Memories of Angola
28-04-2009 Photo gallery
Seven years after the end of the conflict that devastated Angola, the ICRC is scaling back its activities there. In July 2009 it will close its delegation in Luanda, but will continue to monitor the situation in Angola from its delegation in neighbouring South Africa. ICRC staff who worked in war-torn Angola as far back as 1975 share their memories.
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The ICRC is reducing its activities in Angola seven years after over a quarter century of horrific conflict there ended. In July 2009 it will close its delegation in Luanda, but will continue to monitor the situation in Angola from its delegation in neighbouring South Africa. ICRC staff who worked in war-torn Angola as far back as 1975 share their memories.
"The central plateau, the 'Planalto', was racked by a terrible famine – the direct result of the conflict. Most of my clearest memories are inevitably scenes of despair and death. But there was a day during Carnaval when we were wakened by singing and dancing. There followed magical hours of celebration in which we forgot the tragedy all around us."
Brigitte Meng Comninos, delegate 1980-81
In the late 1980s, Angola was the scene of the ICRC's largest operation in Africa.
When two elephants battle - it's the grass that suffers.
“A huge crown of women and children were waiting for us. They were standing or sitting on the grass in the blazing sun. A few baobab trees and shrubs offer a bit of shade. Apart from a gentle breeze there was absolute silence. Then, from nowhere, arose an unearthly sound, a song growing ever louder, overwhelming. The singing victims of the Angolan civil war – whose words I didn't understand here thousands of miles from any choir that I knew – uplifted me. This mass of voices made me weep.”
Reto Meister, head of delegation 1986-1988