Sitting with my website, I felt that it would be very sensible to write an article about the very recent events in Angola. As many of my readers may know, I lived in Angola for three years and through that time I saw development. My father who had visited Angola a few years before, I believe it was 1997, claimed to see even more development.

The question, then, is towards what is Angola developing and from what. I believe that the situation in Angola has become steadily more normal. Living in the richer countries in the western hemisphere, we should remember that the daily life we face is not the normal in the world. Luanda, when I left the city in 2003, was a normal but poor city. Most people struggled to make it through the day and to assure that they would have something to eat, also tomorrow. I understand that Luanda still is that way.

Sadly, the major cities in Angola, and especially Luanda, have experienced a rise in crime since the end of the war. Today, organized criminality as well as very serious and violent amateur crime is a major problem. Young and poor Angolans observe the ways of the upper-class and, of course, want some of that rich life-style. When a person who never touched a cell-phone observes a small elite that changes phones on a monthly basis, they feel it only fear that they can participate in this. Crime, is then the only solution.

The Angolan countryside, however, is much less populated. The few people who live here, I imagine and understand from reports, live a rather normal life. After the war ended and fear of guerilla attacks faded into the past, these people now live peaceful lives centered around farming. The little they trade with the outside world, is usually clothing and absolutely essential articles from NGOs and their own products.

Recent events, such as the Marburg outbreak and not at least the polio outbreak, have, however, proven the disadvantages Angola has compared to other countries. With landmines, poverty and uneducated people, emergency situations in Angola are not treated as fast as they could. When help came, in the example of the Marburg outbreak, the frustration resulted in violence and problems.

Over all, looking at longer term, for example the development in Angola the last 10 years, since the early days of the 1996-1998 peace accord, the development is not entirely positive. Statistics show larger state income, better telecommunications, better education, better political stability and so on. All of this, however, improves the life standards for the very few. The vast majority of the country's inhabitants have felt little of this development. The slums in Luanda still houses near 4 million people, of whom very few have been able to emigrate to the countryside. Owners of formerly rich farms (especially coffee farms) are stuck in the city as unproductive and poor. This is also what Angola will need to take care of in the near future...