The Central African Republic (CAR) is an extremely challenging place for people with special needs of any kind, particularly the Deaf. At one point, CAR was a pioneer among African countries in deaf education; Andrew Foster, a Deaf American missionary, opened the country’s first and only school for the deaf in CAR’s capital, Bangui, in 1977. Foster also trained the teachers and paid them a competitive salary, ensuring quality education for the deaf children who could attend the school.
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In the second part of our interview series with Dr Ione, she recounts the achievements of the population in the region of Ngaounday at the border with Chad and Cameroon. She reflects upon the quick establishment of social services and on the farmers’ initiatives to improve their living conditions.

In part I, Dr Ione described her first visit to the newly independent Central African Republic and her engagement to improve the country’s health system. Dr Ione spent half of her life in CAR, living through rebellions, mutinies, intermittent progress, and desperation. She has shared the hope of the population and supported their initiatives. She is now working for ASSOMESCA (association des oeuvres médicales pour la santé en Centrafrique), driven by the same enthusiasm that brought her to CAR 34 years ago.

Living convictions: Dr Ione describes her incredible experiences in the Central African Republic. A thrilling eye-witness account of the country’s history.

In a series of interviews, Dr Ione describes her incredible experiences in the Central African Republic: A thrilling eye-witness account of the country’s history.

In 1968, Dr Ione, then a young medical student from Italy, came to the newly independent Central African Republic to help run a hospital Ngaoundaye, close to the point where CAR, Chad and Cameroon meet. She has now spent half of her life in the country, living through rebellions, mutinies, intermittent progress, and desperation. She has shared the hope of the population and supported their initiatives. Today, she is still on their side, helping them to stand up again. Dr Ione is now working for the ASSOMESCA (association des oeuvres médicales pour la santé en Centrafrique).

In this first interview, Dr Ione comes back on her convictions and on the origin of her commitment to the population of the Central African Republic.

Alertnet runs a story on the challenge of delivering aid within the Central African Republic. All but a few roads are in disrepair, the most important road to Cameroon lacks hundreds of kilometers of tarmac and the rainy season is about to set in. Most bridges have been destroyed in fighting between rebels and government troops. The video below gives some idea how difficult it is to get through with jeeps, let alone with trucks.

During her visit in February 2007 Mia Farrow witnessed the humanitarian crisis in CAR. Burnt villages, people seeking refuge in the bush, impunity for human rights abuses and the lack of basic social services.