Transport in Senegal

As middle class westerners, we are spoiled in so many ways. We once had a visitor at our home who commented what a luxury it was to have a car at your disposal, sitting outside your front door. Even in Mozambique we have one and usually when I travel someone is usually there to pick me up and take me where I need to go.

However, in my recent trip to Senegal things were a bit different. I was making a cold call and since I had no clue where I was going, I did not want to rent a car. One friendly guy gave me advice on where the ATM was at the airport, and what phone card to buy, but after that I was on my own.

If you have every exited the doors of a airport in the developing world, you will know that you are often besieged by 3-10 people vying for your attention, offering you services and thinking about how much of your money they can get before you realize you have been taken for a “ride.” As I exited the Leopold airport, I was met by at least two taxi drivers. I selected one, but then ask him to wait while I used the ATM. He obliged.

As I began to discuss the price for the taxi with the person I had selected, there were two other people hovering around listening to the conversation and when I asked how much to the intercity bus station, they all agreed that it was deep into the city of Dakar and expensive to get there. So I agreed to the price of 10,000 CFA or $20. As we head out to the car, these two tag along. When we arrive, they all jump in and say, "let’s go." (That should have been my first clue, plus I realize this is not even an official taxi.) I felt a bit uncomfortable, but got in and we took off, nearly clipping the rear end of the car ahead of us. Then off we go, racing through the streets of Dakar.

As we approach the intercity transport station, the one who speaks English starts asking for a tip, for all they have done for me. Besides he says, he will also take care of the intercity ticket with money that I provide to him. When I offer 1,000 extra he frowns like I am cheating him out of his milk for breakfast, but by then I have figured out these guys are running a racket. Sure enough, later I find out that he charged me extra for the intercity transport.

Public transport between cities in Senegal takes 3 major forms, 40-50 year old tin cans with windows and wheels, larger modern buses or the 7 plus taxi.


The 7 seaters are old Renault station wagons built for 5 that have had an extra jump seat built into the cargo hold. With 7 plus the driver, it is tight! On this particular leg, I am in the front. No worries! However, the 1 hour expected trip to Thies takes 2 hours due to traffic. It costs me a 3,000, so now I know I really overpaid for the 15 minute taxi ride in Dakar.

The next day, I get to ride in another 7 plus for an hour and find out that the fee really should be around 1,500 for such services. The real stretch comes after waiting an hour for the car to fill up on the trip to Saint-Louis where the driver does not want to push his car faster than 70 km per hour. I am in the middle seat and can’t wait to get out once we stop.


From there I meet Mr. Aziz, my appointed guide and his young friend Mamadou, our interpreter. We take another friend’s taxi for 45 minutes to Ross-Bethio and pay 7,000. Since he won’t let me pay directly, then later writes me a receipt, I assume I paid for his transport to come pick me up in Saint-Louis. I am ok with that since he was doing this all for me.

From Ross-Bethio back to St-Louis, there is no 7 plus station, so we flag down a tin can on wheels. It will get you there, they said, it is just slower, so I climb into the back of the bus. Here I am met by about 8 people and about 2 tons of watermelon. They have sectioned off the bus right behind the driver and filled the middle with melons.


Muslim music blaring (it is Friday afternoon after all) we drive off down the road, stopping whenever anyone raises their hand to get on or off. At one point the back of the bus is packed with about 8 women, seemingly headed for a wedding, everyone dressed to the hilt, African style.


This trip is nearly 3 times as long as the one out, but the consolation is that it only cost 500 CFA or $1. However, at the end we are unceremoniously dumped into the street by the driver who says, “OK, everybody out!” Clueless as to where my hotel is, I am forced to get a taxi who drives me a dozen blocks and has no receipts. So how does a guy turn in an expense report anyhow?

The next morning when we arrive at the 7 plus station, good news, I complete the carload and we are ready to go. The bad news, I am in the back jump seat, up against the right rear wheel well, and my foot, then leg on that side goes to sleep within 20 minutes. I must be really smashing a nerve. I am surprised it is only one side as I am pinned so tightly against the guy next to me and he against the plus size woman next to him, that both hips start to hurt. By squirming around enough to get my hip bone even with the wheel well, I get relief for the nerve, but not anything else. The other good news is that this guy is driving like crazy and gets the trip over within 2.5 hours, without killing anyone.


