February 20, 2011

February 20 2011 – Sunday

--Today began with bright and beautiful skies – there was some rain last night and much of the dust is gone and the air is clear and pleasantly fresh.  We dressed and walked a short distance to the Baptist Church adjacent to the CBCHB compound.  Last night at supper we were told that services are 7:00 am-9:30 am, and 9:30 am-noon.  We arrived at 9:30 to find several Sunday school classes in session – a man greeted us warmly and encouraged Joe to join the men’s group and me the ladies’ group, but we opted to sit quietly together drinking it all in.  The service began at 10 with the Women’s choir wearing their matching dresses, singing and dancing up the aisle to the beat of drums.  The next 2 hours flew by with prayers, songs, sermon offered in both African English and French, and of course introductions of visitors.  The last notes of the recessional hymn faded, and we walked out to greet the pastor. 

--As we started the walk home, we were approached by a boy who said he has questions about America and asked if he could visit with us – we agreed.  We’d hardly changed our clothes when he appeared at the guest house!  His name is Brandon, he’s 14, attends school in Bamenda because his home is in a remote village and his family feel the city schools offer him a better educational opportunity.  He wanted to know how much a ticket costs to America, and he wanted to know how to become a professional football (soccer) player.  We told him that ticket costs vary depending on class of seat, time of year, final destination – he wants to visit an aunt who lives in the states.  We talked at length about the realities and practicalities, as we understand them, of his goal to play professional football in America.  At the conclusion, Brandon knew that he would need to become an outstanding player in order to be found and sponsored financially.  He knew that he’d need to be a very good student with a career goal that could support him for his lifetime.  He had new ideas about who to approach in Cameroon for help developing his ambitions – his first contact will be his pastor.  We were very impressed with this likeable and bright but rather naïve young man, and we wish him success.

--Njoke brought his wife and 11 yo son, Boy, who has Downs Syndrome.  Njoke was dressed in African garb – so very handsome! We visited awhile, I gave Aggie the fabric that Njoke had chosen – she will be beautiful in the dress she’ll have made and she’s promised to send a photo.  Her dark skin will be lovely with the dark red, navy and pale grey print. 

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February 19, 2011

February 19, 2011 – Saturday
--We were up early for breakfast, and lingered with another guest here chatting about nothing in particular. He introduced us to Paddypower.com - an Irish site that offers opportunities to bet on American political candidates’ chances, various details of the upcoming British royal wedding, races of all sorts, and a myriad of other minutia. Today Obama is ahead of all the Republicans, Sarah Palin is not the leading Republican, and Kate will be married in an ivory dress. Place your bets!
--We went to a crafts center this morning to find the final things we want to take home – now Joe has a bag like men in Cameroon carry with a horn cup for drinking palm wine, and he has cola nuts to pass out from his bag should anyone ask for them. A lovely hand carved cross to add to those above the mantle in our living room.
--Then to L.A. King Fabrics to find fabric for a gift for Njoke’s wife – tomorrow afternoon I’ll give her the beautiful piece that he chose for her. Then we stopped for roasted cow meat and beer - both were very good even if we weren’t particularly hungry since we’d had breakfast a couple of hours earlier.
--We’re taking the afternoon off. I’ve started figuring out how to pack all the souvenirs to meet weight requirements and avoid breakage – not a small task! Our drying ;laundry is decorating our room. Joe is happily practicing Barbershopper songs – sitting on the veranda with his headphones, singing to himself, and I’m about to join him with my book. Later we’ll watch the international news – wonder what’s happening in Arizona?
--Our remaining time in Cameroon is short – 5 days, and there are still so many things we haven’t seen and done, and I’ve only just started to help with psychiatry. We’ll return, although in Roumsiki the Crab Sorcerer said I won’t but Joe will think it over and possibly he’ll be back. Hmmm. He’s a very old man and I’m sure he does his best.

February 18, 2011

February 18, 2011 – Friday
--Rev. Godlove Ndongndeh’s office is a quick walk from the rest house. I was warmly received and visited with the social worker while he finished a counseling session. She’s assured me that it will be possible for me to learn more about the preparation of local dishes, and she really laughed when I said I haven’t yet mustered the courage to try something that to me looks like the contents of a baby diaper although it smells much, much better. We talked about social work needs here – they’re very much the same as I knew when I did social work years ago.
--Rev. Godlove and I talked for an hour about the mental health needs here. There are only 2 psychiatrists in this country and neither is available in this region. Locally the medical doctors are overly burdened and thus they do not diagnose or treat psychiatric illnesses. Here the medical establishment refers those who may have psychiatric needs to Pastoral Care and Counseling for assessment. After they’ve evaluated the patient, a DSM-IV diagnosis is given, the patient is sent back to the medical team and finally medications are prescribed within the limits of the very narrow formulary and their expertise – yikes. It is clear that the same serious psychiatric disorders with their associated problems occur here as are known all over the world, and it is equally clear that the needs are not addressed here and people are suffering.
--The presentation with the medical and nursing staff directors and members of the Pastoral Care Team went very well – lots of questions and discussion, much more than we had time for. I gave them a few hastily prepared protocols based on their formulary and promised to develop more for them ASAP. I’ll also search for avenues to expand the psychotropics in the formulary. They were fascinated with descriptions of telemedicine.
- Rev. Godlove is training a class of Pastoral Care counselors; I stayed to observe and found it very interesting. It was especially gratifying to see how tolerant and accepting they are of individual, theological and cultural differences – the goal is to help all God’s people in ways that that find acceptable and useful.
--Afterward Joe and Mildred, Rev. Godlove’s Administrative Assistant, joined us for delicious supper of well-prepared Cameroonian foods at a nearby restaurant – yum. We made plans to meet again before I leave – I’ll see a few patients, and we’ll go to the large CBCHB hospital to meet with their Medical Director to discuss ways to enhance mental health and psychiatric services. After I leave we will remain in close contact, and Rev. Godlove will send cases to me from time to time for treatment recommendations.

