Last Saturday the Staff at SAC paid a visit to St. Mary's
College in Ndop. Ndop is a town about midway
between Kumbo and Bamenda and is famous for its rice fields. The programme as
published going into the weekend included introductions, songs by the St.
Mary's students, a tour of the UNVDA rice factory, and a football match pitting
the two faculties against each other.
Well, we did those things, and more... unfortunately, one of
the additional unprogrammed events was a vehicle bearing SAC teachers spinning
out and flipping over, not more than 4 minutes from the destination. There must
have been about 13 million guardian angels helping, because the five teachers
inside the care were unhurt! A second car, unrelated to our trip, crashed in
the same spot for the same reason during the rescue effort of "our"
car. There was a tricky-to-navigate part of the road, and drivers unused to the
highway paid the price for their lack of practice. The second car that crashed
had three passengers rushed to the hospital. We were very thankful to have our
teachers safe and sound. Many SAC teachers attributed the lack of injuries to
the fact that we prayed before we set out.
After everyone gathered safely, the staff of St. Mary's led
us onto campus in a triumphant procession. It looked pretty smart, with the St.
Mary's teachers in their matching track suits riding two or three to a
motorcycle, and the SAC cars following behind. We were welcomed by the
students, and there was singing as promised, and "self-introduction."
The teachers from St. Mary's tended to be younger, while our own teaches tend
to be older... There was some joking about the trip, because St. Mary's had
visited SAC 7 years ago, and this was a "payback" invitation to visit
them in return. The reason they waited so long was so that they could have
children and those children could defeat us in football.
Breakfast (at 10 AM) was delicious, rice with sardine
sandwiches and your choice of soda. We have noticed that the food options here,
especially at big events, aren't varied. People are just happy to have a
filling meal.
There were speeches, of course. There are always speeches.
The entire visit was also punctuated by the hilarious comedic addresses of one
of the teachers from SAC, who imitated a Nigerian televangelist. It was
apparently hilarious... I have never seen the televangelist, but everyone else
seemed to be at least familiar with his "prophecies" and such things.
The visit to the UNVDA Rice facility was interesting, and
merits its own post, as does the football match. About the rice tour, I will
say that a mystery was revealed to me during the tour. On the buses between
Bamenda and Douala, there are salesmen who get on and sell "magic
powder" to the passengers. The magic powder has about 25 different uses,
and will do everything from ease your aching teeth to help your irregular
menstrual flow. It's a sham, and I've always wondered just what exactly was in
the powder. Well, on the tour, I discovered that entrepreneurial locals take
the hulls of the rice, bleach them in the sun, and then grind it up and sell it
as magic powder. Mystery solved!
As for the football, we won, 2-1, but our ladies lost the
handball match by forfeit, as we only had three teachers willing to play. More
on that later, especially more pictures.
After washing the sweat and dirt off and dressing up a
little bit, we went to a bar/hotel in Ndop for dinner and drinks and
socializing. The sign for the bar was one of the more interesting I've seen
here:
I had a nice time talking with some of the St. Mary's
teachers, and getting to know some of the SAC teachers better. There were more
speeches, and gifts given, and food. There was some unexpected entertainment,
as a local palm wine tapper was busy up in the trees next door. In Ndop, they
tap at the top of the palm to get the palm wine, in Kumbo there is a different
method and a different plant. In Kumbo, they tap the raffia palm bush, getting
at it underground.
Before it was dark, we got back in the cars and headed home.
It was an uneventful return trip, thankfully. I was tired and exhausted from
being up and out all day, from playing football, from socializing, but I am
glad I went. It was nice to come home and see my family. Most of the kids were
still awake but going to bed, a process which I interrupted, but it is always
nice to hug your babies.
As Logan stayed home with the kids, and the other
expat SAC teachers have returned to America, I was the only American around. I
am becoming more aware of the various groups of Cameroonians, and notice how certain
teachers from the same tribe tend to talk to each other more and stick
together. Tribalism is embedded deep in our psyche, no more here than in the States.
It was a good experience, and hopefully we'll host St.
Mary's here next year, or another school. In the meantime, I'll practice my
football skills for the rematch.
-Eric
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