Out of Africa
Safe in hotel, Camosun grad recalls terror, awaits homecoming
 
Cindy E. Harnett
Times Colonist

As the ra-tat-tat of gunfire reverberated through the riotous streets around her compound in Cameroon, in western Africa, a terrified Victoria woman hid in the dark with a friend and did what came naturally. They watched Sex and the City and played chess.

"It's totally surreal," Camosun College graduate Lindsay Luke said. "You're sitting there, and you feel it, but still you feel so removed from it. But in hindsight, of course, I was petrified in the moment."

Luke is now safe in a hotel in Buea. She was rescued from her residence in Limbe after riots broke out in Cameroon earlier this week, leaving about 17 dead, according to news reports. Luke and other Canadians will fly out of the area Tuesday.

"I don't want to leave Cameroon; I love the people and love the country, but I've got to come to grips -- I have to go home," Luke said.

The violence has stopped for now, and all is quiet save the din of crowds and cars returning to the street. But Luke knows fighting could flare up again. The Foreign Affairs Department is warning Canadians to stay clear of the region.

Luke is on an employment internship organized by Camosun and the Canadian International Development Agency.

The rescue of Luke and her friend Taryn Barry, of Edmonton, is the result of a Luke's resourceful mother, who found there was a Canadian military officer who formed ties with the military in Cameroon.

Capt. Ed Smith, based in North Bay, Ont., has contacts through his humanitarian efforts with International Children's Awareness Organization Canada, and his own engagement with the Cameroon military. He arranged with Capt. Ayang Frederick, of the 21st Battalion of Buea, to pick up the women and get them home safely, Luke said.

It was her first good experience with the Cameroon military since she arrived in October. During her five-month stay, Luke was astonished by the poverty and the low return for a day's labour and the price of fuel. A day's wage might average about $6 Canadian, while a litre of gas is about $1, she said.

Those fuel prices are believed to have ignited rioting last weekend. "It started over a taxi strike and the price of fuel ... then people just became upset about the price of everything from materials to food," Luke said.

Rising global food costs have sent prices skyrocketing, and a proposed constitutional amendment that would extend President Paul Biya's term is also fuelling controversy.

Last Tuesday, the two Canadians, unable to find a cab, walked to work with a large stream of locals. All was fine until later in the day when they heard the thundering sound of people running in the streets.

The violence swelled quickly. People threw rocks and lobbed anything they could onto the main road. Cars were set ablaze, and plumes of smoke could be seen in the distance.

Then came shots from military vehicles ramming through the streets. That sent the crowds running back in the opposite direction.

"I was shocked, to be honest, this happened in Limbe," Luke said. "People are poor and they work so hard, but the biggest thing they find frustrating is they just don't have any power to change anything. The president [Biya] has been in power since I was born. But they're still considered a democracy."

Businesses hastily began closing their shacks, a hint of tear gas infected the air, and a local man had to steer Luke and Barry through two gangs of youth.

Luke will tell her story at Camosun College, in the Young building, on March 20 at 6 p.m.

One of the more disturbing things Luke saw during the fits of violence, was some local people laughing, dismissing the violence. It spoke, she said, to their coping mechanisms and acceptance of violence in Africa.

"I have so much empathy for them. It shows you what we take for granted in Canada."

ceharnett@tc.canwest.com

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008


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