A Thought on Safe Travel During Time of Festivity
Dear beloved family, This precious time of preparation for the birth of Christ involves a lot of activities, May I, therefore, ask for your patience as I would like to request that you try and reflect on the speed of your preparation for Christ's birth.
As we prepare in terms of food, clothes, and shoes to wear during Christmas, as we prepare to various destinations to meet with our kin and loved ones, as we prepare spiritually for the birth of our Lord, we need to recall that this moment is such a trying moment special when it comes to traveling; I will therefore focus on the traveling aspect of our festivities.
It is important to realize that having Christmas celebrations under a tree, or on the road, or at a trading canter, or somewhere in the forest is not a crime because Christmas is in our HEARTS.
When our hearts are clean and ready to receive Christ Jesus, then our Christmas is within us and it doesn’t matter where the celebrations find us.
In past years we have seen and heard about lots of road accidents happening around the festive seasons. Cases of vehicles overloaded with passengers and goods in the name of taking going upcountry for Christmas celebrations are not new to us. When such overloaded vehicles get involved in accidents, the effects are usually of a great multitude. Let us, therefore, think hard this time around before we urge the bus operators to squeeze in an already loaded bus just because we do not have any luggage. Let us be aware that it is not a crime to have Christmas wherever we are because it’s where God has approved us to be on such a day.
To the drivers and public vehicle operators, please do not Overspeed in the name of rushing to reach point B from point A in 2-3 hours so that you can come back to collect other passengers and goods. Be contented with what you have and drive at the recommended speed in order to arrive at the destination safely and be alive tomorrow and the days after to make more money.
Let’s cherish our lives and the lives of others for the glory of God, for the sake of our communities’ prosperity, and for the benefit of our country.
Most accidents happen on curved roads with sharp bends and turns, I urge the drivers to take control and hold the steering wheel with two hands in order to turn decently while taking control of any eventuality.
I have also observed that when many drivers are busy doing their job, many passengers more often than not engage the drivers in debates and conversations and this sometimes can lead to the driver losing control of the vehicle as he or she gets engrossed in the conversation. Kindly passengers, please, let the driver concentrate on the road, avoid engaging him or her in debates and all sorts of conversations. Your lives are in his or her hands as you continue with the journey.
To conclude, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a happy festive, and prosperous year 2022. And as we move towards the end of the year 2021, we need to evaluate our lives, our actions, and inactions and move into the new year 2022 with more vigor towards promoting growth, development, peace, love, true unity and care for one another in 2022.
Simon Mkanipare
