Motorcycles and Mocuba

Driving in Nampula is… well… an experience.  Or rather riding is.  I think I’d be petrified if I had to drive here.  Forget all clearly delineated lanes, rules and speed limits.  To me, it is the transportation equivalent of relativistic truth- “Drive however it is right for you.”

To be fair, people generally stay on the left side of the road, that is, assuming zero potholes (which is rare; these potholes are also extremely large).  However, if it is convenient, feel free to swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid them.

You may also pass anyone on either side whenever there is available space.  “Available space” is defined not in terms of feet but literal inches.  I lost track of how many times I was absolutely sure we would hit someone or something on the first day alone.

A nice thing about driving here is that there are actually relatively few cars or trucks.  Most people cannot afford one, so there are as many bicycles and motorcycles as cars on the streets.  However, many people cannot even afford these, so by far the greatest number of people on the street is pedestrians.  And this is what really unnerves me- most seem to have a certain disregard for the motorized traffic.  One missionary told me that you absolutely need to have a 360 degree awareness of your surroundings when you drive; pedestrians only look both ways before running out into the road about half of the time.

Unfortunately, accidents are not uncommon.  And regrettably, Hillary and I have already witnessed one right outside of the vehicle we were in.  A motorcyclist was coming towards us on the street and a pedestrian was preparing to cross.  However, there was a bus parked on the right side, so the pedestrian couldn’t see further up the road.  The pedestrian looked our way, but didn’t try and peek around the bus before he literally ran right out in front of the cyclist.  The motorcycle fortunately only seemed to clip his heel, but still the man was flipped in the air, and the motorcycle spun and skidded to a stop right outside my window.   Immediately swarms of people surrounded them helping them up and assessing the situation.  It seems both men were okay, a little bruised and bloodied, but still our heart rates were boosted a little higher than normal.

In other news, I will officially be going on a trip to Mocuba, a town about 245 miles from Nampula, to do some recording work.  Edgar and I will be working with a translation team to record audio of the Gospel of Mark into one of languages of Mozambique that is without a written scripture yet.  I am very excited for this opportunity, and I know I will learn and experience some really cool things!  I will be gone about five days starting this Thursday, so Hillary and I could really use your prayers during that time:

-First, that travel would go well and we would arrive in Mocuba and back home safely

-That God would protect us and bless our work so that His Word would be made available to those who don’t have any access to it

-For both Hillary and I as we are apart from each other

-That this could be used as a learning experience, and we would be open to whatever God has in store for us.

Thank you all very much!  We really appreciate all your prayers and support!

~Mark