The campus seemed rather empty yesterday morning but Simon was in our office when I arrived. He told me there had been a bus accident near our campus, at the daladala stop just before our stop at Danish St. Apparently while people were coming to work they saw the accident, came to tell others on campus, then went back to see if they could help (or maybe just to gawk). Later Soulpeace, one of the employees who had gone to the crash site, came back to our office and told us the story.
Around 6 a.m. a full daladala left Usa River heading to Arusha. Near the Makumira stop, the dala got stuck behind a man riding a bicycle loaded down with "food for cows" traveling in the same direction. The daladala driver, wanting to pass, pulled out onto the right side of the road. A Ngorika bus, on its way from Arusha to Dar es Salaam, was driving in the opposite direction. The dala driver either must not have looked very carefully or didn't realized how fast the Ngorika bus was traveling. By the time he did realize the situation, he tried to pull farther to the right, onto the shoulder, but he wasn't quick enough and the bus hit the left side of the daladala. Soulpeace reported that the daladala had been packed full (as they usually are) and he thought most of the people in there were killed. He also said that the bus driver was stuck in the wreckage but still alive when he left the scene. This was around 9 a.m., about three hours after the accident occurred. The time of the accident was also at a time when many school children are taking daladalas to get to school. I'm not sure if children were in the dala that was hit, but it is probable. (Later that evening we heard from Almas, our taxi driver, that there were nine confirmed dead from the accident. He also said that the bus driver, after hours of being alive and trapped under the mangled vehicles, had also succumbed to his injuries and was included in that count. Almas had apparently driven past the accident that morning and seen several of the bodies laid out and covered on the side of the road.)
I have traveled the road from Usa River to Arusha so many times this year. I have ridden in a daladala to Arusha quite often. When Jonathan and I went to Tanga we took the Ngorika bus. I am just so thankful for all my safe travels this year, on long trips as well as short ones.
Another semi-scary event on Friday morning was a slight earthquake. I was sitting with my arms on my desk and all of a sudden I felt it jiggling beneath me. I looked at Simon who had just stood up from his desk and was standing near the windows on one side of the room. He didn't give any indication he was feeling what I was feeling. Then I turned and looked at Soulpeace who was behind me leaning against our shelves on the opposite side of the room from Simon. He also didn't seemed bothered in the least. "Umm, do you guys feel anything shaking?" I asked. "I think there's an earthquake." They both shook their heads. "An earthquake? Are you sure? I really don't think so," Simon responded. The shaking stopped after about 15 seconds and I thought maybe I was just going crazy. I picked up my phone and texted Danielle: Did we just have an earthquake or am I crazy? She answered less than a minute later: Yes, there was definitely an earthquake! I grabbed the table and Staci just sorta laughed at me. I told Simon and Soulpeace that there had indeed been an earthquake. Later we found out from Darren that the 4.8 magnitude earthquake had its epicenter in Babati where he works on an ADRA water project. Kezia and I are going to go there on Monday...
Two other sad things from our campus. 1) Yesterday Davona told the Cradle volunteers that one of the babies Muchsin, who had gone back home about a month ago, had died. His mum was HIV+. We don't know why he died, but it is sad to think about that beautiful baby boy not being alive anymore. 2) This morning I went outside to play with the kids and Kezia, who was outside too, told me that one of the new babies in the nursery, Elizabeth, who was two days old, and had been abandoned and had come to Cradle yesterday, had died in her sleep in the early morning. Several carloads of people showed up throughout the rest of the morning and there were many people going in and out of the the nursery while we were outside. Later we found out no one could figure out the cause of death and it was thought it might have been SIDS. She was buried on our campus in the early afternoon.
Cradle, this campus, and this area have had a very hard couple of days. Please pray for us as we continue on with our work.
