Jet propelled back home, from over the seas to the USA. . .yep, true fact.

Hey folks. So, I've been back in the US of A for a while now due to some visa issues. Things have been crazy since my return and I am just now beginning to process the amazing experiences I had during my time in Cameroon. I feel like I should have something extremely profound and well thought out to say to finish this thing off, but I don't, not yet at least. I'm going to give it another week or so, just wanted to give you a heads up. So get ready this stuff's about to get heavy. Hope everyone is well. All my love.

Guess whose back. . .back again?

Oh yeah, back again, and better than ever! I can’t even begin to apologize enough for the delay in updating, but I assure you I’m back and more ready than ever to fill you in on every little detail of my life here. Get excited!

Well, let’s start at the beginning. Last month I began to have some minor visa problems. Turns out I just had to leave the country a little bit earlier than I originally thought to go on a planned trip to visit some friends over the holiday season. The goal was to have the PCC work hard while I was gone and have my visa renewed by the time I got back. Unfortunately, due to the offices being closed on holidays and some bureaucratic BS, as I like to refer to it, there have been a few minor setbacks. However, we are still working hard and will hopefully come to some sort of resolution by the end of the week. The PCC has been working tirelessly on this issue. I am truly grateful for the support, time and energy that the PCC (and PCUSA, especially Jeff Boyd!!) has put forward to help me through this situation. So, that’s what’s happening, but lets talk about other things. I can’t even tell you how sick I am of hearing the word VISA.

Christmas was a little bit sad. I ended up alone in an airport in Kenya due to the pushed forward travel itinerary. Don’t worry, by half way through the day I quit bursting into tears every time somebody wished me a “Merry Christmas.” It ended up being a pretty pleasant day. I enjoyed a pita sandwich and fries for lunch alone in an airport restaurant. The staff felt bad for me, so they put Christmas carols on. I was in good company though; the man who served me was Obama’s cousin (Ahem, yeah right, everybody in Kenya says they are Obama’s cousin, haha). Anyways, eventually I made it to my destination and spent an incredible two weeks with close friends. Let me tell you, it was darn near perfect.

The trip back to Cameroon was a little bit crazy. A man fainted on top of me and started convulsing on one of my flights, I lost a shoe, and found out that Kenya Airways won’t let me sleep curled up in a little ball like I usually can on flights because the flight attendants had to check my seatbelt every ten seconds (I think they thought I was twelve), but eventually I made it back safe and sound. It was wonderful to get back and be greeted by the happy faces of Mr. Edward (The Administrator from the Health Center), Dr. Peter Chunke (Medical Officer in Charge in Douala) and Mr. Nubed (Health Secretary for the PCC). I also felt kind of important having all these “Big Men” as they are referred to in Cameroon, come meet me at the airport at 11:00pm at night.

It didn’t take long for me to be knocked back into the realities of life in Cameroon. This morning, a 17 year old girl unexpectedly died at the Health Center. When her parents found out and their shock and grief took over things got a little intense. In Cameroon, when you are grieving, you shave your head. So, I think as an automatic response and in the midst of shock, the mother of the girl started to rip her own hair out while the father was rolling around on the ground sobbing uncontrollably. Various family friends were also present, crying, screaming and lying on the ground. It was extremely emotional for all of the staff. We all stood outside, watching and trying to help, but there was really nothing we could do. Eventually, the taxi pulled up and the family got into the taxi with the body of the girl to bring her to the morgue. Any and all prayers you would offer up for this family would be appreciated. I am learning more than ever just how much death is a part of life.

Overall, I’m glad to be back in Kumba. I can’t even explain in words how comforting, loving and wonderful my reunion was with my family here. It felt great. Everything just kind of fell right back into place. Work continues to be busy and intense. Agnes and I are planning two training workshops that will be partially funded by donations from some of my wonderful family and friends. I can’t tell you enough how much those gifts will help the people here. We have continued to see patients and do post counseling. Our next social group meeting is scheduled for the 26th I believe. So, I will let you know how that goes. Alright, I should be off, it’s about bed time for this girl.

Oh, here are a few pictures of us watching the inauguration last night! There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. It felt pretty cool to be watching the inauguration of the first black president from a living room in Cameroon. God bless America, huh?

Post Script: Please excuse the disjointed nature of this blog entry. I’m one tired girl this evening. My grammar, punctuation, spelling and flow will be much improved on the next entry.

