Adventures on the Road

Oh the stories I could tell…  

Some of you may remember this photo below from back in June when I went to driving to pick up some cement for construction.

The GTC truck (which is behind me in the photo) could handle the dry-season.  But let me tell you, it cannot handle the rainy season.

Back in August my co-worker (Nate K) meet on campus at 7:00am ready to go to the Paloich Airport.  His flight was leaving at 10:30am plane so after we topped up the air in the tires we left at 7:30am, our 2-wheel drive GTC truck. At 8:00am our truck got stuck since it couldn’t make it through the mud we encountered.  UN vehicles had gone on ahead of us but then turned around and informed us the road ahead was impassable.  That's not the thing you want to hear if you're trying to get on a 10:30am flight.  Fortunately a 4-wheel drive Hilux truck came back and we got into the back cab but then it slide off the road into a huge puddle of water. We got drenched in mud and the truck was stuck. So at 8:30am Nate and I walked 500m to where the mud ended and thankfully an hour later we hitch-hiked our way (in 3 different vehicles) to the airport arriving at 10:10am just in time for his boarding.

Then today’s adventure happened...

After being in Kenya for a break our teammates were flying back into South Sudan.  One family was scheduled to arrive in Paloich at 11am and the second family scheduled to arrive at 4pm. 

The day began at around 10am when I packed my backpack with 2 waterbottles and some peanuts for a snack (just in case) and I left Melut in the GTC truck.  Now the GTC truck is very old (the 4-wheel drive no longer works, the clutch had just been “fixed” the day before, and it’s had numerous problems over the past year).  It had also rained yesterday, so I knew I was taking a risk driving the vehicle.  But it was all we had.  On the road I encountered mud and potholes and about halfway between Melut and Paloich, after one of the potholes, I noticed the steering was not working properly and so I stopped.  As you can see in the photo one of the very important parts had broken.  I’m no mechanic but I think it’s the “tie rod” that connects to the front right tire that had broken in two. 

Needless to say the truck was undriveable.  But my teammates had already arrived in Paloich so I called them to say I would hitch-hike to the airport, meet them and together we’d find a way back to Melut.  Praise God for an Ethiopian lorry driver who helped me part of the way to the airport and then some Pakistani employees who work for the oil company helped me the rest of the way.

While at the airport we waited 3 hours for our co-worker Joyce to ask for some assistance from another NGO.  Fortunately this NGO agreed to help us out, but since their truck only has one bench of seating that meant that 3 of us had to sit/stand in the back of the truck on the 1 hour drive home. 

But the story was not over because the second family wasn’t back yet.  By now it was about 3:30pm and we received confirmation that their plane was going to arrive in Paloich at 5:15pm (not 4:00pm as originally scheduled).  So now for the second time today Joyce talked to our neighbouring NGO, explained our dilemma and they agreed to help us out again.  By 6:30pm everyone was safely back in Melut. 

Another day on the roads in South Sudan that I will not soon forget!