuna) ja paljon muuta, olen viela hiukan paasta poyralla, mutta positiivisella mielella tulevasta kahdesta vuodesta. Valokuvia koitan saada liitettya viikonloppuna.

Work and travel..

Already two weeks of work in the Huancavilca Foundation, time is really flying here. Last week we went to see three families whose houses or more like shacks built on top of a river had collapsed. In these three houses lived 18 people. Luckily no one got hurt from the collapse, but the families with loads of little kids lost everything. Really sad. Hopefully we can help them get some materials and a safer place to built their houses than on the water. There are hundreds of houses like this built on a few poles on top of the water just waiting for the next flood to whip them out...
Since our foundation was the first one on the sight of the accident they interwied my boss for the national news and I appeared on the news as well. Already gaining fame in Ecuador ;)
Mostly my work here has been helping with the administration and marketing of the projects. The local kids are really interested in me and the other foreign trainee and often come to the office to see us. Since I also really wanted to do some work a bit closer to the people, we are planning to give some classes of cultural exchange in local schools with the other trainee. Am really looking forward to that.
Last weekend had a really good trip to Cuenca, a colonial city about three hours from Guayaquil with some other trainees and Ecuadorianos. The difference between the cities is huge. Cuenca was really quite, clean and cool, the opposite of Guayaquil.
Also visited a beautiful national park Cajas and did some hat shopping in a hat factory where they make the original Panama hats. Yes they are made in Ecuador.
If everything goes well in two weeks I should be in the Galapagos islands. We are planning a trip with some friends. It´s hugely expensive and will totally wreck my budget, but being so close to such an extraordinary place I just can´t miss the opportunity to go....

Working for the foundacion

I started my work for the Huancavilca Fundation on Monday. It`s been very good to see that the Foudation actually seems to be pretty organized and the projects look like they`re really working. Like I wrote earlier it works in a poor part of Guayaquil called Guasmo which has 500000 habitants. Huancavilca`s work contains different projects for example prenatal medical services, activities for children, building houses and supporting micro entrepreneurs and helping the people to create work for themselves. Since 80 % of the people in Ecuador live in poverty and social security almost non-existent these kind of foundations really make a difference in the community.
At the moment I`m working with an other trainee on a project concerning the creation of a local news paper. We are trying to solve some problems the representavites of the local community have concerning the financing and administration of the project. Very interesting and hopefully we`ll be able to see some results soon. In addition to this project I probably will be working with the project with the micro- entrepreneurs which concerns counselling and training.
So, at least so far the work seems to be really good and all the people there are great as well and are very happy to work with the trainees.
Last week-end got to know some more trainees and students in my welcome party. Seem to be nice people as well and with some will be going to Cuenca next weekend, which is a old colonial city just a few hours away.
Life in the Chauca family is still going well. And I feel like home in the house. Although having lived quite an independent life, it is a bit hard to get used to asking if you can go out and at what time do you need to be home. And always reporting on where have you been, with who and what did you do. Not that they are that strict with me, but Lorena who`s 23 had to be home from the party at two. Hmmm, I think I had to be home at two when I was 14.....
My plans are a bit more clear a the moment. I will be staying here in Ecuador for an other two months and will hopefully meet up with a friend in Quito with whom we`ll go down to Peru and Bolivia and back to Santiago. Then from Santiago to I`ll go to Buenos Aires and fly home from there in December.
That`s all from Ecuador at the moment.

First days in Ecuador

After a lovely week of seeng friends in Santiago and arranging my things(thank you Kaisa for a place to stay) on Sunday morning at took a flight to Ecuador. Since I only booked to flight a few days before I wasn´t sure if the guys from Aiesec, the organization who arranged my internship, had received my email and had time to come get me from the airport and organize my accommodation. So very with some anticipation I got of the plain outside to the beautiful hot breeze. At least I finally escaped the winter!! It´s never cold here!
Luckily there were some people receiving me at the airport and found out that I will be staying with the family of Lorena. The family is great! In the house live Lorena´s mom, dad, sister, brother and Sandra a girl who works at their shop. The life here is very different and the last days have been a bit of a culture shock. Mostly in a good way though. I´ve been adopted to the family and teach the girls some English, while they correct my spanish.
Gyayaquil is the biggest city of Ecuador with a population of nearly two million. It´s close to the cost and there should be some beautiful beaches just a few hour a way. Hopefully will go there this weekend. The city is quite dirty and not one of the prettiest, but very lively and the people are friendly.
My work will start next Monday in the Fundacion Huancavilca, which is in a poor part of the city and they work in different areas to strengthen the community. We visited it briefly on Monday. The area is very poor, hadn´t really seen anything like that before. Tomorrow I will go and meet everyone and probably will have a better picture of my work. I am really looking forward on starting work there.
Since a had the week of I wanted to go and do a bit of tarvelling. Lorena´s family has two shops and tehy needed us (me and Lorena) to get some cheese from the Sierra. It is a familys friend who has a farn there and we could stay in their house. So got up before four Tuesday morning and took a bus to teh countryside. Went trough loads of bana plantaciones (now I know where the Dole bananas come from) and got to this beautiful village Pallatanga in the middle of thees greend mountains. After a huge breakfast went up the hill about an hour to the farm. Again the people were so nice, altough a bit more shy than in Guayaquil. Spent the whole day in the farm made some cheese and cooked lunch out of vegetables straght from the fiels. The best corn I´ve ever tasted. And the señora cought a chicken from outside, cut it´s trought and made a great soup out of it.
There´s a lot more indigenous people living in the Sierra, than in the city. For the señora there were working a girl and her husband. She is 20 years old, had two children of less than two years and was working with the baby in her back. Everywhere in the village there were children. I also learned a little of their native language Quichua.
Now am back in Guayaquil and spent the morning in the roof of the house washing clothes and studying spanish. Have to be getting back to the house now for some lunch. They eat so much here and every where I go alwasy have to eat something.

