wu 26 may

Greetings from the Rainforest

 

We have been very busy this week. Betsy got back from the NWest on Monday just in time for us to go over to the Ficek's for her birthday dinner. It was very nice. She was dog-tired from the traveling but held up like a real trooper. I had spent the day canoeing on the river by Mbalmayo with some kids from school. I was asked to lead this expedition last week. My 2 conditions to going were that the vehicle that would be bouncing down a rough rainforest road was not mine and that one of them would perpetuate my lunch. The deal was made and we left at about 8am. The vehicle owner requested that we bring along one of their security guards to watch the truck while we were on the river. He turned out to be very useful later. The destination was the same locale we went to for a baptism ceremony last fall. The school owns 3 canoes (which I just found out about that day!! I could have been canoeing all year long!!) and pays a local tree nursery to store them just a few kms from the river. The float was uneventful right up to the time we were heading back downstream after lunch. A rainshower (thunderstorm) blew in with little warning and we got soaked to the skin. Betsy had my rainjacket with her so I had nothing. We had a lot of fun. There were 5 girls, the senior boy I mentor on Fridays and myself. We saw some wildlife but could not identify it. It looked like a gray squirrel but bigger. There were also a few eagle looking birds flying around. Since we could only fit 2 canoes on the top of the vehicle, Fernando the guard (how a French-speaking African got to be named Fernando I will never know) and I took 2 back while the young-uns dried out. On the way back, we were asked by the nursery guys to give a man a ride up the road. We figured he worked there and was ok so he jumped in the back seat and we headed out. About half way there I realized that his hand was reaching over to the bags in the backseat. There were wallets and cameras and other assorted irreplaceable belongings there so I kept one eye on him and one on the road. When he got out I noticed he had something stuffed under his shirt. Was it a $500 digital camera? A pocketbook with money and ID's? Fernando jumped out and politely asked him to give it back. I figured the guy would take off so I was nervous. He played dumb and finally pulled it out and handed it over. A mostly used up can of bugspray. He said he thought it was his. If a guy can't remember if he had bugspray in his hand 2 minutes earlier in his life or not, he has bigger problems than standing out in the rain. Fernando checked his pockets and patted him down. All he had was his ID so after a few loud exchanges we took off with his ID and left him standing there. We told him he could pick it up at the nursery. The guys there said he worked down the road and every day stops there to beg off some food. They turn him away because he spends his money on drugs and booze. I told them if he would have just been kind enough to ask for the bugspray I would have given it to him. I probably would have given him some extra food we had. Most Africans have a very low opinion of people who do not work to support their families.

Last night was the big Formal Banquet for the school. All the fancy gowns and suits. It was held in a nice open air room at the Palace de Congres. It's where the Cameroonian national Congress meets and where all the Congressmen's offices are. It's a big fancy building up on a hill looking at the President's mansion. It was nice and the kids looked great. The meal was pretty lousy for 6000cfa though. If I was a vegetarian I would have been doing pretty well but I did not claw my way up to the top of the food chain to feast on carrots and bread. The students got a chance to say goodbye to the seniors and kids who are leaving after this year. The seniors do a thing where they "will" stuff to the younger students and teachers. T-shirts from camping trips and calculators borrowed. Some were very original. Seniors in the past have started traditions where they require their stuff to be passed down every year. A lot of them were personal but some got big laughs. One boy willed his hair (metaphorically) to the balding English teacher. I got a book of Sudoku puzzles from a student in my study hall who would watch me do online puzzles instead of homework. I never really said anything to him because I wasn't doing what I was supposed to either.

We finished a couple of big projects at Ekoko II today. The screen doors got bug-proofed and we installed a set of 3 gutters on the dorms that empty into a barrel for fresh water. They either catch drips off the tin or walk down to the creek for water so this will help out the wheelchair bound kids a lot. Oliver our day guard and his brother Emmanuel came out to work on a project. The shower drain out the side of the building had become plugged because the brain-child who installed it apparently forgot that water can not flow uphill. He then proceeded to bury the PVC drainpipe under 2 inches of concrete. The guys worked to chip it out and will go back on Monday to fix it up and get it working properly. Emmanuel does a lot of mason work on the side so I (the school) hired him to fix this up and repour the ground gutter so it flows out instead of settling in front of the door.

2 weeks to go and we are excited to see everybody. I am looking forward to the big juicy Larry Burger from Kimball Corner as soon as we get back.

Betsy wants to tell you all about her trip to the NWest but it looks like it will be next week instead.

Take care and God Bless

 

Brian & Betsy