A little bit about Angola

Before we leave for Angola, we thought perhaps we would share some information about our home for the next many months.

Angola is a country of 11 million people located in southern Africa. It was a Portuguese colony for much of 400 years. The War for Liberation started in 1961 as much of Africa began shedding yokes of colonialism. In 1975 independence was gained in the wake of the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. Afterwards, 27-years of civil war ensued. Lasting peace accords were acheived in 2002. Four decades of war have left this beautiful country with great challenges: a ravaged infrastructure, widespread landmines, hundreds of thousands of displaced persons, and struggling access to healthcare and education. Fifty percent of the population lives outside of the reach of medical care; life expectancy is only 41 years; and one in four children dies before the age of five.

However, Angola is also now a land of great hope and promise. It has enormous natural resources in diamonds and oil. And it is now in a reconstructive phase. Efforts are being made to establish public health measures and to clear landmines. Plans are being made for Parliamentary and Presidential elections over the next couple years. And, Angola will be host to the Africa Nations Football Cup (that's soccer for the uninducted) in 2010 - the same year that South Africa will host the FIFA World Cup, the first time ever the latter is being held in Africa.

We will be living and working in the city of Lubango, in the southwestern area of the county. Rough estimates put Lubango at about a half million. We're at about a mile high. Our hospital is the newly-founded Lubango Evangelical Medical Center (CMEL). More about this once we arrive.