world

Road Trip to Jos

          We traveled from Zing to Jos in the RHP’s Peugeot station wagon. That was an interesting trip. Something was wrong with the car. It jerked and vibrated quite a bit. It sounded to me like the engine was missing. Francis, our driver, stopped a couple times to work on the motor. We finally made it to a little town called Kaltungo. The mechanics often set up their area under a tree right along the road. Sometimes they have a shed made of metal roofing or some other temporary material. Occasionally you’ll see something more permanent. After we pulled off the road, a couple men came and worked on the engine. Half-hour, 45 min. later Francis had paid and we were back on the road again. The car worked great after that. Whatever they did there, they know what they were doing.
          “Car pooling” is not a foreign concept here. In fact, to go by yourself is much more foreign. This time we had two other passengers.
          Justina Bawuru, Edward Bawuru’s wife went with us. She and Edward have a 9-year-old boy, Joshua, a five-year-old daughter, Comfort, and three-year-old twin girls, Glory and Grace. Justina graduated from the college of Education in Jalingo to be a teacher. Because she works for RHP as a typist/secretary, she went to Jalingo to take classes in computer. She has since finished the course, but they had no computer lab at the school, so much of it was based on theory, history, etc. It is helpful that RHP has a computer and printer that works on solar. She was going to Jos to spend 10 days with someone at CHAN [Christian Hospital Association of Nigeria], to learn more about computers. She and Edward have six other family members living with them. They live in low cost housing just up the road from us. If I’m not mistaken, they have two rooms. How would you like to live like that? Edward is the senior person at the eye clinic in Zing. He is a trained nurse with special training in eye. This is one fine Christian couple.
          Also traveling with us was Mrs. Dashe’s brother, Boniface [also called Hassan], who attends the University of Jos. He has been home since before Easter. The instructors decided to go on strike at that time and they have finally resumed classes this week. Boniface got the privilege of looking like the middle of a sandwich as he sat on the car’s third seat. Chuck and I had the most luggage, but the others had things too. Because we hired the car and because of our age, we got to sit in the middle seat alone. Even Justina, who sat in the front, had to deal with our ever-present water jug at her feet. We volunteered to have the jug between us on the seat, but Francis, the driver, has some very definite ideas about what is proper and we all obey.
          I’m told RHP purchased the Peugeot a couple years ago from CHAN. They had not used it for a few years. As far as cars go out here it is OK. It runs - at least most of the time. It does have some interesting quirks. The handle is missing to the window behind the driver. For a while the right rear passenger door would not open and you had to go in and out the other side. It has since been fixed. Justina wanted to get into the third seat. The left side of the middle seat does not lift up to allow entry to the back - I think the device is broken. The device on the right works, but the door didn’t open. The only thing to do was to go in through the back door or hatch. The back seat is not bolted to the floor and is easily moved in and out or folded and moved against the back of the middle seat. Can you imagine the legality of that in the States?
          They laid the seat on its back. She sat down on the back, laid down on it, rolled over and with this action also uprighted the seat. She, and everyone else, was laughing by the time she was in. Still all of this is better then riding with public transportation. Overcrowding is very common here. In the United States you would be arrested for doing what is done here and other developing countries. The owners try to earn as much money as they can. Cramped conditions, extra loads, overcrowding are just a few of the hazards of public transportation. Poor vehicle maintenance, bald tires, speeding, as well as the other motors on the road add to the hazard. Add to that the potholes and cows, goats, dogs, pigs, and people crossing at random, often unexpectedly, and danger lurks everywhere. I’m amazed that there are so few accidents.
           Sometimes there are armed robbers and so in the areas where they are prevalent, the police and army set up checkpoints. I like that. There are also checkpoints that are not police or army. All are happy to receive a ‘tip’ for providing safety on the road. They don’t ask us for money, but Bibles or tracts. The Nigerians often have to give money - especially if they are driving for profit. They call these ‘tips’ maganin rana - medicine for the sun.

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