Train ride through the bush

A few days ago, I heard about the opportunity to take a two hour train ride through the bush to a town called Bong Mine. I decided I was up for an adventure, so I signed up for the trip. In my small American brain, I pictured a lovely little train car with a red caboose, big windows, cushy chairs, and a mid-travel snack service. I imagined looking out the windows watching the bush/jungle countryside flash past my eyes. As is the truth with many things in life, what we imagine is not often reality. We drove two of the ship's land rovers to the train station ( um, can you call it a train station if it is only a mound of dirt that the train passes?) early in the morning. I expected us to park our vehicles and get on the train. Nope, that wasn't going to happen. Instead, we proceeded to drive our land rovers onto flat beds trailers on the train tracks. We were going to ride on the land rovers that were on the flat bed trailers, that were on the train tracks. Is that confusing? Yup, we made ourselves comfortable on the metal travel racks on top of the land rovers, and settled in for the 2 hour ride. The ride was incredible! The train weaves through the countryside, passing villages, swamp areas, and areas lush with vegetation. The train had an engine and three flat bed trailers, two of which had our Mercy Ships land rovers on them. It was like a white people parade. All the beautiful children and adults ran from their huts to wave at the train. Do you remember how exciting it was to see a train when you were little? Imagine a train with colored people on it (we are the colored people this time). We were a total spectacle. The little kids would jump up and down, waving, and yelling, "White People, White People!" At times the train slowed to drop off rice to the remote villages and the little kids in the town would run to the train. Some of my friends had candy to throw to them. All I had was a bag of Lucky Charms, but I threw it anyway and the kids devoured it. Then the train would start up again and we were on our way. It was awesome, sort of freaky, maybe not the safest way to travel, but incredible. The sun was shining, the day was beautiful, and the breeze in the air felt amazing. At one point during the trip, the train slowed to a stop, next we saw a man from the engine running off the train, with a jar, to the village on the hill. He was gone for a good 45 minutes. Plenty time for the entire village to come to the train tracks. One lady from our group got off the train and told the village children the story of the Wordless Book and about Jesus. When the story was done, the village children started to sing for us, then we sang for them. We took turns going back and forth. We stood on top of the land rover and the train trailer and sang fantastic songs like the "Hokey-Pokey", "Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes", and "Deep and Wide". The children laughed and laughed. Now that I think about it, we had to look so funny, huge white people dancing and singing from a train. But the smiles we received in return were worth it. About 45 minutes after the man left the train he came back with a liquid in his jar and then the train started and we were off. I think, we may have run out of gas. Who knows. When we reached Bong Mine, we left the train and drove to see the site of the Bong Mines/ iron ore mines. The mines used to be functional and a huge part of the Liberian economy until the war. Now all that remains are the skeletons of mining equipment. Our tour guide also drove us to a huge valley, which he explained had been a mass grave site for thousands of Liberians, that were swept from their villages by the rebels, never to return, but die a horrible death simply for refusing to support the rebel cause. A sobering moment, but hard to grasp as I have never seen such horror, and I pray to God, I never do. May we all learn from history and turn our hearts to God. We toured the rest of the town and had the privilege of touring the local hospital. It was an incredible hospital by African standards. I met some nursing students and encouraged them to keep studying, they were so pleased to meet me, a fellow nurse. I was shocked to learn all the nurses and most of the hospital staff in Liberia work for free. There is no money to pay them. They are working for free, in hopes that they will be some of the first to make money when the economy is at a point to pay workers. Can you imagine? The trip was full of adventure from beginning to end. We managed to get a flat tire on the land rover, but thankfully had a spare. After a long day exploring Bong Mine, we loaded back on the train for the ride home. If any of you doubted my sleeping skills, doubt no more, I managed to sleep on top of the land rover, in the hot sun, with the trail whistle blaring, without a cushy chair, all the way back to Monrovia. I'd be up for another train ride in Africa any day!