My dear friends: It would be absolutely impossible to explain to you in a tiny little blog entry just how beneficial and amazing my trip to Sao Tome Et Principe has been. Words cannot express my excitement about this visit or my gratitude to our new friend of Kosovo, Mr. Jean-Philippe van Nyen – Ambassador of ‘Ordre Souverain Militaire Et Hospitalier de Saint Jean de Jerusalem, Chevaliers Oecumeniques de Rhodes et de Malte, OSJ (Order of Malta: Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and Malta, Order of Malta, whom I will speak about later in this entry.
Upon arrival on this beautiful island, I was feeling good about the progress that I had made in Gabon (even in spite of some of the government run around). Since the flight from there to Sao Tome was short (only about 160 NM), I was wide awake and ready to conquer a new country. It also helped that the climate here was dramatically different from the past few countries that I have visited. Since this country is an island in the Gulf of Guinea, the weather was quite tropical, which is my favorite. What a beautiful place, looking so untouched and wild from above. I couldn’t wait to touch ground and explore this Portuguese island further.
I was able to clear customs and leave the airport fairly quickly in order to search for a hotel. Since the first hotel that I arrived at was a bit to expensive, the reception desk there was kind enough to call around and organize a transfer to another hotel within my budget. This one was quite nice, very simple, but with all of the needed necessities.
After a good night’s sleep I was up and ready to complete my stay here in record time. Since this country is so small (only 200,000 people), I was thinking that I would be able to accomplish things here quite quickly. Wrong answer my friends. It ended up taking me over a week to complete my work here. At the week was a very beneficial and productive one. As it turns out, this tiny little country has quite a presence in worldwide political affairs, which will hopefully work to our benefit.
My first stop on Saturday morning was the national radio station who took care of me right away. Within a few hours the broadcast was airing nationwide. Thanks to Mr. Francisco Lima ‘Tchesco’ and his boss for their prompt and careful interview. Though I tried to meet with other radio stations, I was unsuccessful due to it being a weekend here. One radio station, Radio Tropicana was willing to meet with me. However, the journalist was told by his boss to instead take the day to prepare for a more in-depth interview with me tomorrow.
The main newspaper, Semenario O Pais of Sao Tome had a great team of journalists and administrative people who all participated during their interview. They all found it very interesting to have a person visiting their country all the way from Kosovo. Mr. Collin Santos gave a very detailed interview and Mr. Valdmar Ramos, Jack Rita and Vladimir Trindade all participated by taking pictures, writing and recording the interview.
One great thing that did come out of today, however, was that I met a Belgium gentleman, Mr. Francis Wertz, who ended up changing everything about my stay here in Sao Tome. Mr. Wertz gave me a contact number for Ambassador Jean-Philippe van Nyen, who was a tremendous catalyst for further success in our mission. After a brief phone call to Mr. van Nyen on Saturday, I was able to arrange a dinner with him on Sunday evening, when he would arrive back in town. He was very excited to hear that someone from Kosovo was visiting his country, but he wasn’t completely caught off guard by my visit as he had already received an email alert from Google about Flying for Kosovo. To this day we are still unsure about where the email was sent from, but Mr. van Nyen was under the impression that we had sent it to him.
Knowing that I would be meeting with him on Sunday night and that I wouldn’t find any more success with media over the weekend, I decided to call it a day as far as our mission was concerned and go for a drive. Since this island had such a different climate than the past few countries that I have visited, and tropical climates are my favorite, I wanted to take advantage of my time here and set out to explore some of the beauty that I had seen from above. Indeed I was amazed at the nature here and the amazing scenery of this part of the planet. I was able to eat some tropical fruits (like breadfruit) that I had never seen before in my life (and tropical fruits and juices are my favorite). The beauty that I see here makes me so grateful because I am seeing things today that I feel like are just in people’s dreams. Sao Tome is an absolute wonder of the world that all people should be able to experience. Despite some of the economic struggles of this nation, there are still a lot of things to see and experience here on this beautiful, tropical island.
