Who Decides? A Day In Equatorial Guinea

It rained again this morning in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. No surprise. It is the wet season in this small African nation that sits next to the Atlantic Ocean.

My crew and I climbed into an SUV, no different than most of us have done many times, and started driving the streets of the capitol city. Some were cratered with potholes, but many were paved. There were billboards advertising Minute Maid orange juice, soccer, and the nation’s President.

President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo is criticized for human rights violations, and his son is accused of corruption by governments around the world.  The President’s supporters say the money created by the vast oil reserves found in the late 90’s in Equatorial Guinea are spurring an unprecedented period of growth. And, it is hard not to see it.

There are construction sites all around the city. Many of the workers are Chinese, and there is some complaining that the Chinese are underbidding local contractors and gaining more than their share of the dollars. Yet, there are also work crews staffed by Equatorial Guineans.

We stopped in the market where homegrown hip-hop boomed from the speakers, the smell of delicious culinary dishes hung in the air, and vendors sat calmly while we shopped. Crime is rare here because the culture isolates those who dare offend their neighbors by stealing from them. The fear of communal reprisal is the biggest deterrent.

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There are pockets of poverty in Malabo. But, where is the country that does not have those? Perhaps, what is most distressing is the lack of good healthcare. We spoke with a young father whose infant son is hospitalized, sick with malaria. He and his wife are frightened they lose their child to this deadly mosquito-borne disease, and the statistics are not on their side. Equatorial Guinea has the 15^th highest infant mortality rate in the world.  She is holding vigil at the hospital, and he is still working, calling on his cell phone for updates. At one point, he telephoned his older cousin and offered her a dollar to prepare dinner for his wife when she returned home.

In Equatorial Guinea, as in the world over, there are tragedies. Injustices. And hope.

Who decides which country is doing right by their citizens? Those who live there or should it be determined by those who do not?