That ought to be enough adventure for now, all I have to do is get back to the airport from Thies to catch my plane on time. Piece of cake! Hmm?

Rwanda

Rwanda - a land I've heard a lot about and have now experienced. My first impressions were - it's so clean! I haven't known any African cities that are this clean. I didn't see a bit of trash on the street anywhere. Everyone is issued three large bags per week - one for rubbish, one for recycling and one for food waste. Plastic bags are not used in the country. I wonder if this could work in Maputo?


The Congo microfinance board that Steve is on decided to have a board meeting and retreat in Rwanda across the lake and border from Goma. They chose a beautiful place to meet in Kibuye at Bethanie Center right on Lake Kivu.














Notice the active volcanos in Congo across the lake.

These men had some entertaining conversations at mealtimes, mostly about sports and politics.

When we passed St Jean's Catholic Church close to Bethanie, someone mentioned that there had been a massacre there during the genocide. I looked it up online and found out that 2,000 Tutsi people had run there for safety. Later they were all killed inside the church.



Much later the church was rehabilitated with new stained glass windows and this memorial center was built. You can see some skulls inside under a sign that says "Never Again" and they have two mass graves in the front.













They happened to be having a Maundy Thursday service with a beautiful children's choir singing.



I also learned online that there was another massacre of 10,000 people in Kibuye at the town stadium. People were encouraged to run there by the government and others. They were locked in without food and water for three days. Then they were killed with machine guns and grenades. To be in such a beautiful place and realize the horrors that happened there 18 years ago left me wondering how people could be so filled with evil toward their own neighbors and friends.

When I returned home I re-read Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza and was surprised to find that her story is set in Kibuye Province, where we were. The only way she survived was because a pastor hid her and 7 others in a tiny bathroom in his house. They were there for three months until the French army came and set up some places of refuge. It is an inspiring story because of her faith and the way God rescued her many times and her determination to not let bitterness take over her soul but to forgive. It is also a story of the horrible things that happened in Rwanda.

The beginning of the genocide happened on April 7, 1994. Every year the country has national days of mourning April 7-8. We were back in Kigali by then and told to keep a low profile, so we spent the day reading and resting at a WR guesthouse. The 8th was our 34th anniversary and also Easter. I wasn't sure if there would be much joyful singing in church, but the worship service was well done, celebrating Christ's death and resurrection and also reflecting on what happened. Because of Jesus' example of "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" we can also forgive. "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." Rwandans have a lot to forgive and work through as every family has been affected in some way.

Burundi

Last week I had the privilege of joining Steve in Burundi which is a small country in East Africa. It is bordered on part of the west side by Lake Tanganyika. Bujumbura is the capital of around 1 million people and also right on the lake. It is a developing, sprawling city. I was surprised to see how many dirt roads there were right off the main highways.


Lake Tanganyika. It doesn't look too big here, but it is one of the Great Lakes of Africa.


While Steve was busy with micro-finance board meetings I spent a day at WR offices. I shared a devotional with them and then spent some time with their new Church Mobilization person. It was good to compare notes and share resources and encouragement. The WR office has had some tough challenges but they continue to move forward.

A couple of days we traveled to a small city 3 hrs away, Makambe. The mountains and scenery were beautiful and reminded me of Puerto Rico. A small camera shooting out of a car window does not do justice to the beauty we saw but perhaps you can imagine it.


We stayed at a U.N. Guesthouse since WR is working with UNHCR, providing roofing and other materials to refugees. When I logged on to FB from there I was notified that I had logged on from Geneva!

They also have a small agricultural program which Steve helped them with. We met this group of young men who have formed an association and are growing tomatoes. To get to their field we trekked through a palm forest and forded a small stream. Their customers come to the field to buy and they haul some of the tomatoes out. It was great to see young men working as in Moz most of the men have gone to S Africa to work in the mines.


Steve training the ag staff in the office:



We were amazed to find a boy wearing a Notre Dame shirt out in the middle of nowhere.


These women work with the child survival program and have started kitchen gardens at their homes. This may look like weeds to you (pig weed) but it is actually amaranth and a green eaten often by the Burundians.

