Where Am I Going??

Even though everyone here speaks some level of English, I am amazed how often I have no idea what I am going to or what is expected of me.  Here are some examples:

Last spring, I was invited by an Irish Sister to what I thought was a planning meeting for next year’s counseling program.  She mentioned a few of the other professors and I was delighted to be part of the visioning. Pete and I arrived just five minutes late (early, really by Cameroonian time) to find 60 men and women in the room. It was then that I had the over whelming feeling that I had messed up big time.  These people were expecting a presentation. Yikes.

So while Pete led them in a few songs (without his guitar), I thought a few “stories” to tell.  Cameroonians love stories especially with meaning. Pete ran and got a PowerPoint he had been working on for another presentation and came back half an hour later, when we had just finished with my story of the “Stone Soup” and did a magnificent presentation on healing.

Another time I got a call from a priest asking me to do something on Sept 6^th.  I thought he said it was a School Mass. I agreed to attend thinking that he wanted me there as I teach at one of the Catholic elementary schools. Later, I learned from Pete, that he wanted me there because I was a counselor.

The day arrived and I learned it was a ‘Youth” Mass, which is ages 18-30 and that they wanted me to do counseling after the 8:30 Mass.  Well, the 8:30 Mass ended at 1pm (had to run home and give my kids and guests lunch) and then run back.  They put me in some type of accounting room with three workers and said I would be meeting with “Youth” who wished to be counseled.  I politely requested a more private venue (but feeling like I was totally imposing).  They gave me two chairs in the middle of a spiral staircase of a tower.  That day I met with 6 young adults to listen to them and pray with them. It was a beautiful experience - but not what I was expecting.

Last week, I got a garbled call from the girls’ Head Teacher (Principal).  No, the girls are fine, phew.  He kept apologizing for the late notice, but I could not understand why he wanted me to come to school at 3pm (it is now 2pm). I agreed. I arrived at school, to find that I had been invited (because I consult there) to attend a going away party for the former Head Teacher and a commissioning of the new Head teacher. There were lots of speeches (including two about me) and then they asked me to present a present to the Head teacher.  Of course there were lots of pictures with me in the Center with the two Head Teachers and the Proprietors of the School. The event ended with a nice meal and a bit of fellowship—for the most part Cameroonians don’t talk much while they eat.

Last night I thought we were attending a birthday party for Sr. Therese.  We made a cake and brought a gift and flowers.  We arrived to find that it was not her birthday but it was the Feast Day of St Therese who she is named after. Oh well, just a small confusion.  She was gracious enough to smile when we greeted her with a “Happy Birthday”.

I cannot tell you how often I stick my foot in my mouth or am just totally clueless. Two years and I am still very often a fish out of water. But we have an expression here “small, small, catch monkey”.

-Joy

While Pete Is Away

Pete has been gone for almost two weeks now with another to go. He is visiting family before he attends an annual meeting of Renewal Ministries in Ann Arbor Michigan. If Pete continues with this Mission organization, he will be traveling three to six weeks a year.  I am determined to keep busy and have some “fun” while he is gone, so we don’t miss him so much. So here are a few highlights.

We harvested our farm.  We had planted zucchini, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, and some spices. Our result was five carrots.  Based on all our costs (including seeds mailed from US), these carrots are worth over $6 each. I don’t think gardening is my calling.

Polishing nails in the market is always a treat. Everyone always asks if the girls are twins.

Jessica made bagels.  I made English muffins and we had them with melted cheese (brought by family from Germany) for lunch.

Here, Josh is doing a science project. He is doing great with homeschooling. Our read aloud is Out of Many Waters and is great.

We got a tent and were testing it out.  Unfortunately it leaked from every side and we had to abort by 8pm and carry in all the soaking wet bedding. Guess we will wait for the dry season. It drew quite a bit of attention. One guy explained to his friend that these were used by the army when they were sleeping in the bush.  I thought I heard one boy call it a big bolo bolo (balloon in pigeon).  Therese, the young girl next door said “you people are interesting”. First a sky houses now an outside sleeping house. I am sure we are an enigma to some here. We even build outside fires without cooking anything.

