Broken bridges

The photo below shows what remains of the bridge that connects a village in Lobaye, Central African Republic, to the rest of the world.

In 2012, this bridge was in excellent condition, and were regularly used by traders carrying goods to markets throughout the area, using 4x4s, vans and small trucks, as well as by local people buying and selling in neighbouring villages.

As you can see, now the bridge is all but impassable. This is partly because, during the conflict, local people took planks, nails and so on to repair their own homes that had been damaged, or to secure their homes / stores against looting.

In the end, the village decided to completely destroy it, to keep attackers out.

Can you imagine having to make that decision? The choices were:

a) leave the bridge up - remain connected to the world so you can go to the market, the doctor, etc, but men may come in the night with machetes and attack everyone in the village; or

b) destroy the bridge – you’ll be safe from outside attackers, but the only source of food, medicine and everything else (including income) will be the village.

Since the bridge was finally destroyed in 2014, no humanitarian aid has been able to reach this village. So we are thrilled that we have just managed to secure funding to help the community rebuild their link to the outside world.