Picture Blog 2

On the Solemnity of Christ the King, at the end of Mass all the neighboring parishes process with the Blessed to the Cathedral for benediction. From high up you could see the various processions all converging together. From the road, you could hear the singing and the praying and feel the joy. The men holding the canopy are wearing a traditional pattern of cloth.

We have an Advent wreath, and light it every night at dinner. After dinner Logan sometimes reads to the children from a history book written to tell children history as a story. Here we are, reading by candlelight. Can you find Max in the picture?

Sally is thankful for a good meal shared with friends. We had a thanksgiving meal with other American expats here, including a turkey! it was flown in especially for the occasion. The only thing missing from the feast was the green bean casserole. We made our traditional ravioli (long story short, we hosted vegetarians for Thanksgiving several years in a row, including my brother Ben, and now we continue the tradition in his memory).

I now have my own radio show! I have been asked to host a weekly piece Sunday evenings entitled "What the Pope Says." I'll give you one guess as to the subject matter... The first week went well enough, though we have plans to improve. In the picture, the man in the studio is Chrisco, who mans all the dials and levels and thingees on the other side of the glass. After the broadcast he offered to share his snack... fried grasshoppers. yum! The crunchy ones are good, the squishy ones are a little gross. Tune in to Radio Evangelium Kumbo at 7:30 PM Cameroon time to hear about What the Pope says!

-Eric

Mercy Watson

Sometimes, something happens that just brightens your day, no matter how dull or bright it already was. For us, this past week, it was a very generous care package from our dear friends in Los Alamos. Inside we found a letter, very nice yarn for knitting (we both knit), knitting patterns, and books for the children.

Not just any books, but Mercy Watson books. Mercy Watson is a pig who lives with Mr. Watson and Mrs. Watson at 54 Deckawoo Drive. Her favorite food is toast with a great deal of butter on it. In every book she manages to get into misadventures involving the neighbors, the police, the fire department, animal control, and of course, toast. More often than not, there is a chase. Mercy *loves* a chase!

And our children love Mercy! The same family that sent the package introduced us to Mercy through books on tape to take on cross-country drives. One listen, and we were hooked. The adults I mean. Mercy is great!

 Anyway, this is a mission blog, not a book review blog. Suffice it to say, everyone, including our house help, has been busy reading Mercy books, and Logan and I have been busy knitting, while Helena and James are learning to knit and crochet. 

On Saturday I cast on for a new project (what will eventually, hopefully, be a beautiful shawl) and knit a few rows, then glanced outside to see the fencing material we had recently purchased. We have a small garden, and the neighborhood has goats. The goats eat our plants, and we need to keep them out. Beyond the fencing material, I saw a goat in our garden snacking on our beans, and decided that the nice new yarn could wait, but the fence couldn't. 

I spent the better part of the day digging holes and putting in fence posts. The Sun was sinking in the West, I was tired and sweaty and very, very dirty. I only had a few more posts to sink into the ground, when I looked up and saw...

A pig! Now, it's not unusual to see loose goats, or chickens, and there was even a herd of cows that trotted by my classroom window once... but I had never seen a pig out of her pen before. Beyond the pig was a small army of young men trying to stalk and catch her. When they got too close, off she went!

It was a chase! Mercy *loved* a chase!

I joined in, and we chased the pig through the woods, crashing through the underbrush and fallen branches. Soon enough one of the young men got close and flopped right on top of her, pinning her to the ground. The pig's owner told me this was the 4th time this week the pig escaped!

After the retelling and explanation as to why I was covered in burrs when I was only building a fence in our front yard, Logan declared the appearance of Mercy Watson in our yard in Cameroon to be the highlight of her day. I'm not sure if the pig that wandered into our yard enjoyed hot toast with a great deal of butter on it, but she seems like a pig after Mercy's own heart. 

I wish I could say that after building the fence and chasing the pig we all went inside and Mrs. Watson served up piles upon piles of hot buttered toast, but reality turned out better. I watched my tan wash off in the shower, ate a delicious meal prepared by Mrs. Horne, and turned in early, dreaming of toast and butter and knitting. And Mercy.

-Eric

Thorns & Roses

Thorns and roses is one of our family traditions. At the end of the day, or trip, or event, everyone gathers together and shares a thorn from the day, paired with a rose. A thorn is some bad part of the day, a low point. The rose is a bright part of your day, that made you smile and brought you joy. Sometimes we add rosebuds, something you are looking forward to tomorrow or in the near future. It is not a nightly ritual, but we do it often enough that the children enjoy it, and are even becoming better about sharing and being thoughtful.

The thing with Mission work is, sometimes it is difficult to notice the roses when your hand is gripped so tightly around the thorns. In a day full of uplifting experiences, it is often the frustrating class or the annoying or baffling interaction that I come home talking about. Sometimes I just want to vent, but that venting can become tunnel vision focused on the thorns.

Of course, this isn't true just for mission life, it is true for life in general. (Thought: for a Christian, can there be anything BUT mission life?).

