Slip and Slide

I brace myself for the next bump, but just a second too late. My head crashes against the side window and I groan. Although Todd is driving at a snails pace, the ruts in the road are so deep that when the wheels go down into one of them I can hardly see the top of the road. The car thuds, bounces, rattles and squeaks as we hang on tightly. At one point my brain feels like it’s going to come loose in my head, so for awhile I squint hard to keep it in place. I’m still not sure if the rain in the past few days has made the roads better or worse. Now instead of a “shake and bake” the road has become a “slip and slide”. The temperature is fairly cool today so at least it’s not hot in the car and the dust is gone as well, but now the roads are one big muddy mess. Every now and then we wonder how we can possibly get through the next section of road but the car we are using has four-wheel drive and it just plows right on. Not only has the rain made the road disappear in a sea of mud, the rivers we have to cross have risen as well. Most of the rivers don’t have bridges so we have to drive right through them. At each crossing we peer down anxiously to make sure our car can make it. Three hours later we finally arrive at our destination. The total distance we traveled was a mere 40 kilometers, but it took us more then 4 hours. Driving these roads has given us a better understanding regarding the necessity of MAF’s work in Haiti. What took us 4 hours to drive, MAF can fly in 20 minutes. In an emergency that makes a big difference. What we also didn’t realize was that in a few months when the rainy season begins there is no way anyone can use these roads. Being able to utilize airplanes has been a great blessing for the people here.