Roaring Thunder

Do you recall those lyrics, “I hear the roaring thunder?” Maybe you remember them as “I hear the rolling thunder.” Last night I had to think of those words and add a little volume during one of the most intense thunder storms I have ever heard.

I was awakened around 3 AM with what I first thought was a large truck rumbling down main street, a quarter block from our bedroom window. Then I realized the noise was not stopping and it sounded more like a jet taking off from the airport and flying around the city trying to gain altitude. It would fade in and out, but there was a constant roar with various crescendos, coupled with occasional explosions.
Maybe it was the foggy brain, but to sort it out I had to get out of bed and see what was going on. About then we were hit by a heavy rain shower and it began to dawn in me that the continuous noise was actually thunder.

There was not much to see due to being on the ground floor and lots of tall buildings all around. What I could tell was there were constant flashes of lightning, followed by long rolls of thunder blending together to actually sound like the roar of a jet engine. If I have been in the Midwest, I would have thought it was a freight train or tornado. Because the storm passed to our south, we were not in the center of it. Much of the lightning seemed to be cloud to cloud, resulting in long horizontal strikes followed by 5-10 seconds of rolling thunder. Multiply that by 2-3 flashes per second, plus echoes and you get some pretty consistent reverberations. It was impressive.

Well, if we are awed by His nature, we should also be awed by His presence. I hope you are.

When the unique and unusual becomes ordinary…

When the unique and unusual becomes ordinary…

Is that a sign you have been traveling too much, been away from normal too long or are just too busy to find the time to write about it? Those are some of the thoughts rolling around in my head as I lay awake at 5:30 in the morning, waiting for the rest of my body to wake up before I went out jogging. So, I (Steve) am writing this brief note just to give you a flavor of life at the moment.

While I have only been on one trip so far this year, it was a bit of a whirlwind. I traveled with a team from the US to the Turkana region of Kenya for an agricultural assessment in early February and then on to Zambia with two different teams in 10 days. Coming back to Mozambique keeps us just as busy planning for my next trip to eastern Africa (4 weeks long where Rachel gets to come with me for half the time) and keeping up with the Mozambique side of things. (More details in our coming newsletter.)

There are not many dull moments right now, but we are looking forward to a break come May 12 when we start our leave. In the meantime, nearly every day has something scheduled.

One thing we have been doing is saying goodbye to some special people. The Nigerian ambassador and his wife have been part of the leadership team at our church and we will miss them.


With some other friends at the farewell party. Some of them are also leaving soon. We have had to get used to many comings and goings!


Our good friends, the Brandbergs:

February Happenings in Zambia and Maputo

It seems we're getting a bit lazy about this blog and instead of writing much, we're pointing you to other people's blogs.

In February Steve, Jeff and Jenna Friesen went on a “beyond the bush” trip in Zambia to fulfill some of the grant requirements for the Friesen’s who are living in Tanzania for a year. You can read about their adventure on their blog here: http://tanzaniafriesens.wordpress.com/ (See the Feb 16 entry.) Here's Jenna. I think she was a lot more tired by 5 a.m. when they finally quit driving.


That is just part of the story. The next day Steve and Jeff and the driver went on and found some beautiful falls. The people want to develop the area for tourism and will need electricity for that, but they didn’t seem interested in a hydroelectric option.
So, it was a very long trip without many results. They dropped the Friesen’s off at Victoria Falls, and went back to Mongu through Lusaka on the good roads rather than the sandy track - still another 15 hour drive.

While Steve was gone I helped a Korean missionary with a CHE (Community Health Evangelists) seminar that she organized. She did a great job of communicating with different churches and seminaries who sent people. I have never seen people more motivated to arrive on time (even early!) and participate faithfully every morning for three weeks. It was amazing! Here I am at the closing ceremonies where the facilitators were presented with a capulana, a mocume (two capulanas put together to make a bedspread) and everyone got headscarves. You can see that there were some fun people there. There were about 20 people but the larger group pictures didn't turn out well.


This seminar makes me hopeful for Mozambique and its people. The participants said that they are better prepared to go to the communities with good information about health, community development and ways to share the Good News. And they are the kind of people who will go out and do something about the needs they see.