This is Bill. He's a visiting Doctor from the US. He was asked to pop the cork on the champagne for the evening.

Mr. Edward and Dr. B were pretty excited about the champagne.

Hooray!

Everything's gonna be alright (He's coming back just like He said He would)

Hey guys! So, it’s looking like I have quite a bit of updating to do. Oops. We have been busy, busy, busy! So busy, I didn’t even realize it was Thanksgiving in the US until the day was already over. Haha. Such is life in another country.

Two weeks ago we had Health Awareness week in preparation for World Aids Day. Agnes, the HIV/AIDS Coordinator and I went around the Health Complex and gave health and information talks about HIV/AIDS. We were also anxiously preparing for our big day, WORLD AIDS DAY, which was December 1, 2008. What was the verdict you ask? It was a HUGE success! Way better than years past or so people have told me. We started off the day with free consultations and testing. We gave a health talk to the patients who had come to the Health Complex that day, probably around 150-200 patients. The group was completely engaged and interested in what we were saying. They asked a ton of questions and really learned a lot I think. AND a lot of them came in for testing! Many other people from the community came in for voluntary testing also, which was really great because it is extremely uncommon here. Then, after counseling all day, we held a reception for the staff of the Health Complex. We started off the night with a brief program. Agnes, Dr. Blaauw, Dr. Tong and I all spoke and then the festivities began. We had a wonderful meal of pepe soup and soft drinks all around. The only thing I felt bad about was not doing anything for the patients. I am going to suggest that next year perhaps the staff provides a meal and drinks to the patients in the inpatient unit or something like that. It just felt wrong to be celebrating awareness as staff and not inviting the people we care for on a daily basis.

Overall, I am feeling very pleased with how the work is going here. The major problem with HIV/AIDS work here is the lack of infrastructure and therefore lack of ability to disseminate knowledge. Many of the villages are so remote that it is difficult to reach them by vehicle therefore they are neglected when it comes to HIV/AIDS work. The number of deaths in these villages due to AIDS (which keep in mind is PREVENTABLE) grows by the day. So, the only time to get the information to these people is when they come into bigger cities, such as Kumba, for market days or special circumstances, for example receiving medical care and treatment. However, Agnes and I are planning a conference to teach a few people from some of these small villages how to sensitize groups about HIV/AIDS. Then, the people who are known in the villages can go back and bring the information to their own people. Now, we are just hoping to find some funding . . . I really do think we are helping a lot of people though. The social group continues to be a great opportunity for our clients. We are having our big Christmas party this coming Monday. Agnes and I will prepare food and buy drinks for the group and we will discuss what direction our group will take. Very exciting.

Personally, things are on the up and up, per usual. I continue to have a strong social network which I am so thankful for. Things have been going well with life here minus a brief bout with shingles. Without going into too much detail, the shingles are on my right thigh, so it’s basically extremely painful to sit or move. However, last Sunday, I decided to suck it up, persevere, and go to church anyways. Well, I forgot that it was the Christian Women Fellowship’s rally day at Kumba Towne. There were thousands of women present. For some reason, I was seated directly in front of the congregation and right next to Chief Mukete (a HUGE honor!). Well, sitting next to the chief is nerve racking enough on it’s own, but just picture me sitting there, SO nervous, and constantly reminding myself not to cross my legs (even though the pain was unbearable) because crossing your legs in front of an elder, especially the Chief, is a HUGE sign of disrespect and a BIG nono! Luckily, Chief Mukete, is an extremely wonderful man, very engaging in conversation, so I could forget about the pain for at least some of the six hour long celebration. Haha, oh man, what a day to sit through church with shingles. Too funny. Other than that terrible day at church, things have been going really well. I’m happy to say the shingles are healing thanks to some medical attention from Dr. B, I don’t know what I would do without him here. He is heading back home for the holidays, but assures me he will return ASAP. Thank the Lord.

