Footprints in Red Sand

NY BLOGG

2010-10-15T11:51:00.002+02:00

www.pernillestankeromting.blogspot.com

IDUNN!

2010-03-30T11:01:00.001+02:00

Idunn, min kjære nasara, husker du da vi var spente og uerfarne og lurte på hva det var vi kom til å møte da vi kom til Kamerun? At vi var så sykt gira, og vi var overbevist om at vi var det beste teamet i hele verden, selv om vi ikke ante hvordan teamarbeidet vårt i Kamerun egentlig kom til å se ut?

Vi møtte jammen uventede ting, selv om det som overrasket kanskje ikke var det samme som det vi trodde vi kom til å reagere på. Men jeg syns vi gjorde det bra. Jeg har satt stor pris på våre lattermilde øyeblikk, og til tross for våre relativt store forskjeller, så syns jeg vi har samarbeidet bra. Helt fra våre første to timer på kamerunsk jord, der hvem som helst kunne revet seg i håret og tenkt "OI-OI-OI! -Hvordan skal dette gå?"(Yes! Jeg fikk den med! Hihi).

Du har krydret min hverdag, fargelagt mine opplevelser og gitt tilværelsen gode nyanser. Det har vært gøy å erfare Kamerun med deg, du har vært en så bra teammate at det er ikke vits engang. Ditt søte smil, dine gode ord og tanker, ditt positive og sosiale vesen - og ikke minst din herlige latter når du ser på Friends med ørepropper - er noe jeg vil huske og verdsette lenge.

Nå vet vi hva vi kom til, og vi vet hvordan teamarbeidet ble. Hadde bare lyst til å gi deg en liten hyllest sån i all offentlighet :) Jeg er fortsatt overbevist om at jeg ikke kunne hatt noe bedre team enn deg.

Friends

2010-03-03T21:42:00.001+01:00

Making friends when you come to a new culture is not always easy. First of all, there is the language: conversations do not flow freely when you feel your communication skills are comparable with a three-year-old (luckily they have improved along with the length of my stay).

Secondly, you have to figure out the social and cultural codes: what do they talk about, what do they do? How are their lives, and how can you relate to them? And even more deeply; what does the world look like in their eyes?

Many times during my five months here in Cameroon, I have asked myself if I will be able to look back on my stay here and remember faces, names and friends. Often I have been discouraged, thinking that the answer would be no. Most of my relations are utterly shallow and superficial.

Thinking further, I find that maybe I have to redefine my conception of friendship a little. All friendships start with small steps. To grow closer takes time, and half a year is not so long after all. If I turn from how well I know certain people, and look upon how many people I have actually gotten in touch with during my stay, I find that I have many friends; names and faces that stop and ask how I am doing when we meet at work, choir rehearsal, volleyball or on the street. We actually have a relation.

Sometimes that is all it takes. That is how well you actually need to know people before you can go one step further. Tonight almost my whole choir came to our house to sing, pray, dance, laugh, play and eat "poff-corn", beignets and makala (different kinds of doughnuts) together. We had the most wonderful time, and I could really feel that these are my friends. My being part of that group makes a difference. They notice if I am gone, and care about my well-being.

I belong a little to them, and they will always stay somewhere in my thoughts and memories and e-mail adress list when I return to Norway. We are friends. Nous sommes ensemble.

You know Africa well

2010-02-27T11:13:00.001+01:00

Bargaining is not one of my favourite things. How low should I go to get the price I want? Is it not rude to go too low? Really, I do not need to bargain, but then again, would it be rude not to? In Cameroon everyone bargains on everything. So to fit in, should not I too bargain?

Slightly uncomfortable, I suggest my price in a low voice. He whispers back, offers a new price, still more than I am willing to give. We discuss a little while, I smile and he laughs. Finally it closes in, and our suggestions differ only with a thousand francs (13 NOK). -Let's meet at the five hundred in between, I say, and he laughs, -You really know Africa well, don't you?

Maybe it was not that bad after all...

Meiganga

2010-02-23T18:55:00.000+01:00

Thursday we set out for Meiganga, a village about four hours west of Ngaoundéré, together with Benjamin the contactperson and four Canadians. Their mission was to learn about evangelisation, as the Canadian church (together with many other Western countries) no longer seems to reach out to people in their own country.

The Cameroonian church is growing, while many of the countries that once brought the Good News to Africa now need to learn anew how to evangelize. In Meiganga we were attending a week of seminars, to hear and see how the church (EELC) empowers its evangelists.

We attended some of the seminars, visited the seminary of Meiganga, spoke with its students and visited them in their homes, and joined small groups of evangelists when they were having outreach Saturday. We went from door to door, visited those who were interested, talked about God with them and prayed together. Idunn and I also worked as interpreters, as our Canadian friends did not understand French. Amazing how much French we actually are able to understand and speak after some months here!

Students at the seminary of Meiganga studying in the library

The students' wives' class

Talking with David the theology student about evangelization

Visiting Philomene, the only female theology student at the seminary

The Canadians handing out gifts to the evangelists, as a sign of gratefulness for being invited to the seminar

"Filmez-moi! Filmez-moi, madame!" (If you have a camera, you have no choice:) )

Fête de la Jeunesse

2010-02-21T21:46:00.000+01:00

Thursday last week we celebrated Fête de la Jeunesse with our girls at Centre Socio Menager. So it was that we were dressed up in orange and yellow dresses of the latest fashion-model, and marched in front of loads of people. I even got the honorable assignment to carry the flag - something that did not pass by unseen: I was actually to be seen on national television on the evening news...

