May 12, 2008

Dear all,

I hope all you mothers had a very happy Mother's Day yesterday. It was a "normal" Sunday here, but at least there were no emergencies or long meetings!

Before I forget, here's a snapshot of what happens here at times. Three little faces were pressed against the screen door. I asked what they wanted, and one said "Peti pay", which to be translated is "petit pail" (French influence), or small pail - what they call the plastic margarine containers here. I asked if they had brought money and they said no (we sell them for 25 francs - very cheap - just to avoid people taking them and then discarding them; the money goes to church offering). He said he would come back for money, then after a pause asked, "Should I bring mangoes?" To which I replied, "Yes, I will trade a pail for mangoes." The barter system is alive and well!

Another snapshot: In the middle of our team meeting last Monday over at Friesens' house, a man came to the door. As it was Franko, I imagined he wanted to talk with Mike (Mike and Dan each have people they "help" on a regular basis). Sure enough, he said his wife was pregnant and had come back from the bush (her "farm") with her "stomach hurting", so he wanted Mike to take her to the clinic in our car. Remembering our friend's experience in having a lady give birth in his car (yes you, Nathan!), Mike was thinking "plastic sheet"! He asked if it was urgent or if we could finish our meeting first. Franko said we could finish our meeting, so he went home. Less than half an hour later he was back, so we figured it now was urgent and Mike should get the car. However he had just come back to report that his wife had given birth at the house, and mother and baby were fine! That was a close one!!!

Wednesday afternoon our "company" arrived - Dan brought Elsie (teacher from Bamenda), her sister Dusty, and Dusty's husband Mike. Yes, it was a bit confusing having 2 Mikes in the house :), but we really enjoyed our time with them, brief as it was. They are from Calgary, Alberta, which is close to "home". They missed out on a long hike in the bush Thursday morning, as Johanes was stuck in Kumba after a heavy rain during the night, but the girls took them on a mini hike, and in the afternoon we walked in the village a bit so they got some pictures of houses, kids, meal preparation, etc. Friday morning Mike took them to Kumba, then he spent the night there (was able to get caught up on a bit of his email!) in order to attend the OTAB (translation advisory board) meeting scheduled for the next day. Unfortunately, only a couple people showed up for the meeting (and one, a seminary student in the middle of studying for exams, was so tired he could barely keep awake!), so it was postponed yet again - sigh! Dan drove in for the meeting on Saturday morning, and he just returned today as he had a (successful) PR meeting on Sunday with other members of OLDC (Oroko Language Development Committee) in Buea - less than 2 hrs from Kumba.

Health news - we all remained healthy except for Christy. After a high fever Friday evening, I diagnosed her with strep throat on Saturday morning (looked at her throat!), so Mike brought back penicillin and she is on the upswing. It's nice when it's that easy! She's a good patient - suffers in silence, poor girl!

Clara (crazy lady) has been gone almost all week. Her stuff is still here, so maybe she'll be back? It's been nice and quiet!!

This week... Lisa has already left for 3 Corners Bekondo (6km away) where she will spend most of the daylight hours through Thursday helping with a Sunday School teachers training program - all denominations welcome. This is exciting for me, because this was the hoped-for training that we planned when the church in Three Hills gave part of their Sunday School Christmas project money for the work here. The materials (most of them, anyway!) finally arrived (took a couple years!), and the meetings are now happening. On Thursday, Dan leaves again for more PR with OLDC, Thursday to Yaounde and Friday in Douala.

Then Saturday is the OLDC annual meeting (large event) in a town between here and Kumba. And on Sunday we (Scotts) will probably head to Yaounde, where Mike hopes to do a Field Director visit with the Colemans, we need to apply for a passport renewal for Laura, and make sure Christy has everything she needs for the hostel and RFIS next year (she might need another immunization). That Friday (the 23rd) we'll head to Douala to pick up Christina, the tutor, and bring her back to Bekondo on Saturday. The following Monday, the 26th, is the start of a translation week, and the last bit of school for the kids!

Yes, it sounds like we're busy as usual, but hopefully this week will be a bit slower for us even though it's busy for the Friesens. Some positive news is that some satellite internet equipment might be available this week, which means we might (but don't hold your breath!) have a system up and running before the end of the month. We need to get something set up soon, as the "hub" setup in Yaounde needs to be taken down before the end of the RFIS school year (the hub is located at the hostel in Yaounde).

Love,

Becky

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