Travel Reference
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volunteers' home and sat at the table drinking palm wine (I didn't like it). The return jour-
ney scared me. It was dark and the road was horrid. I thought we would be stuck or have
the vehicle roll over. The drive really confirmed my belief that on these kinds of roads, bi-
cycles are by far the best and safest way for getting from point A to B. We arrived home in
one piece and had dinner waiting for us. I quickly washed up and sat at the table with the
priests to eat.
As it turned out, I spent the next day at the mission. I was about to leave in the
morningbutthethreatofamassiverainstormlookedimminent.SoIdelayeddepartureand
eventually asked and was given permission to spend another night. I returned to my room
and spent the day just relaxing in the rector's office listening to symphonic recordings of
Johannes Sebastian Bach. Incidentally, it didn't rain until after I went to bed that evening.
Fromthatpointforward,IpromisedmyselfthatIwouldstartcyclingnomatterhowthreat-
ening the weather seemed. It was like in my UK promotional tour. If I didn't cycle because
ofthethreatofrain,Iwouldn'thaveleftCornwall.Psalm131cametomind,anditbecame
my maxim, “…trust in the Lord.”
A Special Assignment
The next day turned out to be a great day. After a constant downpour of rain all
night and early morning, I prepared my bike for departure and wanted to leave after break-
fast. I first went to mass with Father Malongo to his cousin's home where he had a small
chapel inside. Then we sat and ate breakfast and chatted until the rain finally stopped. At
10:00 a.m. Iwas about to leave when Father asked if it was possible forme to deliver three
letters for him. Keep in mind that the postal service ceased to function in Zaïre. The three
destinations- Idiofa, Kanagawa, and Lubumbashi (which was over 1000 kilometres away)
were all en route so I gladly said yes. Talk about 'snail mail!' What I agreed to was in fact
the start of many wonderful experiences as I became Zaïre's volunteer mailman.
Aftersayinggoodbye,Ipushedoff.Fromthestartitwashard.Mudwaseverywhere
which forced me to do a lot of walking. Eventually the road dwindled to a set of tractor
tracks which led me to my first village 12 kilometres away. As the road became the size
of a wide path, I began to second-guess myself until I saw signposts for Idiofa. Amen to
thatforitreallyraisedmyspirits.ThenextvillageIcameuponwasafurther15kilometres
away and then it got interesting.
My “road” slowly disappeared into a huge field of tall grass and could barely make
out where to go. With apprehension, I continued in the same direction as the field sloped
downward to a tributary of Kamisha River. My spirits rose when I arrived at the river for
there was a large bridge. After crossing it, the road was too risky to cycle so I had to push
the bike up the steep hill. When I crested it, my heart sank.
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