I encourage you to read more about this event and see the pictures on the Bischler family's blog

Picnic, African style

2010-02-13T17:07:00.005+01:00

"The bus leaves at 06.30, and if you are not present by then, you are not going at all." The board of my choir, Gospel Singers, do not seem to appreciate the term "African time", but no matter how hard they seem to fight it, African time always gets its way. So by 09.15, we were actually on our way to the village Wak (we thought).

We also thought we were going in the Gospel Singers' bus,

but all of a sudden it went away full of other people, so we ended up sitting 21 persons in this shabby car with 15 seats:

Photo: Samuel Fomgbami

The lack of space, the hard seats or the loose door did not spoil the joyous mood. Nor finding out that we were not going to Wak after all. Someone important had decided that we were headed for a small place with possibilities to take a swim near the student village Dang (12 km from Ngaoundéré) instead.

Photo: Samuel Fomgbami

For some, the fact that we had to walk for 45 minutes to get there seemed a bit overwhelming at first, but as we got there, the walk was already forgotten. After we had crossed the river,

we reached a place that resembled any Norwegian beach a random summer day (except that there were no beach): a lot of young people where enjoying a Saturday with friends, food, a bonfire, guitar playing and swimming in the COLD water.

Some hours later, after having crossed the river on our way back, we spent a few moments in prayer and worship together with another choir that also was there,

before we went happy, tired, laughing and singing back to Dang to find taxis going to Ngaoundéré.

In other words: a wonderful Saturday spent with wonderful people!

I want to go to Norway, because of all the chocolate

2010-02-08T21:26:00.000+01:00

-You see, there is so much chocolate in Norway, so I woud like to go there, said one of the children as we were having the daily afternoon studies with the children at Rainbow orphanage. -And when are you going to show us your house?

Why not today, we thought, and so it was that Moussa, Miryam and Alise came with us when it was time to put aside the books, mini-blackboards and chalks for the evening. As our fridge still contains the marvellous Freia melkesjokolade, and we also had a 1-2-3 Sjokolademousse, it was the perfect occasion to arrange Chocolate and Ligretto Night.

Photo: Idunn Roaldseth

Teaching Ligretto to children, in French, is not the easiest thing to do, but we had a whole lot of fun, and everyone agreed that Norwegian chocolate is very good, and as we wondered how on Earth our stomachs could manage supper less than one hour later, we talked a bit with Lena the missionary's parrot before it was time for the three happy children to return to their home.

Photo: Idunn Roaldseth

What are we going to do today?

2010-02-05T18:20:00.001+01:00

We have a schedule. We have an activity calendar hanging on our wall, where the coming events are written down. I also have a diary for the school year 2009/2010 where more or less my whole life is written down in details.

As if that could make my life in Cameroon predictable. No longer am I surprised to come to work just to be told that my boss is out travelling, or that there is no teaching this week ("everyone" knows that). Nor if my visitors bring guests I was not aware of. If, on the other hand, something actually turns out according to the plan, I almost get a bit puzzled.

You never know what the day will bring before it is over...

A different weekend

2010-02-03T14:46:00.003+01:00

This weekend Idunn and I went on a trip with Benjamin the contact person, Mama Jeanne the extra mom and Aggée the driver. The goal for the trip was the women's center in Touboro, a village about a four hours drive from Ngaoundéré.

Centre Findinki Bebwe in Touboro resembles the Centre Socio Menager in Ngaoundéré, where we work twice a week. It is a school for girls where they learn practical skills as cooking and sewing, and also how to write on the computer. The centre in Touboro, though, is a bit newer and bigger, and focuses more on women's rights, and how they can live lives free from abuse and injustice. It was really interesting to visit, and if we find the time (not so much left now...), we hope for a whole week there in the beginning of the next month.

Saturday the five of us went to the great market of Mbai-Mbum, that is said to be the largest market in Central Africa. In spite of the lately decrease, it was still a lot to see (and we, the nasaras, were seen by many...). After having been here for four months, though, I did not find it very exotic, except from the people carrying swords, knives, bows and arrows, as if those were natural items to go shopping with. That is not something you see every day in Ngaoundéré (I did not dare to photograph them though)!

(not so exotic anymore)

Little boy selling pâte d'arrachide - peanut paste

For girls who like to travel, one of the peaks of this Saturday was to cross the border to the Central African Republic. We did not go far, only to the nearest village, but we were there!

One thing I have learned here in Cameroon, is that guests are important (maybe especially if they are white), something we got to experience to the utmost in church in Touboro; we were placed on the podium, together with the preacher and the reverend, facing the congregation. No matter how hard we try to fit in, we are continually reminded that we are different...

Home in Ngaoundéré, we are reminded too, by being followed by nasara cries everywhere we go. They are used to us, but people shout anyway. In the small villages, though, we learned that we apparently are quite scary, as the children ran away as soon as they saw us (some even started to cry). But people in the countryside are friendly and welcoming too, as we learned when we visited Mama Jeanne's relatives on our way home. It seems like wherever you go, you are welcome if you want to stop by, and I am no longer surprised when dinner is served (even if the visit was unanounced).

This was a really refreshing weekend, full of different experiences. Different is good!

Fantasia

2010-01-23T14:03:00.001+01:00

This weekend the lamido of Ngaoundéré celebrates the 13th anniversary of his reign as Muslim king of Adamaoua, our province. Idunn, Trude the missionary, Kristin the missionary kid, Thomas the new volunteer, his father and I went to town to watch the fantasia, a spectacular event which is quite hard to explain with words.