So, it's good to recognize the frustrating thorns AND the beautiful roses, everyday.  So, here are a couple of my own "Thorns and Roses" from recent weeks, and a few rosebuds:

Thorns:

-Schedule disruptions that nobody else seems surprised or bothered by;

-"White man price," where vendors assume that just because I CAN pay a higher price, I will; 

-When the water goes out at the same time your whole family gets a nasty stomach bug;

Roses:

-I am continually amazed at the beauty of Kumbo and the NW region;

-Shopping for fabric and having clothes tailor made is pretty fun;

-Getting to know the people here and building relationships with them, and catching a glimpse into their lives;

-Getting email, snail mail, and even the occasional package from friends and family back home. Thank you so much! We have written many response letters, please be patient with us and the mail!

-Spur-of-the moment Philly Cheese Steak parties, with last-minute dashing off to find ingredients, and replete with surprise guests who turn it into a birthday party. It was actually our second accidental birthday in a week. we seem to be adept at having people over, then having someone else show up whose birthday it is.

-Getting to know Falan, a friend of my deceased brother who was in Kumbo for a month at Shisong, through Dr. Ellen Dailor, who is here through Mission Doctors Association, which is the sister organization to Lay Mission Helpers. Got all that? It's not quite," My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night," but it is close;

Rosebuds:

-I recently obtained a Lamnso' primer, and it is very helpful in learning the language;

-Our friend Sara, from New Mexico, will be visiting over Christmas!

-Eric

Brick By Brick And Linear Equation By Linear Equation

Last year, only 25% of Saint Augustine students who took their ordinary level GCE test passed the mathematics portion. On top of that, some students who come into the school do not read very well. On top of that, a passing grade is 50%. On top of that, most students think that math is difficult. The low academic standards, the perceived difficulty of the subject I teach, and a general sense that some students aren't striving for excellence but rather are satisfied with "good enough" have all been recent sources of frustration for me.

What am I supposed to do? I am here to teach mathematics, but will I be effective? Will my students actually learn anything from me? Do they even care?

A talk with fellow LMH-er Ryan Martin, and a talk with MDA-er Ellen Dailor, helped pull me out of my funk. Ryan reminded me of what we had learned during formation in the Spring, that what was most important about our mission was how I do my job, the attitude and the example I set, not the results. Dr. Ellen Dailor reminded me that this kind of work is incremental, often building upon other's prior work, as well as laying the groundwork for those to come after us. What we do is built brick by brick. (Rome, or rather St. Elizabeth's Hospital and Cardiac Center in Shisong, wasn't built in a day, was the essence of her point.)

Of course that is true! I am teaching these children in the middle of their academic careers, after they have been formed, for ill or for good, by their parents and their previous teachers. I also won't be the last teacher they have, and it is my job to prepare them for life, and for their future learning. Still, when a student turns in a test she worked very hard on, and gets a big fat "0/100" in return, it can be disappointing for the student and the teacher.

So, I am trying to face the challenges ahead with a fresh attitude, looking to teach the students that need remedial work what they need while providing a challenge to the students who "get it." And in the meantime, my love and kindness or lack thereof will teach the students way more than any of the math we go over in class. THAT is a humbling thought, because it is very easy for me to become frustrated with teaching, or teaching in Cameroon, or teaching Math in Cameroon. I need to remember that my students deserve my best and that I need to try to persevere and perform well the task at hand.

-Eric

The Artist And The Juju

Eric and I have been meeting some fun and interesting people. Sunday we trekked with our Peace Corps friend to find an elusive bar we heard was located on top of the neighboring mountain. On the way we were to try and locate a plant nursery that we were told had rosemary seedlings! After about 5 up- hill miles we arrived at Eden. Or what seemed like Eden: a lovely farm bursting with fruit trees of every kind, fields of wheat, and general sense of peace and loveliness. The man who ran this nursery is called King George and was utterly delightful. Full of enthusiasm for nature and his education program he poured himself out into us. He had been working this place for about 20 years after several failed attempts to start an educational nursery farm. Of course we forgot our camera. (Though we have made plans to come again soon.) I was happy because he encouraged me to keep composting, which some locals had told me was stupid and wasteful.

After this stop, we wandered along the hilltop to the bar and met several more friends. We met a fantastic artist who is trying hard to sustain his small gallery here in Kumbo. We are hoping to go visit him and see more of his work. It is great to meet local people working hard to make Kumbo a richer place to be. While we sat and had our beer and soya two troupes of  jujus passes. Jujus are part of the traditional religion and they are men dressed in costume, each a different character according to traditions, and they are accompanied by an entourage. Some are mean and if you do not bow and avert your eyes they will whip you or hit you with sticks. Others beg and don't leave until you give them something. It is amazing to be in a crowd of full grown adults, dressed well and otherwise very respectable, crouching and hiding from costumed men. I got down and hid behind my chair; they are scary! We are still trying to learn about what jujus mean but it is difficult to find somebody to translate these complex systems of belief into a way we understand.

-Logan