Page 39 - Eggs and Ashes pages

38 Eggs and Ashes

Thank you for the beautiful places around us.
Help us to treat them gently,
appreciate them,
and learn to care for them.

And may we rediscover what Jesus practised:
to travel lightly
and to walk with friends.

Jo Rathbone

Transporting goods Sudanese-style
(Story from ITDG)

Intermediate means of transport are rural transport options that lie between buses
and cars, and walking. They include animal-drawn carts, bicycles, cycle trailers and
wheelbarrows. To facilitate their use paths and roads sometimes need widening. In
rural Sudan people walk long distances on narrow paths. Here ITDG realised the
importance of animal-drawn carts and trained metal workers to manufacture
wheels and transport devices. Previously people had reused car wheel rims, but
these did not last long. The ITDG cart design proved to be more durable, especially
the wheels and hubs. The metal workers increased their income by making the
carts; people who owned the carts rented them out to carry people, goods and
water. The carts are a cheaper alternative for moving goods than taxis and pick-up
cars; many more villages have been connected to markets and services.

Adapted from Practical Answers to Poverty