There were men riding horses decorated with colourful clothes, people in traditional outfits carrying spears, knifes and guns hailing the lamido, women dancing to the music from at least two different bands playing different songs at the same time, and a lot of people watching.

It felt a bit like being far, far away from modern civilization, as even the main language had changed from French to Fulani, even though we were still in the middle of town. In everyday life, my friends in town do not live so differently from any other modern person, but it is on occations like this I fully realize that Africa is different.

Different, not only as in dark skinned people, dusty roads, food, language or poverty. Different also in the sense of a rich culture developed in way other circumstances. Full of history, music, habits and interesting people. A culture worth experiencing.

Fasting

2010-01-21T16:40:00.003+01:00

"Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover him,

and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?"

(Isaiah 58,6-7)

In about three weeks, the 40 days of the fast begins. Most of my life this period of the Church year has passed by without much attention, to be honest, it is not before the two last years I have even offered it a thought. What is the point of not eating for fourty days, anyway?

After having further studied the Word of God, I realise that it is not really about the food. It is about focusing on living a Godly life - to DO his Word, not only listen to it. Reading these verses from the Prophet Isaiah back in Norway, I thought, "wow, how will I be able to do this?" There are not so many hungry, poor or homeless in my neighbourhood...

In Ngaoundéré, on the other hand, my extended neighbourhood is the poorest part of the town. You do not see many streetkids or extreme poverty on an everyday basis, but life is tough for a whole lot of people, not only in Burkina (the poorest part of town).

Now, as I actually am in a place with the poor people, with the hungry, how should I fast?

Feedback and ideas are welcomed with thanks!

New beginnings

2010-01-18T15:56:00.001+01:00

The holidays have gradually finished, and now we are back at work, and we are going to work more than ever. Before infield we had a feeling that we maybe had a little bitt too little to fill our days with, something that was confirmed to us by everyone on infield (Maria and Merethe, how are you doing now?)...

Anyway, today we started working at an orphanage called Rainbow Children's Fund, where we are going to work long Mondays and Friday afternoons. The place was founded by South Korean missionaries about a year ago, and is now the home of ten lovely children aged between four and twelve years old.

In Cameroon the chidren go to school in the morning every second week, and the other weeks they go in the afternoon. It works this way because there are not enough school buildings for everyone to be teached at the same time. Due to this, our days at RCF will vary a bit, since the schoolchildren attend a public school.

The plan is that we are going to do whatever the staff wants us to, and today that was to help the children with their homework and help out in the kitchen/learn how to cook Cameroonian food. Some days we will help out in the kindergarten too, where two of the orphans go together with other children, while the older ones are in school.

We were told that it was important that our clothes did not get dirty, so we got some other clothes to wear (they did not get dirty at all, as Pauline did everything that could make you dirty)

Idunn crushing white beans (HARD work!)

Pauline, our lovely teacher in the kitchen

It is not only in the working hours new things happen; I am proud to tell you that today I am going to have my first practice with the girls' volleyball team at Collège Protestante. If things do not turn out too bad, maybe I will write an update about that later...

Litter

2010-01-12T16:47:00.000+01:00

Ngaoundéré is a clean town, compared to many other places in Africa. You can see rubbish in the streets and ditches, but there is a renovation company that continually cleans the town. The Norwegian camp is tidy too - the maids have one place they always empty our litter bins.

That place happens to be quite near our house, and so I become aware of the fact that throwing my trash in the bin does not make it go away. It is just moved somewhere else, so that my house is clean. But the more I use, the fuller that garbage hole grows. Is that the way it should be? Which right do I have to buy, spend and throw away so much that Mother Earth is afflicted?

Ashamed of being one of the Earth's spoiled litterers, who buys things I could manage without quite problemfree, I decide to try my best to think critically about what I buy and how it is packed.

I am troubled by the fact that I actually am in a position to choose whether I buy environment friendly packed food and other stuff - useful or not. Every afternoon, as they finish school, three or four boys on their way home stop by that rubbish hole. As I sit in my comfortable chair, listening to beautiful music on my Mac or iPod in my clean apartment, they are digging in my dirt. I bet they do not think about whether my litter will vanish in one year or a hundred, or if it will let out poisonous gasses. They jump into the hole with their clean school uniforms, hoping that they will find something of value. Some valuable leftovers from one of the World's fortunate litterers...

Holidays

2010-01-06T14:42:00.002+01:00

Christmas came right after Infield Course in Kenya, and surprisingly enough the homesickness was not too grave. With Idunn's family and my dear Magnus visiting, we made Christmas cookies and decorated our appartement with snow-crystals on the window, candles in red and green, and even a homemade Christmas cradle.

On Christmas Eve we had a Norwegian service in a little church outside of town. In my Norwegian eyes, it actually quite much resembled a stable more than a church. In addition to this, a little local boy wandered in during the sermon, whose name coincidentally (?) meant God has come to save...

Picture: Magnus Hagland

After the celebration of Christmas, we headed South for the beaches. The journey was long (three long days of driving) and the roads bumpy (picture the bumpiest road you have ever seen in Norway. Even now you are nowhere near imagining the main road that connects North and South in this country).

Picture: Magnus Hagland

Nevertheless, the beaches of Kribi was worhwhile the shaky trip. Most of the days were spent on the beach with books, volley ball, swimming and playing in the water (which I must say, is not the worst way to spend the Christmas holidays). Pirogue trip up the Lobé river and loads of delicious seafood were other ingredients.

