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October 23, 2005

Malaria in Ouahigouya

Last weekend I went to Ouahigouya to drop off the dossier to buy the land to build the radio station. The journey there takes four hours on a bumpy dirt road. Two hours into the journey I began to feel sick, dizzy, achy etc - early signs of malaria. Funny how every step of this project has been met with Opposition, Snags and Unfortunate Events.

I spent the day in a hotel-room in feverish confusion and at 3 o'clock the receptionist took me to the Travaux Publique on the back of his moped. There I met with le Directeur de Transport, Infrastructure et Gestion des Territoires, who accepted the Djibo FM dossier graciously, grinned wolfishly and said, 'You realise that there will be powerful people opposed to this project of yours, don't you?' I said weakly that I did. Then he inked his rubber stamp and set about the dossier enthusiastically. I slumped in my chair and fought off delirium by counting the mobile phones on his desk.

Posted by sahelsteve at October 23, 2005 05:38 PM