Finals

The GCE exams are finally finished. We only have the CAPIEMP exams for the TTC next week, then the school year is complete. I spent 3 hours today invigilating the last exam of the GCE. Sitting in a room for 3 hours watching students write an exam is tedious... even worse than writing the exam itself. You can't do anything, no reading, no talking on the phone, no nothing. The most you can do is step outside the door for a minute or two, where you can still see inside. But it's done now.

I still have work to do in the office. I finished the transcripts for the current batch of graduating students. But I just learned today that the transcripts from two years ago were not completed and those students that were in Form Five then are now completing high school and are requesting their Form Five transcripts, so I have to complete those transcripts for them. Plus I'm working on the end of year reports (statistical summaries of the exams, etc). I should have that all done in a few days.

Tomorrow we have our end of year staff meeting and, from what the principal said, a bit of a send off for those teachers who will be leaving (including me). I'm planning to take the weekend off and go to Kumbo for a bit of a break and to do some shopping. Next week will be busy again.

One problem with living on campus and being the school secretary is that the principal has no qualms about asking me to come into the office in the evening to print something for him. Well, it's not like I have anything else I'm doing in the evenings anyways... just relaxing in the house.

Since I haven't written in a while, I have some old events to report on. Palm Sunday weekend I spent in Ako (parish in the northern part of the diocese) for the Diocesan Youth Day. Ako is at a much lower elevation and therefore quite hot. Had to drink lots of water and ended up staying inside as much as possible. Got some mosquito bites, but no malaria (yeah!). Even the youths from other parts of the diocese had problems with the heat. While there, we made a trip to a nearby village to go to their market, but in order to get to that village you have to cross a river by canoe. There are boys who run the canoes back and forth all day. The river was low enough that the boys could push/pull the canoe most of the way, they only had to actually swim maybe 3-4 feet at one point where the river was deeper. We were told that during the height of the rainy season the river gets very high, and we were shown trees that are completely underwater that time of year. I learned that Fr. Paul and many other people from this part of the country can't swim and are afraid of that much water. I wouldn't have wanted to go into the river either, because the water was brown and I'm afraid of diseases that might be in the water. However, our trip across the river and back was uneventful. The weekend was good and the youths seemed to get a lot out of it.

I haven't done much else out of the ordinary. I supervised the computer science practicals again. This time I was back in GBHS Kumbo for three days, so I stayed in SAC and got to visit with the Hornes. Also, I went to Djottin parish for the celebration of their 75th anniversary as a parish. Bishop Agapitus (the auxiliary bishop of Bamenda) is from Djottin, his family home is right next to the parish church, so he was the celebrant at the mass. I had a chance to talk to him briefly before the mass. We mostly spoke about the Lay Mission-Helpers working in Bamenda Diocese. It was a nice celebration.

That's about it. Mostly just keeping busy in the office at school.

Time Flies

I've been thinking about human nature; particularly that when a group of people are put into certain situations, they act in specific ways that aren't necessarily their usual behaviors. I guess it's group dynamics.

Take, for instance, the student teachers in TTC. Some of them have teaching experience, but when you put them in a classroom you can't tell the difference between the ones right out of high school and the ones who have been working for years... they fall into "student" behaviors. But when these same student teachers are out on teaching practice, then they start acting like "teachers". In fact, it's often the ones who are themselves the most troublesome in school who are in turn the most strict disciplinarians to their own students. But when they return from teaching practice, the whole class is often more difficult to manage than before.

Then there are the teachers in TTC. About a month ago we went to a seminar with other TTCs in the area about the changes in the curriculum and the final exams for all TTCs. While in the seminar, you could see the teachers acting like students (I'll even admit I did it too); there were those sitting in the back whispering to each other or doing their own things, those sitting in the front furiously taking notes, and everything in between. But when this same group of teachers got together a few weeks later to draw up questions for a joint exam, then they put on their "teacher"-hats and applied themselves much more seriously.

Maybe those who have studied psychology can explain it -- I never got beyond Psych 101 and that was almost 20 years ago.

On to other matters... we're just finishing the second term and we have two weeks of vacation. However, I'll be working during part of it. I have to re-shelve books in the library (should take a day or two) and get the computer lab ready for the GCE exams (should also take about a day). I also have to set questions for the promotional exams (should only take a few hours). Then for the weekend of Palm Sunday (Thursday to Sunday), I'm going with the Diocesan Youth team to Ako Parish for the Diocesan World Youth Day celebrations. Ako is located in the northern part of the diocese, fairly close to the Nigerian border. This will be my first trip to that parish. A friend of mine who works at the Pastoral Centre in Kumbo is from Ako and has invited me to visit in the past, but I didn't have a chance before.

A few weeks ago, I went to Jakiri with the Diocesan Youth team. They were supposed to be going to give some leadership workshops to the parish youth team, but it turned out that there was in fact no parish youth team in place. So instead they spent the weekend raising awareness in the parish and forming the parish youth team. Although it wasn't what was planned, it ended up working out well. At mass on Sunday, the new youth team was introduced to the parish and greeted with much applause.

