Work in the world - Gaza convoy diary
Bristol Quakers joined the recent Viva Palestina convoy taking humanitarian aid to Gaza. Monica Jones kept a diary.
Sunday 6th December 2009
Ambulances and vans from all over the UK have gathered today in London, all driven by people determined to ease the suffering caused by the siege of Gaza. George Galloway arrives and says words of encouragement. We’re warned that convoy leaders will watch for dangerous driving and order perpetrators home if necessary. And we’re off…
Monday 7th December
A freezing night spent under canvas in a car park outside Brussels makes the morning’s discovery of heated washrooms especially welcome. Nightfall sees us hurtling round a series of terrifying bends made scarier by rain and darkness, in the direction of the German border. We come to a stop near Stuttgart, on a piece of wasteland by an industrial estate. As we pitch tents, the rain streams down and the bedding gets drenched. A wet night turns to a freezing one, and we all toss and turn until a chilly winter light tells us it’s morning.
Tuesday 8th December
An earlier start today – off by 10.00. Germany is pretty here – the rolling farmland, the steep-roofed houses clustered round the village church. Now we’re climbing. The air grows cold – and our van has no heating! We stop overnight at a lorry park at Kelversfielden. Am woken in a fright at 6.45 am, from my first warm sleep this trip, by a terrific shouting outside the tent. Only our group leader Shak telling everyone to get up. Out of Germany – into Austria. We enjoy the drive over the Brenner Pass, in the looming shadow of snow-covered mountains. We’re in Italy, when word comes over the CB radio that a van is on fire, and ‘going to explode’. (The four women in it told us later they thought their end was nigh.) It was a bit of lagging getting singed by the engine.
You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.