This is what we were supposed to do...
But this is what we ended up doing...
Sunday morning we woke up, packed up our campsite, and headed to a game park with intentions of riding bikes for the day. As you can see, we had our bikes picked out and were ready to go! Our plan quickly got shut down when the MEAN guards told Paul and me that we did not have ALL the necessary items in order to get the residents rate to enter the park (which is a lot less expensive). We were given temporary resident cards while waiting for our alien cards, and they wouldn't take them. We tried reasoning with them for a long time and then decided it wasn't worth it anymore, so we left. I will be the first to admit, I was TICKED OFF! This is the main reason we went to this area to camp! We got in our car started our way back home. My emotions were fuming and I was venting at how ridiculous I thought the guards were when suddenly we saw the most traumatic thing I have EVER seen and it totally put life into perspective. We had gone about 5 minutes when we saw a ton of people gathered around the road staring at what we thought was a dead animal in the middle of the road. As we approached closer, we realized it was not an animal, but rather a little girl (about 12 years old) who had been hit by a car. I really wanted to just pick her up, put her in our car, and drive her to the hospital (which was about 2 hrs away), but there was no doubt that she was dead once we arrived. She was in her Sunday dress, laying in a pool of blood and not moving at all. The accident must have happened no more than 10 minutes before we arrived. We had to slowly drive passed the girl, feeling completely helpless, and let me tell you, I felt sick. The truck that hit her was parked on the side of the road, but we never saw the driver. That poor man!
I really cannot even explain all the different emotions I felt at the time-it truly was overwhelming. My first thought was WHY God? I wanted to help, but did not know how. I was mad that no one had even attempted to help her (but instead just stared). I was sad for her family and friends. But also was confused why no one was showing any kind of emotion on the side of the road. Where was her family? Why weren't they huddled around her crying and screaming? I was shocked that the Africans just let little children stand and stare at the dead child. It was too much for me to handle, so I cannot imagine the effect it has on little ones. I was disgusted at the site of the blood and with the thought that this was a precious human lying here. I was burdened for the man that hit her as I'm sure he will never be the same. I was worried that this could happen to my children someday but also thanked God for my precious child and our safety. For the remainder of the trip, I had a huge knot in my stomach and could not stop thinking and praying for her family. Our car was silent for a few minutes as we processed what had happened, and then we began to discuss what we had just seen. I can promise you that the picture of that little girl will forever be in my head.
Well, as mentioned before, our plans changed for the day. We ended up spending the afternoon at a Boys Home. Most of the boys do not have any parents alive as they have died from AIDS, except for a couple of them, but their parents are unable to take care of them. It broke my heart to hear that a few of the boys are positive for HIV/AIDS too. All the boys were adorable and were so happy to have visitors. We watched them play ball and then eventually joined in. Our change of plans ended up being a fun day after all, and now that just means we will have to go back for our bike ride at a later day!
