Ivory Coast Volunteers Carrie and Jonathan Brunger fled to Ghana
Read and comment on this story from the Wichita Falls Times Record News that Peace Corps Volunteers Carrie and Jonathan Brunger were among those who fled to neighboring Ghana and that Carrie's most recent e-mail late Thursday said they are trying to fly out as soon as possible at:
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Turmoil in Africa hits home in Falls Couple waits for return of granddaughter
Brye Butler, Times Record News
For Eunice and Grady Halbert, the gruesome uprising in the Ivory Coast of Africa has hit home in Wichita Falls.
Until just a few days ago, their 26-year-old granddaughter, Carrie Brunger, and her husband Jonathan, were living in the midst of the country's bloodiest uprising to date.
Brunger and her husband joined the Peace Corps in February 2001. Because the couple is fluent in French, they were sent to a small village in the Ivory Coast between Bouake and Korhogo.
For a year and a half, Carrie and Jonathan Brunger lived happily, working to improve the natives' living conditions. Now, their living conditions have never been worse.
A coup began Sept. 19 in the city of Bouake by mutinous troops thought to be recruits of a former dictator. After days of fighting, nearly 300 people are reported dead, according to The Associated Press, and Bouake and Korhogo are now both in the control of the rebels.
In response to the fighting, 600 French soldiers were dispatched to the area and the United States sent 200 troops Tuesday to help evacuate foreigners during a cease-fire negotiated by the French.
An estimated 2,000 Americans live in the Ivory Coast.
Carrie and Jonathan Brunger were among those who fled to neighboring Ghana, her grandmother, Eunice Halpert, said Thursday afternoon. Carrie has been e-mailing her mother in Ohio, who has kept Eunice updated.
"When they came to pick us up our village, we had 20 minutes to gather things that we wanted," Carrie wrote. "The only things I brought out of the village were the essentials: clothes, water filter, iodine, shoes, toothbrush, etc.
"I'm wondering just how long we are going to be sitting at this compound. The waiting is excruciating at times."
Eunice Halbert agrees: waiting is awful. "When I first heard the news, I was petrified," she said. Her grandfather, Grady, as well as the rest of the family, felt the same way.
"I just want our girl home," her mother, Hollis Harper, told Eunice.
Neither woman knows what will happen now. Carrie and Jonathan were scheduled to return to the United States in February, but both hope it'll be sooner. Carrie's most recent e-mail late Thursday said they are trying to fly out as soon as possible.
Eunice said while Carrie would like to stay to complete her work with the Peace Corps, she knows the couple's safety is their top priority.
Before the present turmoil, the couple was enjoying themselves. "Carrie said, 'Except for the heat, it's beautiful here. The people are very appreciative, cordial and cooperative. And the children are just adorable.'
"They haven't lived in a primitive situation at all," her grandmother said, describing a picture sent by Carrie where she's working on a laptop as a fan blows cool air on her. "They love it there."
After being evacuated to Ghana, Carrie wrote, "We really don't want to leave this country in such a horrible manner. We didn't even get to say goodbye to our friends in the village. We just had to leave.
"I really don't want to end the Peace Corps experience like this. I hope things calm down and get back to normal. At this point, I don't see that happening."
The Associated Press and The New York Times contributed to this report.
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