I should probably get going. It’s Saturday morning, market day, so I need to go get some food. I am preparing pizza for Maryann Mukete and her girls this Sunday which I am really excited about! I am trying to come up with some American foods that I can make for people here to show them some of my culture. Unfortunately, it’s kind of difficult to come up with foods that are “American” since we steal most of our foods from other cultures. I mean besides hotdogs I can’t really think of many and it’s not like I can really buy a package of Oscar Meyer wieners here. So far I have come up with spaghetti (Italian), pizza (also Italian), and burgers. Any other ideas? Keep in mind most people only have stove tops and not ovens. I would appreciate any help you can give me here. I’m going to attempt to make Christmas cookies at some point during the holiday season. I can’t believe it’s December already! Time has just flown by! I am very excited about celebrating the holidays here with my new family. I have given my parents a few things to buy as gifts for people here. What is topping the list? Obama t-shirts. Haha. That’s what everybody wants. Love it. Okay, for real, I need to go to the market before it gets too hot outside. I hope you are all doing well! Let me know how you are doing! I like getting updates from the home front. Peace and love.

I'm a movement by myself, but I'm a force when we're together.

Hey guys! Well, things continue to get better and better during my time here. Actually, I’m afraid you are all going to get sick of hearing how well things are going! Haha. I am as busy as ever right now with work, church, and my social life.

Work continues to improve. We now have two social groups: Kumba Social Group and Manyeman Social Group. The Kumba Group is well established and I LOVE the meetings. We are all getting extremely close and enjoy having time together, learning together and sharing experiences together. At our last meeting we all learned how to make soap. It was a really great opportunity for the women to learn a new skill that they could use to help raise some small money for their families and for our group. We now have 16 members and growing! It’s very exciting. The Manyeman Group existed a while ago and then fell apart when the organizer left, but we are trying to get it started again. At our first meeting we had 10 members. That group is going to be a little more difficult. The person who originally began the group started it out as solely a money making scheme of raising fowls. After time, the organizer went back to the US and everything fell apart. So, the group seems to be more interested in financial benefit than a social group pertaining to health and well being, but we are struggling to help them overcome this mindset and perhaps find some way to restart the fowl business. The social groups are really one of the highlights of my jobs.

I have had some hard days with counseling recently. It’s hard to have family members approach you with tear filled eyes and beg you to tell them their relative will survive when you don’t know if he will or not. The last thing I want to do is create false hope, so it’s such a sad situation. I am just really frustrated with the medical system here because preventative medicine is completely unheard of and often times families come to the Health Center when it is already too late because of lack of resources. It’s really difficult to have to witness, but there are those few success stories that make it all worth your while. For example, remember the woman I talked about whose medical care I paid for otherwise her baby would be born blind? Yeah, well, she delivered a beautiful baby boy last week and as far as we can tell so far he is happy and healthy! One other woman from our social group (the first woman I counseled!) also delivered last week and is healthy and happy with a beautiful baby girl! It is these wonderful miracles that force me to wake up in the morning and do it all again (not to mention Agie coming to my window every morning at 7 and shouting MEGAN COCHRAN, MEGAN COCHRAN time for work! Haha). Yeah, there are sad times, but what am I going to do? Stay in bed and feel bad about it? Nah, I would rather go out there and try to do as much good as I can while I can, ya know? So, we are staying busy! World Aids Day is December 1st so we are preparing! I will let you know how it goes.

I am LOVING Kumba Town parish right now! Last Sunday was Presbyterian Church Day in Cameroon! It was quite the celebration! We had a full church service with communion (approx. 4 hrs.) and then a choir competition, the Christian Women’s Fellowship traditional dances, and a Young Presbyterian Parade (approx. 2 hrs.) and after ALL of that we had A HUGE lunch! I was exhausted and thought the festivities were finished, but boy was I wrong, we still had house parties to attend! Wow. It was an incredible day.
Really, I can’t describe how loved and welcomed I feel. My African family is pretty great. Agnes, Dennis and I are together constantly and Maryann and her nieces (two WONDERFUL girls my age, another Agnes and Catherine) are such incredible supports in my life. Last night Agnes and Catherine came over and taught me how to make Ndole-a green vegetable mixed with craw fish, groundnuts, meat and a BUNCH of other stuff. It takes FOREVER to make, but is totally worth it. While they were here Agnes, her two nieces, Dennis and my other friend Yan all came over. It was a packed house, no room to move, and too hot to breathe, but I loved every minute of it and wouldn’t want it any other way. Basically, there are some ups and downs, but with such a wonderful support system, I think I can get through anything. Hope you are all doing well! Happy Thanksgiving and all that good stuff! Oh man, I wish I could have some turkey and stuffing! Eat some extra for me. Here are some pictures to wrap it up.

Oh and PS The power has been out for 30 minutes, so I'm writing this by candle light.

