Joyeux Noël!

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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  :)