I.C.E. Club – Madagascar

“My brother saw a horrible accident on the road”. This message was in one of our good citizens of the “English Corner.” When I wrote it, I couldn’t have imagined that I would be in an accident.

I wish I could return to the past and re-arrange all the events in order to avoid that accident.

Masay swamp

Thursday, April 26, 2007, around 7:15am, I was on my scooter with a colleague. We were on the way to work. We took the new “Marais Masay” road. We all know that this road is large and it is where drivers tend to drive really fast. That morning, one driver drove too fast. OK, his car didn’t hit me but I was really nervous when the car went past the right side of my scooter, like a big gush of wind. I lost control of the scooter. My friend and I fell while the car disappeared. I believe that the driver is responsible for our accident even if there was no physical contact.

I stood up and asked my friend if she was OK. The shock was not too hard and I could see that her head was OK, but she injured her hand and knee. Then I pulled the scooter up and turned the motor off since it was still running. Then my friend told me to look at my pants. I saw that they were torn and I also saw that my left leg and knee were injured. Suddenly, our pain was becoming unbearable. We didn’t have any airtime on our phone to call for help. People passing by were really kind to us and offered their phones. I called my office but no one was there yet. So I called my boyfriend who lived nearby. He came by a cab. What a shame, as soon as I saw him I went to cry in his arms.

Medical care

My friend and I got in the cab while my boyfriend rode the scooter to my place (it was still in good condition). But guess what? The cab driver charged us 9,000 Ariary for the trip from the Masay swamp to the doctor’s office in Antaninarenina. He took profit from our pain. Shame!

The doctor and the nurse cleaned our wounds and bandaged them. Then we were lucky because we got some days off from work. Every two days, I had to return to the doctor to change the bandage. Oh my goodness – that hurt even more than when I fell off the scooter!

Back to work

It is hard to work for a big private company. They don’t care about you. They only care for themselves.

I was not totally recovered but the doctor didn’t have the right to extend my sick leave, according to the so-called company rules. So I went back to work, dragging my leg because it was still sore. All of my colleagues were exceptionally nice to me and helped as much as they could. I was glad to see that my friend who was in the accident with me had recovered.

The bosses weren’t that nice, though. Sometimes they tried to show people that they pity me. But most of the time, they were not even conscious that they hurt me. Here are two examples: On Monday, I phoned one of the bosses to tell her that I wasn’t able to work at the moment. She didn’t even ask how I was; she just wanted me to sign the absence paper.

And the next example (and another boss): I was ordered to change my job post. I asked her if it was possible for me to stay where I was because of my leg but she didn’t care. Bosses are always bossy!

My friends

Anyway, through this accident, I found out that a lot people care about me. Some friends came to see me at my place. Some called or sent SMS to wish me a quick recovery. I really appreciated all of that. Thank you, guys. Now, I’m back to being “me” again!

tia