Abidjan Report- April 2011

On April 6th, Jay headed back to Abidjan, making a 2-day stopover in D.C. en route. While he was in transit, the army supporting Ouattara (the elected president) reclaimed the city of Abidjan. By the time Jay reached Paris, we thought the four month stand-off was finally at an end. Then, Gbagbo (the squatter) feigned a surrender only to hunker down for a few more days of fighting.

Jay was waylaid for a couple of days in Paris, and then flew to Accra, Ghana to await the end of the violence. After 10 days under seige, Abidjan's inhabitants were really starting to suffer, running out of water and food, not to mention sanity. Eventually, Gbagbos supporters made the mistake of firing artillery on U.N. troops and civilians. This gave the U.N. good cause to use missiles to take out the heavy guns. Just a short time later, Gbagbo's bunker was attacked and he was arrested by Ivoirian troops.

Civilians celebrate Gbagbo's arrest

The arrest occurred on April 11th, however, the situation is far from resolved. There is so much broken about Ivory Coast that it is going to take a while for the whole thing to work itself out. There are still some crazy folks who are intent on fighting their own private war. Ivoirian troops finally "solved the problem" of the warlord Coulibaly, but there is a neighborhood of Abidjan called Youpougon where some entrenched Gbagbo supporters are still wreaking havoc. Also, there is the issue of war crimes which were seemingly committed by soldiers and mercenaries on both sides. Attacks and killings occured on a large scale in Abidjan and in a town (Duekoue) in the west of the country. It appears that the crimes were based on ethnic and tribal identity rather than political affiliation. The UN will have its hands full with investigations in Duekoue and in uncovering multiple mass graves in and around Abidjan. It's still such a mess.

Even though the airport was open and the Embassy in Abidjan requested that Jay be allowed to return, the State Department kept him in Accra for over a week. We aren't entirely sure why. They finally let him fly to Abidjan on Easter. Jay says things are much calmer, but still weird. With businesses and government offices looted and violence persisting in some areas, many people cannot return to their homes or jobs. It will likely take some time for things to return to normal. We are hopeful that President Ouattara and the new government will act responsibly and that the Ivoirians will be able to heal and to re-build their country as a more cohesive and peace-loving place.

"The death (April 27th) of one of Ivory Coast's most charismatic commanders and serial coup-plotters, Ibrahim Coulibaly, eliminates one of the main threats to the new government... Nevertheless, it highlights the possible security threats that could be posed by the coalition of ex-rebel commanders that are not directly under President Ouattara's authority, but which brought him to power." (John James, http://www.bbc.co.uk/).

What Emily has been up to

Emily continues to care for the boys by day and to work on her PNP continuing education by night. This month, she was able to attend one day of Women's Conference at BYU with her friend Ginelle Larson. It was a welcome change of pace after so many days of caring for sick kids.

Emily and Ginelle eating Creamery icecream
(German Chocolate Crunch- yum!)

Em also spends a few days a week visiting and helping out at Jay's parent's house. Just before Jay left for Abidjan, his father spent a day in the hospital for a "loss of consciousness" episode. After all the testing, only Stuart's EEG came back abnormal. The neurologist believes he had a seizure. Fortunately, after a month of R&R, Grandpa Stu is finally starting to feel like himself again.

At present, neither of Jay's parents is able to drive. Between a driving service and family members, we've been able to get them where they need to go. However, if Stuart isn't "cleared" to drive after his doctor-prescribed 3 month hiatus, then things might get more complicated. In preparation for a possible move, Jay's siblings and Emily have begun to clean, organize, and "downsize" the Biddulph abode. You wouldn't believe the treasures Emily and Elaine unearthed in the storage room. Does anyone want food storage? There's no way Jay's parents could go through that much grain, canned soup, or JELLO in 5 years, let alone 2...

Kid Report

Apart from worrying about the political and social turmoil in Cote d'Ivoire, our family is doing well. The boys miss their papa, but are coping with his absence admirably. The few weeks following Jay's most recent departure went much more smoothly than Em expected they would. As long as we talk daily and SKYPE several times a week, James and Simon seem to do alright.

James walks around wearing a birthday hat, for no apparent reason.


The boys are growing like weeds. James is getting tall but has managed to keep meat on his bones even in spite of his father's genetic input. Simon has a great metabolism, otherwise he would be HUGE. Emily is convinced that he eats his weight in food everyday.



James has been perfecting his robot-building skills and Anders (his cousin) will be glad to know that nearly all of his TRIO creations are symmetrical these days. James is also developing interests in drawing, "reading to himself", dancing, and singing... things that he could never be bothered with before. Em particularly enjoys eavesdropping on James' make-believe sessions and "ABC Song" renditions. He enjoyed the Easter festivities this year and it is nice that James is at an age where he he is beginning to understand the real meaning of the religious holidays. Although, we have to admit that it is tough explaining the Resurrection to a 3-year-old.

