A Tragic Reality

As we’ve alluded to earlier, not every story from the trip is a happy, feel good story. Some of our experiences in travelling were more a shock of reality. Such is this brief story. Ethiopia is known for several things. Some people know it for its unique orthodox church whose stories tie into the Old and New Testament narratives in rather interesting ways. Others know it for its political uniqueness in that it is the only African country to not be colonized (and they’re quite proud of that). There is one area where Ethiopia tops the charts which is not something they are proud of – that being, it is the country with the most traffic fatalities. A simple drive whether in downtown Addis Ababa or through the countryside will be sure to raise your heart rate enough to give you a cardiovascular workout. There’s the dangerous drivers, the absent minded pedestrians and the endless streams of livestock walking along the side (or down the middle) of the road. And as new asphalt roads are constructed, transportation is improved which creates much needed infrastructure in the country. However, improved roads mean that vehicle speeds increase and reaction times decrease when an animal or child jumps out into the road.

There were several times on the trip when we intentionally decreased our MPH after passing the site of a tragic accident. One in particular will always be burned in my memory. After coming around a corner, we saw a large group of people about a half of a mile ahead. Right away we knew something was wrong. As we approached, I noticed a detail that I didn’t want to see – the women were wearing their scarves over the heads with the pattern encircling their face. Scarves are only worn like this in a funeral ceremony. Sure enough, as we passed by the center of the group of people, I caught a split second glimpse. There, still lying in the lane of the oncoming traffic, was a body completely covered by a white sheet. It took a few seconds to hit me, someone was just killed there, and there is no guilty vehicle in sight, and most depressing was the realization that the body under the sheet was quite small. Glad that I was not driving at that time, I mentally pulled myself to the side of the road in order to let my mind process the magnitude of the responsibility I take whenever I slide in behind the wheel. I pray that I/we will never take that responsibility lightly and we ask for your prayers in God’s protection and deliverance from any such tragic incidents.