Spoke too soon
27.08.2012
This was a weekend of firsts! Arua had its first official race- advertised as a ‘marathon’ but it turned out to be 10 km. Several of our classmates & BigHair registered, and on Sunday morning, we excitedly set off to watch/ take part in the big race...
Here in Arua, one of the main modes of transport is a soft cushion on the back of a bicycle (a ‘boda’). 
Boda Boda
As we set off, Amelie’s little foot got caught in between the spokes of the wheel, which meant bike quickly ground to a halt as Amelie’s high pitched screams filled the air.We are so thankful for trustworthy medical friends in Arua, who cleaned Amelie’s wound and dosed her up on painkillers (and dosed us up on strong coffee and banana cake). But today she was still in lots of pain and can’t bear weight on her foot. So, today Amelie had her first x-ray, which thankfully showed no break, just bad bruising.
Amelie's protective sock...
We are so grateful she was wearing her pink plastic crocs to protect her feet from being completely mangled, and also that we are in a town where medical attention can be sought if needs be. It reinforces that we would really not feel comfortable taking Amelie to a remote mountain tribe in South Sudan with no health care, for 5 weeks for the ‘Outreach phase’ of this training in a couple of weeks time…
David made the race (the advantage of being in culture with many late starts) and enjoyed his first race in Africa. The inspiring part, according to David (unfortunately I didn’t get to watch as I was consoling Amelie and eating banana cake at the time) was that some of the winners of the race were teenage girls, running in bare feet along the dusty tracks.
It sums up some of the most admirable traits we see in this culture- being resourceful, being determined and persevering against the odds.
Posted by africraigs 11:09
then we soooo need to get annelie into a sleeptraining routine...so maybe before she is 1 she will sleep through the night
aw Emma am so sorry to hear of Amalie's wee trauma, and do pray that the pain is not for long. Pioneers-UK got a wee plug at Partick Trinity this sunday as I did a minute for Mission about you and when I finished Stuart did a lovely prayer especially for you, David and amelie x love from Mana
by marilyn jean hazlett