I got bumped…well, I did the bumping…

They don’t call them car crashes in Palapye. When you are in an accident you say, “We bumped.” That’s what happened to me last Saturday. I was in my first car accident ever. I was driving down the tar road and at an intersection another truck ran the stop sign and I crashed into the side of his vehicle. It was quite scary but God protected me! I was not hurt, but just sore for a few days afterwards. The family of three in the other vehicle all sustained minor injuries and were released from the hospital shortly afterwards.

The accident itself proved to be quite a cultural experience. Immediately people showed up to help the other family get to hospital. Figuring the police would need to see what happened, I left the car in the middle of the road while I and about 50 onlookers (that came out of nowhere) waited at least a half hour for them to show up. The first thing the police officer said to me was, “Why is your car still in the road? Move it!” However, we still had to wait for a tow truck to show up so the car could actually be moved because the front half was smooshed in and it couldn’t be driven. Then I had to go to the police station and give a statement (which really was me just signing a paper because the police officer never really asked me what happened). On Monday, I had to go to the Ministry of Road Transport where the car had been towed. Some people inspected both vehicles and then the officer sat me and the driver of the other vehicle down to charge one of us with the guilt. Luckily during his “investigation” the police officer discovered that the other driver was at fault and fined him 200 pula. (Typing it out, it sounds like a rather simple process, but we were at Transport for several hours waiting for things to happen.) And still I can’t pick up the accident report so they can begin to get the car fixed until the guy pays the fine…and who knows when that will happen? I just have to keep physically going and checking at Transport because I’m told there’s no where for me to call to find out. Fun times. Dealing with the police is not my favorite thing to do…

Regardless, I’m so thankful for how wonderful my missionary family and church family in Palapye was after the accident! It was such a comfort to know that I was being prayed for and checked on (the Batswana always visit the homes of people that are sick or hurt, so I had quite a few guests coming and checking on me).

So…here’s the damage to the vehicle!