Western Africa: Mauritania to Nigeria - The Lions on the Road: Cycling London to Cape Town - page 81

We drove through a shantytown littered with garbage as we headed to the first pro-
ject. It was a nutrition and hygiene clinic for women and children that saw hundreds of
patientsaday.Wethendrovetoasecondprojectthatwassponsoredby Terre des Hommes .
It was a co-operative run by mothers from the shantytown. They made highly detailed and
vibrantlycolouredclothesforthemarket.IaskedmyUNliaisonofficerifIcouldaskques-
tions to the women directly.
She said it was not their custom for a man to speak to them directly but offered to ask on
my behalf. Finally we headed to a water distribution project where the water arrived by
truck. There were three water points from which water was then distributed by donkey and
cart to more remote areas of the town.
As we drove back to the city, I sat quietly in the back to reflect on what I witnessed
in these three projects. I was heartened to have met so many people who dedicated their
lives in helping others- many of whom we never hear of yet who quietly go on to do their
work. I thanked Thomas for giving me the opportunity to visit their projects and returned
to my hotel. I went to the Catholic Church to sit quietly and meditate. I met the rector and
asked if I could stay at the church for the night in order to save on my costs. He agreed and
it was there that I spent my last night in the capital.
The next morning I had breakfast with the rector. When I mentioned that my parish
in Toronto was run by the Salesians, he told me that there were Salesians in St. Louis,
Senegal. I made a mental note of it to visit them. We walked to the road together that led
to Rosso where he bid me farewell. Almost immediately, my mechanical issue with the de-
railleur started. Since it was not adjusted properly, I ended up having only 3 functioning