Sunday 30 November 2008

Sunny winter



Copyright V.Angelo

There is a bit of light during winter as well.

No justification for dark thoughts.

Sunday 9 November 2008

Going East



Copyright V.Angelo

My day in Sahel started very early. Trekking East, making sure that our presence brings stability and security to the area. It's a job for early birds, and a tough one, for that matter.

Protecting refugee children



Copyright V.Angelo


Darfuri children in Eastern Chad need protection against violence, forced recruitments into armed groups and very harsh living conditions. They also need the Sudanese education ministry to accept and recognise the academic degrees obtained by the school children in the refugee camps. As such, once they are back in Sudan, after a peace process, their qualifications for a better life are fully accepted.

Sunday 2 November 2008

Breakfast, the young lady cat

Today I got Kate's new pictures. She is so beautiful, green eyes, big and very round, a very smart look, extremely focused, and so playful. I have always loved her and the pictures today brought her back to me. Feline love, indeed.

Her first name was not Kate. Kate was the name given to her by her new masters when I left Freetown. When I got her, brought to me by one of my local close protection boys, who cared a lot about me, and my being so much alone in my house, she was just a baby cat, full of fear, nothing else. But she looked since the very beginning very intelligent and also full of energy, not withstanding her very small size. A tiny thing, very fragile, but also very alert.

I called her Breakfast. It is not a strange name for a little cat, if you take into account the circumstances surrounding her life. I knew that the day I would leave the country and leave her behind, she would end up in the pot of one my house staff.

You know , life is pretty tough out there and meat is expensive. But being so small, she could only be served as the morning meal, just to keep the staff going until the main meal would have been earned.

Before leaving the country, I ended up by finding a very good family for her.

I still remember when we had to chase her all over the compound to catch her and place her in the carrying box that would take her to the new home. She couldn't understand why we wanted to get hold of her, she had been a free girl up to then.

But she found a nice family, children and love. The pictures show very clearly she is now a good-looking lady cat. I am sure she has forgotten me, as beautiful ladies do.