Zigunchor and Cassamance--two beautiful names. Dakar, Podor, and St. Louis don't have such a nice ring, but Zigunchor (pronounced zee-gun-shore) sounds like an exotic cocktail, and "Cassamance" sounds like a hidden kingdom. Some doctors warned me not to go to Cassamance because of the instability. However, there has been a ceasefire (there were several--one in 2001, then again in 2004, then sort of in 2010), and things seem fairly stable now. The people of Cassamance, predominantly the Diola, maintained a violent separatist movement for many years. Apparently the King there is honored with wrestling matches every week (my source is 4 years old, maybe that has changed now). Most people have said that Zigunchor is a good place to conduct field research because it is so different from the rest of Senegal. For one, it is predominantly Christian or Animist, while the rest of the country is Muslim. For another, its climate is lush, wet, and tropical--lots of great fruit.
As we left Dakar, I could see the white clay houses from above; they looked like crumbling tombstones. We flew along the coast, and as moved towards the Cassamance River, the land changed completely. Above the Gambia, the land stretches flat and dry, with parched looking plants (except on the islands). Southern Senegal is green and moist. From thousands of feet above ground, the rivers look like serpents undulating through patches of green. There are no structures--just these rivers and foliage.
At the hospital, everyone talks about "the war." I had thought the ceasefire solved things, but apparently not at all. Thought Zigunchor is fairly safe, outside there are still attacks. Since Zigunchor Regional Hospital is the only level III hospital in the entire region, the seriously wounded are often brought here. I asked if there are a lot of land mine victims coming to the hospital, and the person I was speaking with said, "not really, this year there has been only one."
Then I stupidly said, "Oh, that's not too bad."
Then he said, "well people usually die right away when they hit a land mine, so there is no need to take them to the hospital."
Apparently the last land mind explosion, which killed 4 people, occurred just 2 days ago, on December 3rd.
The conflict in Zigunchor has received very little international attention, given how long it has lasted (about 30 years). It has been classified as low conflict now, but it seems a lot of people are holding their breath. Given the recent election and change in government, things have been quiet because they are negotiating, but apparently they are always negotiating--then negotiations fall apart, and violence erupts again. Despite this being a conflict zone, there is no morphine (and never has been, except for some random donations) for pain management.
At the hospital, everyone talks about "the war." I had thought the ceasefire solved things, but apparently not at all. Thought Zigunchor is fairly safe, outside there are still attacks. Since Zigunchor Regional Hospital is the only level III hospital in the entire region, the seriously wounded are often brought here. I asked if there are a lot of land mine victims coming to the hospital, and the person I was speaking with said, "not really, this year there has been only one."
Then I stupidly said, "Oh, that's not too bad."
Then he said, "well people usually die right away when they hit a land mine, so there is no need to take them to the hospital."
Apparently the last land mind explosion, which killed 4 people, occurred just 2 days ago, on December 3rd.
The conflict in Zigunchor has received very little international attention, given how long it has lasted (about 30 years). It has been classified as low conflict now, but it seems a lot of people are holding their breath. Given the recent election and change in government, things have been quiet because they are negotiating, but apparently they are always negotiating--then negotiations fall apart, and violence erupts again. Despite this being a conflict zone, there is no morphine (and never has been, except for some random donations) for pain management.
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