Not too long later, we continued on our journey. I was praying that we would make it to the capital safely. A little later, the bus stopped. The other passengers told me that the road was broken ahead. Just as I was told that, my warden called me. “Wardens” in PC are people designated to be host/hostesses to other volunteers when consolidation is called or the point people that PC talks to in emergencies so they can pass on the information to others without having PC call every volunteer in country.
My warden told me to check out how bad the road looked and call her back. I collected all my things with me and began walking. There were many vehicles stopped alongside the road and after about 15 minutes of walking - I came to the problem. The road was not “broken”, but a landslide had occurred. There were huge boulders that came up to my chest and a vehicle was off to the side - crushed by the landslide.
After confirming with my warden and the Duty Officer that I was safe, I waited for further instructions on what to do. I then got a call from our Country Director, who had been visiting other volunteers that lived near me. They had been caught by the road being blocked coming the opposite direction that I had been. I climbed over the boulders that were left (a bulldozer of some kind had been working on the road to get rid of them) and walked back to their truck. I discovered then that the road had actually had 2 landslides occur.
While walking back to the PC vehicle, we ran into another volunteer that had been in transit to the city I was leaving. We all traveled together and congregated to figure out the next steps and check off other volunteers that had been heard from. Soon, most everyone was accounted for so they dropped me off at the capital and I continued walking back to my site. Luckily, other people were walking on the bridge I need to cross to get to my site so I figured it was safe for me too.
I got home where I ate and crashed into bed - the whole process having taken about 5 hours. Less than 2 hours later, my family woke me up. Apparently there was an aftershock that I didn’t feel happen and to be on the safe side, my family sat outside the house for 2 hours. After nothing happened, we all went back to bed. The next day, they had me stay outside of the house and only go in for a short time. Another aftershock happened and while I again didn’t feel it happen, I heard my house shake.
The lady I made bricks with came by and showed me the iron rods she had bought. Afterwards, she said the next day we would make the stove. Yes, 2 days after the earthquake - she was ready to learn how to make an ICS. Sure enough, when I came to her house the next day she jumped right in to preparing everything we needed to make it. It was finished in about 5 hours. During that time, PC called and made sure again that I had enough food and water at my site.
Today, I got a call to do a survey from another PCV. It involved a few more questions than if I had enough food and water. The purpose was to collect all the data of the PCVs to help them make a decision on what to do. Since the earthquake happened, we have been told to stay at our sites continuing as usual and not to travel. Not a problem, but I’m not sure I like the feeling of being in limbo! I have another stove to do, but am unsure if it’s ok to do it when I may get the call to consolidate.
I had told my Dee Dee about things, but my Dai tonight asked again. Rather than asking questions on what we talked about, he began telling me why people were calling. Apparently, others are calling because they think due to the devastation in KTM the villages are in the same state. I told him that was NOT why I was being called. PC knows that I am safe, but they have to continually make sure that I am.
It has nothing to do with PC concern that my family is not providing what I need. Calls are just to touch base while things are being thought about since decisions need to be made. Village life is fine. The concern is if we have an emergency - what do we do? Lots of rumors are going around, but we should have more information tomorrow or the next day.
Like I told my Dai - “pier na garnus”. Do not worry! For tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of it’s own! (Matthew 6:34)