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I made it safely home just a few hours ago, and now I am very excited about going to bed! It’s almost 8 PM here, but it feels like 3 AM to me! When I’m awake tomorrow, I’ll write more about the journey home. I’m glad to be home, but very sad that I had to leave so suddenly. I’m really sad that there were so many people I did not even get to say goodbye to. Guess I’ll have to go back!
It’s been a busy few days, so I’m finally taking some time to update this blog. Friday afternoon it was decided that the roads were clear enough to send the short-term visitors back home. With all the uncertainty about how long the protests will last, it seemed wisest to get out those people who don’t need to be there. So there was a flurry of packing and saying goodbyes and other preparations before departing Saturday morning from the hospital for the 7 hour drive to Douala. Since we left so suddenly, I was not able to say goodbye to everyone that has come to mean so much to me over the last few weeks. It was really hard to leave. We had a very uneventful drive to Douala, and managed to fly out Saturday night on standby after waiting many sweaty hours in the heat and humidity of the Douala airport. It’s all happened so fast, it’s going to be quite an adjustment going home. I encourage anyone reading this to continue to seek news sources on the current status of Cameroon, to be better informed of how you can pray for the people there.
I’m starting to get reports that the situation in Douala is starting to normalize, though Bamenda is still being affected by the protests. Things are pretty quiet at Mbingo, so my plan is to wait here and see what happens. I may get home a week earlier than planned. We shall see.
Over the past 4 days the protest activity in Cameroon has rapidly spread. Though officially the strike was ended, protests have continued, especially in the Southwest and Northwest provinces. There are no cars on the roads, as anyone driving is considered not supporting the strike. So transportation is at a standstill. No one can come to the hospital unless on foot/bike/horse, etc. I know there must be people dying because they can’t get to the hospital. So far there isn’t any tribal tensions, but only tensions between the populace and the government. I’ve been getting an email from the US embassy every day and today it said this: “Short-term visitors should consider departing Cameroon when conditions improve sufficiently to permit travel to airports.” I’m not sure if I’ll be leaving in the next few days or be unable to travel for a month or more. I have no idea. Please pray for Cameroon!
Yesterday we got word that there was a taxi strike in Douala, which was causing problems with travel throughout the country. Apparently there have been roadblocks set up along major roads around Douala. At least one doctor planning to come here is currently unable to leave Douala until the roads are clear. The strike was supposed to be protesting costs of fuel, but from what I’ve heard, it sounds like the signs people were carrying were more about Paul Biya resigning as president than the costs of fuel, making the police nervous about a coup leading to shots being fired and several deaths in Douala. Here’s the link to a news article on the subject: Cameroon strike. I’ve heard that there were talks this morning between the government and taxi drivers, so hopefully there will be a quick end to the turmoil.
I feel pretty safe where I am, as I don’t have to drive anywhere. This may likely affect my plans to go into Bamenda the coming weekend, and hopefully will not last as long as my departure date in 2 weeks. We’ve had a slow day in outpatient clinic today, probably because many people simply could not get here because of the roadblocks. Hopefully that won’t mean there will be an onslaught of people coming once the strike is over! There are still a good number of kids in the children’s ward, so we’re still pretty well occupied. Kate, who was my roommate for one week and then went to Banso for a few days, has not been able to return because of the strike.
Please pray for a rapid and safe resolution of the conflict in Douala. In a country where people are living from day to day, any disturbance can have devastating repercussions on the health and wellbeing of the people.
What else has happened since I last posted…? Sunday I went on another hike, this time with Scott, the American surgical resident, and Dr. Mark, a retired general surgeon. I’m quite sure I slowed them down, but we took the road up this time, which meant a slightly more gradual incline compared to straight up, though still pretty steep at times. We went in the same direction as the previous week, but went further back into the valley beyond the cliff. Dr. Mark estimates that we went about 6 miles, half uphill.
Saturday there was a party at Dr. Thompson’s house for the maternity staff in celebration of the 5 birthdays during the month of February among the staff. I was invited, too, and enjoyed the party very much. We sang, ate foo-foo and tacos (Dr. Thompson was trying to introduce something new to her staff), and then had a little dancing. I taught a few salsa steps, and then Hosea and Lucas (midwives) tried to teach me some Cameroonian dance steps. They’re good. I need a little more practice.
Here’s a group shot of most of the maternity staff including midwives and other support staff. Dr. Thompson is in the middle.
Here’s Hosea leading the songs - “Bend low, bend low, bend low… and see what the Lord can do” with accompanying bending low.
And of course there are lots of cute little patients to take pictures of!
Here’s Dr. Miller listening to the lungs/heart of one little girl who was discharged later that day. She had come in with cough, fever, vomiting, diarrhea… and was treated for malaria and with antibiotics that can cover most things in the GI or lungs.