Turkana, Kenya

Here are some sites that tell about Turkana, where Steve is traveling right now. The first link is to a blog by Don Golden of WR. He has some great pictures. They are a pastoral tribe and WR is trying to figure out how to best help them with agriculture or other projects. Climate change and the drought is changing their lifestyle.

The men wear a piece of cloth over one shoulder. They carry a staff, a small stool to suit on and wear a circular knife on their wrists. The women shave their heads on the sides and wear many necklaces.




I’m doing well in Maputo and thanking God every day for air conditioning. I wish I could share some heat with the folks in Europe and Asia!

Deborah

Last week was a very special girl's 3rd birthday. If you've read this blog very long you know that our friends rescued Deborah from malnutrition and neglect. At one year she could not sit up. Now at 3 she is an active, normal little girl that is a joy to be with.



In January they stopped by the house once to pick something up but didn't come in because we weren't home. When Deborah realized they weren't going in, she started to cry loudly and kept it up as they were going down the road until they reached me by phone and she heard my voice. Then she calmed down.

This Sunday when she saw me she came running with her hands up to be held. That melted my heart. Children are so innocent and precious.

Here are some pictures out of our photo shoot:





With her friend, Santos.

Floods

In January some agriculture associations that WR works with and others like it had their fields completely flooded by rain and because a dam up-river was opened overnight. They lost a tomato harvest that would have been ready in one week, mango and papaya trees, irrigation and other equipment, fertilizer, and all the investment they had put into this crop. Please pray that they will not lose hope or faith in God.

They went from this …



To this, overnight in Chinhangane.




In Mucatine it looked something like this:





And then it flooded:



This is a huge loss when you are surviving off the land. We have been working on getting information to our headquarters so that some relief aid can be given to these people and others in neighboring communities. WR will give food, seeds and hopefully some help to replace the irrigation and other equipment that was swept down the river.

In Maputo we had about 6 inches of rain over two days which caused some rivers in streets where there is not good drainage. It is the outlying areas close to rivers that were hardest hit with some people needing to move from their homes, some deaths and many harvests ruined. We are thankful to God that the second cyclone went through the Mozambique channel and did not cause as much damage as it could have.

We need to keep on praying for Mozambique.

Christmas 2011

The Christmas celebrations started with the staff at WR going to Costa de Sol, a great seafood restaurant across from the beach.


Check out this seafood platter with prawns, lobster, barracuda, calamari and more:


Christmas Day we were in church and then at home with a Korean friend. We forgot to take pictures! We had invited several others but for one reason or another they could not come so there was plenty of food left to eat the rest of the week.

Monday we stopped in to see our Cuban friends. Miss Debora is modeling a dress I made her out of two head scarves (with room to grow into it). I got the idea from the last church team that came. Ladies in the village are making them (and other items)to earn money for another truck for their agriculture association.



Then we were off to a great B&B at a farm in Swaziland. They have lots of litchi trees that are just starting to be harvested. I didn't know they could get this huge!


The hydrangea were also in full bloom. The Afrikaners call them Christmas Roses.


We spent time reading, and walking all over the farm on hiking trails.


On the way home we stopped at a small game park, Hlane. The animals were being shy, or maybe just lazy with the heat like these rhinos.


This dung beetle was certainly being industrious.


The giraffe family was fun to watch and almost close enough to touch as we drove by.


Anyone who has been to a park knows that the impalas are abundant. This time we came across two "nurseries" with very new babies. So cute!


We also saw a herd of waterbuck, wildebeest, warthog, kudu, hippos. It was a great mini-vacation.

Tribute to Steve's Aunt Mary

Steve's Aunt Mary passed away this week at the age of 86. This is our tribute to her - a gentle, wise and caring person who exhibited the fruit of the Spirit.

While I don’t remember the first time we met, I can only guess it was when you and Grandma N. stopped by the hospital in Elkhart to visit the latest arrival in the family. During my earliest years, you helped care for us as you did my other siblings when they came along as well. You were the one that collected the grade school papers and artifacts that others might have disposed of and sent us post cards from Chicago while you were on study leave there.

You came to our house quite often, but visiting your place was an unusual treat partly because of the challenges of getting the group of us corralled, cleaned up and put in the car and partly because there were so many unique things to explore at yours. You took us places that were special and it was special just to spend that time with you.

