Cameroon Beauty

How can I begin to describe how beautiful if is here?  I wake up to the sound of the birds and the crickets and the rooster.  Sometimes I can hear the nuns singing.  It sounds like angels from heaven with their gorgeous harmonies.  It is so lush and tropical.  I keep noticing more and more beauty.  There are these purple flowering bushes and we have corn, and lime trees growing in our very spacious backyard.  I love the daily rain and wish we could mail it to Iowa.  Usually it just rains in the afternoons and at night.  It can be heavy at times, but usually it is light and short in duration.

I have been taking the 90 second walk up the hill to attend morning Mass.  As I head up the hill, I can see across the valley and into the ridge above with a beautiful water fall flowing down.  The air is cool but not cold in the mornings and never gets hot during the day.  Sometimes I can see the mist moving across the sky. The Mass is quite intimate.  There are usually 5 or so nuns, Fr Michael and the two Bishops. I love starting my day so peacefully.

The Bishop's compound is larger than the grounds of Sacred Heart and set on a hill.  At the top is the Bishop's house where there are several offices and living apts.  We have two more days of eating up there with them in the private dining room and then we will be full time on our own at our house.  They are building me some additional counter space with shelves below.  It has been such a treat not to cook.  After Mass I have been going to the dining room and getting fruit, bread, avocados, coffee etc and bringing it back to our house.  Nothing like fresh pineapple and papaya daily!

The larger compound is just below the gate to the Bishop's compound.  It includes the Catholic School, the local hospital, the Cathedral, more offices, a Catholic University, and the Diocese car repair shop as well as a few other things.  Oh yes, there is a large soccer field with local young men playing every afternoon.

We give the kids plenty of freedom.  Today Jessica went up to the Bishop's House to see her favorite cook.  She came back and said she had been invited to cook.  All three kids have been setting the formal table every night-even more formal than Nana.  She did a great job cooking and she was just beaming with pride.

I don't know why we are taking pidgin English. Everyone speaks English here. It may help as I go out to the villages to do social work. The one word I love in Pidgin is "ashya"  the quick translation is sorry.  But it means much more-hang in there,  I am with you, I give you my compassion/sympathy, have patience etc.

Thursday a.m. I heard that one of the other cook's wife had had a baby the night before and he invited us to come down to the hospital of the grounds. So we got to see a 15 hour old boy and mom.  She was in a room with six other women who had given birth within the last couple of days.  There were no curtains dividing the beds.  We sat with six family members while they all took pictures. They loved taking pictures of Jessica. It's hard to explain how meaningful it all was.

Pete says he is amazed at how well I am doing adjusting to all the changes, but to me it doesn't feel hard.  It's just all so nice.  But we have it really privileged here on the hill.  One thing we were told is to "ease in" so I am not rushing out.  I go to the market and have driven around some while visiting schools.  In time, I know I will be doing more.

Let me try and think of some of the tougher things.

1) If I wanted chicken, I would have to buy it live and kill it. (but we now have someone to help, so he can do all the yucky stuff and just give me the pieces or he would happily cook it for me if I want.)

2) I miss cheese.  There are very little milk products available.  I saw a block of Guoda, but it was $10.

3) The ants are big here (like Cape Cod), but they don't seem to take over the way they could in Rialto.

4) Our mattress isn't the best so I don't sleep quite right yet.

5)  We went out to one of the nicer restaurants in town and after looking at the yummy menu -44 entree choices, we ordered fish, steak, hamburger, and shrimp.  The manager came back and explained that the choices for today were chicken and rice or chicken and potatoes.  When she left, we laughed and laughed.  Minutes later the power went out, but we still got our meal.

Tough list of complaints, huh.  The kids are happy.  We are all healthy.  God is good.

First Week

We are still being treated like royalty here.  We dine with the Archbishop and the auxiliary Bishop every day.  There has been a Charismatic conference here all week, so there have been several other Bishops dining with us.  It is interesting to hear about various parts of the country.  I was particularly interested to hear about the Pygmies in the southwest part.  I had studied them in the 70's.  I was saddened to hear how much they have been exploited.

I hope to have built up my shopping and cooking skills enough to cook on our own within a week.  I still have to buy the cooking utensils and pans and navigating the market is quite a skill.

Let me try and describe the market.  Outside there are over a hundred tables selling all kinds of fruits, vegetables, eggs, and meat.  Inside the gates are hundreds of little booths about twice the size of a small walk in closet (like ours in CA) Each one sells all kinds of products.  One might sell all hair and beauty products, another cookies and candy,  You can get tupperware type products, cleaning products, coat hangers, brooms, clothing, paper goods-you name it it's there.  But finding exactly what you need is a chore. The stores are down numerous rows and are numbered, but I find myself wondering aimlessly and never seem to find the same shop twice.

