Maljonic - pleasure to meet you. I can safely say that I have never seen an escalator in the congo; if I saw a lift (a rareity), I took the stairs anyway. I lived in Pointe Noire for 2 years with limited airconditioning (subsequently keeps the Spas in Cape Town happily employed) and a Congolese hospital is, sadly, the last place you would want to be if you were trying to treat something. As for chopping people's heads off - worthy of a thesis -the local solution to so many problems is wrapped up in something so strange it is difficult to comprehend.... better to wrap yourself up in Discworld!!