Learning how to make soap.

Taking turns stirring the soap. Let me tell you, it's a LONG process.

One of the choir groups processing into church on Harvest at Kumba Town.

Agnes and Catherine (Maryann Mukete's nieces and my best friends here)

Agnes and Catherine teaching me how to make "groundnut sweet." Basically, peanut brittle.

The Christian Women's Fellowship showing off their traditional dancing skills on Presbyterian Church Day.

My African Family all hanging out at my place.

from the moment i wake up, before i put on my make up, i say a little prayer for you.

Hey everyone! Of course, it has been far too long once again. This time due to no fault of my own, but to the lack of internet in Cameroon. Oh the joys of living in Africa. Once again, let me tell you, my ability to be patient is growing by the day. Things continue to go well, thanks be to God. Last week was very intense.

A nurse that worked at the Health Center, Odette, passed away very suddenly, so it continues to be a really hard time for the Health Center staff. She was a woman I met my very first day here. We are all saddened by her loss. So, the majority of last week was spent discussing grief with the staff at the Health Center, having emotional discussions with Agie, who was a dear friend to Odette, and trying to figure it all out for myself and give myself some time to mourn. Her funeral and wake keeping were incredible. On Fridays, the mortuary opens for the release of the corpses. There were hundreds of people there; family members, relatives, and friends all standing waiting for their loved one's body to be released. Most of the family members there have kabas made out of the same material in honor of the deceased or wear t-shirts and buttons commemorating the life of the individual who passed away. Agie and I wore t-shirts to honor Odette's life. When Odette's body came out all of us were brought into a bare, open room. We sang songs and sat together and waited for the coffin to be brought in. Her body was carried in by eight men. When she arrived the women who were in attendance (maybe about 100 or so) crowded around the casket screaming, weeping and mourning. The men stood back, but were very open with their emotions as well. It was extremely moving. I have never experienced anything like it. Then, the body was carried out, loaded into a truck and we all followed the vehicle in a procession to the church where her funeral took place. It was a double funeral because another member of the church had passed away on the same day. The funeral was very moving as well with powerful testimonies from her family members and friends. From the funeral we moved to her house for the wake keeping. Her body was placed in the living room for viewing and all of the guests sat outside beneath tents and canopies. A brief service was held. Then, we all spent time together in fellowship singing, dancing, praising God and remembering Odette. It was a very powerful experience. From her home, a group traveled to her village to bury her. The wake keeping is a celebration of the individuals life the night before the burial. The group left at 2am to go to her village. It was mainly close friends who attended the burial, so I did not go, but I feel extremely blessed to have been a part of celebrating her life and we will continue to mourn her loss.

The day the funeral/wake keeping took place also happened to be Halloween. Halloween is not celebrated in Cameroon, but Eric (my bikeman friend) and I split a Twix in honor of the occasion. Haha. He loved it.

Work continues to go extremely well. Dr. B arrived which is exciting both for my personal life and work life! When Dr. B is here all the HIV/AIDS work seems to go a lot better since it is his main focus. So, he is a huge blessing. I traveled to Menyemen with him this past Tuesday. Menyemen was one of the first Presbyterian Health Center's established in Cameroon. We are going to start an HIV/AIDS clinic there on Tuesdays. There is also a tuberculosis/leper colony there. I was extremely shocked by this. I was not even aware that places like that existed anymore. Apparently, I was pretty ignorant. It was a really emotional experience. The group lives in a remote area on the hospital grounds. Most of the patients are missing limbs, have intense rashes, or other very visible signs of sickness. Doctors are still sort of unsure about how these diseases are spread, so for the most part, these people are completely ignored by the general population. Some of the patients have been living there for over twenty years. I gave them a talk about the importance of psychosocial work and introduced them to Dr. B. We are going to start a support group there next Tuesday which the group seemed very excited about. They really just appreciated that we came to visit them at all. They are extremely neglected. Overall, the trip to Menyemen was very exciting. There are many opportunities for us to do a lot of good there, so I'm praying we will be able to help in whatever ways we can.

This past Sunday, I attended church at the Presbyterian High School because they were inducting new staff: a new Vice Principal, Disciplinarian #1 and #2 and some new teachers. It was quite the occasion. The service was great, but the party afterward was even better! We sang, danced and ate until we couldn't move. It was a wonderfully joyous day!

