Community
Diplomatic Ramblings By Doug McAdam reschedule my programme. Fortunately for me, as in Kazakhstan, Russian is also an official language spoken by the majority of the population.
Although resident in Almaty, Kazakhstan I was also accredited as Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan. Landlocked like Kazakhstan, its gigantic neighbour, Kyrgyzstan (slightly smaller than Great Britain) was also part of the Soviet Union until 1991. It too has a fascinating ethnic mix and when I was there in the late 90’s its population of around 4 million comprised mainly 65% Kyrgyz with Uzbeks and Russians about 13% each with the rest spread among 60 other nationalities. To ensure my Kyrgyz contacts of my commitment to their country I tried to visit the capital Bishkek (with its backdrop of the nearby Ala-Too mountains) every 6 weeks or so. This entailed a hazardous road journey of 4 hours on a good day, but often with traffic problems – especially in winter as treacherous (sometimes impassable) passes had to be negotiated. I frequently had to fall back on my portable satellite phone (see photo) to ask my Embassy to
In an earlier Ramblings I mentioned how the Kazakh Ambassador was transported by royal carriage to Buckingham Palace to present his Letter of Credence to The Queen. In both Almaty and Bishkek I was transported to the Presidential Palaces (from my Embassy/hotel respectively) by Chaika (the huge Russian limousines used for such occasions) to present my Letters of Credence from The Queen. For both ceremonies I decided to wear my kilt. At the time we were encouraged to raise our public profile wherever we were posted and it was successful! I subsequently got to know both Presidents reasonably well. Before my posting I was briefed at Clarence House about an official visit by the Prince of Wales which was to take place in November 1996 (six months after my arrival) to both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. He would be spending two full days in Almaty before flying direct from there to Bishkek where he would spend a day. For me and my three UK staff this involved a huge amount of work. But it subsequently turned out to be highly rewarding as it brought me into very close contact with a number of leading Kazakh
One man and his dog raise over €1,500 The bravery shown by the bombeiros when they faced the terrible fires that tore through parts of the Algarve last year inspired one local British man to raise funds by walking across the region with his faithful dog. Colin MacBean successfully completed his walk across the length of the Algarve and raised enough money to buy a heart monitor for the Lagoa Bombeiros. Colin, who lives in Carvoeiro, braved terrible weather conditions, injury and his fair share of navigational problems to complete his walk in aid of the Bombeiros, raising over €1,500 in the process. Colin said: “I would like to thank many people for their help along the way, including John Wilson from Bespoke Architecture who helped with the organisations and my good friend Dave for running me about during the walk.
16 |
www.tomorrowalgarve.com
“Thanks also to Sue and Aaron Glashier from Harry’s Bar for believing in me and to Bob and Ida Harris from the bar for adding an additional €400 to the fund, Peter and Miranda Gilpin for putting in the first €100 and Nicky Burns for also making a generous contribution.” Many local bars and businesses supported Colin on his journey and helped to raise funds including Carvoeiro Bar, Hemingways, Accordeão, Boa Vida, J Bar, Algarve 2000, Bar , while the Tavira Taberna kindly provided Colin with some much needed warm food while en-route. Colin added: “I would also like to thank Faro Bombeiros for drying my clothes and pointing me in the right direction and everyone in Carvoeiro for their support, however my greatest thanks go to my dog Roly for keeping me company all the way.”
TomorrowAlgarve
and Kyrgyz figures. The highlight of the Almaty visit was probably the small dinner in the Presidential Palace with just the President and his wife, the Prince of Wales, the Kazakh Foreign Minister and my wife and I. We got through some very useful business matters with the Prince asking me to get involved in the nitty gritty of subjects like the investment pitfalls for foreigners. In Bishkek we persuaded the President to entertain the Prince in a ceremonial yurt, something of a challenge in November, which they achieved marvellously. Fortunately visits to both capitals went without hitch but it was with some relief that I watched the Prince’s aircraft take off successfully from Bishkek! It was fascinating to spend three days in the company of the Prince. I had previously met him briefly in New Delhi and Vienna (the latter accompanied by Princess Diana). I greatly admired his command of a brief, but more importantly his ability to work a roomful of people in the time allotted and, in doing so, to make them all feel at ease. Doug retired to the Algarve 12 years ago after over 40 years in the Foreign Office A correction and an apology from the Editor for the incorrect figure in last month’s Ramblings. There were 20 staff at The German Embassy NOT 205 as stated.
New Algarve author Anthony Pearce is delighted that his novel ‘Perspectives’ will now be made available to locals at the Owl Story Book Store in Lagos. Anthony won ‘a most promising writer’ award as a young man and has written prolifically ever since for limited publication and relaxation but in recent years since retiring from a busy career as an international ‘paper trader’ he has found time to craft his first full scale novel for which the early ‘reviews’ have been highly favourable. We hope to do a full interview with Tony in the next few months.