Another little cutie who came in with fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and is doing much better. In the US, she probably wouldn’t have been admitted, but it’s hard to ensure that people will get the necessary treatment once they go home. Also, many people come from long distances, so if they have a problem it would be very hard to come back.
This picture dates back a few weeks to when I was still doing maternity. (I’m in the green hat in the middle. Dr. Thompson is on the left in the multicolored hat. The other white person in the background is Christine Manning a nurse anesthetist here teaching Cameroonians.) The baby’s name is Solace, and her father works at Mbingo (hence Dr. Thompson taking pictures of the delivery). Baby and Mom are both doing great. If I remember correctly, I got to suture the uterus closed on this case…
Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to visit New Hope Village, which is the community for leprosy patients sponsored by the hospital. Originally this hospital was just for leprosy patients, and has grown to its current capacity. Many of the older leprosy patients are quite disabled and the social stigma of their disease has left them as outcasts from their families. The hospital provides them with shelter and 2 meals a day. There is land for them to do a little farming and raise chickens, and some of them are able to do some handicrafts to sell. Ma Monica is pictured here with me. She has a little farm plot where she grows sugarcane. I went with the chaplains to visit the village, which is now located about 10 minutes down the valley from the hospital. It’s very sobering to see the disfigurements of these people, but I was very happy to learn how the Cameroon Baptist Convention is reaching out to these people.
Here’s a shot of Margaret (on the left in blue). She’s the “queen” of the guest house, overseeing the preparation of meals and housekeeping and everything. When there’s a bat flying around inside the dining room at night, she’s the one to tell. She’s great.
I can’t think of anything else to write about at the moment. If you have any questions, or anything you’d like to hear more about, let me know!
Here’s my first post of the day, and probably the least interesting, but I promise I’ll write again later today with better stuff…
Here are the insects, as promised!
A cricket
Praying mantis #1
Praying mantis #2
A moth
The wasp that is building it’s nest on the ceiling of the veranda outside my door.
There are so many butterflies here! They don’t often sit still long enough for me to get a picture, though…
Apparently, there is a limit on the amount I can upload, so I have deleted the accompanying files to the pictures above, as well as a few older photos. So, if you click on the pictures above, you may get a file not found message. Sorry about that.
A few interesting things have happened in the last week. I finally went to Bamenda (the nearest bigger city with a huge market), and I finally got to do some real hiking around here. But first, the fire.
On Friday, I was in the maternity ward when we started hearing this noise. Dr. Thompson commented that it sounded like it was raining, and the nurse said that it was a fire. I’m thinking that fire’s got to be awfully close to be that loud, and I’m starting to wonder if one of the hospital buildings is burning or something. (I may also be slightly more paranoid after that fire in my apartment last May…) So I go outside, and Mbingo Hill is burning. There’s a road separating Mbingo Hill from the hospital, although there are dwellings of hospital employees at the base of the hill, but I was told that the fire would not get down to the houses. I took several pictures, and a few videos. It took about an hour for the fire to spread across the whole hill, and now it is all just black. Just the day before, Scott (American surgical resident here for 1 month) was saying that he wanted to climb that hill and have someone take a picture of him and I was planning to go with him. Well, now it will be easier to climb, without all that thick, tall grass, but we’ll get pretty dirty!
Fire on Mbingo Hill
During the fire
After the fire
Saturday I took a Bush taxi with Kate (Canadian occupational therapist here for 2 months) and did some souvenir shopping. I got a few fun things, and also got completely overwhelmed at the market. I loved the fabric aisle, but everyone is so pushy - “come inside my store! Look at this one! Let me help you pick out a nice one, then I can make a dress for you!” I felt like the more people talked, trying to get me to buy their goods, the more likely I was to leave and go to a different store! I did get a couple pieces of fabric, though we didn’t have time to go to the tailor recommended by Kate (she’s been here before). I think I’ll try and go again soon, now that I have a better idea of what to expect, I won’t be so overwhelmed, hopefully. Next time I go I’ll try to take some pictures, too.
Sunday Scott, Kate, and I went hiking in the opposite direction of where they had burned. We left around 3:30pm. There’s another rest house on the bluff above the hospital, with a nice gradual incline road up to it at the far end of the hospital. So we decided to save time and go straight up. Mistake #1. I’m ridiculously out of shape, I have no business trying to walk straight up a hill, especially at 7000 ft elevation. About 3/4 of the way up we came across a trail that went gradually up and in the direction we were intending to go, so we started down that, and discovered we were following a pipe. The trail started getting narrower, buggier, and wetter, and we figured out that we were now underneath the ridge we were supposed to be on top of, so we turned around and went back to where we’d started on that trail, then proceeded to go straight up the hill again. After wading through some grasses that were taller than me, we came out on top of the bluff to find ourselves in the backyard of the chaplain’s house (who I had dinner with a week ago). Bet they weren’t expecting to see 3 white people burst out of the grass into their yard. Anyway, we followed the road a little ways, then went a little down the hill following a cleared area of the grass which led us to another area where the only way to go was straight up. I was dying. Scott was running ahead and ended up a good football field’s distance ahead of us. But, eventually we made it to the top and had another section that was fairly even ground along the side of the hill. We followed that for awhile and then came to what seemed to be a dead end. Then we found the trail that went off into the grasses, again mostly straight up.
