Janaury 6, 2009 - Visits with local dignitaries and a WEH volunteer

Boarding our Bus

We boarded the bus at Chez Titi and headed northward today. We drove through Douala, across the big river and through Bonaberri whose plentiful and deep potholes determine where the traffic will go in a swirling, churning mass of vehicles, people and animals that somehow manages to avoid most potential accidents. Drivers don't seem to actually get upset with each other's unpredictability although they don't hesitate to use their horns and to gesture liberally. It seems to be all right to make turns across traffic, not to observe stop signs, or to stop in the middle of a moving lane of traffic to visit with someone coming the opposite way - eek!

Cows and Cowherders are part of the traffic

The Main Street Through Bonaberi

Woman with Her Health Record

In Front of the Office of the Prefect of Mbanga

We called on His Royal Majesty, the Traditional Chief of Abo-Land at his home in Mbanga. We visited with the traditional chief of Abo-Land, a delightful man who lives in a modest home with his wife, some of his daughters and their children. At his invitation, first we all squeezed into his living room where Ruth and David introduced us and our request to do health assessments in his village; David also presented a bottle of whiskey which was accepted with a big smile. Then we went outside and sat under the huge mango tree - and in a few moments the chief offered to have us take his picture, disappeared inside, and reappeared as you see him in his finery. Then we were done there for the day - it was agreed that we would return day after tomorrow at 2pm to hold our clinic in his yard.

His Royal Majesty, Chief of Abo-Land

His Royal Majesty, His Wives, Students et al

Next we drove to Mjuyka to the home of Richard, a dedicated WEH volunteer who has a small starch factory in his backyard, which we were invited to tour. We walked down the path behind his house to the building where he explained how starch is extracted and processed from cassava. Some WEH women grew the cassava and they earn money from the starch sales.

Peeling Cassava Root to Make Starch

Lunch was very late and haphazard. We didn't bring anything from town, and once in the villages we were advised not to eat anything from the markets. We found some crusty french bread and packaged processed cheese, and incredibly sweet and wonderful pineapple and bananas - later we were cautioned not to eat pineapple that had been peeled in the market because we have no idea where the knife had been that was used. Bottle water from the local bottling plant was established on the spot as a dietary staple. We were quite happy with this fare - the vendors' offerings didn't seem appealing from the stalls in the chaotic market setting. It will be avocado season soon, and locally grown tomatoes are everywhere. We can buy fresh roasted and shelled peanuts which we found are delicious before we were reminded that we should not eat them -

they're market food, too. Darn! We'll figure out lunches - this could become a problem!