When you were at our house, there was always a clamor around the supper table as to who got to sit beside Grandma and Mary. Fortunately between the two of you, you had four sides and the majority of the demand was satisfied. Once you even crawled under the table so you could say you experienced what we did to make a quick escape from the corner nook.

After Grandma retired, you drove her to Elkhart 2-3 times a week, where she spent the day and then came back for the evenings events. I am sure it was a challenge to spend that much time on the road. Gas was 35 cents a gallon and US 33 was a long stretch of farm land, but you never complained.

We remember the many times you gave of yourself to the family by working in the garden, helping with homework, typing papers, snapping beans, playing games, encouraging, reading books, giving your time, donations and support and living a life of integrity and love for God and others.

You always had high expectations for us, but you never pressured us. You helped us through the tough patches by believing in us and reminding us that we could do it. You planted the seeds of the love of learning and watered them.

It is with much love and appreciation that we think of you now, hoping that we can be of the same encouragement to others.


Mary is on the left with Steve's Mom on the right.

All in a Day's Travel

Greetings from Mbeya Tanzania. It was an eventful bus trip, but not due to problems with the bus, from Mumba this morning. I arrived dusty with a suitcase covered with dust and something, not sure what, but it smelled a bit fishy. We went straight to a guest house, dumped the clothes that were not impacted on the bed and asked a guard to wash it “very” well. We took a small stack of clothes to the home of my hosts and they are washing as we speak.

I woke up early (5:30) so we could drive about 40 minutes to catch a bus passing from Sumbawanga to Mbeya. One of the mission contacts where I had been staying had pre-purchased the ticket. I was warned that this bus would be full, standing room only, but that I would have a designated seat and the conductor would make sure I had access to it.

When the bus came, I tossed my bag in the cargo hold and got on board. There were at least 10 people that I had to squeeze past, just to get to row 6 and sure enough my seat was occupied. The conductor chased someone out and since there were so many people in the aisle and I did not want to climb over two others, I thought no problem, I can sit on the aisle.

The first thing I noticed was the two babies to the left across the aisle and next, one came over the seat from behind to sit beside me on a young girls lap. This one was a bit older and not too compliant as it ended up fussing for nearly 2 hours.


The bus could not travel more than 40-50 kilometers per hour as the dirt road was pretty rough. There is a major project underway to put in a tarmac road but completion is several years off. The view was not all that interesting, so sleep seemed like a good option. The problem was one of the guys standing ended up with his elbow banging my head or hand gripping the seat where I was trying to rest my head. The bus also kept stopping to discharge and accept new passengers.



At one stop, we picked up two moms with two more babies, who ended up in the aisle right beside and in front of my seat. Five babies within arm’s length could get interesting. I started dozing, and woke up to find the one baby’s back side sitting on my shoulder as its mom tried to shift her weight around. OK, hopefully it won’t get closer. I went back to sleep. Suddenly, I felt someone rubbing the inside of my left knee. I came to, to find the mother in front of me trying to rub something wet and yellow off my slacks. I can only assume it was spit up and not the other end as there was no significant smell.

Since she had been standing for some time, she decided to sit on the floor, jamming my left leg up against the metal seat frame, which would not have been too bad had the road been smooth. However, it took a knock with every bump the bus went over. Of course since the one was on the floor, the other could shift around a bit more and I found that baby’s rear was suddenly in the middle of my chest and his back up against my face. So much for not wanting to inconvenience any one and sit on the aisle. The guy sitting in my seat by the window was sleeping un-molested. We had only been traveling 2 of the 6-7 expected hours!

Fortunately, after 3 hours we took a bush break (this is where the men go one direction and the women another). When I got back on the bus, I told the guy sitting by the window that I wanted to sit there and he obliged. The young girl took the aisle seat and started holding the baby that was so in-my-face and everybody has happier. I am grateful that I did not have to stand for the entire time.

All in a day’s travel. I guess that qualifies for the “willing to endure hardship” clause in my job description that I read sometime back. By the way, my bus ticket reads, “Sumry High Class.” Maybe it is the best thing going!


Roasting bananas along the road.