Riding and partying in Las Leñas

Back at Santiago. Again the boarder to go across from Mendoza to Santiago was closed for a week, witch ment that I had to stay in Las Leñas for an extra week. This also ment missing a trip with Santiago friends to, San Pedro, the north of Chile.
Las Leñas was cool. Last Monday had one of my all time best days riding. After a weekend of snowstorms it finally cleared up and they opened the toplift of the mountain!! WAU!!! Amazing riding, fresh tracks the whole day in this beautiful super light powder! After Monday stayed there allmost a whole week more since couldn`t get back to Chile. Some good days riding, but mostly in snow storms. Leñas life is a lot of waiting and less but very good riding. Since there are lots of days with closed lifts the only other thing to do is to go out. Being a skitown in Argentina means that Leñas has some seriously good parties. Allso a really cool atmosphere with lots of nice people. Mostly divided to the gringos and the very well of Buenos Airesiens...Place is probably the most expensive in the whole of Argentina.

After a a week of snow storms I decided to take my chance and last Saturday sold my board and bought a ticket to Mendoza and luckily they just opened the boarder on monday and I got to Santiago (after 13 hours with 3 hours wating in the boarder and a brocken bus).



All together had a really good time and being such a specially atractive mountain I think I will have to come back... Hopefully next year. All though I think the best time to come would be september when the weather calmes down a bit.
At the moment have spent the day in a cyber cafe looking for flight to Ecuador, where I start my internship in a local NGO called Huancavilca Fundacion. Thank you dad, who promised to buy me the ticket and saved me a 5000km bus ride through Chile and Peru. Tomorrow should be able to get some photos added to the blog.

Skiing

Promised some new friends to continue my blog in English. So here it goes..
Last week in Santiago, exams, goodbyes, parties, packing and cleaning the house. On Sunday we had to clear op our stuff and give the keys back to our landlord Angela. Although exited of going travelling it was sad to leave our home and comfortable Santiago life.
At the moment am in Las Lenas in Argentina. Had to change my plans of coming directly here cause the boarder between Santiago and Mendoza was closed again last Sunday and after waiting for it to open the week before to get back to Santiago I definitely wasn’t going to do it again..
So I took a night bus down to Pucon to the south of Chile. With the aim to climb up to the volcano Villarrica and snowboard down it, but unfortunately, witch was quite probable, the weather was rainy and there was no chance of it. Instead I went to see some cool waterfalls and swam at night in some natural hot springs. The area around Pucon is amazing with volcanoes, lakes and arucaria trees, witch are these strange big super old pine treas that look really funny. As the rain didn`t seem to bee going anywhere moved on from Pucon to Brariloche.



Bariloche was great!! Finally got to do some good riding. Three super cool days riding great powder. The mountain isn't as big as Las Lenas but had some great snow on it. And just before I was leaving the mountain with very sore mussels from riding and hiking for three days I got offered free stretching and massage thanks to a promotion of the local phone operator!! So, very good last impression of Bariloche. The town is amazingly beatifu, alpine style by a turquoise lake and surrounded by gorgeous mountains. Thanks to the Argentinian highly efficient bus companies who gave me the wrong timetables and made me miss my bus, I got to spend an other day in Bariloche enjoying the secenery and their great artesan chocolate.

Now have been here for three days. Snow isn't so great, but have had some good days. They still haven't opened the top lift with basically opens up all the good riding. We hiked up to the top on monday, three hours hiking and while getting ready to drop in the pretty steep icy culouir I noticed that the strap of my binding is gone... Luckily got a strap of a friends backpac and tied my foot to the binding. Worked pretty well and got down the mountain.

At the moment scanning weather reports and trying to decide weather to spend my last skiing days here or to go and see the Santiago resorts.