The man whose leg was amputated after his motorcycle crashed into our Land Cruiser has returned to Yambio from our hospital in a neighboring state. Our staff picked him at the airstrip and brought him to our yard, where he was greeted by nearly every one of our employees as well as his friends who had gotten word that he’d returned. The afternoon found his family gathered en masse outside their tukuls welcoming him home. He is on crutches; when his stump is properly healed, he will be fitted for prosthesis from the International Committee of the Red Cross. We are hopeful that now that he has returned the judge will see fit to release our driver from prison and our vehicle from impound.
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The husband of Susan, one of our cooks, had his own run-in with a motorcycle in nearly the same location as our accident. If I understand Susan correctly, his arm and leg are broken, or at least seriously injured. Of course she didn’t mention this to us (we find out through others) and continues to beam that beautiful smile and say everything is fine. Seems her husband was “footing” when a Senge crashed into him, or as they say “knocked” him. Here, the word Senge is synonymous with not only the word motorcycle, but with danger. Senge drivers, particularly the boda-boda (slang for border-to-border for-hire transportation) are almost without fail young men whose bodies are heavy with testosterone. Ripping down our dirt roads, they weave in and out of bicyclists, children, and pedestrians, sometimes missing their mark. It seems not a day goes by where an accident – minor or serious – isn’t had. It’s said the Senges that came from Congo are cursed, and as such their drivers are unable to control their driving. People here are if not afraid of all things Congo, are at least superstitious. In Congo, you can sell your soul to the spirits who live in big houses underneath the river water so that your wishes and desires come true. In exchange, any number of family members you have identified will be made to die by the spirits. There, a certain type of vegetation is said to suck the blood of any human or animal that passes through it. Carrying a bible is the only means of protection, I’m told.
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