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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

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

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

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

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

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

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!