But an even more joyous occasion than that celebration was the news of the Obama win for the Cameroonians! It was a huge day for Africa. Maybe even bigger than for the US (haha, not quite, but it was a big deal). People were so moved by Americans voting a black man into the presidency. People were openly weeping, dancing and everywhere I went people congratulated me. It was a pretty great day over here. Of course, I wish I could have been in the US for the momentous occasion, but it was pretty cool to see it from the eyes of people in another country.

Next week continues to be an extremely busy one. We have another social group meeting on Monday, travel to Menyemen to start the social group on Tuesday, Wednesday we are giving a health talk at Kumbatown parish and Thursday and Friday we have to write reports on all of those things. Then, Sunday is Presbyterian Church Day!!! The day they gained their independence! So, we are all anxiously awaiting next Sunday! I am definitely staying busy here, that's for sure. I have been taking a lot more pictures, too! So, get excited! I can't put them all up unfortunately, but here are a few. Miss you guys!

Rev. Abwenzoh, me, and Mami Pastor.


At the mortuary waiting to see Odette. I am wearing one of the t-shirts that was made in her honor.


This is where I work! Presbyterian Health Center, Kumba.


Eating my favorite meal: fried plantaines and beef stew. Mmmmm.


Agie's favorite meal: pepe soup with cowtail and boiled plantaines. Yeah, I don't get as excited about this one, but she LOVES it.


Staff at Menyemen Health Center, the tb/leper colony community, and me and Dr. B.


Yeah, this is why you are late sometimes in Cameroon. Cattle definitely have the right of way.


Receiving the chicken gizzard is a sign of honor here in Cameroon. This is Rev. Abwenzoh eating the chicken gizzard (partly on my behalf)at the party following the induction of the staff at the Presbyterian High School.

It's now or never. I ain't gonna live forever. I just want to live while I'm alive.

Well, for about two hours yesterday I was convinced I wasn’t going to live through the day thanks to the transportation situation in Cameroon. I had to go to Buea to figure out how to extend my visa, which of course, didn’t get figured out at all, but so it goes with bureaucracy in Cameroon. Anyways, as I entered the truck to go to Buea I noticed there were seatbelts! This excited me more than I will ever be able to explain to you. But of course, they weren’t functioning which I realized after I asked the driver, “Stanley, can I use this seatbelt?” and he replied “Honey, you are in Africa.” I guess I am, huh? After about twenty minutes crammed in the backseat of an extended cab truck with three other people and the back of the truck fishtailing as we soared down the road that switched every mile or so from pavement to loose dirt with huge pot holes, I informed Stanley that I thought he had gone mad and I wanted to trek instead of riding with him. He laughed and told me to sit back and enjoy the ride. Well, I sat back, but just prayed for the rest of the two hour trip and tried to keep my eyes closed. Those of you who know me and know my history with motorized vehicles will understand how much courage traveling here takes for me. Man, it’s tough, but it’s now or never, right? And, I mean, finding Herbal Essence hair conditioner once I got to Buea made it all worth the journey. Haha. Of course, I refused to ride with the man on the way home. The minivan crammed with poorly constructed home made seats for fifteen people and overflowing with luggage on top that probably weighed more than the vehicle itself seemed like the safer of the two options. Another new experience for this girl, that’s for sure. I made it home safely though, I’m happy to report. Even after realizing I had been sleeping with my head on the man’s shoulder next to me, haha, oops, he was nice about it at least. Other than my random scary travel moments, things continue to go amazingly well, knock on wood.

Work is more rewarding than ever as my relationships with my clients and the staff at the hospital continue to grow and deepen. However, I haven’t had as much client interaction time as I did previously because for the past week or so I have been trying to finish reading this book on Christian counseling, writing reports, planning talks I need to give in the very near future, trying to figure out my visa situation and fighting off this cold that continues to linger. But, I am looking forward to having more client time starting next week. I am also going to begin working in reception which will give me more face to face time with the patients and hopefully continue my growing base knowledge of pigin. Also, our next social group meeting is this Saturday which I am really looking forward to. Agie is giving a talk on nutrition and I will be giving a talk on improving communication skills. If the clients permit, Agie wants us to take some pictures to show you all exactly what we are doing. We will see how well that goes over.