Pictures: Magnus Hagland

Back in Ngaoundéré, I still have some days left with my fabulous visitor before the everyday life sets in again. The recreation has been very good, and now I am ready to start off. I really look forward to spend three more months here in "Miniature Africa"!

Picture: Magnus Hagland

Joyeux Noël!

2009-12-25T17:01:00.001+01:00

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

-Isaiah 9,6-

Infield Course in Kenya

2009-12-18T14:37:00.001+01:00

Wow! Ngaoundéré is not really a big town! Coming to Douala (the largest city in Cameroon) was one thing; a place where they had at least three different brands of bottled water, a big variety of spreads and cheeses and even freshly baked pizza in ONE place.

No matter how big Douala seemed, there are no words that could express my amazement over Nairobi at our arrival. With big eyes and my mouth wide open, I saw giraffes, streets without potholes, well-organized traffic, wonderful buildings, street signs and no dirty ditches when we drove from the airport to the Norwegian school.

As we were the first ones to arrive, Idunn and I spent a relaxing Sunday at the Norwegian school, before our teachers and fellow students who are in Kenya, Uganda and Madagascar came. It was a happy reunion, with lots of laughter and experiences to share.

During the Infield Course, we have had teaching, counselling, safari, time to talk, laugh, play and relax. Apart from this, we spent Tuesday in the slums, which was a very special experience. On one side, Nairobi is so developed and organized, a town greater than anything I have seen in Norway. Still more than half of the city's population does not have the opportunity to appreciate this, or even get to see it. More than half of Nairobi's population live in slums, in extreme poverty.

First we visited the slum of Mathare and saw the project that the Kenya team from Hald has been working in for almost three months now. After this we drove to Kibera, Kenya's biggest slum, to get introduced to the Church Army's project there. I am really impressed by the work of the churches there. They really live out God's Word by feeding the poor, sharing the Gospel, loving the loveless, caring for the sick and helping people to get an education and possibilities to get a better life. The churches in Norway really have something to learn about being a holistic church and reaching out to those who need it! If they can in one of the poorest places in the world, how much more should not we be able to make a difference in our society?

Returning to the richest area of Nairobi (where the Norwegian School is situated) was hard for me. The contrasts are so vast, and it felt terrible to just leave the people like that. I am grateful to have everything I need, but the fact that I have so much more tears me apart.

Nevertheless, this is an experience I highly recommend to everyone. Feeling the unjustice of the world so closely changes something in you, and that change is something everyone in the rich parts of the world should go through. Finding words that could describe is too difficult, it has to be seen, smelled, touched and felt.

Safari, Sunscreen and SuperMarius

2009-12-06T09:11:00.001+01:00

Yesterday we went to the Buffle Noir national park and had a wonderful day on safari. Since it is the beginning of the season, most of the animals had not come yet, but we got to see monkeys, different kinds of antelopes, birds, hippopotami and even some crocodiles. Andreas the Missionary, Ole Henrik the NMS Photographer and our guide also saw a leopard...

Even though Idunn, Marius the Gap Student and I missed the extraordinary sight of the leopard, the trip was terrific. We spent most of our time standing on the back of the car with a slight taste of sunscreen in our mouths (due to my brilliant idea of also protecting the lips against the sun). As there were a lot of high grass and branches that could hit us as we passed them, Marius enjoyed his role as our personal Super Hero in order to save us girls from their hits.

After a warm meal at the camp site, I got to drive home from our refreshing Saturday in Buffle Noir.

(Maybe more animal pictures will come later. Ole Henrik the NMS Photographer promised to give us his photos)

Two months already?

2009-12-03T12:25:00.002+01:00

Here comes a short summary:

As soon as we set our feet on Cameroonian ground, we learned that things do not always turn out the way you expected; try to be flexible, relax and meet the world with a smile!

After having left the rainforest in the South, we were ready to settle in Ngaoundéré, which is to be found in the more dusty and dry highlands of the North (that actually is in the middle of the country. The real North is called The Extreme North).

Apart from work, our life have consisted of choir rehearsals and concerts,

Learning French and trying to keep up with what is happening around us,

Talior visits,

Retrait Spirituelle, a day with seminars for the young girls in Church,

Learning to cook Cameroonian food,

Afternoon escapes in fresh air,

Misjonstivoli arranged by the Norwegian kids; fund-raising to the church's AIDS-project,

Getting to know people,

And these days we are quite busy with our culture-assignment; I learn a lot and write about girls in Ngaoundéré.

Only one week left at work now, before we are heading for infield course in Kenya, followed by Christmas holidays. Funny that we have come to Christmas already... When I start working after the holidays, we are more than halfway!

Mount Ngaoundéré

2009-11-27T16:00:00.002+01:00

Today the Muslims have their Fête du Mouton, or the Eid-al-Adha, as it is also called. It is a national holiday, and all the students are free. Ergo no one to teach.

Idunn, Andreas the volunteer, Marius the gap worker, Lena the missionary and I spent our day off exploring Mount Ngaoundéré. In the middle of a stressful week, it was nice with some fresh air for both mind and body. With Marius' "whole grain"-rolls, Andreas' jam and chocolate spread and Lena's frozen Tampicos (juice in small plastic bags that we Norwegians freeze to get saftis), we had a really nice picnic in the sun.

Mount Ngaoundéré to the left

(Some children we met on the top)

Ps. Happy birthday, pappa!

