Trans African Caravan of Hope: Caravan

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Friday, 23 December 2011

Caravan Chat - A Discussion with the Second Oldest Caravanite

Written on the 10^th December,2011

‘The whole idea of going to COP doesn’t make sense if we don’t negotiate with nature.’ ‘So how do we do that?’ l ask after hearing such a sweeping statement. ‘ We negotiate with nature by leaving activities that disturb it and nurturing those that encourage it.’

This was a statement that Mzee Charles made when l spoke to him about his experiences as the second oldest caravanite.

Mzee Charles right in the middle of Thundering Drums

I am finalizing this story as we go through seriously winding and somewhat bumpy narrow roads on our way to Morogoro.

‘You know,’ Mzee Charles raises his right hand to emphasize his point. ‘Catastrophes don’t have boundaries. COP has lost its sense that we were trying to arouse as we protested on the streets of Durban.’ He then reminds me of Japan and the catastrophe they went through even though they are an industrialized country. ‘It didn’t matter that these people have industries and a lot of money. When natural catastrophes come, they strike the poor and the rich alike,’ he insists adding, ‘These countries should remember that, when they say no to binding deals.’

Caravan Dispatches - A Stuck Bus Somewhere in Tanzania

14^th November, 2011

Somewhere in Tanzania

Hmmm! ‘Gari imekata mafuta,’ whose literal translation means, ‘the car has cut oil.’ This means the petrol is not getting into the right places hence causing the bus to get stuck. Ok that is enough explaining, l need to tell you about the journey.

So this is the second time this is happening. It is nearly 7.30pm and we are stuck right in the middle of nowhere. The drivers say it is a few kilometers to Dar es Salam. On each side of the road a few huts and some bushes and it is totally pitch black. No really.Here when it is dark, it really is dark and especially if the area has no generators. I want some fear to kick in but it can’t because the people around me are so relaxed. One caravanite says, ‘it is time to do a poem which would be titled..in the still of darkness,’ to which he gets a round of laughter. The driver who is not answering when we ask what is wrong, is working feverishly to correct the problem. The second bus has already caught up with us and its drivers join in. 15 minutes after tinkering with the engine or whatever it was, the bus is ready to go. I laugh when l hear one of the drivers saying, ‘when l touch this bus it behaves itself but when it sees a hill it begins to misbehave.’ Really? It has now become a living thing?

We take off into the night hoping that this was the last episode. I haven’t reached yet. I am still wiring and on the road to Dar. Let us finish this when we get there. An hour later, we are in Dar and the bus has conked out again. This time though we are so relaxed. I think we have faith in our drivers. Now after all the scary experiences we know they know what they are doing. Tinker for 10 minutes and drive off to the hotel.

By Maria Wanza