I attended a new church last Sunday with Maryann, who continues to be such a blessing to me here. We went to the church that is right next to the health center complex. Most of the staff from the health center worship there, so it was very nice to walk in and see so many familiar faces. The service was amazing. This church is very new and is a very young congregation. They have drums, keyboards, and an incredible singer that help to get the service going. Let me tell you, the Touchberry’s were right, this service definitely seemed like more of a three hour rock concert than a church service, especially to a girl who grew up Catholic. It was incredible. Oh man, I wish I could describe the energy in the room to all of you, but the best things in life can’t be described in words I suppose. Maryann and I spent the day together after church and attending a gathering at her friend’s house. Maryann continues to amaze me. She informed me this time that somehow in her busy schedule she also manages to volunteer at the women’s prison in Kumba through the Business and Professional Women’s Organization (don’t you belong to that mom? BPW? Funny.) Anyways, she said that she is going to talk to the Warden and see if I can accompany her. I am really hoping that this works out. Along with pastoral care, one of passions is hospice, especially in a prison setting. So, I think this would be a very eye opening experience. I will keep you posted on that.

I also got to visit Pastor Janet last week. Agie and I went to one of her five congregations to give an HIV/AIDS talk and ask the congregation to set up an HIV/AIDS committee. Pastor Janet is in charge of five, very rural village congregations that are all based near her home. The trip out to this congregation was amazing. Agie and I had our bikeman friend, Eric, bring us out to the village. Wow, it was breathe taking. As we drove down the road, all three of us crammed on this little motorcycle, the scenery changed from dusty, muddy city streets to rows and rows of beautiful trees with white trunks and green as far as you could see. The temperature also dropped by maybe 10 degrees and we just soaked it all in, enjoying the fresh air. This was the first time ever I was glad I was on a motorcycle because I really felt like I could experience everything that surrounded us as we past. Of course, I forgot my camera on that trip (which Agie scolded me for over and over again), but I assure you I will bring it when we go back next month. This is something you all need to see. Also, on the way home Pastor Janet’s bike broke down, so all FOUR of us had to cram onto our little bike. However, the addition of Pastor Janet seemed like a blessing more than bothersome, even though my butt hurt a lot by the time we got home.

I continue to be amazed by the faithfulness of the people in Cameroon. Living in a developing country makes it a lot easier to notice how God’s grace works in your life everyday. Besides my courage growing daily mainly due to transportation my faith journey seems to be taking some incredible turns as well. People are so open about their faith here. It is just not a big deal at all to have an intense theological debate on a daily basis which is a big change from attending Macalester in Minnesota, even as a religious studies major. The sermons really speak to people and get inside their heads. Instead of just words it is easy to see people turning it into action which is something that still escapes a lot of us in the US.

As for me, I’m off to start turning these tomatoes into some sauce to prove to Agie that I learned something in our cooking lesson last week. I will never forget the image of Agie, her son Dennis, and her mother Mami Lydia looking over my shoulder as I tried to shred onions, tomatoes, leeks, etc. into the sauce. They were all laughing hysterically at my “weak little arms.” Haha. I’m not going to lie, my body is definitely weak. I mean come on, I’m five feet tall and a total wuss, but I assure you my faith is strengthening by the day, maybe even the hour or minute. I should be going, time to cook. I will include some more pictures. These are from Agie’s dedication into the Christian Women’s Fellowship at the Church, her party afterwards, and our cooking sessions with Mami Lydia, she looks angry all the time, but is the sweetest woman you will ever meet, so don’t let it scare you.

Agie looking gorgeous on her big day.


The women lined up to process into church.


My baby bro, Dennis, and I hanging out after the big ceremony. He wants me to teach him how to be a "cool dude," . . . I'm trying.


Mami Lydia enjoying my first Cameroonian dish! She may not look like she is enjoying it, but I assure you, she LOVED it!


Agie and Dennis really LOVE my cooking! Can't you tell?


After much persuading, I FINALLY got Mami Lydia to smile for the camera! HOORAY!


Alright, I seriously have to go now. Don't want to disappoint Mami Agie with a late meal. I hope everyone is doing well! Send me an e-mail or something and let me know. Take care!

I like the dream of the future not the history of the past.

I’m sorry I haven’t had the chance to write lately, but things have been crazy busy. I don’t really even know where to start. I will break it down into subsections to make it easy to read and understand the various areas of my life right now. Get ready for a long one. Maybe there will be a little treat at the end so you definitely want to read the entire thing!

