What is it like in the Central African Republic?

all right central african republic this was probably one of the most intense countries i had ever been to so let me just kind of set the foundation first a few years ago i made a video that not many people watched basically i was like hey i'm making a little bit more money off of youtube so i want to invest my money in the poorest country in the world whatever that may be at the time it was the central african republic now i believe they're number two i think burundi just surpassed them but the point is they usually rank in the lowest bracket in terms of gdp per person parity index so i was like alright this is the country but if you know me i'm also very kind of fiscally prudent like yes be generous but don't be stupid with your money either you know just because a charity says all the right words and shows you all the sad pictures with all the sarah mclaughlin music in the background doesn't mean the people working for that charity are allocating the funds properly yeah i take this stuff very seriously i don't play around with my money i don't like putting my money in like a pool and then the charity just kind of like arbitrarily describes how your money is going to help but then you look at like the open source accounting and realize that like 80 of the finances goes to administration or like vague costs like consultation fees no like i want to know exactly where my money is going how it's helping and what it's doing and i was raised with korean money values but i don't know maybe that's like the italian side of me they're like don't play with my money mio frato i want to help you but uh don't make me have a problem with you and the jonathan's house organization was the only one i could find in the central african republic that was willing to actively communicate with me and give me updates and pictures and show me the breakdown exactly what is happening and how much it costs and what's gonna go on that's why i chose these people then i asked them okay you guys are kind of cool what do you need first thing they said we need chickens we're doing this feeding program and we want to at least give the orphans and the kids in the community at least one egg every week let me repeat that one egg a week so i was like okay let's do this chickens and then they were like we would love it if you could come and see the actual orphanage and every year i wanted to but i had to cancel but then finally the pandemic was kind of dying down the world was opening up a little bit more and this was my window of opportunity so [Music] back to africa let's go so i'm gonna level with you guys i don't have a lot of useful skills i'm not a doctor i'm not an engineer i don't play any instruments i learned four chords on the ukulele and i kind of stopped but one thing i do kind of have is time and a little extra money and sometimes those can be useful so for this trip my purpose was basically to be a courier my job was to transport these water filters in many of the rural communities this country has limited access to clean water i didn't know anything about these water filters i'm not the expert this lady robin was the expert she flew in from idaho super smart at everything she's an engineer she's a farmer her job would be to install those my job was to transport them robin explain what were those water filters for well they're actually called village water filters and they're actually designed specifically so that a family can use a gravity fed water filter to take something [Music] few notes due to the internal conflict there isn't really much of a tourism sector in this country and it's pretty intense i'm not gonna lie for one it is actually expensive it's interesting you would think a developing country would be cheaper not here not only just to get your end access but the pricing for things like retail and food they're actually not that far off from being on par with the eu or u.s and canada even when you have a local bargaining for you it's still gonna come up pretty close to enter you will be required to have a yellow fever vaccine and it is highly recommended that you get malaria medication i got malarone as well as mosquito spray both of which are very readily available in most pharmacies in the country another note interacting with the locals is a little different this is one of the very few countries i've been to where the people were very standoffish they are kind of suspicious of anyone and everyone even other africans the people here they all know they're immediate communities so if you're not part of it chances are they're probably gonna approach you with more caution why because they've been through it all and they've seen it all pretty much everybody here has a story of death it is estimated that somewhere around maybe 10 of the entire country is orphaned they have a high infant mortality rate often gastrointestinal diseases are the cause and due to the internal conflict casualties of internal fighting are common as well it's a complicated country but what it comes down to is this is not a country you can just kind of waltz in do whatever you want and explore everything everywhere and have access to anything you want this is not one of those countries i wish i could tell you guys yeah the central african republic go explore everything you want you'll have everything you need enjoy i wish i could say that to you but i would be dishonest if i said that this is a country where if you want to go you have to be willing to adapt so with all that finally i was off to go to the country now if you're flying in from paris you will get the most amazing view ever if you're flying during the daytime you will get to see half of the entire continent of africa transition from the north maghreb all the way down to the jungles you even get to pass through whatever remnants of lake chad are left before it dries out all right here we go upon arrival i was greeted by samuel samuel is one of the heroes of this entire story he does so much work for this orphanage it is insane and none of it would have been possible without him in addition i was greeted by donna and the jewels charlie and gay as well as john these people are missionaries they've been in the country for over 30 years and if there were any people i've met that were truly dedicated to this country these would be the people they are all fluent in sango the national language how did you two end up here i was born in africa in the chad with two missionary parents and grew up here in the central african republic through high school parents retired we were looking at a place for ministry and we ended