While some people feel the war is finally approaching conclusion, others feel the war of attrition will last for many years to come. Rebel leader Jonas Savimbi vows to continue until his forces control the country. While the rebels and the government use their resources to pay for warfare, the people of Angola suffer in a country that continuously moves backward in its services and infrastructure. Villages have been emptied. Crops have been abandoned.
Schools are closed.
Land mines threaten each step in the countryside. The United Nations estimates there are 9 million unexploded land mines in Angola. More than 60,000 Angolans have lost an arm, a leg, or both to land mines. The people have swarmed to the cities and to displaced persons camps. At the end of a 33-hour trip, we landed at Luanda.