On Sunday, I wake up to the smells and sounds of the ocean breeze, rain drizzle, tropical fruits and birds singing and to a view of fresh banana trees hanging in front of the hotel windows. I am in paradise and am feeling very positive about the progress of our mission here. After breakfast, I get ready to meet with Mr. Ancleto Rolin from Radio Tropicana. He is very nice and down to earth and had prepared a great bank of questions to ask me during the interview. We spend more than four hours together on Sunday morning, along with the radio technician, Mr. Abdulay Marques in order to complete a 35-minute edited interview. Thanks to both hard-working gentlemen for making the great interview possible.
Since it was Sunday afternoon, I had a few hours to kill before my dinner with Mr. van Nyen. My driver and I decide to go and visit the waterfall known as Cascata Sao Nicolau. In order to get there, you must pass by a lot of cacao fields, which is the main way that Sao Tome continues its economy. The drive is worth the experience. As you should know by now, I am a big fan of the natural beauty of our planet. Being able to spend a few hours today in nature has allowed me to recharge my battery. Many times on this mission I work very hard and very long days and don’t always get to see the long-term benefits of what I am doing. So allowing myself a few hours to be in the midst of all of the birds and other wildlife of this tropical island gives me more stamina to continue on and feel re-energized. Hearing the waterfall, the birds singing and the crickets all help to bring peace and mind to my soul and give me great joy in life. Until my last day here on earth, I will never forget this brief moment in time where I have been able to experience this beautiful, untouched island. Sao Tome is definitely one of the places that I would come and visit in the future in order to experience it more in depth and detail, especially in order to visit the south side of this island (where I hear that there are monkeys and gorillas climbing around).
After I was able to refuel for a couple of hours, it was time to meet with Mr. van Nyen. I had no idea what was in store for me just by meeting him. We met at my hotel in the early evening. Since we had already talked a little over the phone, I was feeling quite comfortable with the fact that we would be able to spend more time together and talk over a nice dinner. He took me to a restaurant where all of the elite people in this country seem to gather and Mr. van Nyen is well known by everyone. He introduced me to the brother of the President, many political figures, Ambassadors, bank managers, business leaders, etc. He is talking to everyone about my visit to Sao Tome, the purpose of my visit, the countries that I have visited so far, etc.
Right away we become a team and his brain is already working at the speed of sound. Over dinner, he revealed that he was already aware of the purpose of my visit and was willing to offer any help that he could to make my trip more productive. He tells me that he knows quite a lot of leaders in this country, and of course the Diplomatic community, and offered all of his help. What an awesome personality that he has and what a passion that he shows for wanting to make a change in this world. For a man in his early 40’s, Mr. van Nyen is indeed a force to be reckoned with.
We talk at the restaurant until 1:00am, making plans for my visit and all of the good that can come out of it. It is over dinner that I decided to extend my visit here in order to make more of an impact. At the end of the night, Mr. van Nyen offers to let me stay at the Order of Malta residence, which has a view over the ocean – much nicer accommodations than my original hotel.
On Monday morning, my only job is to attend all of the different meetings that have been organized by Mr. van Nyen. I meet with the ‘Charge d’Affaires’, Mr. Jacky Cuzzi at the Embassy of France who mentions right away that we could count on him pushing for the recognition of Kosovo’s independence within Sao Tome. Next up, I meet with the Ambassador of Gabon in Sao Tome and Dean of the Diplomatic Corp, Mr. Michel Bekale-Ekomoe, who came to visit us at the Ordre De Malta Embassy to further discuss Kosovo. He promised to send a report to his government in Gabon regarding our discussions. The same thing was done with the Embassy of South Africa, where I met with The Charge D’Affaires, Mr. Azwifarwi Shadrack Nepfumbada and Ms. Marcia Almeida with the Portuguese Embassy. They all offered to help push for Kosovo’s recognition in any way possible.
Another wonderful meeting organized by Mr. van Nyen was with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sao Tome, Mr. Manuel Salvador dos Ramos, who gave me some of his valuable time. He said that he would be meeting with the Prime Minister and President later that day and that he would ask them about the government position regarding Kosovo. He also promised to ask the same thing to his co-minister during their meeting the next day. Vlora Citaku’s letter was opened right in front of me and he promised that the same letter would be in the hands of every leader of Sao Tome so that they could explore further possibilities. Mr. Ramos himself agreed 100% in the rights and self-determination of the people and that he would do anything possible to help our nation achieve formal recognition. This man is one of the most humble people that I have ever met in my lifetime, despite having such a high rank in his country.
