Preparing for Coronavirus by Remembering a Coup
Ever wonder what it’s like to be trapped in your home as everything around you collapses? As the world spins into chaos while I go about my normal routines, I’m reminded of the accidental coup in Mali almost exactly eight years ago. You might think surviving a coup would have taught me to be prepared for say, to be confined to my home, which could be useful at the moment. However, I am utterly unprepared for surviving a quarantine or worldwide zombie apocalypse.
I don’t hoard canned food and always seem to be without any working batteries. I think we have some birthday candles we were handed down in our party bag, but I’m pretty sure we have no matches. I like fresh vegetables too much better than canned. And the batteries here are all crap plus expensive, so of course I never buy them. We never use matches...but I’m adding them to my list now.
The panic during the coup was of course mostly contained in Mali, as none of the rest of the world paid any attention (or even knows where Mali is). To better remember this strange time and psychologically prepare myself for what might be to come (spoiler alert: during the coup, I was confined with a 4-year-old for exactly one day before finding another place to stay- I don’t think I can do that this time!), I’m revisiting my emails to friends and family over that period. Names have been shortened to protect the innocent.
Soldiers guarding coup leaders in Bamako, March 12. Magharebia / CC BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
March 22, 2012: coup day
hi friends,
Good morning! so, no need for alarm, i'm safe in my apartment. just wanted to give you the heads up before you read about it in the news...
Yesterday a group of "mutinous" soldiers (did you know you could mutiny on land? i learn something every day here) took over the national TV and attacked the presidential palace due to dissatisfaction of the way the rebel attacks in the north are being handled. They came on TV last night at 3am announcing the constitution has been suspended and government institutions dissolved until...tbd. Now they are replaying their announcement between awesome music videos like this one. The best part of the announcement is the end where they can't figure out how to turn off the camera. They are clearly very competent and organized.
They announced a curfew starting this morning at 6am but there are still people in the streets, we see kids walking to school. My office is closed and I'm staying in until I hear more news from the embassy. There have been no official US updates since yesterday, my guess is because they too are waiting to see what happens. No one seems to know where the President is so hard to say who is in fact in charge.
I'm in touch with my friends in the embassy who will make sure my roomie and i get out if there is an evacuation. We have plenty of food and water and booze and season 4 of mad men. So no need to worry! The internet and/or power might go out, which happens pretty much every day in hot season, it just means I'm sweating a lot without AC. The high today is 105.
i'll keep you updated when I can!
March 23: coup day, part 2
Hi guys,
So, coup day 3. I'm still fine and still in my apartment.
We have learned a few things about the new rulers of Mali:
1. They are good at coming up with catchy names. La Comité national pour le redressement de la démocratie et la restauration de l'Etat, or CNRDRE
2. They are excellent communicators. During the lastest address in the local language, the spokesman forgets what he was going to say, has trouble reading, and someone's phone rings
3. To be in the CNRDRE, all you need is a uniform of any kind and bad posture (see video above).
4. They are totally in control. During said address they ordered the army back to the barracks and to stop "shooting for joy" into the air. Neither of which has happened. They also changed the curfew from 24-hour to just 6pm-6am, since people didn't respect it at all.
5. They totally know where the president is. In an interview last night, the leader of CNRDRE says the Malian president is "safe", which obviously means they still can't find him.
6. They are accomplishing their goal: more support for soldiers in the north. Since CNRDRE arrested high ranking officials nationwide, rebel leaders have confirmed they will be taking advantage of the power vacuum to attack other towns in the north (far from Bamako). Plus CNRDRE has been wasting all their ammunition with the celebratory firing into the air and have closed the borders, so not sure where that support is going to come from. Today they also announced they have to "fix the education system" before elections can be held. That shouldn't take long.
Lesson learned: literally anyone with a gun can overthrow the government of Mali.
So, until my friends and I can amass some firearms to take over and install a dictatorship with a strong family planning policy, we're still hanging out inside with wine and mad men. No news from the embassy about evacuating. CNRDRE says civil servants must return to work on Tuesday (Monday was already a national holiday), so we'll see if anyone listens to them this time.