CAPS LOCK

2009-11-25T12:53:00.005+01:00

Teaching can be hard. Teaching Computer Skills when I do not have them myself is even harder. Teaching Computer Skills when I do not have them myself, in French - you get the picture.

Before I turn all dramatic, I must admit that I do know a little bit about writing a simple document in Word. So that is what I teach. I do know what happens when I press the Caps Lock button. The girls I teach, do not. And I explain. I explain again. And again. Five minutes after I think the explanation was successful (after all, she did say yes every time I asked if she understood), the same mysterious thing happens with her computer again; all the letters come out capitals!

Communication is a curious thing, especially when I am in a position where I probably see the world in a totally different way than all the girls I teach. When I think I have made myself so clear (both because I have repeated myself five times and they nod and say je comprends (I understand) no matter what I say), I actually have no clue if they still are following me.

My mind is triggered to think in new directions; to find the fine line between how I think I would best learn Computer Skills or English and teaching in a way they are used to learning. No matter how good I think Norwegian teaching strategies could be, they do not help if my Cameroonian friends not are accustomed to them and therefore gain nothing from my teaching.

It all boils down to the term cultural sensitivity: Before imposing on my host people all my fine ideas on teaching and everything else, I need to take the time to learn how things work here. I want to learn to see the world through Cameroonian eyes. Hopefully then I will understand...

All I Have to Offer

2009-11-19T15:34:00.002+01:00

I am no expert on computers, but what obstacle is that when an Informatics teacher is needed? I do not know the Bible by heart, but why should that stop me from correcting Bible courses?* I do not know much fulfulde, but since when was that a reason not to "converse"?

Finding myself in situations where I do things I think are beyond my capabilities is funny. I learn to make the best use of what you have. If you have a small amount of something, you use that something, you share it. Many people having a small amount of knowledge, money or food is better than someone having "a lot" and the lot being at a lack of almost everything, n'est-ce pas (don't you think)?

*Do not worry, I had the solution at hand :)

It is Cold

2009-11-17T22:01:00.000+01:00

Waking up with a sore throat. Running nose. People outside wearing thick winter coats. Shivering Norwegians. Putting on a warm sweater. Woollen socks. Dreaming of a blanket to wrap myself up in.

Yes, I am still in Cameroon. Yes, it is cold. Not all the time. As the dry season is arriving (almost a month too late), it gets hotter during the days, but at night and in the mornings, my boyfriend's woolen slippers from Mongolia are often to be found on my feet.

La Blanche en Pagne

2009-11-12T19:20:00.001+01:00

This afternoon Idunn and I found out that it was high time for us to explore the Petit Marché ("the Little Market", which actually is bigger than the Grand Marché). We grabbed the opportunity as Andreas the volunteer and Marius the gap student (I finally have learned the English word for ettåring - thanks, Sophie!) were going to the gym in town, and set out for the market on our own.

Quite impressed by our orientation skills, we found our way through narrow alleys, the overwhelming odours from the meat area, people constantly shouting nasara (white), "You are SO beautiful", "come here, my queen", "la blanche en pagne (the white in pagne, that is the typical African women's outfit), you look so nice", and so on and so forth, and tons of different fabrics (i.e. the pagnes).

Satisfied after buying ourselves some fabric for future dresses, we walked up to the gym, trying to be nice to the boys so that they did not have to drive back to the market for us. However, it turned out that they were being nice as well and had driven down to the market. We did not hear that they called us, and I had of course told them that we would answer the phone as long as we had not been robbed, so we kind of stressed them up... Luckily we found each other and everything went okay at the end. Back in our appartment we finished the successful afternoon at the market with coucous, our new favourite food.

Our future dresses

The Office

2009-11-12T14:00:00.003+01:00

Last Thursday was cleaning day at the office. Today after the daily devotion, the whole central direction of EELC (that is the people I work with at the office, sort of including me at the time being) went out into one of the quartiers, to the home of one of the office workers to pay our respects. Her uncle had just passed away. The term "office work" keeps getting new meanings as I work there...

It was something nice about it, paying respects to this employee's family. You don't see that as a normal thing for a group of colleagues to do in Norway when someone is dead. At least, I don't. Here they did it as the most natural thing to do. We went over and the president of the church said some words, the uncle's older brother said a few words in fulfulde, we prayed and sang some songs, before we had some soda and went back to work. Nothing odd about it. Death is also a part of life, and I found this a fine way to embrace it. Natural, relaxed and at the same time very respectful.

The Tello Falls

2009-11-07T19:49:00.002+01:00

Some days ago Idunn and I went on our first excursion in the bush. Together with Andreas the missionary, Andreas the volunteer, Hilde Marie the ettåring, Marius the ettåring and Erik the representative's visiting sister we went to the famous Tello Falls (some scenes from the first Tarzan movie was filmed there, by the way). The journey was a funny experience in itself, driving in Africa is a quite funny experience, for example when you meet more cows than cars in an one-hour's drive (and because we were allowed to sit on the roof of the car a little while on our way home. It was fun).

It was great to get out of Ngaoundéré for some hours, and Tello was really worth the trip. I still love Africa :) Anyway, here are some pictures from our trip:

Helping the domestic worker

2009-11-06T11:27:00.001+01:00

Yesterday was my first day working at the church's office. I was taken to Jeannette's office, where I was going to help her to archive documents from the last 30 years or so. Jeannette is the leader of the organisation Femmes pour Christ (Women for Christ).

