I was just walking into the office here at Neema Village this morning when I was told that the Village Counsel was begging for me to come with our tractor. There had been a cave in that had covered up some of the diggers of volcanic ash.
Now, let me tell you, we live in the shadow of Mt. Meru, the fifth tallest mountain in Africa, at almost 15,000 feet. Mt. Meru is a dormant volcano, but in eons past it was quite active, spewing volcanic ash over the whole country side. You can dig just five feet deep on our property before encountering the volcanic ash, which is called moram. It is valued for roadways and building projects. So, all around us, hundreds of men dig with shovels every day to make a living from the moram. The trucks hauling the moram make coming and going from Neema Village quite a challenge.
When I heard the news, I immediately called our shop manager, Baraka, and told him to fill the tractor with diesel, and that I would be coming to get it right away. I ran back upstairs to our apartment to change out of my sandals, which I normally wear, and put on some sturdy shoes, then I ran to the tractor barn and started “Roy” our little red tractor. I say little, but the tractor is actually a big 85 hp four wheel drive tractor with a front end loader. As quickly as possible, I drove to the site of the accident, accompanied by several of our workers. Approaching the site of the accident we saw hundreds of people walking to the same place, and as we got closer, there were also many motorcycles and vehicles. When we topped the hill and got our first view of the cave in, I was awestruck. It was huge, perhaps one hundred or one hundred-fifty feet wide. The people said that they thought there were two trucks buried, along with their digging crews. There were thousands of people there already, many using shovels to try and get to the buried men. Truthfully, in my 76 years of living, I have never seen anything like this. I was totally dumbstruck.
Our tractor was the first machine to get there, and we immediately started working to move big rocks and piles of moram. It was tough going on sloping ground, and one time, with a full bucket of moram, I felt the tractor start to tilt. It was a scary moment until I could lower the bucket and ease out. One of our workers, who is an experienced tractor driver, offered to take over, and I reluctantly allowed him to take my place. That, however, was a good decision. I thought that it would take days to remove all the rocks and moram. But soon, the cavalry arrived, as bigger front end loaders came streaming in, followed by giant backhoes. “Roy” the little red tractor was dwarfed by the bigger machines. Soon there were too many earth moving machines and it was so crowded that we backed away so that the bigger machines could do the work.
In the huge crowd that was there, were all the important officials of Arusha, including the Mayor, the Regional Commissioner, Members of Parliament, and the top Police official. They all shook my hand and thanked me for trying to help. I told them that I was from Neema Village, and we always want to help, and explained that we were also helping the babies of Tanzania.
By late afternoon, they had recovered one truck and three bodies, and they declared that was all. I hope they are right and that only three people lost their lives. As the rest of the cave-in is cleared away in coming days, we will find out. While we are thankful that it is only three, what sadness three families are going through today. We pray that God will give them comfort and peace.
In a country like Tanzania, where there is such poverty, men will do anything to make a living. Using a shovel to fill trucks with moram and earn less than $3 per day is all that some can do. As for the three who died today, they gave their lives to make a living. We pray that it will not happen again.
Now, let me tell you, we live in the shadow of Mt. Meru, the fifth tallest mountain in Africa, at almost 15,000 feet. Mt. Meru is a dormant volcano, but in eons past it was quite active, spewing volcanic ash over the whole country side. You can dig just five feet deep on our property before encountering the volcanic ash, which is called moram. It is valued for roadways and building projects. So, all around us, hundreds of men dig with shovels every day to make a living from the moram. The trucks hauling the moram make coming and going from Neema Village quite a challenge.
was awestruck. It was huge, perhaps one hundred or one hundred-fifty feet wide. The people said that they thought there were two trucks buried, along with their digging crews. There were thousands of people there already, many using shovels to try and get to the buried men. Truthfully, in my 76 years of living, I have never seen anything like this. I was totally dumbstruck.
with a full bucket of moram, I felt the tractor start to tilt. It was a scary moment until I could lower the bucket and ease out. One of our workers, who is an experienced tractor driver, offered to take over, and I reluctantly allowed him to take my place. That, however, was a good decision. I thought that it would take days to remove all the rocks and moram. But soon, the cavalry arrived, as bigger front end loaders came streaming in, followed by giant backhoes. “Roy” the little red tractor was dwarfed by the bigger machines. Soon there were too many earth moving machines and it was so crowded that we backed away so that the bigger machines could do the work.