up deciding to come back to central african republic and continue the work that my parents would have been involved in i'm with him i i grew up in just pennsylvania and my dad says if you marry this guy you're going to go to africa and how long 1883 1983. so i arrived here in the central african republic when i was a little less than a year old so i did my my elementary school and high school with the missionary boarding schools here in the central african republic started seminary met my wife and we came out together and it was in april 89 so i came here actually i was born here my parents were missionaries here and so i was born in this country we left it when i was 10. and then i came back just a year and a half ago full time to work at the orphanage i'm a school teacher by trade and i've always had a heart specifically for female education in countries where education is not prioritized especially for females right away it was off to work to do some errands driving around town was quite a sight first you see un cars and trucks everywhere as they are very active around the country you see hustling bustling streets with open air markets every major government building embassy school or compound is surrounded by tall walls with barbed wire fence and guard stations along the ubangi river are the tallest buildings mostly hotels or upscale residential buildings and overall you see a sense of typical metropolitan life going on the very next day it was right off to work i didn't even have time to explore we'd be able to do that later in the trip but right now it was orphanage time we had to pick up 10 large sacks of chicken feed get a whole new oven and then drive off and yes by the way bangi does have modern department and grocery stores they're all owned by lebanese people by the way i thought that was really interesting now of course due to the ongoing conflict within the country i am not at liberty to discuss the location of the orphanage but i will say the drive out there is stunning here we go they keep putting me on baby duty cheers doesn't listen to me i'm a terrible babysitter um first to even leave the city you always have to go through a checkpoint you are not allowed to freely go across the country you need a permit and you need to be able to pay to go outside of anywhere in any village there are checkpoints everywhere along the road you see so many kapo kia trees those are my favorite they're long spiky pleated trunks and flat canopy tops along the roadside you pass by countless small villages with thatched palm roof and ochre colored stone brick houses these are called brick pati houses usually they are accompanied by a wood and straw a-frame roof gazebo looking thing called the pyot or anga these are used for cooking or just hanging out under for protection from the sun or rain all along the road you might see these long streaks of white this is manyak the national staple made of the antioch root they dry it out crush it into powder then cook it into a thick squishy staple for every meal it's very similar to fufu or ugali i freaking love this stuff it goes so good with amaranth do stew made from the amaranth leaves you guys know that palak paneer is one of my favorite foods this stuff tastes very similar i was going crazy over it i loved it there's some good food in this car so we arrived at night time obviously off-grid very few lights okay i'm not gonna lie we did kind of run over a pig and accidentally kill it but like we honked the horn like 20 times but it just ran in front of the car like at some point you're just kind of like so anyway it's estimated that only a little bit over 14 of the country actually has access to electricity mostly concentrated around the capital bangi and the surrounding areas around the bawali dam which serves as the primary source for the entire grid of the country this means in the rural and outskirt areas away from this strip of land you have to either depend on batteries solar generators and fire upon arriving it was dark you have to use the flashlight to get around all the lights here are powered through solar so you gotta use flashlights every single night we go to the main house where the female orphans stay it's the only building on the property site that has a generator for electricity and if anything happens they actually have a wall switch that they can switch off to solar reservoir it was interesting i've never seen that before otherwise all the other buildings on the site are off grid no electricity and no plumbing this was my room just a single mosquito net bed no lights or fan which was ironic because my curtains had electric fans on them so this is my bed mosquito net and uh no blanket because it's warm enough you don't need one and of course this was my shower a big container and bucket i've done this many times in the past in even worse conditions surprisingly in korea and uh there's actually a very rare natural phenomenon that happens in this area in which uh this happens so don't explain the whole book situation what is up with this so these are stick cards steam fives are seasonal and they're only on this film they come once a year october november um they last a month or six weeks but they come in they they're all over the place by morning they're all on the ground ninety percent of them are good just october november ish this happens you can't escape them they just will be there they even get in your plates and your foods so here's the deal obviously this was an orphanage so i would be introduced to orphans now i'm going to be a little honest i'll admit i'm not exactly amazing with kids it's not that i have anything against them it's just i'm kind of awkward around them it's like hey kiddo how's that minecraft i don't i don't know i mean i can put on the barney face if i have to and like half of my friends have kids anyway so i've had practice but yeah it's just i a little awkward with kids but when you come here you have no choice you will have to interact with them they follow you they cling on to you they ask you questions so i was like okay may as well uh talk to these kids a little bit maybe they can uh show me around apollo [Music] is [Music] then it kind of popped in my head i got to see the one thing that started this whole trip to the car i got to see the chickens grass uh okay going good that was amazing it's like i was looking at my very own investment right before my very eyes it was like wow i got these chickens it was a really cool feeling but in any case the orphanage also has a clinic next to it that serves the community the clinic has a lab a maternity ward offices an operating room and patient