World Run II / Reports

The map shows the position of which the pictures for the day are taken (if any). The start and finish markers are placed at the first and last valid registered position. This is not nessesary the actual start and finish position, if GSM or GPS signals was not available.

Goto: 2009-10-31 2009-11-02 Africa

2009-11-01:

18
Distance today: 40.0 km (Accumulated: 17518.8 km)
Elapsed time: 04:06:05
Country: Africa

Start 10:02am. at Mcel mobile signalmast in Millimane village/Millimane district, on the N1/N8-hwy to Maputo. 23c, half cloudy and l. wind. Finish 15:54pm. At bridge over Lima River, 84km S. of Nicodala [please see live-gps for exact loc], on the N1/N8-hwy to Maputo. 28c andsame.

Mozambique hospitality :-)

After the 40km run we had around 140km up- and 100km down the road to the next accomodation. Tenting is usally an obvious option in wr & wr2 but in humid conditions & w. limited drinking water supplies (and thus even less to spare to wash in, not to mention to wash the sweaty clothes) - bushtenting is a more problematic option !

Yet today we throw' ourselves into the humid extravaganza' of wilderness camping. Quickly it became less troublesome, and I have the Mozambique' hospitality to Thank :-)

When wanting to put up the tents we were invited to set them up at a local schoolbuilding w. a shady mangotree to sleep under, benches to eat at and.. Water in pleanty wich the "Chefe" of the village brought us to wash in along w. soap ! This is Luxury in an area where clean water is scarce and you might not expect it even in a hotel !

KINDNESS to Strangers !! Such a jewel in the treasurechamber of the world :-)

To shower in the buchets of cold water was such a Joy and it turned into a great afternoon while mr. Louiz told them the story of the world run 2 and we had a bite of canned food before the stars went up and it was time to go to sleep on the african ground.

- Ofcourse this Is luxury and there Are severe drought in Africa; especially East Africa. But as experiensed so many other places in the world, poverty is notthe determining factor in wether you are met with hostility or hospitality.
So far from; both in the 'Western' world and in the 'Third world'.

The picture you get when running across the continents is that there in fact isnt a Western' and a 3.rd.' world. Its far more complex and inter-mixed across eachof the continents - and perhaps only a distinction wich makes sense in quick media headlines :-)

Yes; there are areas within most of the E. African contries where water and food is critically scarce. And there are areas where the standard resembles Europe more than 'Africa' - and a lot 'in between'.

Tohelp people in acute emergency is a common human call ! But to let them learn & find Their way to Build instead of beeing a society founded on recieving- is in my layman oppinion Far the most important on long term.

Its an easy picture to understand: The outside world giving & the African world recieving. The Surplus vs. the Lack of wealth. And there is a big industry' build around it - yet it may not be so that Africa develops out of its troubles by beeing the Reciever ! I think that has rarely been a succesfull formula throughout history. There is Strong potential in Africa ... But you need a culturewhere its the aim to Use that to solve the problems. And the Confidence & Patience to know it takes time. Africa has those two !! Hope it's let to use them too :-)

Nb: Please excuse if this is not "political correct" !! (I used to be absolute in favor of a bigger foreign help to African development, not least w. my political science background, but seeing what happens has changed my view dramaticly: You can pour as many ressources into outside-development-ideas and Im afraid it wont solve the problems. Or the people can use the oppotunities they possess along w. knowledge and there is no limit to wherethey will be able to take themselves :-) But its ultimately up to their decition & process and not our amount of goodwill).