January 16-17, 2009 - Limbe, Buea

After working hard the past two weeks, we've decided that we deserve a treat - we hoped to see 13,000' Mt. Cameroon. The students are going to be in Limbe to play in the ocean and a special meal as guests of a Cameroonian family. Ruth arranged a driver and off we went, traveling northwesterly headed for Limbe and some beachtime.


We crossed the ------------ River which divides the Anglophone and Francophone regions of Cameroon.

The Weltys had encouraged me to meet with the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board HIV/AIDS Program staff in Mutengene, and I was more than eager for this opportunity. We drove into the CBCHB compound and were warmly greeted by the gateman, Virgil, who knew Ruth from Alucam! He toured us around and lamented that since it was Saturday, none of the regular staff were there. We plan to return for a good visit and to spend a night in the very accommodating guest house.



As we traveled along we saw things that by now seem familiar and ordinary: partially built concrete houses that have grown dark with mildew while they wait for their owners to complete them, home furniture-building industries, curious and beautiful trees, flowers in bloom, snarled traffic including LOTS of overloaded little motorcycle taxis, cornfields growing up the slopes, and little shops lining the roadsides.

We arrived at the Atlantic Hotel and checked in with time to enjoy a Cameroonian buffet lunch - friend plantain, greens, couscous with meat and vegetables, rice, and fresh pineapple slices.

This amazing big old tree is on the hotel grounds. Our room was on the 3rd floor looking toward it and by morning we couldn't resist a visit with it.
















One of the best things this weekend was the impromptu breakfast meeting with the Friends of WEH members who were together in Cameroon. We examined our mission to be supportive to WEH, and talked and talked about the Vocational Center that we will build- what rooms will be there for what purposes, and what the development sequence might be. Carol will meet with an architect before leaving Cameroon. We hope for benefactors who will donate the land.

On the way to the beach we passed offshore oil facilities. Then we drove around the lava flow from Mt. Cameroon that blocked the road a few years ago, and suddenly! there was the black sand beach! We swam and played for a long afternoon in the warm water - what a great time!

On Sunday we all enjoyed a lavish Cameroon meal as guests of the family of David ---, whose wife Mary lives near Portland and is friends with one of the nursing students. Always a nurse practitioner, I was approached by a family member, "Would you do a gynecology consultation with my niece?" I met with the young woman who showed me her health record booklet and described her problem, "Can you help me, doctor?" Well! I definitely could not accomplish what she needed - she had a very complex problem that would need surgical intervention and hormonal adjustments. I could only encourage her to have the labwork done that her gynecologist had ordered and to work closely with him. I sympathized about the probable financial burden as well as the personal discomfort that she is experiencing, and I wished her well. As I left the room I was approached by another family member who wanted a consultation. The bus was loaded and waiting, "Barbara! are you coming?" Hurriedly I discussed the second woman's concerns, found her problems were also complex, referred her to her gynecologist and wished her well.

The bus took us through narrow winding streets, into the countryside, and up the lower slopes of Mt. Cameroon to see the Cameroon Tea Estates. Then the road curved downward and we passed through Buea's historic government office district, and through the University of Cameroon-Buea Campus. Very tired by then, it was good indeed to head homeward to Douala and Chez Titi.