Work: Well, I’m still struggling a bit. As I mentioned before, the program I am using was developed in Europe and is used in South Africa (basically still Europe), so it is not really translating that well into this culture. I think the idea of memory work will be able to work here eventually and be extremely beneficial, but the memory book activity itself is not really such a big hit. The song lyric I used to title this post is from a song we sing in church and is the perfect explanation for why the activity is not working. The clients don’t want to think about their past, in fact, most of them don’t know a lot about their pasts, for example their family backgrounds. Every client I have talked to wants to focus on how he/she can begin to feel free from worry and bitterness and live positively now.

So, most of what I end up doing is Christian counseling. We set up an action plan for the client for the following week, three things he/she will do that helps them to relax and feel free. Usually at least one of these things has to do with his/her faith (e.g. going to church, reading bible passages, singing church hymns). Then, the client comes back the following week, we discuss any problems or questions that came up, discuss bible passages, and start a new plan for the next week. It seems to be going well and I think it’s a good process for the patient to begin to open up and feel comfortable talking.

Psychology is very different here than in the West. The West is extremely individualistic so talking about yourself is one of the easiest things to do. Here, people don’t see themselves as individuals, but instead as one small, unique part of a large connected web that includes the environment, their ancestors, and God. Even in the short time I have been here I have learned so much about counseling and relating to clients in different cultures. So, now that I am starting to understand the differences I am trying to change the program to better suit the needs of the population. I’m such a perfectionist that it’s hard for me to not just be able to come in and fix everything right away, but I think that’s some sort of Western Superman (or in this case Superwoman) complex that I need to get over. I am continuing to plan for our next social group which is the last Saturday of the month. I am doing the meditation and giving a talk on positive communication skills. We are also going to introduce the idea of money making schemes to the women, such as making soap, oil and yogurt to sell for profit. Luckily, Shirley taught me how to make yogurt, so I can be of some help. We have invited many more clients, so if the numbers are too big we will have to split them into two groups. I am so excited about this group! Also, I am giving the meditation for the entire hospital staff on Monday, Aghhh, so nervous!

Social Life: Well, Rev. Abwenzoh, Maryann, the Matron (Judith), Agie, and Erik (Agie’s neighbor who is a bikeman) still take up the majority of my free time which really isn’t much. After I get home from work, my door bell is usually ringing within ten minutes, ha. I really feel like I have a family here already which is wonderful. There is also a new addition to the fam I have developed here, her name is Pastor Janet. She is basically the most amazing woman. She is so passionate, free, welcoming, engaging, faithful, and has this childlike exuberance about everything she does. I met her at this Pastor’s Meeting (the pastors gather once a month to talk about church issues, learn together and spend time with one another) that I attended with Rev. Abwenzoh (he really involves me in every aspect of church life and his family life too, which I appreciate so much!). Pastor Jan and I hit it off and it turns out she is friends with Agie also, so that’s another budding friendship which is exciting! In most social settings, I am the youngest by at least ten years (except when Jan is there, then it’s only 6 years.) I have always felt really comfortable with my elders, so it’s not much of a problem, but sometimes I crave time with people my own age, so I am trying to develop more of those relationships.

Maryann sends her girls over fairly often, so then I get to hang with some people my own age which is a nice change of pace. I also attend the Christian Youth Fellowship (CYF) meetings at my church. There are two meetings a week, but I can usually only make it to one because of my work schedule. I am developing some good friendships there. Friendships are just a lot different here. You can be friends with someone for years and still know nothing about their personal life. Those of you who know me well, or actually know me at all, will understand that this is not my style whatsoever. Most people are shocked at how open and free I am, but that’s something I’m just not willing to change. I think it’s a positive thing to be open and honest and even though culturally it’s very different than what they are use to most of the people I am meeting seem to be very receptive and appreciative of it. It’s almost a way of letting them know that I really want to be here and get to know them. So, that’s working out well.

My friends from the CYF are also teaching me how to dance. Those of you have been here will know how hilarious this is. Harvest (which is a time of Thanksgiving in the congregations, a big fundraising season) just began at our church which means we had a four and a half hour long service last Sunday, ha. Every group and movement in the church danced down the aisle and gave their donations. It was very energetic and joyous, I LOVED it! So, I had to dance down with the CYF, wearing my gorgeous kaba of course, and the entire congregation thought it was hilarious! Haha. Oh goodness, so embarrassing, but pretty funny. I’ve been practicing, so hopefully I will impress them with my dance skills in no time. The kids have actually been very welcoming to me. At the auction this past Thursday, one boy even bought me a package of Kleenex and danced over and gave it to me. Haha. So, I think they are starting to accept me.