We finally reached the top of the ridge, then followed it along down to the ravine, then up the other side. At that point, Scott ran ahead again, and we lost him entirely. Kate and I went a slightly different way back to the narrow path through the grass and apparently Scott was waiting for us for like 45 minutes at this waterfall that we must have gone above, because we missed him entirely. At this point it was starting to get dark, so we headed down without him, thinking maybe he’d gone down already and will be waiting at the bottom. He caught up with us at the Ndongnde’s house, and then we went back down the nice gradual sloped path to the hospital, making it back around 6:30, just as it really started to get dark. I was a bit sore yesterday, but not bad. Oh, and that hike left us all filthy dirty. The dirt is exceptionally fine, so it actually gets through your clothes. I could see the dirt on my skin through my jeans, and it went through my shoes, through my socks, to turn my feet black. My hands were disgusting, and I could feel the dust coating the back of my throat. I can’t wait to go again!
The view from the top. Apparently, during rainy season (i.e. without the harmattan haze limiting the view), you can see about 5 peaks of the surrounding hills. I think only about 2 show up in this photo, but I could see 3, barely.
Where we were, as seen from the upper rest house, with arrow pointing to where I was standing when taking the previous photo. In the foreground you can see the L-shaped school and soccer field.
So, that’s it for now, I’m still working on getting my photos of people and insects, but I should be ready to post them soon!
I’ve been having a bit of difficulty with the wireless internet recently. It hasn’t been quite as reliable as it was when I first arrived. Anyway, here are the pics from youth day. My next photo projects you can look forward to: the people of Mbingo Baptist Hospital, and the insects of Cameroon.
Here’s the preschool class parading before the VIPs, and you can see part of the line-up of school-age kids in the background. There were lots of kids!
Here’s one of the choirs, with a particularly graceful and energetic director! Always amazes me how these little people can become such great choir directors!
Here’s a pic of one of the groups doing their dance. The little guy front and center was the grandson of the gentleman sitting next to me. He did a very good job and one of the VIPs tucked a folded bill in his hat - the ultimate compliment.
And I just liked this guy’s hat.
Today is a Cameroonian national holiday - Youth Day! So, it is treated like a Sunday at Mbingo Hospital, with minimal rounds and no outpatient clinic. Which left me free to attend the Youth Day celebration in town. I will upload my pictures today and add them to this post a bit later. All the schools in the area (Mbingo, Mbingo 2, Belo, Baicham, Fumban… ) were there, and all the kids lined up by school and marched in front of the VIPs. Then each school had a choir come forward and sing about 3 songs. Then each school had representatives do a dance (again, about 3 dances). It was about 4 hours from when it started to when they broke for lunch, at which time I headed back to the hospital. There’s still a soccer game and some more activities after lunch. Seems that youth day is an opportunity to encourage the youth toward patriotism, participation in development, to stand against smoking, alcohol, fornication, and corruption, and the like, as this was the content of most of the songs (from what I could understand). When the kids did a particularly good job singing or dancing, members of the audience showed their support by walking into their midst and dropping money on the ground (which then someone collected at the end of each schools’ turn). I was introduced to this practice by Kristen, as she was describing the Nigerian concert she attended in Chicago, so I was thinking of Kristen and Hammed today… By the middle schedule, the sun was beating down pretty powerfully, and I was impressed at all these kids dancing and singing so energetically after they’d been standing for so many hours. I think I’m going to take a nap…
Dr. Thompson is coming back tomorrow, and I will be happy to return the maternity ward to her care. Things have been fairly quiet, with about 1-2 babies born each day, and only 2 c-sections. There have been a few complications - a c-section wound that was poorly approximated and seeping - but nothing too serious. There is certainly a strain of knowing that you can be called at any moment for a potentially very serious concern, and though most of these nights I’ve gotten good sleep, I can see how this lifestyle would be very draining. I am also trying to finalize my decisions for rank list this weekend. I’ve been praying that God would speak to me and I would have assurance of where God wants me to be. I’ve only got a few days more before my rank list is due!
In other news, my roommate has arrived. She’s been here before, and I’m hoping that she will be able to show me some great hiking trails. She’s already got me invited to dinner tonight at one of the chaplain’s homes! Which is where I am to be heading very soon!
