The college is accessed by a dirt road and along the route their are three bridges. One was washed away last year after floods but, pending repairs (the wait for roads and bridges to be repaired is a very long one), a track through the river has been made and is passable as long as the river isn't in spate.
Having crossed this "bridge", we stopped to pick up some locals heading for Nebbi and heard comments about "the bridge". On arrival at the next bridge, it became very apparent that it had suffered major damage overnight.
The initial inspection suggested that it wasn't safe to cross with a vehicle and so I thought I was marooned or facing a long walk back to Nebbi (about 10km). However, Brother Tony from the College called Caritas to see if somebody could come and pick me up on the other side of the bridge. The guys from the College and the locals who had been travelling with us started to look at how to effect a temporary repair as one side was safe (N.B. the term "safe" takes on quite a different meaning here!). Having recovered some of the broken timbers from the river, a temporary repair was made and Brother Tony agreed to see if he could get the vehicle across.
My heart was in my mouth as he edged forwarded guided by one of the College staff. A few Hail Marys later, he was safely across and we continued on our journey (also prayed to St. Christopher regardless of Pope Paul VI's decision to remove him from the Roman Calendar!).
Brother Tony and the guys will source some timbers in Nebbi to improve on their temporary repair (there is a bridge on the alternative route from the College that has been impassable for vehicles since October 2012 and so the College (and the many villages between the two bridges) risk being isolated unless the repairs are made quickly).
I think the pictures speak for themselves ...
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