Tim Travels To Masoyi, South Africa, '07

For 3 weeks, I will be in South Africa helping an orphan aid organization with urgent construction. Here unfolds the next chapter of my life. Won't you join me?

10.26.2007

CLOSE CALL

Just as the internet connection here has been temperamental and our potable water supply has also been inconsistent, we experienced our first power outage tonight. This is typical when there are rain storms. Though it rained all day today, it was the same constant drizzle that we experienced yesterday, nothing that would indicate enough force to knock off the supply of power. It happened and right at dinner time; however, we weren’t going to let a black out keep us from our yummy pork chops! We had a rather romantic LED headlamp dinner (it’s the wrong adverb because the ladies had already left for their over night stay at the hospice, but a memorable experience nonetheless).

The constant rain put an obstacle in the construction project. We are at a point now where some precise technical things need to be done. As such, there is no point in haphazardly doing it given the challenging conditions that the rain creates. So, we traveled to another site where most of the structures are completed. We spent most of the day clearing the individual rooms of debris and generally tidying up the site.

With two of our teammates spending an all-night shift at the hospice, we decided that it would be a good idea to familiarize ourselves with its location, so that we can pick them up on the way to our outing tomorrow at Kruger National Park. South African traffic is exactly as Great Britain’s: you drive on the left side. The main road that we travel on is a three lane highway that has been painted for two opposing ones. If you happen to find yourself stuck behind a slow moving vehicle, you can pass on the right hand side. Usually, the slower moving party will yield by moving onto the shoulder to make a bit more space. It is not uncommon for some ambitious cars to pass in the middle between two vehicles moving in opposite directions. We arrived at the road that we were to turn left to get to the hospice. We waited patiently as opposing traffic (on the right side of the road) cleared. Vehicles behind us were passing us on the shoulder to the left of us. Our driver saw an opening and prepared to execute the turn. Lucky for us, as it turns out, this old van has a sticky transmission and it’s quite the task to get it into first. Lucky, because the moment we started our turn, the rest of the team in the van started shouting at the driver. “WATCH OUT!” Some small red car was obviously not paying attention (to us or to the rules of the road) and attempted to pass us on the RIGHT side. We were literally inches from turning into this car. The red car fluttered by as we held our collective breathes. We shoulder checked every turn we made for the rest of the day.

posted @ 13:13

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