March 24: coup day, part 3
Hi guys!
Still safe, and my roommate and I have moved to greener pastures- my friend M’s house who works for USAID. She lives in an American compound, next door to the Department of Defense advisor who sent some armed jacked-up air force guys to get us. They did some impressive evasive driving- going the wrong way around a roundabout and almost hitting a minibus, several motos, and a donkey cart to avoid...nothing.
So, now we're in Americaland, with a pool, generator, and American TV. So until someone figures out what is going on, I'll be reading Hunger Games in the pool and watching March Madness with drunk American military.
March 25: coup day, part 4
Hi friends!
All is calm in Bamako today, as usual Sunday is wedding day and we can hear the wedding motorcades outside, even with the doubling of gas prices.
We've been given permission from the embassy to go get supplies but nothing is open around the compound. Luckily M just got a consumables shipment and literally has an entire room that looks like a Costco and/or a bomb shelter. There are 12 jars of pickles, you don't even want to know how many cans and jars of various tomato-based products, hundreds of hard taco shells. Plus she's got 10 lbs of cheese in the freezer and about 30 bottles of wine. The 3 of us could survive here for at least a month.
Our "saviors" living next door turned out to be Air Force, so all we need to find is a plane and we can get out of here. After our dramatic rescue, they walked to the Raddisson for drinks. This morning they walked over there again for "gym-ops" and "pool-ops", because apparently during a coup everything is an op.
No more enthralling televised announcements from CDNREDRER, now the music videos are just interspersed with documentaries about badgers and hedgehogs. I'm hoping they find my IUD movie they were supposed to play this week and put that on, but I'm betting it's not high on the list of the 18-year-old soldier who is now in charge of programming.
Other than that, just sitting tight til something changes and trying to figure out what we will do if all our funders suspend funding. Paris is lovely this time of year!
March 26: coup day, part 4 - Happy Martyr’s Day!
Bonjour mes amis,
Ironically, today is the national holiday "Martyr's Day", to commemorate the coup in 1991, led by our still-missing current president ATT, that toppled the dictator Moussa Traore - who currently lives in Bamako next to the American Club and no one seems to mind - and created democracy in Mali.
Only about 100 people showed up to a "peace march" today, but to be fair it's 100 degrees outside. However, the anti-coup facebook group has over 600 likes, and the new "president" Sanogo only has 27. Oh the power of facebook. Even Sanogo, who is reported to be a fetisher, got timeline before me. Although i guess a coup leader should be more inclined to try new things.
There are rumors the airport might reopen tomorrow, at which time my office will decide if I stay or go. Luckily, Senegal avoided a similar situation yesterday in their elections so now Dakar could be an option.
In other news, I finished Hunger Games and M just finished illegally downloading the movie (although if we have no constitution, is anything illegal?) so that's what I'll be doing this afternoon.
March 27: Coup-cation over, back to work
Hi all,
Sorry for the late update, we all had to go to work today, since "President" Sanogo said so. Got in around 11:30, left at 2. My kind of day.
The airport is now open, which means mob scenes at the Air France office with people trying to get out. The good news is my boss, who has been stranded in Cote d'Ivoire, can finally get back in, and maybe tell me what my future holds.
In other news, rumor has it they are shutting the banks this afternoon, which has sent everyone running to withdraw all their money. Luckily I have always kept my cash under my mattress, so I'm one step ahead of them.
I'm taking suggestions for a coup-themed playlist (thanks E)- so far we've got: Paper Planes, We Found Love, Waka Waka, Arab Money, Party in the USA.
Off to do an exercise video with my roommate, since the coup has disrupted my usual exercise routine...of doing nothing.
March 28: Coup-cation ruined by 4-year-old
Hi friends,
Two reasons for hope today: the planned arrivals of a delegation of West African presidents and my boss R. If I were Sanogo I would be more frightened of the latter.
