Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
I put off the tube repair job and off I went with Sister to have coffee and cookies.
Wechattedforabout2½hoursaboutherlifeinKaniamaandaboutthelocalpeoplearound
themission.Shetoldmethatthetraditionalkingintheareahadalotofpower…morethan
the government could dream of. He had 40 wives and over 200 children. When someone
from the royal family died, they buried the body in a triangular shaped grave with a cham-
ber for the body which was then sealed. When the present king dies, she continued, three
clanswillfighttotakehisplace.Shealsotoldmeaboutaritualwhichoccurredonceayear
when a teenage boy was sacrificed to the gods. When the ritual was to commence, all the
teenage boys would run into the bush and hide until the ritual was over.
Meeting Felix
Sister Louise then told me about a patient at the hospital. Felix was a teenager
from Likasi (from southern Shaba) who was travelling with his friends northward to find
work.Earlier Imentioned howthetrain Isawwascovered withpeople. Well, Felix andhis
friends were on such a train and they were standing on its roof. It was traveling at night
as it crossed the Lubishi River near Kaniama. The bridge had metal girders that spanned
across the top where the train went under. Felix's back was facing the bridge as the train
approached. Just as the train went under the girders, Felix turned around and smashed his
face directly on them. His friends saw in horror as Felix fell off the train to the riverbank
as the train kept going.
Felix survived but split his face open and lost all his teeth, his nose and an eye. He
trekked for hours until he made his way to the door of Sister Louise's hospital. Children
ranawayfromhiminhorrorbecause ofhisdisfigurement. WhenImet Felix, hehadtuber-
culosis and had been living for the past three months in the hospital. He had no money and
no relatives in the area. When I entered his room he looked away for he was so withdrawn.
Since I was heading to Likasi anyway, I suggested to Sister Louise that if she wrote
aletterofexplanation,Icoulddropitofftohisfamilytoletthemknowofhispredicament.
She jumped at the offer and said that she would write it that night. I guess this may have
been the reason why I stayed in this village for the extra few days. God works in mysteri-
ous ways! (I'll explain much more on this later.)
The next morning, Sister Louise gave me the letter which I placed in my handlebar
bag. We exchanged addresses and after a big hug, I said goodbye. My first 15 kilometres
were on very rough terrain and I rushed to find cover as rain Armageddon was about to
begin. In my haste to find shelter, I punctured the rear tire. When I found shelter I tried to
repairitbutcouldnotfindthehole.Iputonthesparetubebutitdeflatedinseconds.Oddly,
I put the original tube back in and it held. Go figure. After the rain stopped, I continued
onward and came to a junction of where the road, the rail line and the Lubishi River met.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search