Shanksteps 2022 #1
Here we are again on another trip to volunteer in Africa. We are going to the same hospital in Chad we’ve been to a number of times. Currently there is no general surgeon there, and hasn’t been for a few months. If you know of any general surgeons who want to go and live in Chad, one or two are very needed. (They could contact me for starters).
We leave home Tuesday and stay in Eugene to catch the 5AM flight. Then to Seattle for a long 12 layover. Then a 9 hour flight to Istanbul. We are there a couple hours then on to Ndjamena, Chad on a 8 hour flight with a stop in Niger along the way. Each flight is progressively more “african” in nature. By the last flight there is no calling of sections to load the plane. Everyone just forms into a mass of people jockeying for a position at the area where you go past the attendants taking our boarding passes, and we know this so we stand near the front and end up in the first quarter of people loading. this is advantageous because then there is still luggage space above to put our carry on luggage rather than it taking up floor space near our feet.
We land in Ndjamena on Friday at 2AM and go through immigration and customs after collecting our baggage- which all made it! then on to find our driver L. He has picked us up many years of going there and is always punctual and has also arranged for us to be able to change money at this hour of 2AM. L is definitely more expensive ($40) than he used to be, but still worth it to have someone we know waiting for us. We ask him what bus we should catch from Ndjamena to Kelo- and he recommends the 5AM bus. We like this bus because its a large one with a defined seat and has airconditioning that helps some. so we could go to the mission we were to stay at for an hour or just go to the bus station. So we decide to head to the bus. the streets are empty but at the bus station there is plenty of people getting ready to travel and others trying to sell their wares to them. L gets me a guy to sell me sim card for my phone and credit for it. The sim doesn’t seem to work and then it does after all. L gets us our tickets and we load the bus with our luggage stored beneath. We choose a seat nearer the front as this is usually less bumpy than near the back. We start out before completely full so we stop at various spots along the way to pick up other people. At one area we stop at a military checkpoint and all the men have to get out and get patted down and show what’s in our bags. This goes off relatively well and we all board again. A bit later there is a little commotion as water starts running down below the seats on the other side and down the isle. Someone thinks its water, and then another says someone peed in the back. I don’t smell anything like pee so Im grateful and also grateful it didn’t get on the bag i have at my feet. We arrive at Bongor the bus stop for changing some passangers. we wait here for about 15 minutes and mill about the small area. there are many vendors there selling things like- potatoes, taro, other roots I don’t know, roasted beef, lamb, goat. My favorite to see is the huge pile of fried grasshoppers. I don’t have the courage to try them, though Audrey has and didn’t get any. We all load back on the bus when they start honking and we head on to Kelo.
A little after noon we arrive in Kelo. We anticipate someone from the hospital picking us up in a vehicle but they are not there. We get out our luggage and pay a guy with a cart to move everything off to one side where our thing can sit without worrying too much about them. We sit down on a bench that is near by to wait. After about 30 min we get a hold of the guy who was to get us and his car got full of water crossing a large water area on the road that was deeper than expected, and died and was being towed back to Bere by a tractor. He then tried to arrange another vehicle. After about an hour we hear that it would be best to go by motorcycle taxi the last ?2 hours. He wants to arrange the motor taxi for guys from Bere as they don’t charge double like the other moto taxi guys may require. We wait another hour and a half. People are coming, but they don’t show up.
During this trip I realized my Keen sandals soles are falling off. I only brought them and OR shoes. So i ask around and find a guy sitting under an umbrella who is fixing shoes. He says he can fix them for 2000CFA ($4). So I sit near him on a bench and another guy starts talking to me. Id guess he’s about 20 and seems drunk. As I sit there I realize the guy who fixs shoes is next to a woman who is selling vodka, wine, and other spirits in little plastic bags. So this guy is drunk. He asks lots of questions and talks about how hard english is to learn, and why I won’t drink with him, or buy him another bag of drink. The guy fixing my shoes warns me to watch my phone as the kid next to me may steel it (thank you). He glues the sole on with some contact cement used on a bicycle repair kit after cleaning off all surfaces. It seems like a weak repair. So he then sews across the front and back of the sole to secure it better. This seems to work well. And later on I am very grateful to have them fixed as you will read.
Then about 4pm Im starting to worry, if we get started too late it will be dark and more difficult to travel., and darkness also increases the price and chance of a fall. I know the road is muddy and apparently had large amounts of water in some places. He calls a guy at the bus station and this guy helps us get some motorcycles from another town beyond Bere. But they seem only partially interested and also charge a lot. WE want three motorcycles and there are only two of them. Then finally two from Bere show up and say they are here to take us to Bere and load our gear on their motorcycles. They strap our four plastic luggage boxes on one motorcycle with the driver sitting on the gas tank, and put Audrey and I on the other. So both are very loaded.
Then the fun begins. We travel through Kelo then head off the main road. Ive not been this way before and know it must be to avoid water on the main road as it gets huge deep mud puddles. We wind through many small villages with stretches of farm land in between. Here a left there a right. Nothing distinguishes it from any other trail to follow. Most of it just wide enough for the motorcycle, so only foot paths we are following. We go through patches of puddles and our feet are wet. The motorcycle is making a strong clicking sound with each rotation of its tire and I wonder if we are going to break down on the way- but our driver Sebastian says its not a problem and will get us there fine. about an hour into the trip its getting dark and we are going through some deeper water and getting stuck in the mud. I have to get off in the mud to push. I have mud up to mid pant leg now. We nearly fall over a number of times in the mud and in other sections in deep sand. Then when its fully dark we hit the big sections of water. We go about 100 feet into the water and we hit a rock or log that stops us abruptly. i have to get off and push and water is up to my knee. He continues on with Audrey and I walk for a way till he stops and lets me get back on. Then there is a section that he says we have to walk through and they will push the motorcycles and meet us on the far side. We meet up with the missionary Charles who had planned on getting us in his car that died with water in its engine. He had come to help us in this section. So we walk with him. Carry on back pack on our back and walking through the water. We walk through a section of water that was about 100m and about thigh deep. Charles says the day before this was passable with a car and that it had risen to this. We walk on and get to another large area of water. There are no motor or people. just a tractor pulling a large trailer loaded with grain, through the water. Audrey, Charles and I walk for probably a mile through water that varies from ankle deep to Audreys waist. I am very thankful my shoes were fixed and are working well. After about 45-60 minutes of walking in water we arrive at dry ground again. the same motorcycle have gone some other way and meet us walking on the dry road again. It’s only a few miles left to get to Bere. We are glad to be there and meet some other missionaries. We are taken to the house we will stay in for the month and shower and sleeeeep! We left home Tuesday evening and arrived in Bere Friday night. Thank you God for helping us get here safely and giving us rest.