Around 6 a.m. a full daladala left Usa River heading to Arusha. Near the Makumira stop, the dala got stuck behind a man riding a bicycle loaded down with "food for cows" traveling in the same direction. The daladala driver, wanting to pass, pulled out onto the right side of the road. A Ngorika bus, on its way from Arusha to Dar es Salaam, was driving in the opposite direction. The dala driver either must not have looked very carefully or didn't realized how fast the Ngorika bus was traveling. By the time he did realize the situation, he tried to pull farther to the right, onto the shoulder, but he wasn't quick enough and the bus hit the left side of the daladala. Soulpeace reported that the daladala had been packed full (as they usually are) and he thought most of the people in there were killed. He also said that the bus driver was stuck in the wreckage but still alive when he left the scene. This was around 9 a.m., about three hours after the accident occurred. The time of the accident was also at a time when many school children are taking daladalas to get to school. I'm not sure if children were in the dala that was hit, but it is probable. (Later that evening we heard from Almas, our taxi driver, that there were nine confirmed dead from the accident. He also said that the bus driver, after hours of being alive and trapped under the mangled vehicles, had also succumbed to his injuries and was included in that count. Almas had apparently driven past the accident that morning and seen several of the bodies laid out and covered on the side of the road.)
I have traveled the road from Usa River to Arusha so many times this year. I have ridden in a daladala to Arusha quite often. When Jonathan and I went to Tanga we took the Ngorika bus. I am just so thankful for all my safe travels this year, on long trips as well as short ones.
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Another semi-scary event on Friday morning was a slight earthquake. I was sitting with my arms on my desk and all of a sudden I felt it jiggling beneath me. I looked at Simon who had just stood up from his desk and was standing near the windows on one side of the room. He didn't give any indication he was feeling what I was feeling. Then I turned and looked at Soulpeace who was behind me leaning against our shelves on the opposite side of the room from Simon. He also didn't seemed bothered in the least. "Umm, do you guys feel anything shaking?" I asked. "I think there's an earthquake." They both shook their heads. "An earthquake? Are you sure? I really don't think so," Simon responded. The shaking stopped after about 15 seconds and I thought maybe I was just going crazy. I picked up my phone and texted Danielle: Did we just have an earthquake or am I crazy? She answered less than a minute later: Yes, there was definitely an earthquake! I grabbed the table and Staci just sorta laughed at me. I told Simon and Soulpeace that there had indeed been an earthquake. Later we found out from Darren that the 4.8 magnitude earthquake had its epicenter in Babati where he works on an ADRA water project. Kezia and I are going to go there on Monday...
_________________________
Two other sad things from our campus. 1) Yesterday Davona told the Cradle volunteers that one of the babies Muchsin, who had gone back home about a month ago, had died. His mum was HIV+. We don't know why he died, but it is sad to think about that beautiful baby boy not being alive anymore. 2) This morning I went outside to play with the kids and Kezia, who was outside too, told me that one of the new babies in the nursery, Elizabeth, who was two days old, and had been abandoned and had come to Cradle yesterday, had died in her sleep in the early morning. Several carloads of people showed up throughout the rest of the morning and there were many people going in and out of the the nursery while we were outside. Later we found out no one could figure out the cause of death and it was thought it might have been SIDS. She was buried on our campus in the early afternoon.
Cradle, this campus, and this area have had a very hard couple of days. Please pray for us as we continue on with our work.
6 comments:
Such heartbreaking stories....the ones of the little babies dying...Jesus surely must cry too.xo
makes us long for that Better Land
no more crying and sorrow
so sorry this all happened
it brings back memories of the little baby at youngberg's house with the mummy that did not want to believe her sweet little boy was not alive.
how sad about all of this.
love you
I am anonymous because I didn't know what address thing to use...Karen Ritchey xo
wow crazy... I never think about accidents like that in those countries... I guess I always think that they're so much better drivers there, but everyone makes mistakes. I'm thankful nothing happened to us in all our travels there.
Also sad about the babies... I pray for you every day, and I'll add in the other people on your campus that are affected by these tragedies.
I am so sad about all the sad things that are happening there. My heart aches for you all. and for all those whose lives have been touched by such sadness. I love you and pray for you all.
Aww Als I'm so sorry. That sounds like really hard stuff to deal with. I'm glad that you've been safe throughout everything though. I'll keep the people there in my prayers. I love you so much.
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