Mort

Most of you can make out what the French word " Mort" means. Derived from mortuary, hence the word in English "Death". I had to actually look the word up this morning in my French/English Dictionary. Our driver has been off work for 2 days, we had a replacement driver, so everything appeared to be normal around here. Although, we really don't like the change, the reason being, Lepauld, our chaffeur ( as he likes to be called), is the best out of all the Maersk drivers, and there are about 10 of them. We were first to be assigned to him ( not vice versa), as we are the priveleged folk. I can't explain, but we clicked, not right away, but gradually. The first day, Paul, said he needed a new driver as he doesn't like the fact that he can't speak a word of English. Only to discover, most of them, can't speak English. Lepauld just has fewer English words in his vocabulary. This has actually become an advantage, as I practise my French with him, and he corrects me most of the time.
Lepauld manages to get out of any traffic situation, using back roads, side roads and using the Prado to the limit. He was also an ex military driver, and has retired thereof. At age 50, he is rather fit, and extremely cautious, acts like our bodyguard! He is almost part of the family, and as a driver, gets to know quite a lot about us, as he spends most of his time with us in the car, doing our day to day things.
I was very sad to hear that his little 3 year old daughter had passed away on Tuesday, and only heard about it this morning upon his return to work. She was in hospital with an illness that we are yet to find out about. This is not an abnormal situation for parents of children under 5 years of age to be in. I just can't understand, and probably never will, how little children just slip away in a poverty stricken country, where basic medical care is not a human right! And boy, it should be!