Other random tidbits: Well, Agie continues to tell me that no man will ever want to marry me if I don’t learn the things a woman should know: cooking, cleaning and laundry. Aghhh, everything I hate in life. So, we have weekly (more like daily) lessons on mopping floors, cooking, trying to get rid of the THOUSANDS of ants that I live with. Basically, I have realized that Agie’s ten year old niece who lives with her is way more of a woman than I will ever be according to Agie’s standards. Haha, but I might just be okay with that. I am learning how to balance really heavy things on my head though which is exciting! Not necessarily a skill I will use often back in the states, but still fun to learn nonetheless.

I have been sick for about the past week. Not a big deal, no need for concern. Once Rev. Abwenzoh got word of my cold he rushed to my side with medication in about ten seconds flat. I am starting to feel better after a couple days of rest and all of the cough medicine, eye drops and pills they have me taking. And lucky for me, cough medicine here is way more delicious than in the US, it tastes like cinnamon, so that was an added bonus.

I have officially found my husband. Well, not officially, I guess. But, I am getting love notes, haha. It was so adorable. While sitting in my room one night somebody shoved something under my door. It was this cute little note. There was a flower on it and the note said “Hello. This flower is for you. Tomorro I will lake to see you,” (spelling errors included). Haha. It was from this ten year old boy who lives down the street from me. His mom works at the hospital and she got word of the little love letter her son left for me. Of course, she was horrified and her son was in big trouble for being so bold at such a young age. But, she also thought it was hilarious, so she now refers to me as her wife and talks about bringing me back to her village and introducing me to the family, haha, and sometimes she gives me free little cakes and things, so I’m okay pretending to be the wife for now.

Ohh, hilarious anecdote of the week: Hmmm. Probably not as hilarious as getting hot pepper up my nose and snorting milk, but here it goes. Agie and I took a taxi back from visiting Pastor Jan. Apparently, some big festival had just ended so there were TONS of people who needed taxis. And let me tell you, they CRAM people into taxis here. So, it was just me, Agie and one other woman in the car when we happened upon this festival. Oh man, within seconds our car was packed: 4 people in the front seat, 5 in the back, one on the hood of the car (sort of "ghostriding" for those of you who get the reference), and three in the trunk (playing drums and singing)! The Cameroonians definitely make use of every single part of the vehicle, that’s for sure. I was scared to death of course, the lack of seat belts not helping, my eyes were probably as big as saucers and I was squeezing Agie’s hand as tightly as I could. She just laughed at me, hysterically. I thought Agie was just laughing because she always laughs at how much I worry and how scared I am all the time, but I didn’t really know why every person we passed was laughing so hard because really a car packed this full isn’t a rare sight around here. Well, little did I know, the entire time the men in the back were serenading the whiteman (me) and I was completely oblivious. Haha. Jokes on me per usual. I bet it did look pretty hilarious.

PICTURES!!!! Get excited! Not too many because I am terrible at remembering to bring my camera places, but here is a little taste. I swear I will start taking more pics soon!

My wonderful apartment! Eat your hearts out, folks!



My living room. My roommates will attest to the fact that I never actually move in anywhere that I live, so there is a good chance it will look like this until the day that I leave, unless Agie has something to say about it.



My kitchen. Probably about half the size of a normal closet in the US. By far, the warmest place in the house. Agh.



My bathroom. And yes, those are my clothes drying in the background.



My "friend" who loves to leave me presents on my doorstep just about every other day.



I forced the Matron, Judith, to take a picture with me without giving her time to prepare. She wasn't pleased, but she looks wonderful.



Agie! Of course, she is looking beautiful as ever. And cut the camera man a little slack, it was his first time taking pictures with my camera.



Agie (my mami) and Dennis (my baby bro) lounging at my place.



One of my new dresses! I'm totally embarrassed in this picture. Agie just had to help me get dressed for ten minutes because the dress was so tight and then forced me to pose for a picture while shouting "African Girl" at me, haha, oh man, I love her.



Hope you enjoyed my extremely long winded update. I will try to write more frequently so you aren't so overwhelmed next time. Of course, I keep all of you in my thoughts and prayers! Until next time.