FEVER RIDE

We drove down to the village. "Turn left here," Joel pointed to the side.
"But there's no street!" I said.
"Go in between the houses."
I turned left and drove through weeds and over rubble. I stopped the car at Frenki's house.

Frenki appeared with two of his friends who more carried than guided him to the car. Sweat was all over his face, his T-shirt was wet and his whole body shivered.
"Oh God," I thought, "he is more dead than alive!"
The friends got him into the car and sat on either side of him. We took off. In our village I drove carefully for Frenki not to be shaken too hard. As soon as we got on the tarmac road to Lindi I began speeding. Only when passing through villages I slowed down to avoid accidents.
"Now you are driving like in Germany," Joel said, looking at me with a grin on his face. Boy, he keeps his humor! My only thought was to get Frenki to the hospital alive. And that was almost a one hour's ride away!

"Please turn off the AC - and leave the windows shut, Frenki feels cold," someone requested. What!? It was hot outside, getting hot inside. The heat would suffocate me! I was trying to concentrate on the road and they didn't think of anything else but... Yet for Frenki's sake I did as I was asked.

We made it safely to town and to the hospital. The courtyard was full of gravel and stones. Frenki was given another good shake. Finally we arrived at the entrance. He was put on a stretcher and rushed inside. I remained outside, waiting to see if I still could be of assistance. I called my wife to tell her that we had arrived safely. Meanwhile she had talked to the boss, and he said that we should charge the mileage to Frenki's family. That's what he also does, when he has to take an employee to town. I was stunned. That was eighty thousand shillings for a man who perhaps earned one hundred and fifty thousand a month! Yes, one thousand shillings per kilometer, that was the rate a four-wheel drive costs and the distance was eighty kilometers for the round trip. How should Frenki possibly pay this, and still make it through the month with his family, now that he was sick and could not work? I was greatly irritated. Yes, driving to town would cost the boss the same as it cost me, but why charge the full amount on his worker? I tried my best to understand, and yet it did not make sense to me. In the end my wife and I decided to write the mileage on our private account and not charge Frenki.

As I drove home I reflected on my experience. I understood the boss's point in charging his employees for trips. This way he avoided being abused and he showed that driving a car does come at a cost, even for him. But in this case abiding by the principle would have pushed his employee to the limits economically. As good as principles or rules are, in my eyes they have to be put to the test in any new situation, whether they can be applied as is, need refinement, or reform.

Both, Evelyn and I, never had regretted the decision to pay the cost of Frenki's transport. God knows, perhaps we have saved his life.

Alexander Breitenbach

Photo: "House in a coastal village", by Alexander Breitenbach