February 17, 2011

February 17, 2011 – Thursday
--We woke up to watch the sunrise, noted we were back in the rainforest again, and settled back to wait for arrival in Yaounde. Dutifully we gathered our belongings and lo! there was Njoke with his bag – we trudged over the tracks, through the lobby, and there was Npho with the truck. We piled in and headed for Bamenda.
--Over the last few days we decided to change our itinerary. In 2008 I began an e-mail correspondence with Rev. Godlove Ndongndeh who is the Director of Pastoral Care and Counseling Services with the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board in Bamenda and surrounding environs. We’d discussed ways that I might help his program and the CBCHB medical staff with psychiatry and psychotropic medications. Then we lost contact, and but one of those wonderful God Things happened – just as we were departing Bamenda 10 days ago, I had e-mail from him! We corresponded hurriedly with the result that we decided to cancel our tour to the southern provinces, and return to Bamenda so that I could meet with him and others to discuss psychiatry services.
--We arrived in Bamenda late afternoon, vibrating, tired and very glad to put our feet on Terra Firma after the past days of riding and riding and riding. I found e-mail from Rev. Godlove inviting me to speak tomorrow afternoon to the directors of the hospital, the nursing program, several from pastoral care, and perhaps others – “Mental Health and Psychotropic Medications.” We planned that I would see him in his office in the morning to review tentative plans for the next few days, and to focus my talk more definitively.

February 16, 2011

February 16, 2011 – Wednesday
--We went to the Ngaoundere train station early for our tickets – and were told we must buy them the day prior to travel. Rats! We ate in a spot at the train station last night and, based on recent experience, we thought we had to wait till morning so we didn’t try for them then.
--So we sputtered, pondered, and found a representative from the local Tourism Office who took us down a VLBDR to see a beautiful lake with attractive conference center facilities under construction.
--Then he took us to see the palace and chambers of the local traditional leader, ie, the Lamido, whose line is traced to the early 1800s. The Lamido and his 50-odd wives and a few hundred children live in quarters behind the area that permits visitors. Respectfully, we left our shoes on the steps and entered a large darkened, cool room. The tour was very interesting – the buildings have thick adobe walls, high ceilings with beautiful woven thatch design work, and the many niches, nooks and images were all described to us in some detail. We had to pass in front of the Lamido who was resting on a porch – we were taught how to bow and speak to him as we passed, and he greeted us courteously in return. Apparently he thought our bare feet hurt on the sand because he had our shoes brought to us with permission to wear them for the rest of the tour.
--This part of Cameroon is predominantly Muslim.
--Thomas has been our driver since we arrived in Ngaoundere a week ago. Today while we were touring the palace, he received a message that his youngest brother had died unexpectedly after he’d taken a good turn following a long illness – Thomas was stunned. Although he’d expected to wait with us till our train left, we encouraged him to leave us and return to his home in Garoua without delay. We gave him our prayers and good wishes, and a gift to help with his expenses in the coming days, and he drove away. Thomas is a very good and kind person, and a good driver. We wish him well and thank him profusely for his many kindnesses and thoughtfulness.
--Back to the train station in hopes that we could get tickets for tonight. Njoke parked us at the food place and left with a guy “who knows all the tricks.” Half an hour later he was back with 2d class tickets for the 3 of us, and he’d put our names on the cancellation list for 1st class seats. At 4 pm he and the guy-who-knows-all-the-tricks went back to the ticket counter – an hour later, 1 hour before scheduled departure time, they were back smiling. Njoke had a 1st class seat and he’d secured 2 tickets for a sleeper for Joe and me! He’d paid someone to allow my bag of gifts to come into our car vs. the luggage room, and he’d pain the guy-who-knows-all-the-tricks, and he’d pulled off a miracle of gigantic proportions! We drank a “33” to our good fortune, and after Njoke gave us instructions to wait for him on the platform with our luggage in the morning, we got on the train - it left about 6:45 pm. We watched the city disappear into the twilight, ate some freshly picked bananas and stale cookies for supper, and went to bed watching the full mood out the train windows. We loved the train’s swaying movements and slept very well despite stops at every town along the way. At each stop women and children with heavy platters of food on their heads crowd up to the windows calling, “baton, baton! (long steamed sticks of ground manioc),” “l’eau, l’eau, l’eau, l’eau, l’eau (water in bottles),” “annana, annana, annana…(fresh pineapple sticks),” “banan, banan, banan…(fresh picked bananas),” “pastiche, pastiche, pastiche…(steamed seasoned pureed pumpkin seeds wrapped in plantain leaves),” etc., etc. They also sell phone cards, maps of Cameroon, portfolios, African print fabrics, peanuts, on and on, amazing.

