Category Archives: Road to Hope October 2010
Latest Updates
For the lestest on the Road to Hope convoy, please check the new and updated website here at www.roadtohope.co.uk
They have photos and videos as well as twitter and route update.
Yes they are still in Libya!
Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
Well it seems the road to hope convoy are still in Libya waiting by the Egyptian border for negotiations to allow them to proceed on their journey. Layth has been writing daily posts but unfortunately where they are staying is pretty barren and there are no internet cafes to update blog. When he finally gets internet access you will get backdated posts inshaAllah. In the meantime keep checking back for little updates via twitter on the tweet section of the blog and keep everyone in your duas. JazakAllahukhair.
UmmSafiyyah
Still in Libya Day Four 25.10.10
The accommodation we stayed in last night was another scouts camp and they all seem to be similar. By our standards they’re dorms that are out of the eighties. Flaking paintwork, corroding pipes, outdated tiled floor, lumpy mattresses, that look as if though they’ve been there for years. It’s not the places you’d come to for a holiday. Also a lot of the times the showers don’t have heads to them so the water just comes out of a pipe. Well at least we’ve got hot running water and that’s a blessing when journeying non stop.
I decided to sleep in my tent last night in the car park as the room was plagued with preying mosquitoes and its one of those catch 22 situations, open the windows and get bitten by the mosquitoes or close the windows and roast.
Image by hpirator via Flickr
The second option is a no no for me, I can’t sleep when it’s hot, so the best option for me was to sleep outside in my massive pop up tent. Alhumdulillah I seem to sleep very well in it and it’s obviously much cooler outside and furthermore the mosquitoes can’t get in due to the nets.
Last night was really windy and despite the wind almost blowing me and my tent away, I slept well. In the morning the strong wind continued causing a sand storm, which was very uncomfortable. Visibility was reduced and when outside the sand would blow into the eyes, nose and mouth. Many of the conveyers wrapped their faces and wore their sun glasses to prevent the sand blowing into their faces.
The convoy has grown in number by those who joined from other places around the world today. The departure was delayed by a good few hours as we were collecting money to pay for the transport that had been purchased for those who’d flown to Libya. It was a missed opportunity for me to get back into my cosy tent and have a few hours more sleep, but the problem is that your always made to believe we’re on the verge of leaving yet it’s rarely the case.
Once we eventually left we headed towards our destination of the day which is about 300 kM’s east of Benghazi. We’re making our way to Egypt yet we’ll most certainly be here for a couple more days. Some rumours are going around that we’ll be entering Egypt on Wednesday and to be honest Libya doesn’t appeal to me much and I think many people share the same feeling as me. Libya’s one giant sand pit, the stuff gets everywhere, it’s all in the van and sometimes it’s not worth cleaning it as it just keeps entering the van.
Driving through the sand storm was very uncomfortable as it was very warm and we were unable to open the windows because of the sand. Although the windows were shut, the sand was still coming in through the vents leaving the dash-board and our clothes coated with fine red sand.
- Image by Space & Light via Flickr
The sand’s everywhere even in our hair and beards making it feel course like wire and when we wiped our faces with baby wipes a layer of reddish brown sand would come off, a bit like all that foundation that women wear or that fake tan stuff. I guess women don’t need it here .
At the moment were still driving to our destination and we stopped off for maghrib on the way and inshaAllah it shouldn’t be too long until we arrive and inshAllah I’ll head out to see if I can get online in the local town. We’ve scheduled a reminder to be delivered for the brothers so they can keep their Emaan high, as like I previously mentioned some brothers are finding it difficult with all the distractions to keep strong.
Libya Day Two 23.10.10
I went to bed very late last night after returning back to the youth hostel from an internet cafe and the connection was so slow I had to leave half way through what I was doing.
After we had prayed, breakfast was served, which was the usual jam, bread, tea or coffee and even cereal. When leaving Europe, cereal tends to become rare as it’s mainly in Europe that people eat cereal.
Breakfast on our way to Benghazi
The distance to the destination of the day was about 400 kM which feels like a lot more when travelling in convoy in the desert and the road rarely having any bends or turns and a scenery that doesn’t seem to vary much. All this makes driving more lethargic and tedious, and there’s still a long way to go before we reach Egypt.
Our destination was a restaurant/ service station on the road to Benghazi, the second capitol of Libya. Eventually after the long drive I realized I had stopped off here on the first convoy after breaking away from the convoy to get myself a new mobile as it broke after I dropped it.
Subhanallah, it’s very strange how you end up coming back to the same place after randomly stopping off on a road in the night.
Before setting off we were told that we’d be making our way to the best beach in Libya, but when we arrived it wasn’t what they made out to be. We’ve certainly seen nicer beaches in Libya such as the beach we stayed at on the first convoy.
Srubbitty scrub!
Rubbity rub!
We were scheduled to stay at this stop for the night so we had the whole day to do what we needed to do. This was an opportunity to get some clothes washed so everyone started washing their clothes and hanging them on our vehicles to dry.
Hanging clothes to dry
The owner of the restaurant provided us with free food and refreshments throughout the day, may Allah reward him for his hospitality and generosity with the highest ranks in jannah, amen.
There was a reception/party arranged for us but most of the brothers abstained due to the music and singing etc. It’s sad that people have made the issue of Gaza a reason to celebrate whilst the lands of Palestine remained occupied, and the masjid of al Aqsa dwells under the control of the Zionists. Such an obligation of reversing this reality has become a song and dance and empty words and slogans such as “we’re coming to free you”
When will these words become a reality? How long have people been singing the same tune, yet fail to give life to their words?
In the evening the brothers lit a fire on the beach and set around it whilst a reminder of following the religion was delivered. MashAllah the atmosphere was uplifting and it was opportunity for the brothers to feel as if there emaan increase. A lot of the time on these journeys you can be distracted by the reality of travelling and if the effort is not made to keep up with the memorisation and reading of the Quran, it can cause your emaan to drop.
We finished the evening off with a few anasheed on the beach under the stars with a full moon, a breathtaking site. After everyone had left I remained on the beach for a bit watching the waves roll in and used it as an opportunity to go into one of my deep thinking modes.
The sound of the waves with the light from the moon and the dead silence, just you on your own is a medicine for the soul.
I headed back to the traditional Arab tents that had been erected for us where I spent the night.
- A view of the cathedral of Benghazi (Libya) and corniche of Benghazi during early Italian occupation.Image via Wikipedia
