Eyes to See, Ears to Hear

To arrive at our house it is advised to have 4WD.  After driving about 0.5 mi into the neighborhood (all rough dirt road) you descend into a small valley.  From there, the short, steep climb up to our house is about a 300 ft increase in altitude.  Remember… all dirt.  And what time of the year is it?  That’s right.  Rainy season.  Simple equation I so delightfully discovered early in my childhood: dirt + rain = MUD!!!!

About 2 weeks ago, we went to pick up our friends’ kitten to cat-sit for them while they traveled to Uganda.  It began raining on our way out of the neighborhood so much to our surprise, we discovered the construction people had just graded the main road leading out.  All was well in picking up the kitten and returning to the neighborhood… until the short, steep climb.  Fifteen yards from the top of the first section climbing up, the back wheels lost traction.  Okay.  So, I thought I’d just back down to the valley and take a different route that wasn’t just graded.  The mud was so soft, once I began backing up, it steered us straight into the ditch.  We didn’t stop until we got to the bottom.  I noticed in the rearview mirror some Tanzanians standing in a safe spot next to the road, getting what I’m sure was an entertaining sight.  Well, it was those same Tanzanians who were knee deep in mud all around the car just after we finally stopped.  As a matter of fact, it was well under a minute, maybe even thirty seconds, when they were already to our aid.  This totally amazed us.  Pouring rain.  Gushing run-offs.  Asher-deep (almost) mud and they still jumped right in to help us out.

An instant sharing of others burdens seems to be a given for the people here.  Our getting stuck wasn’t the first example of seeing this kind of action.  This is one characteristic of the lives around us for which I am definitely thankful.

(P.S. the car was SO stuck that even that many TZians couldn’t get us out.  I finally got in touch with a good friend of ours with a beast of a Land Rover with differential lock and everything.  He pulled us out AND all the way up the hill!)

Just for fun, I HAD to put this image here…