Mango Musings

August 31, 2008 
Pictures available here: http://picasaweb.google.com/andrewstr/MangoMusingAugust312008?authkey=fgP10v4yRh4

      The rain finally stopped, and we are drying out, and getting ready for bed.  I've wanted to write since Tuesday night, but just ran short on time.  It's Thursday evening, and we are spending our first night in Mango.  Our hope was to come on Wednesday, but there was just too much to do in Kara, with shopping for wood, roofing sheets, nails, rebar, and other assorted building materials.  The one thing we lack is cement.  With roads cut, there has been no delivery of cement for several weeks now, and that has crippled construction here in the north.  Until we can find some, finishing the house we rented today will be on hold.  So we are praying for cement trucks to make it through as far as Mango, or at least as far as Kara.  We placed an order yesterday, but everyone else is asking for the same commodity. 

      We arrived in Mango early in the afternoon, and met with Mr. Baba and Mr. Yaya.  Interesting names, but they are real.  Shouldn't be too hard to remember them.  We looked at our contract, ran to CIB, the local office place, and had several copies run off.  Later I'll have my own printer, but it is currently in Kpalime, so this worked fine.  The power was off at our place, so we couldn't have used the printer anyway.  They turned the generator off because there is a diesel shortage; another consequence of the road problems.  They turned it on this evening at around 7:00, but it looks as though we will be in for rationing until we can solve the bridge problems.  So now there is no cement, no electricity, and at times, no gasoline for cars.  Life is interesting.  This is quite the welcome to Mango!  Nobody said it would be easy, and we expect that things will settle down in time.

      Late in the afternoon skies grew black, lightning began to flash, and then it rained.  It rained just about the time I borrowed the Niles' truck to move our fridge over the house where we are living.  Esther wants a fridge.  I was hoping to get our stove as well, so we could cook something to eat, but true to form, it rained while I was moving things.  We got sopping wet while looking for candles, since the power was still off. I had several carpenters with me, along with Mr. Nogbedji, and everyone was hungry, so we stopped by the market for dinner.  The lady who ran the stand yelled at some young people to leave the one table under the shelter, and we were invited to sit down.  One of her girls set a kerosene lantern on the table, and I was just barely able to see what I was eating.  It was good, and it cost $2.90 for all five of us to eat.  I had enough, and I think everybody else was satisfied as well.  Then I brought home a plate of ayi/molu (beans and rice), covered in a great African sauce for Esther and Kimewalu, the lady who has come up to help get our place cleaned up.  That cost me whopping sixty-nine cents.  Esther said it was delicious, and we sure can't cook that cheaply.  When we got home at 7:30 the power was on, so we were able to unload the fridge.  We will get the stove tomorrow, as there wasn't enough room in the truck, for both appliances.

      I'll just add a note about our trip from Kpalime to Kara on Tuesday.  We left Kpalime at 10:00, and got as far as Tsavie before being stopped by the road problems.  We sat in a line of cars and trucks for better than two hours, and were finally allowed to move ahead.  I enjoy reading the slogans painted on the big trucks, and had to smile at one that said, "Papa Avait Raison," which means, Dad was right! After several false starts, during which we were forced to back up and move to one side of the road or the other to make way for oncoming trucks that should have been stopped once the police cleared us to move ahead, (this was accompanied by uniformed officers running around, gesturing, and yelling at different drivers), we did make it through the low spot in the road, and were on our way.  The usual two-hour trip between Kpalime turned into a five-hour marathon, but once we got to the main highway in Atakpame, it was smooth sailing the rest of the way to Kara.  We actually got there before nightfall.

      Here it is Saturday night, and we are in Kara once again.  So we can send e-mail, which means you will get this one day early.  We do hope that once things settle down, we can be more regular with our communications, but for the time being, it will be hit and miss.  Thanks for praying.  The move, as are most moves, has been inconvenient.  Power outages, heat and humidity to where one feels damp all the time, and getting used to a new place, while trying to get things moving on the house that will eventually be our place of abode all combine to give one a sense of foreignness.  Yet we have met some wonderful people, and I think we are going to like it here.  Just takes time to adjust.  We hope to talk to you again next week.

Yours in His service,
Tim Neufeld