I got all my sisters and me

Wow, it has been a busy few days since the last time I wrote. Maybe I will do a little day by day breakdown.

Wednesday: Mary, the HIV/AIDS national coordinator for the PCC, Shirley, and Clement, Shirley’s driver, and I all went to Kumba. Oh man, I was not prepared for that trip. Apparently, the road conditions have improved tremendously and this is considered a good road for Cameroon, but I was shocked. I literally have bruises on my body from being thrown around the backseat while driving over huge potholes, I mean huge, and we think roads in Minnesota are bad, goodness. It was exciting though. Everyone in the car laughed at the expressions on my face, haha. By the time we got there, I was a little frazzled, but it was time to jump right into a meeting with the people I will be working with for the next year. I met Dr. Neba, the doctor in charge, Agnus, the provincial HIV/AIDS coordinator, and Judith, the matron in charge of the nurses. The facilities were very nice for Cameroon and the hospital was crowded with patients. The meeting went really well. We made our proposal for the project implementation and the staff seemed to be excited about it. We discussed different ideas and problems that might come up. However, it is really important to keep in mind that this is their hospital and I am not here to force my views or plans upon them, so we will have to work together and try to see what works best once I get there. It’s definitely going to be a trial and error process, quite an adventure. We all went out for lunch afterwards which was really delicious! Per usual half a chicken, chips (French fries), spaghetti sauce (a little different and way spicier than ours, they put pepe in everything), and some cooked greens. Everyone makes fun of me for not being able to eat as much as they do, so I have to politely remind them that I am the size of a twelve year old. I also saw where I am going to be living, met my spiritual counselor, Rev. Forchang, and met Mami (pronounced Mommy) Pastor, the pastor of Kumba Town’s wife, who lovingly referred to herself as my Mami Pastor, very sweet. A few times Mary even introduced me by saying, “This is our sister Megan who is here to do HIV/AIDS work at the Presbyterian Health Center here in Kumba.” I felt pretty special having Mary refer to me as her sister, hence the title of this post. I was impressed with everything, but it will definitely, definitely take some getting use to, in a good way though. Then, we made the long trek back to Buea.

Thursday: We did our normal work routine during the day. Nothing too exciting. Killed some roaches and possibly saw a rat (actually a mouse, they make no distinction), but that was about as exciting as it got. Then, we had a few hours to rest, and headed to the wake keeping. Wake keepings are usually held outside and of course, of course it was raining. Not just a little drizzle, but a down pour. We went and picked up Mary and then made the trek to the house. It was totally hilarious. Shirley and I forgot our flashlights, so we only had Mary’s little crank flashlight to rely on. So, it was all of us, laughing hysterically, wading through mud and water almost to our calves walking up this huge hill. Of course everyone laughed at me when I would scream when bugs flew at my faces or a puddle was way deeper than I thought and I sunk in. It was too much, hahaha. We finally made it to the top of the hill and were welcomed by the CWF (Christian Women’s Fellowship) singing songs and getting the crowd ready for worship. The ceremony was beautiful. There were numerous passage readings, a small sermon and lots of singing and dancing. After we paid our respects to the family, there was lots of food and most people stayed all night, until six in the morning. However, we left at twelve because it was a work night. It was really powerful to be able to be a part of that service though. I felt so blessed to be surrounded and welcomed by everyone.

Friday and Saturday: Relatively laid back days. We crashed kind of hard after a long week. Friday we watched the Princess Bride, drank wine and ate peanuts with Shirley’s neighbor, Helen, who is my age. So, that was nice. Saturday we went to the market which was fun. It wasn’t too intimidating because it was a really small market. We walked there too which was nice because we haven’t really walked around too much yet. Of course, it’s a little weird because little kids shout “white man” and chase after you. It’s not meant to be mean or scary or anything, it’s just so different for them to see a white person walking around. We bought some vegetables and headed back to the house. A good day overall.

Sunday: Wow, what an incredible day. Usually, we attend church at Likoko Membia, a small congregation near Shirley’s home. However, this past Sunday we attended church at a much bigger congregation in Ekona. The church had been desecrated about a month ago, so this was the big consecration ceremony. It was incredible. There were maybe ten pastors, a ton of elders and important people from the church, members from other churches and representatives from other denominations. It was really beautiful how everyone came together. Trying to explain the ceremony seems kind of pointless because words don’t do it justice. Everyone was worshiping like I have never seen before. You could just feel the energy and power in the church. It was absolutely incredible. The entire scene brought tears to my eyes. It was so moving watching all these people come together and mourn, but be so hopeful and faithful. They introduced all the guests like they normally do; however, I’m realizing more and more that it’s extremely difficult for people here to say my name or maybe just read my writing, so they introduced me as “Maygen Koran,” which I couldn’t help but giggle at. I think I need to work on my penmanship, haha. Afterwards, we all gathered for lunch. Meals seem to be a big part of every meeting or ceremony. It’s nice. Then, we headed back and had a relaxing evening at home.

Now, things are getting a little crazy. Shirley is planning this huge HIV/AIDS consultation that is taking place in Kumba next week and I am frantically trying to plan my program and get ready to move to Kumba next week, haha. Luckily, we have each other for support, which is so so nice! I think having Shirley leave might be harder than when I left home (no offense Mom and Dad and extended fam, you know I love you the most). It’s just going to be hard to lose my one really close companion here, but I’m sure I will be fine. Oh also, I got the dresses that I had made. They are so beautiful! I'm not sure how Cameroonian I look. I think it looks like I am wearing a really, really colorful graduation gown everywhere I go. Haha. I will try to get pictures at some point.

Alright, wow, I’m so long winded. Hope it was somewhat interesting for you all to read. Actually, you probably would have quit by now if you got bored, so hooray! I’m off to do some work instead of chatting. This has always been one of my problems. When I was in elementary school I would get stars on everything except my teachers would complain that I socialize too much. Haha, I would just politely get up in the middle of class and go talk to someone on the other side of the room. Oh man, I haven’t changed much. Hope you are all well. Peace and Love.