We were relieved to hear that James is not the only child from our extended family who is consistently freaked out by characters in costume. The Easter Bunny tried to greet us at Costco, and even though Em took evasive action quickly, James caught sight of him and immediately began cowering in fear. We can't blame him either... since we think most costumes are kinda creepy...especially when worn by adults.




The most important news is that James is completely potty-trained. He has been almost 100% (daytime and nighttime) potty-trained ever since we left Michigan in March. Huzzah!



Simon is silly, loud, and loves to eat. To date, he likes everything but asparagus and black olives. The best part is that he points to whatever food he wants next and makes yummy noises while he eats... so funny. A couple of months ago, Simon started "talking" to Jay on the phone. When the phone or SKYPE rings, he starts hollering "Hi Papa!" and waves as soon as he sees Jay or hears his voice. It is really cute, but Jay finds it a bit troubling that his toddler equates "Papa" with the phone and computer.



Simon is a friendly little dude and is so busy that he has no problem keeping himself entertained. Simon started signing for real this month. In addition to the survival signs (milk, more, and all done), he now signs dog, bird, bath, bee, fan, and brush teeth. Simon is very opinionated, is determined to keep up with his older brother, loves to tease his family members, and basically thinks he runs the place. Sometimes he is right.

Simon's squishy-face smile

James acting batty

April- the month of quarantine

An old-ish photo of Simon showing off the 3 molars he grew
while we were in Michigan in March.

Emily and the boys don't have much to report for this month, since they spent most of April overcoming a string of illnesses. Em is becoming convinced that Utah County is a cesspool of communicable disease. Our boys rarely get sick and we have never had this many illnesses in a month. It's pretty sad when you consider that our family was more healthy when we lived in a 3rd world country than we are here in UT. Ah well, at least we all recovered in time to take advantage of lovely spring weather at the beginning of May.

The family bonfire held at the beginning of April...wheelbarrow rides compliments of Ethan.

Matt's GIANT dirt pile...so much fun!

We did enjoy a few sort respites from illness and were able to squeeze in some fun with family. James and Simon love to visit the build-site for Matt (Em's brother) and Kim's new house. The dirt there is just way too fun. Also, Matt tends to have a lot of "diggers" around, which is always a thrill for both of the boys.

Gbagbo Arrested!

Excerpt taken from an article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com

A bloody, four-month political standoff ended Monday when troops loyal to Ivory Coast's elected president — backed by French ground and air forces — captured the West African country's longtime leader who had refused to give up power.

Video of former President Laurent Gbagbo being led into a room in a white undershirt was broadcast on television as proof of his detention. He would not sign a statement formally ceding power after losing a Nov. 28 election to economist Alassane Ouattara.

More than 1 million civilians fled their homes and untold numbers were killed in the power struggle between the two rivals that threatened to re-ignite a civil war in the world's largest cocoa producer. Gbagbo's security forces have been accused of using cannons, 60 mm mortars and 50-caliber machine guns to mow down opponents during the standoff.

President Barack Obama welcomed Gbagbo's capture, calling it a victory for the democratic will of the Ivorian people, who "have the chance to begin to reclaim their country, solidify their democracy and rebuild a vibrant economy."

April 10th- Abijdan Update

Article taken from http://www.msnbc.msn.com (A few paragraphs were omitted for brevity.)

Written by- Marco Chown Oved

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast— United Nations and French helicopters fired rockets on strongman Laurent Gbagbo's residence on Sunday in an assault the U.N. said was to retaliate for attacks by his forces on U.N. headquarters and civilians.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he had authorized the strikes, accusing Gbagbo of using heavy weapons against Ivory Coast civilians and the U.N. forces trying to protect them...

...Gbagbo has been living in a bunker in his residence in Abidjan for nearly a week. After a decade in power, he refuses to step aside even though the United Nations has ruled that he lost the November presidential election to Alassane Ouattara.

Forces loyal to Gbagbo were encircled at the presidential residence earlier this week but broke out on Saturday, ambushing a patrol of soldiers loyal to his rival and advancing downtown.

Pro-Gbagbo forces also attacked U.N. headquarters on Saturday and again on Sunday.



In New York, a statement issued by the U.N. secretary-general accused Gbagbo and supporters of saying earlier in April that they were willing to negotiate an end to the crisis but that "they, in fact, used that time to regroup their forces and redeploy heavy weapons."

