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Angola Diary
3rd - 9th November 2003
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I am an Angolan citizen aged 29 years.I was born in Huila province .My father Alfredo de Fatima and mother is Emilia Tulikeni. Unfortunately my father died in A car accident in 1987 in Mamibe.My mother is middle aged and unemployed. She is a small scale business lady.
I went to school in Huila province up to grade 4 and the to Cuba where I continued with my studies up to grade 12 during which period I under went a nursing course.
In 1997 I returned to Angola. I was posted to Cunene province and started working in Ondjiva Hospital in 1998.In March 1999 I quit the hospital and joined MAG.
This Humanitarian organization was offering a salary higher than the one I was receiving from the Ministry of Health, so I decided accept the job of a paramedic for MAG.hat mattered to me at that time was a reasonable salary be4acause I could no longer depend on my mother's meager resources. At least my MAG salary was sufficient enough to cater for my daily needs. How ever, the American dollar has somehow declined in its value such that my purchasing power has slightly dropped, but I have managed to build my self a house where I am now living with only one child.
The other advantage is I am now able to speak to the public because of the training I have been given in MAG. It is quite exiting to see that the local communities are able to grasp and put in practice what we tell them. This has saved many lives of people living in mine risk areas. Some how, I feel I am contributing to the development of my own country. There fore, MAG's activities should be allowed to continue as there are still thousands of military ordinances through out the country.
I love my job so much that I will find difficult indeed to voluntarily quit the organization .I have come to like working among the communities.
I work in a highly coordinate system. I am leading a team whose job it is to gather information in the field by closely working with the various groups of any given community. Firstly we start explaining the role of our organization in the community after which we explain the dangers concerning mines and other ordinances. Then we show them the drawings of these ordinances and ask them if they have seen such any where within their area. Then a flow of information starts.After receiving these reports, the informants concerned are requested to accompany the clo staff to locate the items. After locating, the reports are the handed to our technical section for action. The technical section then makes plans to go and deal with these ordinances.
May the Japanese Television Broadcasting system continue funding MAG so that the people of Cunene and Angola in general can continue benefiting from this professional service MAG is offering to Angola.
Thank you
Emilia Domingas de Fatima
CL Team Leader
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