Working at her office was so much more amusing than I had imagined. You see, we had to spend the first fifteen minutes after the daily devotion to clean her office (or, I was told to sit in her couch while she and another lady cleaned). She was so upset by all the spiders and their webs in her roof. And after having cleaned the roof, it was absolutely necessary to dust the desk and the shelves, clean the windows, then sweep the floor before topping it all off with a peach-smelling spray.

Jeannette told me that it was very important that she, as the leader of the women of the church, she had to clean her office very well, so that the domestic worker would understand the importance of doing a good job. It was obviously logic to her that if the domestic help found her office in a bad shape, he or she would think that Jeannette was a woman who did not care about the cleanliness of her office, and therefore would not care to do a thorough job. What a funny way to be a good example :)

What are you doing here?

2009-11-05T20:22:00.003+01:00

"So... What do you want to do?"

"Are you German or American? Ah, Norwegian, all right. Are you going to work at the hospital? Oh, really, you are going to work here every Monday? Right..."

"Oh, are you starting to work here today?"

All these questions have been asked either by my employers or my coworkers at the places I have been working this week. "Attending Hald", I thought, "is a safe and structured way to go (which it is), where the programme is set and the people I work for and with are prepared for my arrival."

What I have been learning this week, is the meaning of the term exchange programme. We went here to be part of another culture for half a year, not to live the Norwegian way in another country. And we do learn how things are in Cameroon. One of those things is that the planning mentality does not work the same way here. "But why couldn't they just start planning?" one could maybe ask (especially if you are from Norway, where organizing often seems to be of utter importance).

They are not lazy. They do not lack practical intelligence. They just have a completely different starting point for their lives. You cannot plan in details an expensive trip if you do not know whether there actually will be enough money for it. You cannot always expect things to be ready at a certain date, because maybe there is no money to buy the supplies needed in order to finish it. You do not order new medicines for the pharmacy if you still have something left; maybe you need the money for something else. And this hand-to-mouth way of thinking and planning life affects the whole structure of society. So that even the things you actually could have planned, is not regarded urgent to organize. You take life as it comes.

My first day at work, in pictures

2009-11-03T16:28:00.002+01:00

Going to class (my class is Moyenne Section, Middle Section, age 3, the row to the left)

"Physical Education": How to place the chairs around the table

Writing: drawing circles

Blond hair is not something you see every day in Ngaoundéré

Cameras are really exciting, especially if you are allowed to hold it and look at the screen (does not matter if you take a picture or not)

Time to rest

Someone is not tired and practises their drawing skills instead

Celebration

2009-11-01T23:21:00.003+01:00

Today is the first of November, and a perfect day to celebrate. So I decided to try out our gas oven to make buns, and we invited some of the Norwegian people over for supper, buns and Freia Melkesjokolade.

It all tasted really good, and it was wonderful to have our house full of people. Full of buns and chocolate, we played a game of Ligretto that caused a lot of shouting, laughter and stress (for some of us at least). Idunn won. That happens a lot... She is good!

Our first month in Ngaoundéré is already over, and it has went by really fast! Tommorrow at eight o'clock we are being thrown out into the unknown; our first day at work. It is hard to believe that we have only five months left, so I am glad that we finally are going to begin what we came here for.

Please pray for our work; that we will find good teaching strategies, that we will have the courage required for fulfilling tasks we do not yet know how to do and finally that our work will bring blessing for those we work with and for.

Eeeey - ebaa!

2009-10-26T00:46:00.001+01:00

(I recommend you to read the post below before you read this one)

The concert was, from beginning (that was 19h40, by the way) to end the coolest concert I have ever been to. First of all, our choir is really good, and secondly (and this is mainly what made the whole thing so fun) because listening to a concert means something completely else in Cameroon than it does in Norway. There were dancing, singing along (there was even a woman that gave a solo in one of the songs!), running up to place coins on the forheads of the singers when you liked the song, and so on and so forth. There are no words for it (perhaps except from Eeeey - ebaa!, which they shouted at the end of every song, or whenever they felt like it), so I strongly recommend all my blog readers to travel and experience it for yourselves!

How to Stop the Rain

2009-10-26T00:26:00.002+01:00

Ten minutes to five we run out into the pouring rain, to ensure that we won't be late. After all, it takes three minutes to walk down to the church, where we were supposed to meet at five pm sharp.

You see, at last night's choir rehearsal Idunn and I learned the embarrassing way that "African time" is not always a popular concept, even in Africa. Our choir is a serious one, and when they say "meet at six pm", they do not mean ten minutes past.

"So, let us not make the same mistake today", we thought. It did not matter how wet we would get, as long as we were at the right place at the right time.

Arriving soaking wet, on time, noe one from the choir was in sight, except from one of its very important men. After five minutes in silence, the man said, "En Norvège, vous connaissez comment arrêter la pluie?" (In Norway, do you know how to stop the rain?). He explained that here in Cameroon, they do not, so the rain seems to stop them instead. We agreed that sorcery was definitely not the way to go, but one could always try praying.

As we saw no immediate answer to our prayers, we joined a small, joyful singing group that had emerged from the lack of anything else to do while waiting. The joy they expressed through their songs made me forget my headache and tiredness for a moment, especially when they sang familiar worship songs in English...

One hour later, motos (motorcycle taxis that we Norwegians are not allowed to take) and a taxi for Idunn and me had taken us all to the cathedral where we were supposed to give the first of many concerts of the coming week (it is Gospel Singers' 40th anniversary), at six o'clock.

Five minutes to seven I sit in a demi-filled cathedral, waiting as the choir is warming up. I am not singing today, because I have mal à la gorge (sore throat) and I am fatiguée (tired).

