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March 15, 2006

I'm Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qaddafi - fly me!

Tripoli Airport
Location: the international airport at Tripoli, capital city of Libya. I am sitting in a large, characterless transit lounge, with a few brightly-lit shops around the outside that seem to be closed. In the corner is a small coffee shop, outside of which is a display cabinet laden with pastries, and piled high on top with mini tubes of Pringles.

It is about 4am, and there are barely-awake rows of West Africans, surrounded by their bags, unusually sombre on the lines of hard metal chairs. Groups of North African men are drinking coffee around the small round tables by the coffee shop. A large black departures board takes up most of one wall, flashing up departure times in red lcd, alternating between Arabic and English.

The last time I was here was in 1988. Since then Ghaddafi’s Little Green Books that covered every surface have disappeared, and now only one large poster of the great leader smiles down at us from above the transit desk.

Leaving Burkina
I am on my way back to the UK at the end of my three weeks in Burkina Faso.

At Ouagadougou airport, there was concern when they tried to process my ticket as I checked in at the desk of the Libyan airline Afriqiyah,:

“The computer says ‘Destination Invalid’” said the young lady suspiciously. “Where are you going? London? Are you sure Afriqiyah flies to London…?”

Soon a small crowd of friendly and concerned airport staff were gathered round the console, making helpful suggestions.
“We may have to leave you in Tripoli!” twinkled one large beaming lady, and they asked me to wait while they processed the next passenger, Chantal, on her way to continue her studies in London.

However, after 20 minutes of the same problem with Chantal and other passengers, the system was “re-configured” and I was finally booked in – to my relief, all the way through to Gatwick.

The Afriqiyah flight from Ouaga to London is long and tiring, with stops in Bamako in Mali (where a dust storm last week prevented some flights from taking off), and then Tripoli. The flight takes about 13 hours overnight, leaving everyone somewhat frayed around the edges. But it is much cheaper than Air France, and the Tunisian staff are cheerful, relaxed, and – given the opportunity – enthuse readily about their own homeland.

I managed to grab a couple of hours sleep, and was awoken by the captain’s announcement that we were preparing to approach Tripoli. I blinked blearily out of the window into the night, and did a double take. For a moment, I thought the sky was below us, with constellations of stars underneath our feet. Having reassured myself that the blood was not rushing to my head, I watched as the occasional lights became a whole carpet of stars, the street lights of the flat and broad city of Tripoli spread out in the darkness below us.

Returning to the UK
A few hours later, the final leg of the flight takes us from the fresh sunny morning crispness of Tripoli, with the smell of the sea in the air, to the grey coldness of London in March. On my left is Chantal, the charming young Burkinabe lady, studying in London, whom I met at the check-in in Ouaga. There are not many Burkinabe in the UK, so I am thrilled to meet her, and she tells me there are a few doing higher studies there who have often first studied in Ghana. The UK rarely has problems with people from Burkina, but can often be discouragingly harsh with those wanting to visit. Chantal has invited me to come and eat a traditional Burkina meal with her and her friends next time I am up in London.

On my right is Jideh, a very softly-spoken Nigerian pastor from “Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries”. He sounded like he should actually be from “Mountain of Still Small Voice Ministries”. He is looking forward to his first visit to the UK.

The three weeks have gone very quickly, and have been very filled with visits, travel, meetings, ministry, and – above all – time with old friends. Once more it struck me how much richness there is in Burkina Faso, that we need to receive and learn from – richness in relationships, in community, and in spiritual life. How much we need that to speak into our money-, success-, and pleasure-driven lives.

It was very easy to be back in Burkina. I have enjoyed the time immensely, and believe God has been speaking through this time. But it is right to come back to the UK at this time. Please pray for me over these next few weeks as I seek God’s way forward for my life. Thank you.

I will continue to post stories and thoughts from my trip, including the follow-up to the Bribery post, over the coming weeks.

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso tripoli travel ouagadougou libya airport afriqiyah

Posted by Keith at March 15, 2006 07:13 PM

Comments

Posted by: Steve Hilsden at March 15, 2006 08:23 PM

Posted by: wilsonian at March 16, 2006 02:27 AM

Posted by: Donna at March 16, 2006 03:44 AM