I admit I caved yesterday and bought a Costco size jar of peanut butter-Jif.  It was $10, but is should last a few months.

We start Pidgin English classes on Monday with the kids. 

-Joy

Day Two

Day two in Bamenda was very laid back, but informative.  We learned that a car has been designated for us, so as soon as Pete feels comfortable driving we can get the car. In the meantime we can have a driver take us where we need to go. Pete also met with the vice president of the Seminary and began to talk about what course he might teach. Pete will also be helping in Lay Formation which happens three times a year for one week sessions. 

Tomorrow we will walk down to the market (ten minutes)  with the head cook for the Archbishop and learn our way around.  Apparently we will be eating at the Bishop's house until I feel comfortable cooking on my own.  I told him the food and company was so good at his house it might take me two years to learn how to cook.

The big shocker for me was that Pete asked if he could attend a Parish visitation with the auxillary bishop.  The last one for three months is tomorrow, so Pete leaves for three nights. I am just praying everything goes smoothly while he is gone.

We also learned a bit more about the school's so we think we want to have the kids have some local testing to see where best to place them.  The Private Catholic School is just off the compound.  The easiest choice, but we want to explore our options and the Bishop supports that.

I am also learning that many of the Parish Offices are here so it may be convenient for me to work part time here and get transportation into the community when needed.

We also met two goats and a chicken who live in our common area.  We are a bit nervous of the goats despite being told they are friendly.  They do not have names and will no longer be with us after Christmas, if you know what I mean.

-Joy

We're Here!

Our three-day trip was amazingly easy.  The kids were great and loved the plane trips.  I even got to watch Hunger Games on the plane.  We were blessed to have four extra seats on the trip to Brussels so that Pete and the girls got some sleep.  Josh and I were restless but comfortable.

We were met in Douala by Fr Mike, the Chancellor, who whizzed us through customs with all of our luggage--Praise God.  We spent a night at a Retreat House and met with Cardinal Tumi after a gourmet dinner. Josh didn't make it to see the Cardinal as he could barely keep his eyes open through dinner. He was asleep by 7 and slept 12 hours.  As I fell asleep the first night, I just couldn't stop praising God for how wonderful everything was going.  I never dreamed our trip would go so smoothly.

Despite torrential rain throughout the night, the flooding was not bad so we made the six-hour trip to Bamenda.  Some of us were slightly car sick, but the views up the mountain were spectacular.

We were greeted by Archbishop Cornelius and Bishop Agapitus and had another great meal.  My trepidation about seeing our house was quickly squelched.  We were supposed to stay in temporary housing, but the couple that lived here had to leave early (due to one of them breaking an arm after horseback riding).  I feel badly that their misfortune turned into such a great blessing for us.

The house is small, but charming.  There is a nice size living room, dining area big enough for all and room to do homework.  The three kids share a bedroom but we used a movable closet to give Josh the feel of privacy.  The kids love the room, especially the mosquito nets which make the beds look regal.  It feels good to have a place to call home after living in our formation community and then traveling for a total of almost six months.

We are looking forward to unpacking and exploring the compound, meeting more people, and enjoying the Bishops' hospitality for meals.

-Joy

Pray For A Guy Named Josh

Dear Reader, 

This morning is the morning I leave for Africa! I’m so excited! Well, I have to admit that I’m freaking out a little bit but still, I’m excited too. It’s 6:38 (oh, no make that 6:39)—only 3 hours and 20 minutes until my family gets on the bus to the airport (it just changed to 6:40—sorry, I’m a slow typer)! 

Right now I’m typing in the dining room and I’m going to count how many pieces of luggage we have…One, 2, 3, 4, 5 duffels, 1, 2, 3, 4, also 5 suitcases that aren’t carry-on, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 carry-on (that includes a bag with a computer in it, a light, pink and maroon backpack, 3 small suitcases, and my dad’s guitar). Seventeen pieces of luggage. If you think that’s a lot don’t tell my mother she’s been working hard to minimize the number of bags and suitcases down from 20 to 17. She’s actually done a pretty good job. She went out and bought these bags where first you put in clothes, mattresses, sheets, blankets (anything soft) and you just suck all of the air out—leaving the airless bag about a third of its original size! She fit a lot of my clothes in one of those bags, not to mention my poor little squeezed up stuffed animals! 

The feeling has swept over me. I’m scared. Please pray for a guy named Josh that is going to Africa and is in need of God’s loving care. Thank you! You’re doing me a HUGE favor. Anyways, I think I gotta rap up so, I just want to say one final thing before I end…ONLY 2 AND A HALF HOURS!

Your missionary,

Joshua Newburn (10 yrs.)