When the concert will start, I do not know. This is Africa.

2009-10-22T20:20:00.001+02:00

Graduation ceremony at Centre Socio Ménager

Ecole Maternelle Privée Protestante

Goats are everywhere! :)

What we are going to do

2009-10-20T20:17:00.001+02:00

MONDAY:
Teach English at Ecole Maternelle Privée Protestante

TUESDAY:
Study-day, for reading books, doing research and writing assignments
Choir rehearsal with Gospel singers in the evening

WEDNESDAY:
Teach English at Centre Socio Ménager, the school where teenage girls learn domestics
CHRISC in the afternoon

THURSDAY:
Working at the church's office
Bible studies with the Norwegians

FRIDAY:
Computer-teaching/cooking at Centre Socio Ménager

SATURDAY:
Jeune Filles pour Christ (youg girls for Christ)

SUNDAY:
Church
JEELC (the youth association of EELC)

Equally Skilled

2009-10-16T18:56:00.000+02:00

Do good

2009-10-16T18:51:00.000+02:00

"And let us not grow weary of doing good" (Gal. 6,9) was the topic of last night's Bible studies.

As I have mentioned earlier, there are quite many children begging at our door. And I sigh. I think "Oh, not again". Ashamed of my own reaction, I open the door, smile and think about how little it costs to give at least a glass of water and a fruit, and I am happy as long as they do not ask for money. It is not that I do not want to help them, or that it is impossible for me to get to the bank to withdraw some more cash if I give away what I have. Still it is so, so hard to represent the cruel injustice of this world. I wish myself out of my ethical dilemma, to a place with not so obvious differences between rich and poor. Ashamed once again, when I notice that I wish myself to the comfortable Norway...

But what difference would it make, really? I would no less represent the fortunate part of the unequal, messed-up world we live in by going back home where everything is good for me.It would only add to my "ego-account". My prayer, therefore, is that God will fill me anew with His love and care for all people. And as I pray, I get so grateful that He actually grants me the grace of going here to learn and to face reality, and perhaps also of being a visible difference for some of His suffering children.

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me... Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me." (Matt. 25,35+40)

Comments

2009-10-15T19:18:00.002+02:00

Hi, guys!

Now I have finally changed the comment-settings, so now it should be possible to comment on my blog without registering first...

It is raining a lot! This was after running 100 meters from Bible studies last week

From now on, I am your mama

2009-10-14T22:54:00.000+02:00

Tonight we were invited over to dinner at Mr. Foumgbami and his wife Jeanne. Only that we did not know that it was dinner, so I was already quite stuffed with supper. The food was good, though. The occasion was called Comity Meeting, and the people who are responsible for us "Haldings" in Cameroon sat down with us and went through our schedule for the months to come. Our concerns about wether we will have something to fill our days with are now officially gone, and I really look forward to getting started.

Madame Foumgbami, or Mama Jeanne, who is going to help us to adapt to the culture; how to dress properly and how to bargain and other important issues, gave us a really warm welcome, and informed us that while we stay here, she will look at herself as our mum. I felt quite at home right away, and I am so pleased that we have finally visited a Cameroonian home. We were promised Couscous (the traditional food that we have yet to taste) for dinner whenever we wanted, and that the doors are open whenever we feel like stopping by. It might be soon :)

Cockroaches and other new challenges

2009-10-12T14:27:00.001+02:00

Last night, after coming home from a wonderful taco night at Lena's, our kitchen was full of cockroaches. Yes, we are though and brave, and not afraid of them, and yes - there was some screaming and desperation as well... Within a short hour we had killed over 30, and I am not exaggerating!

Last night's catch

Neither Idunn nor I want the cockroaches to be in our house, and at times like last night, it is quite easy to get a bit homesick and long for the comfort of a house with nothing more than a little spider on the wall now and then.

But who am I to complain? Here in Cameroon I live in luxury compared with the majority of the population. We have electricity, clean water in our house, our own maid who cooks dinner six days a week, washes our clothes and cleans our apartment, we have guards on both sides of our house and all the material goods we could possibly need, or at least the money to buy it if not. Yes, an apartment full of cockroaches may feel quite overwhelming and hard to manage when you are tired and not at all used to it. Still the greatest personal challenge I face here almost everyday, are the children begging at our door while we enjoy our dinner. We have heard so many times that money in their own pocket not always is the best solution for these kids, that we should get to know them instead, so that we can help them in a way that gives hope for a good future where they manage their everyday life without begging. Even though I know this, and really want to help the children in the best way possible, it hits me that "no" is one of the hardest words in the world.

What we do

2009-10-11T13:51:00.000+02:00

If you are curious about what I actually do here in Cameroon, I will give you a brief summary of my first week in Ngaoundéré. I will not start with my regular tasks until the end of October or beginning of November, so the schedule is not yet set. But I assume that the coming weeks will look quite similar to this first:

Monday
Meetings with Foumgbami, Vice President of Eglise Evangelique Lutherienne au Cameroun (from now on called EELC), Benjamin, our local contact person, Erik and Sandra, NMS Representative in Cameroon and his wife.

Tuesday
French lessons 07.45-13.00. Choir practise with Gospel Singers 18.00-20.30: FUN! Trying to cope with lyrics (in French/Fulani/Swahili/English), melodies and moves at once I can assure you is not easy...

