Last Sunday I travelled from Yendi to Tamale by bus – a journey that takes about 1 hour. I (Joke) do not often travel on public transport, so for me it is always interesting and an adventure to start such a journey as I’m never really sure what will happen! Most of the buses which leave from Yendi do not have a set departure time. The bus will only leave when there are enough passengers. Abukari and the boys went with me to the bus station to wave me good-bye.
 |
| Waiting for the bus |
When we arrived at the station we realised that there were a lot of people waiting for the bus to Tamale. At least three buses would be needed to transport all the people. Fortunately, Abukari knows somebody working at the bus station and he arranged that we could buy a ticket through him which would ensure me a seat on the next bus. However, it was a long time before the ‘next’ bus arrived at the station. In the meantime more people arrived at the station to join the crowd ready to travel to Tamale. After two hours waiting, there was still no bus in sight. Finally, after about three hours we could see 'the' bus. Relieved people ran to the small office where tickets were being sold. Unfortunately, this bus was not travelling to Tamale. Two more buses arrived at the station but they also had different destinations.
 |
| Unfortunately these buses were not going to Tamale |
When the bus for Tamale finally arrived, our friend who was supposed to buy my ticket was nowhere to be seen. The bus to Tamale was filling up and I was still sitting on the wooden bench, waiting. Abukari and I started to discuss the option of taking our car to Tamale – as I had to catch a plane to Accra early the next morning and could not afford to miss that flight. Just as we were getting ready to leave the bus station and Abukari was about to ask some people waiting for the bus if they wanted to join us in our car, another bus bound for Tamale arrived. Even though we still could not find our friend who was getting me a ticket, we waited a few more minutes to see what would happen. As this second bus started to fill up our friend suddenly appeared with my ticket and I was sure I could get on this bus.
We are really blessed with our car. We can take it any time of the day and even visit the most inaccessible places in Ghana. Not everybody has that opportunity. Most of the people here only have access to their legs as a means of transport. In the Northern part of Ghana (where the land is relatively flat) people also use their bicycles a lot. However, a bicycle is a possession many people cannot afford. Motorbikes are also popular and for longer distances most people use public transport (a bus). But even using a bus is not always an option. In some villages a truck arrives only once a week, to transport people and goods to the closest market. When we visit any of these villages our car automatically becomes a means of public transport as many people line up to join us when we return to town.
 |
| A truck is hardly ever full - even on top of the truck you can find a place to sit |
 |
| A traffic jam caused by road contruction |
 |
| An old tyre is a great toy! |
Thank God for:
- the lesson of patience, even at the bus station
Pray for:
- safety on our roads
- improvement of the road network so that inaccessible villages can be reached with the Gospel
