January 23, 2011

January 23, 2011
Sunday – Sam has been increasingly excited – he was invited to preach at the Titi’s church this Sunday, so he’s been preparing his sermon and worrying how he’ll be received. Sam’s sermon was incredibly well-received, and he’s relaxing now, happy and relieved.

Schedule of Sunday services - traditional Douala at 9 am, French at 10:30 am

Rev. "Papa" Sam Hosler

Ruth and Raphael at church

Ruth and her sister Doris

--After church we sat down to a lovely dinner; the guest list was heavy with clergy – Carol, Sam, and 3 pastors from the Iglese Evangelique du Cameroon. The afternoon flew by – suddenly it was late afternoon and we’d had a 5-course meal and lively discussions. Linfield students began to appear – they were here for supper. The table was cleared and reset, Ruth’s amazing kitchen staff put another meal on, and served them.
--We tried again several times, unsuccessfully, to phone Njoke. Hopefully he’s received the e-mail that I sent Friday evening saying to find us Tuesday evening at the Luxor Hotel in Njombe.
--We joined Linfield on the bus and headed out of town after a stop for ice cream at Goody's. The pastry side of this shop is like a French bakery, and the ice cream side served Italian gelato! Joe was beside himself when he found they had a soft serve ice cream machine. Just a couple of blocks from the Titis’, this is a hopping upscale place to meet and be seen. Back on the bus hawkers tried to sell models of the Eiffel Tower!
--Reportedly, Friday night’s debriefing was long and very, very productive. They’d learned that none of the patients they sent for testing had been tested. The woman complaining of flank pain had negative results for her tests that cost nearly $80 and she was released with instructions to continue the medications that we’d given her, and later that day students saw her walking very normally through markets doing her shopping; they felt she had “taken” them so she could get a ride to town. Their agreement is that for the remainder of the trip, when any students wants someone seen at the hospital they will seek evaluation from their faculty or me to confirm the findings and plan. Only then will a patient be given information and promise for assistance. The student who told me about the debriefing said, “we’re all wiser now, this was a hard lesson that we needed.”
--Just after Dibombari we realized there were no lights in any homes or businesses, and we only saw lantern lights along the way all the way back to Mangamba where there was no electricity or water and the town water pump outside our gate wasn’t working. The house, closed up tight for the weekend, was very, very hot for those who opted to sleep indoors.