Last night the creative geniuses that came up with La Comité National pour le Redressement de la Démocratie et la Restauration de l’Etat apparently read their new constitution on state TV. We missed it because we were having a West Wing marathon to restore our faith in democracy.
In other news, one of M’s friends from grad school who is trapped here with her 4-year-old son moved in last night. This kid has been couped up in the bush for a week and is now hopped up on brownies and he's got a watergun. So we've moving back home.
Another good blog post that agrees with my expert assessment that these guys are making it up as they go along.
March 29: Coup-cation back on
So it goes....
My boss made it back to Mali last night and frantically called me, worried that she only had one bottle of wine at home. She's Muslim but convinced that if the prophet has tasted a good Shiraz the Koran would be a lot different. In celebration of her return, she closed the office again today.
The funniest news story of today is Google news' quote on the top of the page for Mali, which reads: "It's the first time I'm really proud of Mali and of Africa,...Honestly I'd given up on Mali. It's only now with the military that I've regained some hope." This quote is attributed to ATT, our deposed president. I think there might be a glitch in their program.
ATT did talk to the press for the first time since the coup, saying he is safe and sound somewhere in Mali, the only thing he's missing is "un peu de sport". If I knew where he was I'd send him M’s exercise DVDs. They make me tired.
Seeing what happens with the ECOWAS negotiations tomorrow, then might call in the ex-boyfriend brigade, since they are the only ones who have offered to come get me (hello, my own brother in the military police?). S already owns more firearms than the Malian army and A is probably better trained in warzone driving. Sorry C, next time I'll pick a country with a port so you can use your boat.
March 30: Leaving on a jet plane…
Today's lesson: Never underestimate the power of small groups of stupid people.
Yesterday pro-coup protesters lay down on the runway of the airport to prevent the 5 West African Presidents from landing to negotiate a return to democracy. So instead they turned around and decided to freeze Mali's central bank accounts (most of West Africa shares a currency) and prevent Mali from using any of their ports unless the coup leaders give up power by Monday. This means no money or gas coming into the country.
So, I'm booked on a flight tomorrow morning to Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire with our Senegalese boss and the other American and her husband and son. The US embassy still has not organized an evacuation but have said to prepare.
We'll say in Abidjan until the situation stabilizes, we have an office there and we will be staying in furnished apartments. Plus there is a beach! And I can wear all the short skirts I want because they're not Muslim.
March 31: Abidjan: it’s just like America
Hi friends,
Luckily, no one decided to nap on the tarmac this morning so I've arrived safely in Abidjan, where the ALL streets are paved (with cement!), there are numerous stores where they have clothes that someone didn't donate to Goodwill 5 years ago, and you can buy red peppers in a real grocery store with a real produce section (for only $3 each)! I know I've been in Mali for a while but I'm pretty sure this is what America is like.
As usual I overdid it on my last-night-in-town get together, although not as badly as when I first left for Mali (Chug-a-lug with 4loco? Why would we ever think that was a good idea?). It was hard saying bye to all my friends, I was the first to leave and we don't know if/when we will see each other again. So I drank a lot of wine and champagne and vaguely remember speaking in Chinese by the end of the night. Do not remember why.
So, now that I'm out of the exciting danger zone and will be forced by my boss to actually work, this is the last of the daily emails. If you don't hear from me it doesn't mean I'm dead, it just means my life is pretty boring. Will let you know if the situation changes and when I leave Abidjan and for where.
Think happy thoughts for Mali, they need all the help they can get. Separatist Tuareg rebels took the regional capitals of Gao and Kidal yesterday and today, and it looks like Timbuktu might surrender.
Updates
Timbucktu did surrender, and you can read more about what was happening in the north of Mali at this time in the great book The Badass Librarians of Timbucktu.
I was in the US for two months before returning to Mali under a provisional government for about 6 months until my contract ended.
Unfortunately, terrorism directed a Westerners has increased in Mali including attacks on many places I used to frequent (like the Raddison Blu right next to the US compound I stayed in).
Looking back, as a single person this ordeal was not bad. Now with a 4-year-old, it would be much worse...