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June 25, 2006

Leaving Dori

The rest of my time in Gorom and Dori went well, with some more interesting meetings and chats with different people, and today I had to try and find a way from Dori to Djibo

Part 1 - Sitting Under the Acacias
At 08.00 I found myself sitting under the acacias by the side of the Dori-Djibo road, hoping for a passing vehicle to pick me up and take me to Djibo. The sun was already beating down, but I had the woman water-seller for company.

By 12.00, I was still sitting there, with no sign of a vehicle going to Djibo. The sun was even hotter, and conversation with my water-selling friend had become increasingly intermittent. There hadn't been a single vehicle.

In discussion with my new friend, we decided I had three options
1. Stay by the road in the hope of a vehicle to Gorgaji, where I could stay the night, then maybe get from there to Arabinda the following day, from where I might get a lift to Djibo.
2, Take the bus to Ouaga and hope to get there in time for the evening bus to Ouahigouya and from there to Djibo - a round trip of 600km for a 200km journey, which should get me there by midnight.
3. Give up and go to Ouaga.
None of them felt particularly right. What should I do...?

Part 2 - Dancing on the stairs
I decided to go for the Ouaga-Ouahigouya-Djibo option, and headed back into town to buy a ticket for the 1pm bus. At 12.20, having bought my ticket I was sat at the bus station, when I spotted the car of the Catholic sisters from Gorom. The driver told me there is a priest going to Djibo today, so I phoned the priest, a lovely guy from Congo called John, who kindly agreed to take me. I re-sold my ticket and sat down again to wait.

While waiting, a Mossi man drives up on his motorbike, whom I knew from more than ten years ago, when he worked with our Horizons team in Ouaga. He is now working in Dori and Gorom area, trying to start a work to help orphans in the area. It feels like meeting him again was the reason for my delayed flight from Dori, and I am excited to see how we may be able to work together again in the future.

Finally John turns up, with a Fulani driver, and we head off on one of the most hair-raising rides I have had in Burkina. During the year the dirt roads deteriorate and become "corrugated" - a surface known in English as "washboard" or in French "escaliers" (stairs). This surface will rattle your car apart unless you are prepared to drive at dangerously fast speed, when the car "dances" over the "stairs", threatening at any minute to dance off the road and tip over. You can guess which option our Fulani driver took...

Anyway, as you can see, we did arrive safely in Djibo, in time for a shower and a meal of chicken and bread with Steve, before catching the second half of Argentina v Mexico. It's great to see Steve, Cris and Irenaldo again, and we have a lot to talk about. Tomorrow we will join the Fulani church here, and I will be able to catch up with the Fulani Christians here before leaving for Ouaga on Monday.

Thanks for your prayers - the answers to prayer and meetings along the journey make the uncertainties and discomfort worthwhile. Thanks too for your emails - sorry I can't answer them all while in the sahel. I will do when I get back.

More soon

Posted by Keith at June 25, 2006 12:06 AM