The Incredible Journey

With the song LIFE IS A HIGHWAY floating through the truck, five of us set off for the edge of the world. Mr. Bah, our driver, expertly piloted the vehicle, and Mindie and Elijah Tice, along with Marci (Mindie’s sister) and I bounced our way to the conference. Of the 8 hours, 5 are on great road and the other 3 on terrible roads. We dozed and chatted and munched our way along. Fuel was an issue as we stopped in every major town, asking if any was available. The answer was usually no. We finally found some about half way there.

Mr. Bah pulled up to the pump, but was distraught that we were sitting at a bit of an angle. When you buy gas here in Guinea, everyone LOVES to fill the tank to the very top – usually to the point of overflowing the tank. They stand there and rock the vehicle back and forth – trying to settle what is in there to allow for maximum filling! (For those of us who get car sick, the rocking motion, combined with the smell of the gas, is a sure way to get a sick stomach.) He was frustrated with the slant, so pulled forward and turned around.

As he shut off the vehicle, he realized that the gas tank was now on the wrong side of the truck. (I was glad to see someone else do that too.) His solution was for Mindie and Marci to roll down their windows and pass the gas hose through the back seat. That proposal was unanimously nixed in very short order and we assured him that we were okay with filling the tank – even if it was not overflowing. So we turned around again.

The rest of the trip was uneventful – until we reached the last big town where we needed to turn off to find the clinic. I was the only one who had been there before – when Kaleb had his emergency appendectomy several years ago – but at that time, we were following someone who lived at Hope Clinic so it was not a problem. I, however, was not worried. I knew that if we would find the right road, I would recognize the clinic. I had forgotten, however, what a BIG town it was. I could not find the turnoff. So we began to ask for directions.

After about 6 people had, with great confidence, given us conflicting directions, I began to get discouraged. Finally we found a helpful police man, but he wasn’t sure where to go. He trotted off to confer with some people, and returned with a man and his ten year old boy. The man knew Hope clinic well, and began to explain how to get there – but that was less than helpful, since we had NO idea where we were. Finally he said, here is what we can do. My son here knows the way to the clinic. I will send him with you to give you directions and then I will come in a while and pick him up.

We were dumbfounded. Here is a man, whom we have never met in our lives, offering for us to take his ten year old son off in our truck. Mr. Bah was thrilled and told me- move over, move over. So I got out and let the little boy in – both of us sharing the front bucket seat. Off we went. The little boy bounced along – giving Mr. Bah directions – turn left, go straight. He was adorable. We gave him a sucker. He led us straight to where we needed to go. (As we thought about it, we were amazed at the difference between the US and here – NEVER would you send your child off with a truck full of strangers – offering to come at a later time to pick him up! Our message of Never get in the car with strangers and never take candy from a stranger went right out the window!)

We arrived without further incident and got settled. The dad arrived, and we offered him some gas money. He tried to refuse it, saying that this was his town and he just wanted us to have a good stay but we insisted. He helped us one last time by taking us across the road to the village and helping us find the house where Mr. Bah was going to stay.