Wednesday
French lessons 08.30-13.00

Thursday
Visiting Centre Socio Ménager, where we are going to be English and computer-teachers every Wednesday. Bible studies with the Norwegians 20.00

Friday
Visiting L'école Maternelle, the kindergarden, where we are also going to be English teachers once a week. After this, we visited Collège, where we are not going to work, to meet the Vice Principal.

Saturday
Trip to the town with Andreas the missionary and Leif the nurse student. We bought some cool panjs that later will become African dresses :) Taco night at Lena the missionary's (our neighbour) with home made tortillas and Ticket to Ride afterwards :)

Sunday
Service at 08.00-10.30. Choir practise after service. Sunday dinner in town with some of the missionaries. Visiting Madame Foumgbami (the wife of Foumgbami the Vice President of the church)

Everything is possible

2009-10-07T14:48:00.000+02:00

One thing that really fascinates me about this country, is that it seems that people have no limits when it comes to imagination, and the question about whether it is possible to make use of something does not seem to exist. I get so amazed every time I realize that a road with big holes is not broken, that it is possible to make a living out of everything you get hold of as long as you have a place to sell it, or that a house can be made of the most intriguing items. My limited way of thinking is confronted; and I do not think I am the only person who tends to think that if people do not have the same materials, amount of money or the same possibilities of getting a job as we have in Norway, or the West in general, they automatically suffer.

Let us think the other way around: Perhaps we should learn from "less fortunate" people's creativity and ability to make the most out of what they have, and look for possibilities in places we so often easily see hindrances?

My first view of Cameroon

2009-10-05T17:31:00.000+02:00

Sightseeing in Yaoundé with Amos and Tommy

Rainy season

On our way from the rain forest to the mountains

Driving into Ngaoundéré. Ngaoundéré Mountain in the back; "The Belly Button Mountain"

This is home

2009-10-05T00:44:00.005+02:00

Two days, three flights, four hours by car and five dead cockroaches after we left Gardermoen, Idunn and I are finally at rest in our new home in the "big village" of Ngaoundéré in North Cameroon.

The journey was long and at times quite stressful. We felt like we were being thrown out in our new life from the very moment we sat our feet on Cameroonian ground - as there had been a misunderstanding and no one was waiting for us at the airport in Yaoundé, the capital city. So we stood there, a bit confused, yet not afraid, and asked God to help us as we had no functioning phone, no money and no phone number to the man who would pick us up or any clue of what he would look like. No more than a few moments went before a security guard came and offered us a phone, and everything turned out well.

"Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act." -Psalm 37,5

IDUNN AND ME IN YAOUNDE

We had a great Saturday in Yaoundé, before we left for Garoua Sunday morning. At the airport there we were met by Benjamin, our contact person, the NMS "ettåringer" and a missionary couple. They were so warm and welcoming that I felt quite at home right away. The seven of us then drove to Ngaoundéré, which is about four and a half hours away on a bumpy road from Garoua. The landscape is wonderful, quite green (as it is the last days of the rainy season) with mountains in the horizon and monkeys along the road (we drove through a national park)!

Finally, we arrived at the missionary station here in Ngaoundéré and had supper together with another missionary family before we moved into our nice apartment. It feels almost like home already...

The challenge of the day: Killing cockroaches that are creeping around on the floor!

Can I please join you?

2009-09-16T16:07:00.000+02:00

Today we had two guys from CHRISC (Christian Sports Contact) here who taught us several games. In one of them we were supposed to stand in a circle while we held each other tight, so that the two persons that had been given the task to break into the circle couldn't get inside. They had to find the right strategy so that we would let them in, and the answer was surprisingly simple: we had been told not to let them in before they asked nicely if they could join us. But as we held each other tight, it seemed to them that they had to use force to make their way into the circle. They actually also tried to bribe us before they came up with the "silly" idea to simply ask us, and to their amazement we immediately let them in.

This, I thought, was a nice picture on how it can be like when we finally arrive in Cameroon and all the other places the students here are going. When we come into groups that are already formed, it may feel like it's impossible to "break through" to them and maybe we'll struggle to find ways to get in and be part of the group. Then I'll keep in mind that maybe a small question will be enormously helpful: "Can I please join you?"

Så var vi i gang...

2009-09-04T15:22:00.000+02:00

Nå har det lenge etterlengtede året startet, og jeg har blitt student ved Hald Internasjonale Senter i Mandal. Her er vi samlet, 80 unge mennesker fra 13 nasjoner, og får undervisning i tverrkulturell forståelse og hvordan man takler kultursjokk... Undervisningen vår kan deles inn i fem ulike temaer:

Kultur og tverrkulturell forståelse
Bistand og utvikling
Bibel og misjon
Lederutvikling og personlig vekst
Informasjon, kommunikasjon og formidling

Utenom skolen er det mye liv og røre, noe det gjerne blir når 80 gira mennesker samles på ett sted hvor de tilbringer flesteparten av døgnets timer sammen. Det går i kortspill, gitarspill på ulike nivåer, sang på alle språk og i alle tonearter (gjerne på en gang), filmtitting og volleyballturneringer, for å nevne noe.

Hver dag er preget av språkutfordringer (som heldigvis fører til mye latter og mange smil), kulturmøter og relasjonsbygging på tvers av nasjonaliteter - og alt teller som god forberedelse til den store reisen ut i det ukjente...

Grytidlig om morgenen den 2. oktober setter jeg og min team-mate Idunn oss på flyet og begynner på et spennende halvår i et relativt ukjent terreng. Følg med på bloggen min, så skal jeg holde dere oppdatert på min prøvesmak av Kamerun :)