Venez et voyez!: Taxi woes

Hi all,

After a gruelling 22-hr taxi ride from Macenta, Sarah's in Conakry to welcome and accompany Sonia, a sister from Wolverhampton, back to the Forest. There are some lovely stretches of road that are a joy to ride on (Macenta and the 54 miles after Macenta) and some terrible patches of broken tarmac and deep potholes that a small car cannot tolerate. I had the pleasure to travel with Pastors Simon and Simeon! What was interesting about the route however, was the change in attitude of the military at roadblocks. They no longer have the right to hound and physically abuse civilians, especially taxi drivers themselves, but they have to be courteous and people through the road blocks as quickly as possible! There were a few that took to being verbally abusive when our chauffeur provoked them, but the majority only wanted to see the necessary paperwork and wave us through, albeit grudingly. Whenever we travel, we take what is called an Ordre de Mission, or an official permit that shows that the mission has allowed us to travel. These are part and parcel of bureaucracy in many Francophone countries but work a treat for getting through these road blocks.

The beautifully smooth European Union-paid for road in Macenta

Sonia will be here on a journey of discovery of what life is like on the mission field in Guinea but also to support us during her stay. We're looking forward to meeting and getting to know her, introducing Guinea to her and also taking her through our mission journeys. Sonia is our first visitor since we arrived in Guinea (Eric in 2005, Sarah 2007) and we pray that this visit would be blessed and a blessing for all of us!

Up-to-date cat photos

In the meantime, Eric's left to run the eating schedule for Rowan, Benoit and the six kittens who are becoming more and more playful, agile and greedy by the day! Rowan is on a course of anti-worming tablets as she's lost a lot of weight, but then again it's not surprising as she's feeding six mouths plus Benoit who slips in and takes advantage before Eric throws him outside, yet again!