It is early in the morning, the sun starting to break over the horizon. I open the door to leave my guest house and am greeted by a cool brisk morning air, like a waterfall of iciness washing over my face. The air is fresh and clear, a crispness that will soon be lost when the dry season sun commands the skies. The fresh air, a welcoming change from the guest room with faulty plumbing and faint septic tank scent. Grass fire and wood cooking fire smokes make their way across the Voinjama city limits; burning of grass a common practice during the dry season and cooking on open fires the main way food is prepared. The guard near the gate is engulfed in a giant parka, I can hardly see is head. A parka common in the deep freeze of Minnesota and out of place in West Africa. The temperature is probably only 60F but when you are used to mid 80s, this is cold. A rooster is crowing in the distance and a constant drone of motorcycles can be heard. Motorcycle taxis are the most common mode of public transport in this area, not only do the motos carry people and families, they will haul all sort of materials and goods.
The road from Monrovia to Voinjama is improving, however there remains about a 4 hour stretch out of the total 8 to 9 hour drive where one needs to traverse the potholes and washouts of a typical African marrum road surface. The first portion of roadway outside of Monrovia and towards some of the main mining areas, the Chinese are paving the road surface. When you take the turn from Banga and proceed towards Voinjama, the conditions get worse and where minimal maintenance is conducted, the road surfaces deteriorate after each rain season. On a previous trip I made to Voinjama during the rainy season, we encountered a truck stuck in the middle of the road. It was dark by the time we encountered this truck and our headlights illuminated many men, dark as the night, with shovels and logs, attempting the remove the truck from the mud pit. Having been on the road for over 6 hours, there was no option to go back to, no place to turn around to and go back for night. No Holiday Inn or Motel 6 leaving the light on. There were mud huts, villages, and scattered farms mixed in with jungle and the West African bushland. Fortunately there was a narrow passage way between the stuck truck and the 15 foot high embankment on the other side. Our Land Cruiser was able to muscle its way past the truck, through mud at a 30 degree angle, dragging the right hand side of the vehicle along the embankment. Another victory for the nearly indestructible Land Cruiser; however subsequent trips with kamikaze driver may prove the Land Cruiser can be destroyed if giant pot holes are not avoided at 60 kilo-meters per hour. I try not to judge as I have driven and it's not easy to identify all the bad spots.
In Voinjama we will be rebuilding the water system, ranging from the river intake, the treatment process, storage and distribution through out the city. We aim to improve the sediment laden and brown water into clean chlorinated drinking water.
The road from Monrovia to Voinjama is improving, however there remains about a 4 hour stretch out of the total 8 to 9 hour drive where one needs to traverse the potholes and washouts of a typical African marrum road surface. The first portion of roadway outside of Monrovia and towards some of the main mining areas, the Chinese are paving the road surface. When you take the turn from Banga and proceed towards Voinjama, the conditions get worse and where minimal maintenance is conducted, the road surfaces deteriorate after each rain season. On a previous trip I made to Voinjama during the rainy season, we encountered a truck stuck in the middle of the road. It was dark by the time we encountered this truck and our headlights illuminated many men, dark as the night, with shovels and logs, attempting the remove the truck from the mud pit. Having been on the road for over 6 hours, there was no option to go back to, no place to turn around to and go back for night. No Holiday Inn or Motel 6 leaving the light on. There were mud huts, villages, and scattered farms mixed in with jungle and the West African bushland. Fortunately there was a narrow passage way between the stuck truck and the 15 foot high embankment on the other side. Our Land Cruiser was able to muscle its way past the truck, through mud at a 30 degree angle, dragging the right hand side of the vehicle along the embankment. Another victory for the nearly indestructible Land Cruiser; however subsequent trips with kamikaze driver may prove the Land Cruiser can be destroyed if giant pot holes are not avoided at 60 kilo-meters per hour. I try not to judge as I have driven and it's not easy to identify all the bad spots.
On the last trip I took, the gas tank separated from the vehicle, dropped a few inches after hitting a nasty patch of pot holes. However, no one realized this had happened and we had just filled up with diesel at one of the few places that had fuel. I asked the driver to pull over so I could answer the "call of nature", here we call it "check the tires". As I was stepping out of the vehicle, I hear something flowing, like a waterfall escaping the rear of the vehicle. I notice a stream flowing from the Land Cruiser and hitting the side of the road ditch. It was leaking from near the location where one re-fuels. Since we were parked at an angle, with the right side in the ditch I told the driver to quickly move and park on the other side of the road, the leaking slowed to dripping. I considered the risk of an exploding Land Cruiser, but diesel is not flammable in that way and the leaking was at the rear of the vehicle. At that point, after a long trip and not far from Voinjama I said lets get into town quick before we lose all the fuel and are stuck in the middle of no-where. The abuse these vehicles take is incredible and I wonder what the designed level or tolerance is for the Land Cruiser; what are the design factors taken into consideration by Toyota engineers.
In Voinjama we will be rebuilding the water system, ranging from the river intake, the treatment process, storage and distribution through out the city. We aim to improve the sediment laden and brown water into clean chlorinated drinking water.
The former system was built by the Germans in the early 80s and were completely destroyed during the war. Today the shell of the buildings remain, but everything else has been pillaged. The only metal remaining are a few hand rails and fittings that were cast in the concrete and would be extremely difficult to remove. Everything else removed and taken to Guinea by the rebels to be used as scrap metal or sold.
The caretaker at the guest house told me his experiences during the war, when he would wake in the middle of the night and hear the rebels coming. Gun shots and screaming. The rebels would enter Voinjama, pillaging all they could find and firing the guns into homes. He would run away to what he called 'another place'. They would constantly be ready to move to the next place and stay only as long until the rebels would visit. The rebels would take the young men, he fit that demographic. They would take the young men and force them to join the rebels. At one point he was taken to Guinea by the rebels. He managed to escape and eventually ended up in a refugee camp in Ivory Coast. He tells me all of this like he is re-telling his high school experience or some other past story; to him a large part of his past and just the way it was back then. He couldn't change or impact the forces that were coming down and destroying those around him and the life they had.
Why had this happening, I asked? Why were the rebels, based across the border in Guinea, attacking Voinjama? He tells me the two tribes, Lorma and Mandigo, never got along and the rebels. Today Voinjama remains mixed and people want peace so they can have a decent way of life. Based in Guinea, the Mandigo tribe would launch attacks against his 'people', stealing and destroying. There didn't seem to be an agenda of political conquest in this part of the war, but rather to retaliate and attack the other tribe. There is much I need to learn about this war, the motivations and the characters. One thing is appeared constant, as if most wars, there is fighting over land and resources. I'm not even sure they knew who they were killing, but once jacked up on drugs and death, the AK47 took control.
Today, the dry season dust fills the sky, grass fires burn in the country side and people are recovering and rebuilding.
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