Since then, Ban said, Gbagbo's forces have attacked U.N. peacekeepers, civilians and the Golf Hotel where Ouattara is holed up.

Ban said he authorized U.N. units, with backing from French forces, to carry out attacks aimed at eliminating Gbagbo's heavy weapons.

He urged Gbagbo again "to step aside immediately" and turn the government over to Ouattara.

In Ivory Coast, U.N. spokesman Hamadoun Toure said: "This is in retaliation for a series of attacks for the last three or four days not only against (the U.N.) but also against the civilian population — often with heavy weapons."

Toure said Sunday's airstrikes targeted the presidential palace and Gbagbo's residence, as well as military bases where heavy weapons had been identified.

Gbagbo has lost control of virtually the entire country in the last two weeks as forces loyal to Ouattara have swept down from the north and west into the commercial capital. U.N. and French forces joined the effort last week, and a first round of U.N. and French airstrikes destroyed much of his arsenal of tanks, mortars and other heavy weapons.

In the wake of the onslaught, Gbagbo and his top military men were negotiating a surrender early last week that had raised expectations the four-month political standoff was nearing an end. But he continued to assert he would not give up power and was the legitimate president of Ivory Coast.

"I am concluding that Mr. Gbagbo has lost contact with reality," said the U.N. peacekeeping mission head, Choi Young-jin...

...Ouattara's forces have repeatedly said they do not want to kill Gbagbo, a move that would stoke the rage of supporters of the strongman, who won 46 percent of the vote in last year's election. AP

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

It's not over 'til it's over

So, we thought the 4 months of danger and uncertainty was over and that Gbagbo was ready to negotiate a surrender. Well, unfortunately not. It was just a ploy by Gbagbo so he would have time to regroup and gain the upper hand.

Our friend Tim Markley (Assistant to the Ambassador) is currently at the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan. He reports the following:

"There was intense fighting again yesterday and into the early evening. However, so far today things have been fairly quiet. It looks like Gbagbo is gaining ground. The battle is just like the way this crisis has been since the beginning. Just when you think it is over, out pops another surprise...I think our hopes and prayers for this to be over soon are going to go unanswered.



I sincerely wish I had better news to pass on. The idea of isolating Gbagbo in his bunker doesn’t look like it will work. So, to me, it appears the only way to end this is to go in and get him. I don’t see him giving up, ever. Otherwise we could be in this current situation indefinitely.

The people of this city can’t last much longer. It is now 10 days of fighting, everyone is running out of everything. Stores that do open are swamped and charging 5 times the normal price for very old goods. Those that have the money are paying it, some buying to resell at even higher prices. The poor of this city don’t have money, and even what money they have they can’t afford the inflated prices. Aid relief is trying to get in, but they are having problems due to the continuing conflict.

Rest assured that everyone here is safe and sound. The Ambassador takes our safety and security very seriously. We continue to try and contact our local staff, and while they have had some incidents they all are safe and doing as well as can be expected.

I will keep trying to keep you updated. Again, and as always, hoping my next update brings good news."

Ouattara's Address to the Nation (Abidjan, CDI)

President Ouattara with Ambassador Carter

Emily almost cried when she read this... Hooray for responsible leadership! We can only pray that President Ouattara and his regime will follow through on these promises...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Below are a few notes from President Ouattara's address. He spoke for about 15 mins on 7 April, starting from 2020 GMT.

-Ouattara commends the republican forces of Cote d'Iivoire for pacifying the interior of the country and warns them against abuses. He thanks the international community for their assistance.

-In order to put an end to the "serious security and humanitarian crisis" caused by "the stubbornness of the outgoing president," Ouattara announces a number of measures:

*He has met with the national directors of the gendarmerie and the police service and asked them to make every arrangement to guarantee law and order and protect persons and property. He asked them to facilitate the provision of supplies to super markets and pharmacies.
*He also met with the directors of the electricity and water supply companies, asking them to repair all damage to the systems.
*He has asked the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) to open the BCEAO branches in Cote d’Ivoire to allow banking.
*He has asked for the lifting of the EU ban on exports to Cote d’Ivoire.
*He has asked minister of energy to ensure regular supply of gasoline and cooking gas.

-The curfew will be relaxed effective tomorrow.

-Regarding Gbagbo, Ouattara says a blockade has been established around Gbagbo’s residence.

-Ouattara says "light will be shed on all the massacres and crimes." He says a national investigation commission will take care of this, and the government will cooperate with international courts and human rights organizations.

-Urges citizens to demonstrate a sense of responsibility and dignity and avoid retaliation and reprisals.

-Renews pledge to be at the service of all Ivoirians, regardless of their parties, ethnic groups, or religions.