Again, I would not know how to even begin to thank the great Ambassador van Nyen for all of the help that he has given our cause. The meetings that he was able to arrange with the entire elite political forces of Sao Tome has been priceless for our mission Flying for Kosovo. He would not even let me put my hands in my pocket to pay for anything during my stay, taking me out to lunch and dinner everyday and giving me a (fantastic) roof over my head. He offered a private driver from his embassy to drive me around for the week and arranged for a housekeeper to take care of all of my ironing and laundry and make me breakfast. Folks, it has been very rare in my experience on this mission to have this kind of hospitality offered to me. Though I would never want to burden our mission with the kind of costs associated with this kind of lifestyle, I have to say that it was indeed heaven to be treated so luxuriously.
I have truly found a great friend in Mr. van Nyen and a home away from home here in the tiny island of Sao Tome and Principe. It is such a treat when I am able to meet someone of this caliber that happens to share the same values in life as myself and who also shares a passion for helping his country. His organization, Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Ecumenical Knights of Rhodes and of Malta and their mission “Pro fida Pro Utilitate Hominum”, defense of the Faith and assistance to the poor and the suffering, should be further explored by all of the supporters of Flying for Kosovo. Currently, the order has about 3000 members and volunteers (including doctors, nurses, auxiliaries, paramedics, etc.). Their passion and dedication toward the humanitarian concerns of children and elders and other medical and health efforts around the world are to be well-respected and honored.
Because the Order of Malta is a worldwide organization (active in 15 countries), Mr. van Nyen was also able to pull some strings for us in other countries. He was able to organize some things for me in Angola, Congo and Mozambique. He promised that later on, he would work on Ethiopia, where the Spiritual Protector of his organization, His Holiness Abba Paulus, Patriarch of Ethiopia, is located. Before I left, Mr. van Nyen was even working with other embassies of the Ordre De Malta as well, calling countries like Mali and Togo in order to push the issue of Kosovo’s independence more rapidly. He also helped write letters to the Embassies of Gabon and Angola in order for me to get visas put on my diplomatic passport. Lastly, Ambassador van Nyen, seeing my values and learning of my work and accomplishments for the people of Kosovo, requested that the Foreign Affairs Chancellery of OSJ Ecumenical Knights of Malta issue me a diplomatic passport and also nominated me as an honorary Ambassador at Large. This will help tremendously in facilitating my travels here in Africa. Help of this caliber and the greater ease that it will give me in traveling between countries is a very sacred gift that Mr. van Nyen has offered our mission. Jean-Philippe, my dear friend, thank you for being there and for all of the help and personal attention that you have given to our cause. Let’s hope that the higher powers will continue to bless you.
With all of the help that I have been given by this once stranger, Ambassador van Nyen, it amazes me to know that my own country’s government has been of less help in this department (especially in the fact that they haven’t even offered me a diplomatic passport to further our cause). It remains a mystery to me that they would not want to help me spread the word about Kosovo worldwide. Many times I have not understood this. Though they are well aware of my accomplishments and the changes that I have been able to make in the world in regards to raising awareness about our independence, I have not even been given a formal title to use during all of my meetings that I’ve had with government officials worldwide.
One other meeting that I had during the week was with the Director of Protocol of the Prime Minister, Mr. Deodate Da Silva e Lima, who offered his help representing Kosova’s independence to his boss. Finally, I owe the team at Radio Jubilar 91.9 Mhz. a big thank you. Mr. Leonel Pereira and Gil Vaz who have me a live interview that was transmitted to the people of this beautiful island.
My friends, Sao Tome and Principe and the friends that I was able to make here will be missed for many years to come. Most of all, I will miss my new brother, Mr. Jean-Philippe van Nyen, who has also become a valuable, dear friend to the people of Kosovo.
God Bless the people of Sao Tome and the Ecumenical Order of Malta.
Sao Tome and Principe
On February - 5 - 2011
