When the driver of our support vehicle, an old green VW van, became ill and needed hospitalization, I offered to take the wheel and carry on with the peace pilgrims, who were walking and praying and chanting for Peace in the war-torn country of Bosnia Herzegovina, during the winter of 1995.
Driving the van was interesting. The pilgrims really liked me as I stayed with the group so if someone developed a blister or felt ill, they knew I would be driving shortly.
Mostly I transported the backpacks and cooking equipment – which was basically a big pot for whatever the soup de jour would be, that we could ‘dumpster dive’ to put into water and boil…sometimes potatoes…sometimes other veggies…raisins… Somebody else was in charge of cooking it all.
Sometimes the need for clean drinking water arose so I would find someone who spoke the native language. We would go to a home that had a large well in the back and ask if we could fill up our pot. We had a white pill that we put into the water to make it drinkable.
The van broke down once in Bruno, fortunately a fellow pilgrim spoke the language (I am still in touch with him) and contacted a local garage. It took almost a full day, but it did get repaired.
I know I started driving after our beautiful boat trip from Split, Croatia, but I have no idea how many miles I drove… It is difficult for me to add any more details, I was just too exhausted at the end of the day to attempt to journal, and now there is so much that I have forgotten about that peace pilgrimage. People did save their post cards and letters that I mailed, so I have some written memories if I can retrieve those.
All in all, although I was sorry the driver before me got sick, I was very grateful that I could drive the van for the pilgrims.