What fun Ruth and I had in the middle of the night in our hotel room! At about 2 a.m. I woke up to discover she, too, was awake. She said the air conditioner had gone off and it was hot. After we got that sorted out and the air conditioner back on, we turned out the light and talked in the dark for over an hour! It was like old roommate time. We filled in lots of the gaps in the years that our communication was scarce. We finally got back to sleep.
There was no way we could get to church this morning so we had a very leisurely breakfast on the patio of the restaurant, overlooking the bay. There was Ruth and Barb and Joe and me, and the three Linfield faculty/administration members. We got to brainstorming the long-term vision of WEH and the role of Linfield and the Friends of WEH. It was very exciting. The hope is to develop a master plan for the vocational center and related buildings, and then develop a strategy for the bite-by-bite eating of the elephant! All along the way, Linfield and the Friends of WEH want simply to support and promote WEH. There will be major fund-raising, grant-writing, and opportunities for volunteers to come.
After checking out of the hotel, we took the long way around coming home. We got to see a huge tea plantation. Unfortunately, there was no retail outlet there to buy some Cameroonian tea.
As the day ends I'm feeling very excited about the possibilities for future development of WEH and its programs.
Does WEH have any use for computers? Where exactly is WEH based, I forgot and don't really have time to look through past journal entries (I'm in class, shhhh.)
ReplyDeleteHi Adam. I can ask Ruth about computers. What did you have in mind? Shipping is always the big issue. We want to send sewing machines but still haven't found an effective way to ship.
ReplyDeleteWEH is based here in Douala. Ruth is the Director.. THE FRIENDS OF WEH is a U.S. non=profit incorporated in Arizona because that's where I live.
Well, I'm part of an organization here in Michigan that ships computers to Cameroon approximately every two years. We primarily ship the computers to Longla Comprehensive College in Bamenda, but we usually manage to send them out to at least a couple of other places.
ReplyDeleteAll computers we ship are used, but we repair and install initial software so that they are ready to use once they arrive.
I can talk to my peers about the possibility of making a trip to Douala this summer to donate a few to WEH.
Shipping to Cameroon is not an issue for us, however we may run into a probably sending them from Bamenda to Duoala.
Let me know if Ruth could use any, then I'll begin talks with the folks higher on the command chain than I.
Hope you have the time to eat the fish at "down-beach" Limbe before you leave Cameroon.
ReplyDeleteMabi
Also, now that you have posted pictures... That wouldn't happen to be the Atlantic Beach Hotel you stayed at, would it?
ReplyDeleteAdam, BINGO, you guessed it. It's the Atlantic Beach Hotel.
ReplyDeleteYes on the computers. I'd like to put you directly in touch with Ruth. Can we take this conversation private somehow?