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I think God created the diversity of the landscape in this world to confuse us sometimes to show us how humble our existence really is. Or maybe he created us this way so that our lives are interesting or for a laugh or two at our expense. Flora, fauna, rocks, trees, mountains, seas all seem to be laid out in maze in which humans throughout the centuries have lived and died, explored, traversed, been divide, found themselves or gotten lost. These create our stories, our histories and all in all just make life interesting.

I have returned from the maze of roads, forests, rocky hills and bush lands in which I found myself the last few days in the effort to see the results and ongoing work of our projects in Mandie. The sand dams are coming along and in each new community I find myself memorizing the landscape with my eyes, the wheels of my car or my feet in an effort to remember how to get there the next time. The land in which we work is difficult, and the roads often wind around trees and rocky hillsides, avoiding deep eroded ravines and mud if the rainy season is in course. The temptation is always there to take the shortcut and the local people are always quick to point you to them.

Our colleague Sr. Manwensa who travels in this terrain daily on motorcycle and foot to work with communities is well aware of the pluses and minuses of which routes to take but there are always the surprises. The first day, he, along with Anthony was traveling to two different communities, one of which was quite a distance. The road they were on was rock filled and difficult for the motorcycle. On encountering a local leader he pointed them to the shortcut (which there always is). The temptation was there and they took it. Thus began an adventure of travel through high grass skin slashing grass on a path in which my colleague exclaims,”Not even an Antelope would travel.”

It was the second day and we arrived at the dam site in which we were to visit a little earlier then Sr. Manwensa. We were to go and see the site shortly and he would catch up. After finishing our work we returned on the path, winding through the bushes, grass and trees, passing various other paths in which we would have never been successful without our faithful guides.

“Is there a shortcut,” Anthony asks.

“Ummm, no!” the guide says.

We return to the car. Sr. Manwensa’s motorcycle is there but he is nowhere to be seen. Twenty minutes later we see him dragging himself up the road, sweat dripping down his shirt. He gave me a look in which I could see the full measure of his frustration. He had taken the path, which he thought, led to the dam. It was only after a length of time passed that a villager found him wandering the paths opposite the village from the dam site and brought him back to his bike. Shortcut maybe…

We arrived at the final village to see the work they were doing on their dam. They had excavated the earth down to hard rock on one end but had carved quite deeply without encountering the rock on the other side.

“Great work,” said Sr. Manwensa.

“But you have to dig deeper. You have to reach the rock.”

“What if we do not reach rock? It is a lot of work to carve that deep.” one person said. Translated: Is there a shortcut?

“You will encounter rock below. It is there. If you do not dig that deep, the dam will leak or could fall over if not anchored in a strong base,” replied Sr. Manwensa.

He knew. He had learned. The shortcut is not always the best way.