February 15, 2011

February 15, 2011 – Tuesday
--This was supposed to be a slow morning with a plan to leave town late in the morning. I tried out my French over breakfast with a pleasant man who attempted his English with me. He is a government auditor from Yaounde here on assignment with Sodecam headquarters – Sodecam is the national cotton processing company. I told him I’d seen a woman wearing a dress made of an African print that portrayed the Sodecam emblem, cotton plants, cotton balls, and cottonseed oil – he said I could get that fabric at the Sodecam office in Garoua, and then offered to arrange a tour of the plant for us! and in a few minutes we were on our way.
--At the gate we were taken to a driver who expected us and drove us to the headquarters offices, and escorted to the General Manager’s Office where we were greeted most cordially.

The Cotton Fiber Plant Supervisor was our tour guide. He explained all the steps from delivery of truckloads of loose raw cotton to the finished bales. Then we were taken to meet the Cotton Seed Oil Production Manager. Again we were toured through from start to finish. Back to the Manager’s office where we met with several supervisors who answered our questions very thoughtfully. I asked if there was something that we, as ordinary American citizens, can do to support the Cameroon cotton industry. They replied very thoughtfully - we could encourage anything that will support the growers – prices on the world cotton market have fallen so much that the growers are desperately impoverished. Indeed, as we passed through cotton-growing areas, our impression was that they are poverty-stricken.
--Then we visited the Garoua Crafts Market where we were mobbed by clamoring vendors of everything we didn’t want and a few things that we did - I bought some gifts and souvenirs.
--As we were leaving the area I overheard men talking to Njoke about not wanting white people there – this was the only such experience we’ve had and averted it easily. Of much greater concern was a fight that broke out nearby and we left quickly.
--We went to a restaurant for lunch of fish, plantain and rice, with “33.” We had a large private dining room complete with Christmas decorations, to ourselves because we wanted to have beer and thus, we couldn’t be served in the regular dining room.
--We drove and drove on a paved highway with lots of big, deep potholes to Ngaoundere where we spent the night at the Archdiocese rest house – not as nice as in Garoua, but comfortable enough. Supper at the eating place at the train station that we found when we arrived in Ngaoundere on our way north. The proprietress remembered me from the last time there and we chatted about how to make local foods – now I know a little more about ebodje, pastiche, and eru. Mother Superior had promised she’d lock us out if we weren’t back by 9 pm, so we were tucked in our beds with time to spare.

February 14, 2011

February 14, 2011 - Monday
--Happy Valentine’s Day! We left Roumsiki early, and bought breakfast by the road – little fried pieces of batters of peppered bean flour and sweetened white flour – very good indeed. We held on as we bumped along the VLBDR back to Maroua, and to the Craft Market. We found things for almost everyone at home, and had a great time bargaining. Then to L.A. King hoping to find a piece with the Cameroon cotton industry motif – no luck.
--Lunch was in another behind-the-scenes place where we were directed to our own dining area after we asked for beer – this was a Muslim establishment. We enjoyed good fish, chips and plantain, with by-the-road-purchased sweet potatoes, and of course beer.
--We left Maroua and drove on and on heading south along the paved road with many potholes, through miles and miles of the hauntingly beautiful very arid landscape that is peppered with compounds, baobabs, Joshua tree-like yucca plants, scrubby bushes, dry grasses, rocky fields, rocky low mountains. People here are very, very poor – children were dressed in rags, women looked tired as they trudge along with their heavy loads of water and foodstuffs on their heads, it is the dry season and there is no field work currently – men sit in groups under trees.
--I was startled to see a soldier from the Cameroon Anti-Highway Bandit outfit looking in my window! Njoke explained that he would ride with us for awhile, and he did for several miles. He told us that the government created his unit in response to the many very dangerous highway bandits between northern Cameroon border and Ngaoundere. His detail moves up/down the highway to protect travelers. After hearing that he’d been with soldiers who killed 6 bandits the night before, and who had captured a bandit in Roumsiki while we were there, it was comforting to have this unexpected guest.
--The soldier left us, and we drove on, taking a side trip to Guider. This is another round huts with thatched roofs village, and a nearby nationally protected massive area of exposed granite and marble. It was swarming with those little motorcycles carrying young men and a few young women – “they all come here for Valentine’s Day, they go across (the canyon in the rocks).” We walked out to the edge and marveled at this evidence of ancient volcanic activity, and were mobbed by kids selling bagged water and peeled fresh oranges.
--Very tired, we finally arrived in Garoua about sunset, and were happy to stay again in our same room at the Diocesan rest house. Simple and good supper with the sisters and fathers. And Joe has fixed the computer!
--Its been an amazing Valentine’s Day that I’d do again with Joe in a heartbeat.