11 january

ARRIVAL IN KOUVE ‘

Departure calmly, at half past seven, the kilometers to go are few, about two hundred, even if there are two borders I think I will be in Kouve before midday. At the border Benin they make me a little bit of stories, probably because they wanted a “tip” but maybe because of the way they did it, I relaxed and waited, after half an hour the policeman probably understood that I would not drop a lira, and then made me the stamp of custom and off to the border Togo. Here the practices are very fast, even at the custom I use little and allotment. The road leading to Lome, the capital of Togo is busy but not chaotic. It travels well and around eleven thirty arrival in Kouvè after having made about ten kilometers of dirt road. The missionary center of the Sisters of Providence is very large, tomorrow we will go to see the hospital built by the Stella Bianca di Cembra association in collaboration with an association from Riva del Garda. The buildings inside this large sector were built by the Volunteers of the Stella Bianca association, of which Tullio Nardon is president. I am honored to have helped even if to a small extent in this work, the work that has been and is being done here is commendable. Once my luggage was settled, I immediately prepared things to go to the mechanic in the afternoon and change tires and change oil. I have already fixed with the help of Felix, the ambulance driver, the right side case that had been slightly dented during the fall on the Cameroon-Nigeria border. I am very happy to be here, I am sure that I will be able to recharge my strength and then go up to the house. For lunch, the nuns as a welcome prepared me pasta with tomato, very good. After lunch I rested a little, tiredness is felt and in the last few days I haven’t slept much at night. Around three o’clock Felix and I went to change the tires, most of the work I had to do, since they didn’t know the bike, but everything went well and in a couple of hours we did everything. Then we went to have a beer to celebrate the success of the work. In the evening, the darkness comes early, around half past six. Sister Dores asks me if I have taken something to prevent malaria, I answer no.m, says that in this place she is very present and advises me to take the test tomorrow, it is fast and if there are problems they have everything you need to heal. Obviously I hope I have nothing, but still I feel comfortable with them, he then tells me to use the mosquito spray that I brought with me, they are very useful to prevent. At half past seven dinner, then I went to sleep, I have a few hours of sleep to recover.