Saturday, January 31

Today is a day for winding things up. Barb and Joe and I prepared our thank you gifts for the WEH staff and the Titi's house staff. Then Ruth and I figured out why we haven't been able to video conference on SKYPE. I think we're set to go now. Then I helped Ruth set up a blogspot site so she can keep news of WEH very current.

Our schedule is quite full for Sunday and Monday, and we fly out at about midnight on Monday night. I can't believe six weeks has passed so quickly. I want to post photos for these last few entries but am not sure I'll have the time before I get home.

Friday, January 30

Ruth and Barb and Joe and I were all going to go to Yaounde today but this morning Ruth woke up sicker, coughing a lot, and Joe didn't feel well either. So Ruth put Barbara and me on a bus to go. I had made an appointment to meet the head of Methodist missions in Cameroon there. Don't worry, it wasn't the general populace bus which people pile onto with their chickens and all sorts of other produce. We have been warned about the danger of these buses to “strangers” in the country, especially one's vulnerability to expert pick-pocketers. This was more like a Greyhound bus in the U.S. We were told it was a three hour trip but it was really over four. On the way, as on so many occasions during our visit, we were stopped by the police. Everyone had to get off the bus and show their I.D.s, then walk forward on the highway several yards and wait for the bus there. It was explained to us that this is so the police can make sure that they did, indeed, see everyone's I.D., and that no I.D.s were shared amongst people. In order to walk that short distance we had to run the gauntlet of vendors who gather there because they know they will have access to travelers. Having accomplished that task, the bus pulled forward and we all boarded again.

When we arrived at Yaounde, two gentlemen were there to meet us, the assigned missionary from the Methodist Board of Global Missions and his assistant. We were delighted to make their acquaintance. They took us through Yaounde to the home of the former where we met his wife and one of the women who work there. Both were very dynamic women and a joy to chat with. The missionary and his wife are Congolese, who recently completed 10 years of service in Senegal. It was interesting to learn that in six short years Methodist personnel has created an extensive presence for the Methodist Church in Cameroon. They have over 20 congregations and an active ministry in AIDS and malaria prevention. They are hoping that 10 of their lay pastors will be ready to be ordained by the end of this year. They also hope that I can return to the Southwest Conference of the Methodist Church in the U.S. and build interest in a work party coming to Cameroon sometime to help build a church. At this point all the congregations meet in rented facilities.

The bus ride home seemed longer than the one to Yaounde though it is, the same distance both ways! We got home at about 9 p.m.

Thursday, January 29

In the morning Ruth and Barb and I visited a bilingual elementary school in Douala. Ruth had arranged for us to take letters from students at Show Low Elementary School in Arizona to children at this school. The director, an amazing woman who started this private school many years ago, took us on a tour. We were impressed with the “extras” she had there over the public schools we have seen. The facilities and equipment were much better. In each classroom we were introduced, and in each one the children sang us a song in English including several songs that we knew. I asked the older children if they knew who the president of the United States is. They always did. In several cases a child would stand beside his or her desk and say very precisely, “His Excellency Barak Obama.”

After lunch Joe joined us and we took a road trip. First we went to the village of Kotto-Up and distributed food bags. Once again we saw that in the villages the powers that be need to know who you are and what you are doing there. Joe and Barb and I sat in the shade on the front porch of a home and watched Ruth and the WEH staff work so effectively with the people. When we gave children our “Yes we Can” pencils, Ruth made sure that they remembered to say, “Thank you.” Many spoke English as in this village there tend to be newcomers from the northern Anglophone areas of Cameroon. Then we drove to the northern most reach of WEH's region of responsibility to Penja. While there we visited a hospital which hosts an AIDS community in a portion of its facilities. These are people who, for whatever reason, frequently ostracism, can no longer live in their villages. We left food bags for WEH's orphans there. I talked to several lovely teenage girls. Knowing that they are receiving retrovirals, I encouraged them to have hope for the future and to study hard. I talked about Obama saying, “Yes we can.” Once again we came home long after night had fallen.

Wednesday, January 28

Things were mighty quiet around here without the Linfield Team. In the afternoon we went with Ruth to the artisan market. The vendor who decided to call me “Mama” saw me and greeted me warmly. I called, “Mon fils!” We laughed and laughed and I moved on. I've spent enough money in his shop. I really wanted to see the whole honeycomb of shops, so we made our way through aggressive hawkers just to see whatever there was to see. I learned that when hawkers step in my path and say, “Madame,” all I have to do is deliberately and resolutely keep walking and they will step aside. I would do a lot more browsing if the hawkers would just leave me alone! I bought a gift for my parish which, of course, I will not describe here to the whole world before I have even presented it. Barb was smart and did some tough dealing to buy 20 small ebony elephants to take home as gifts. (Oh my, maybe I just gave away a surprise to a reader or two!) Barb and Ruth sorted out left over medical supplies to distribute in the villages. Joe started feeling poorly and Ruth has a dreadful cough.

Tuesday, January 27

Today the students finished their report. The faculty polished it off, including a report regarding the mosquito net distribution. We all piled on the bus to visit the branch office here in Douala of the American Embassy in Yaounde. The head of the office, an American recently posted here, was very informative about the mission of foreign embassies. He started by asking, “Who is our boss?” I popped off with “Hillary Clinton.” So I won a little pin of American and Cameroonian flags crossed. One of the students took this picture of Barb and Joe and myself standing in front of the branch embassy. I'm wearing a "ready-to-wear" dress I bought at the market.

There was a lot of coming and going to the market and the students went swimming at a motel. In a gathering of all of us, Ruth thanked the students eloquently for all they did. The students expressed something of their learnings and how much the experience has meant to them. Several of them said they hoped to return here or to another developing country to provide nursing care. After dinner they all loaded up and left for the airport. I hope they have a good time in Paris for a couple of days, in spite of the 36-hour transportation strike there.

The tailor came back with our dresses. This is the second I have had made, one of a violet color, with a top and flared skirt. I ordered another dress with my last piece of fabric. It will be done before we leave next week.

Monday, January 26

We got to slow down today. The students worked on their report. It will include a data base of the sorts of health problems they addressed and how they responded, and will also include a narrative of the work they did. This report is extremely critical. Copies will be distributed locally and used for future planning.

Sunday, January 25

We went to church in the morning. Again, the music was the high point in an all French service. In the late afternoon, Ruth had several WEH board members over and we – our Arizona bunch and the Linfield students and faculty -- had a time of reflection about the last three weeks. Ruth was spectacular! She knows just what to say and how to say it. She thanked the students with eloquent words. Several ideas came up for future student nurse trips, and ideas were shared about what might come to pass in the future. Dental care was identified, for example, as a critical need. Can we add a dental clinic to the project and get volunteer dentists out here? Whew, wouldn't that be something. It occurred to me that I could have been conducting tooth brushing demos with the kids. That would be a fun project next time: toothbrushes and toothpaste for them all and toothbrushing practice together. Whew! What a scene that would be.

I'm going to have to start thinking about how I can possibly communicate all this back home. And how to help the vision for a life skill center come true. In this recession I'm just not sure where the money will come from, especially for construction. I checked out the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation guidelines. I don't see construction there. But we'll eat the elephant one bite at a time. This recession can't last forever.