So we just had our annual conference in Togo. But I wrote about that in my newsletter, what I want to talk about here was how we had another eventful trip to Bamako and back.
On the way there…
…we took our usual road, basically dirt road all way up to just outside Bamako. Well it’s been raining so you know dirt and water doesn’t mix too well with cars... and in our case even trucks and so we got stuck in some mud. Someone stopped to see what was going on, and told us we should get out of the mud… yes he was very helpful, like I didn’t know I shouldn’t be there. So after his wise advice he strolled off, a short time later a couple people on their bikes stopped and looked but also couldn’t do much… they just wanted to see what kind of trouble the Tubabs got into. Then an older lady with a hoe and 3 young boys came walking by and tried very hard to help, by digging out the mud from under our tires with the one hoe or their bare hands, and then trying to push the truck out. Eventually another man came to see how he can help, and he even tried to flag down some of the big transport trucks that came by. Eventually after several pass one finally stopped and helped. One of the guys in the truck got out and tied the front of our truck to the back of theirs with a pretty big rope, but apparently the rope wasn’t big or at least sturdy enough, because as the truck attempted to pull us out it broke. So then the man got out a second rope and tied the two together and our trucks together, and this time they were able to pull us safely out of the mud. After that the truck drove off, and we paid the old lady and the three boys with mangoes and sprite… and continued on our way.
On the way home… 
…we did not want to risk our truck on that muddy road again so we took another yet slightly longer road home… but for about the first hour and half drive the road is paved so at least there’s no worry of getting stuck in some mud there. After the paved road, although it was dirt road it looked like they have been working on it, patching up some of the bigger holes, and smoothing it out, there was hardly any mud or water there that it was a pretty smooth ride home, at least smoother compared to the old road. We were getting very close to home, maybe 10-15 minutes away, when we started to hear a funny sound. It was too unusual to assume that it was just the road so I look out my window to check the back tire, and it looks good… relief for a second… but then the funny sound continues so we stop and get out of the truck and… we see that our front tire is flat. So we get out our tools and attempt to change the tire. First we needed to get the spare tire out from under the truck. So we connect the metal pieces to make it long enough so we insert it in the hole to turn the thing that lowers the spare tire (as you can see I know my car parts very well… haha j/k) anyways Kacy starts cranking the thing, and I’m look under the truck to see if the tire is coming down. It looks good at first, but then the chain gets stuck. So I reach in and try to break it loose, but it’s not working. Then a man comes by and he tries to crank the thing but he couldn’t do it so he left and said there should be another car coming by and we should ask them for help. Well Kacy and I kept at it, she kept cranking and this time I took the thing that screws and unscrews the bolts on the tires, and used that to beat the chain loose, and it worked… so Kacy would crank, and when the chain got stuck I beat it… and we eventually get the spare tire out… how’s that for teamwork? Next we get started on the flat tire, we pull out the jack and start cranking it up and see that it’s not tall enough so we start looking for rocks to prop the thing on, and by this time a man on a bike came back and helped, and shortly after another man came by to help. So the four of us walk along the road looking for some rocks we can use, and the two men both come back with some big rocks. So the one guy puts the jack on the rock, and then starts cranking it up but I guess the jack wasn’t strong enough because it started to bend as he was cranking it, and then it just got stuck. So the man decides to bike into town since it was close and call for help. And we found out we knew the same people so he goes and calls them. We wait a while, and the second guy decided to leave, so we gave him as thanks our half loaf of bread and a granola bar. Then finally our friends arrived they used their jack to prop our truck up and get our jack unstuck (this was our 2nd jack btw, we had to replace the other one after we had our first flat tire coz as we were changing the tire we found out that it was bad… remember the truck almost fell…) Oh and this time the truck almost fell again coz the jack was propped up on a weak rock which basically crumbled. But praise God no one was hurt, they found a better rock and was able to change the tire, and we were finally able to go home.
A few things to note for future trips… Aside from all the other expected things that’s suppose to be in your truck for emergencies…things we must have/do
Praise God that most of the time when we did have problems we’re close enough to people we know… and the one time we’re not He brought people along to help us anyways, and still kept us safe.
1 comment:
man sounds like a crazy time. that's cool that you get to drive. i don't think i want to where i live. traffic is too bad. well take care, just wanted to say hi.
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