rooms they depend heavily off of well water and pumps to provide not only drinking water but water for their crops which grow all along the property samuel took me around and showed me questions [Music] is [Music] soon after i was invited to check up the schools nearby the classes are taught in french it's estimated that somewhere around three quarters of the men and about a quarter of the women speak french proficiently french is the money language in this country if you know it your chances of getting ahead increase from there we headed to the feeding program where about 400 local kids in the area come to get a free meal after school provided by jonathan's house they cook whatever they can afford and put in their stockpiles this is what the chicken project i was working on is supposed to help with so it's cool it's kind of like seeing it come full circle afterwards samuel brought me to the boy orphan's home he did a little health analysis on the local children in the neighborhood i was invited to check the inside of the homes obviously no lights they use handcrafted flashlights to see in the dark light is almost like a commodity in the rural areas if you don't have light you just sleep until the sun comes up that's kind of how it works out here so that was basically the orphanage it was mind-boggling to be in like a completely off-grid area and just kind of seeing how things operate out there so it was time to go back to bongi one of our cars got stuck in the mud and it delayed us for about 45 minutes but we got out and then we got back to bongi but i was not just gonna stay in my room i had to get out so i went for a walk so i'm just gonna go for a morning walk here in bangki ah my country's embassy dude i found this amazing path it looks so beautiful and there's trees and flowers everywhere and it's right next to the river river's right there this is honestly one of the most beautiful walks i've ever been on nothing beats the view of the obangi river in the morning you can see fishermen setting up their nets and people crossing over to the congo on the other side in two days i would be crossing it i had to it was on top of my list later on bries the jewels as a son-in-law gave me a ride on his motorcycle this is one of the best ways to travel in my opinion they say experts don't even need to hold on to anything with their hands i used one hand on the seat rails never mind this guy holding an entire mattress back downtown i had to check up on one of the only few landmarks of the city the notre dame de bangui the largest and most iconic cathedral of the country inside it's pretty impressive they have statues and pews that go down with a long aisle right across the road from the cathedral you find the artisans market i had to take a look so many wonderful carved wood crafts along textiles and artwork then i went out jogging the next morning and something interesting happened this guy started following me [Laughter] hello i didn't expect this to happen i just kind of went with it and uh ervay just kind of talked to me and he eventually showed me the east side of bangui [Applause] [Music] what do you do and he says he makes jewelry specializing in customized grommets or these metallic wrist brands uh he gave me this one as a little gift i still wear it to this day i actually haven't even taken it off since i left except for during airport security so i told elvey my plans and i told them to meet me on the last day but in the meantime we had some other stuff to do the next day was congo day i had to make this happen it would be very difficult but i kind of wanted another country under my belt see unless if they are from other central african nations the drc is very strict with anybody visiting their country if they don't have a visa right across the river from bangi is zongo drc the only way to get in if you don't have a visa is to get a laissez passe on your passport this is what it looks like even if you get the lesse pase that's not enough you have to have somebody waiting to meet you on the other side to vouch for you when you get to customs i was very lucky i came on the day that these guys mark and his son ben were gonna cross over mark was a missionary he was born in the congo he was returning and would meet up with his old friends pastor tinza and his lawyer friend nabway and uh they kind of allowed me to piggyback off of them this is zongo congo made it to the other side if you are able to do all that and cross over into zango it's kind of a small town mostly just used as a harbor for shipping not too many major landmarks the only main difference is that you start to hear the lingala language a lot more after going back the jewels wanted to take me to what is probably considered the number one spot in the central african republic bowali falls bowali is the site of both the dam where all the electricity is created and where the majestic waterfalls are located [Music] so [Music] the best part for me though was uh something else guys i really am in the best place ever oh jackfruit it's my favorite i'm literally in heaven right now i've never been around this many jackfruit these things go for like forty dollars each in the usa finally it was the last day and erve stuck to his word he showed up okay [Music] i asked him to show me where he worked i wanted to buy his jewelry so he agreed we walked through the downtown market area this lady yelled at me for filming el vey brought me to an artisan shop i got my mom this cool silver necklace i got caleb a baby rattle for his new daughter they probably charged me a lot as the outsider but whatever i worked within my budget so i was happy in the end i wanted to kind of keep in contact with el faye but he didn't have a phone he didn't have a computer nothing no internet no email so i bought him a phone so those were some of the highlights of my trip there's a lot of other little stories along the way that i missed out on because it's just this video would take too long but i will say it was a very intense trip but i loved it people say the car is the world's most quiet crisis it's kind of like the kidnapped princess of africa there's a lot of backstory to this place but the good news is that the story is not done and i'm really glad i was able to go and see and witness a part of it i wish everyone the best thank you guys for watching stay cool stay tuned [Music] blue [Music]

Channel: Geography Now

Views: 390,960

Keywords: Geography, facts, info, cool, education, learning, countries, history, class, lesson, funny, travel

Id: h9yTwyWdbqM

Length: 25min 13sec (1513 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 31 2021