Ruthie is a dream.  She never bleats even the day we left her out in the blazing sun without water or the night we left her out in the torrential rain without cover. The kids have been very responsible about caring for her.

The girls have been doing homeschooling after school and I am so proud of their progress. Josh’s radio show has been going very well.  He even did the show alone one week when his co-host didn’t show.

We have also been able to squeeze in some horseback riding.

It has been nice to have all the school kids back at Sunday Mass.  The St Joseph’s pupils (where I teach) were the choir this week and I was so proud of them.  These 5^th and 6^th graders were just 2^nd and 3^rd graders when I got here. How time flies.

-Joy

Potty Talk

Jessica came home with this information from her Health Education class.  I have recopied it as she printed it nicely in red and blue ink in her exercise book.

Latrines

A latrine is any hole that is properly dug and built for passing feces and urine.

Types of Latrines:

1.      The Pit Latrine

A pit latrine is built outside some distance away from the house, kitchen, and well. With the pit latrine, you squat on the hole when you want to send out waste. The hole should be smooth and hard.

2.      The Bucket Latrine

This is a system where feces is collected in buckets. The bucket is emptied every morning.

3.      Water Closet Latrine

This is a latrine system where all the waste (feces and urine) is flushed into an underground system. Plenty for water is used for flushing.

Uses of Latrines

1.      Latrines are used for passing out solid and liquid waste.

2.      The solid waste from the latrines is sometimes used as fertilizers.

3.      Sludge from the latrines can be fermented and used cooking gas.

4.      The Latrine helps prevent soil, air, and water pollution.

PS (from Joy) On car trips we have gotten pretty used to going in the “bush” too and in desperation within sight of oncoming cars.  You just gotta do what you gotta do.

In Search of a Goat

By Joshua Newburn (Age 12)

I wondered if driving three hours to Kumbo and back was worth staying there for only one night. My perspective changed completely after a thrilling and adventurous experience there, one to definitely blog about.

The first half of the drive was sickening, but luckily my mom got off at Ndop to have a retreat. I got the front seat and felt a lot better. When we arrived, we greeted them (like true Cameroonians) and unpacked our belongings. We got a tour of the garden, where they had more than a dozen different plants growing. We saw that a pumpkin was ripe, so we harvested it and brought it in. I then helped them make bagels and pumpkin pie, using the pumpkin.

During the time that the oven pre-heated, I remembered that we had wanted to buy a goat for a long time. So I asked my dad and then Logan, what they thought of getting one there in Kumbo. The Horne family had bought goats before, so they had some experience with them. I wanted to milk the goat, so it would have to be a female. Logan lectured me about milking a she-goat and how to keep one.

Finally I felt I was ready and prepared to get a goat. Only one thing was left—my mom’s approval. I called her on my dad’s phone and started out, “Hey mom, how’s it going?” After the call I happily announced that I had gained her approval. Dad was surprised, but smiled and agreed to go to the goat farm the next day.

After a great bagel pizza dinner with excellent pumpkin pie, we slept peacefully for the big day ahead. The following morning, we ate breakfast, packed up, then headed for the car to go to the goat market.

The selection process wasn’t half as good as eating pizza. The goats were too thin, unhealthy, or the wrong gender. We went on a walk to see the cow farm to let me think a little bit. I agreed with my dad that I would pay for it, but I started thinking again. Do I really want to spend my money on these goats?

We walked back to the goat market and I saw a single, female goat with an unusual one-horned head. She had a white “sock” on her back leg. I smiled to myself and moved closer to the goat. She pricked her ears up, alerted, and moved away. I asked, “How much for this goat?”

On the drive back to Bamenda, we had a bleating goat, Ruth, in the back of our car. I bargained her from 30,000 francs ($60) to 27,000 francs ($54). We decided not to tell my mom, so she had a great surprise when she heard “B-AA!” when we went over a bump.

Now Ruth is in our backyard, happily eating away at grass. I wonder how it’s going to be having my very own pet.