We live on a dirt, unlit road on the outskirts of town. The boys were asleep in bed, we had showered and gone to bed late (11pm) and were just falling asleep after chatting some when we began to hear someone yelling. It was midnight. At first, we ignored it because it was Saturday night and often there are drunk people wandering the streets, loud people and loud music. We are getting used to sleeping through it but this was REALLY loud. Our doorbell rang. It has rang only one other time and that was when our puppy was dying and the guard didn't know what to do. Marc and I leaped out of bed to find our night guard on the front porch. This whole time the man out on the dirt road in front of our house was wailing in Portuguese and our darks were going insane barking. I was amazed that the boys did not wake up since their bedroom faces the road and the windows were open because of the heat. But thankfully we have some very sound sleepers. The guard told us he just wanted us to know that the man was saying he had been hit by a car and we needed to help him but they were not trusting him and that we should not go outside the gate in the dark becase perhaps it was a ploy by a group of thieves. We waivered back and forth between thinking he was very drunk to thinking maybe he was hurt although we couldn't imagine a car going fast enough on our dirt, very pot-holed road to hurt someone. We wanted so badly to have the ability to help him if he was hurt but after praying about it, did not feel at ease and knew it was unwise to take the risk. Sadly, people (especially foreigners) have been violently attacked while trying to help and you always have to be cautious. After what seemed like forever but in reality was only a few minutes the man stopped wailing and moved down the street. We figured he had either passed out or had moved on to make noise somewhere else and back to bed we went.
As is often the case here in Mozambique you do not truly get the full story until later. In the morning the guard had done some research and found out that the man had actually been hit by a car. Not only that but the driver of the car realized he had hit him, backed up and shouted out the window, "Oh, you're not dead," and sped off. The man then proceeded to cry out for help on the street and when no one in our area responded he drug himself down the road, apparently badly injured enough and bleeding that he couldn't walk to another house. The man living there runs a local taxi service and took him to the hospital for treatment.
Obviously this situation is not one we are particularly fond of or even one we want to report but it is our reality. I am frustrated that although I want to do good at times I feel limited because of the difficult situations we find ourselves in. I am even more saddened that the people of Mozambique struggle with showing compassion for one another. You can see how greatly we need God's wisdom, protection and strength for our day to day lives here in Mozambique.
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