This past Friday was the annual pilgrimage to Boyong Hill in Ndu parish, which is the next big town after Tatum. The roads are pretty good right now, so it's about a 30 minute drive or 2-3 hour walk from Tatum to Ndu. Many people walk from all parts of the diocese to Ndu, while others drive. They all meet at the grandstand in Ndu for a blessing before the official pilgrimage, which is from the grandstand to a hill outside of town. I think this is the third or fourth year they have been doing it. Stations of the Cross are said on the way to the hill. It took about 2 hours to walk including stopping for prayers at each Station. After everyone reaches the summit of the hill, there is a reconciliation service and Confessions, followed Holy Mass.

Last year, the bishop wasn't able to be there and the auxiliary bishop of Bamenda was there in his place, but this year Bishop George was there himself and walked the pilgrimage route with everyone else.

After mass, everyone heads back home. Some people bring their cars up to the hill and so drive back, but others (including us) walk the route back to Ndu. We were blessed that the rain held off until after the pilgrimage. We were still in Ndu when it started to rain, but most people had already left. I went with Fr. Paul and members of the Diocesan Laity Council, one of whom provided food for us to eat when we got back to the car. It was a good day, but I got a bit too much sun but luckily not so much as to get an actual sunburn. (I didn't put on sun block since the previous few days had been cloudy.)

So that's the latest news from me. I can't believe I only have 3 more months until my term officially ends at the end of June. I've promised Fr. Paul I would stick around until at least the third week of July for the annual youth camp and I may stay for a few weeks after that as well.

Wow! Time flies!

Belated Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

November and December were the usual busy. On November 29, Misaje (where Fr. Edwin Boye, former bishop's chancellor, now is) became a full-fledged parish (St. John the Apostle). So I got a ride up there on the 28th with a friend of Fr. Paul (Mr Julius, a retired government official). Thursday night before the celebration, I spent at the house of the head mistress of the school. The next morning was a beautiful day, perfect for the celebration. It was a good turnout for a parish that is quite out of the way. We headed back to Kumbo in the late afternoon, but got a flat tire on the way (and a broken wheel mount so it couldn't be fixed on the road). After an hour or so, Fr. Paul called a friend of his who worked in a parish near the break-down and asked for a ride. The priest generously lent us his car for the rest of the evening so we could get back to Kumbo. In the course of this adventure, I became friends with Mr. Julius and he invited me to his house during the holiday where I met his wife and son and he claimed me as part of their family.

First Term officially ended on the Dec. 20th and Second Term began on Jan. 6th.

I spent most of my time off in Kumbo, except for the weekend when I went back to Tatum for the final profession of Br. Brendan - one of the Marist brothers who has been working at the school. It was similar to the final profession of Br. Evaristus last year in Shisong, but better since it was in Tatum. :) While in Kumbo I spent a lot of time with the Horne family - the kids remind me of my nieces and nephews back home. They took me into their home and made me part of their celebration of both Christmas and New Year's Eve. Eric and Logan both asked me what they should expect for the holidays in Kumbo, but I had to tell them that I didn't really know since each year I've done something different.

My first Christmas and New Years in Cameroon I was in Njinikom with the Hakes, where we went to Christmas Eve mass in the parish and New Years in the hospital. I spent most of my time there resting in their house, but I also went on hospital rounds with them a few times. On Christmas day, we passed out candy to the children (and some of the adults) in the hospital. It was a blessing to be able to bring a little joy to the patients.

My second year, I was in the Kumbo area for the holidays but was in Kikaikelaki (now a) parish (10 minutes from Kumbo) for Christmas. I spent New Year’s Eve with Sonja and Elinor (two Germans). That Christmas Eve mass was one of the best masses I have been to, ever. It was in a small village called Yeh where they have no electricity so the mass was done by candlelight. The building was very small, fitting maybe about 30 people. I went there with Fr. Paul and Sr. Rosalie (who works at the Bishop's House). When we arrived, no one was there yet because they hadn't been told there was to be a mass. Upon our arrival, the person who happened to be cleaning the church/chapel at the time rang the bell to let people know that a priest had arrived. By the time Father had his vestments on, people had started to gather. The way the people looked at me, I think they get very few foreign (i.e. white) visitors in Yeh.

So this year, as I said, I spent much of the holiday with the Hornes. On Christmas Eve, I helped make some cookies and in the evening we all went to mass in Bamkika'a which is a neighborhood at the northern end of Kumbo where SAC (St. Augustine's College) is located. It's probably about a mile walk (pretty level) from the Horne’s house to the current church in Bamkika'a which is on the grounds of the Youth Center. (They are building a new church a little ways up the road, but it's doesn't have a roof yet.) There was "low current" (low voltage) in town that evening, so most of the lights in the church (fluorescent tubes) were just flickering instead of actually turning on, which was very annoying and a bit headache-inducing. Overall, the mass was disappointing. The Hornes invited me to join them on Christmas morning as well, so I accepted the invitation and was surprised to find that "Santa" had brought me a present to their house - a nice pottery teacup and saucer from PresCraft (the Presbyterian local crafts store) in Bamenda. I am using it right now.

On New Years' Eve we managed to stay up until midnight and had a toast with non-alcoholic sparkling "wine"... we'd already been drinking sangria in the late afternoon and topped it off with Baileys after the kids where in bed. (Logan makes very good "tropical" sangria.) I had just come back from Tatum that morning for a special mass at the cathedral in support for the "Open Door" Day at the Youth Center. On New Years' Day, Eric and Logan and their friend Sara (visiting from New Mexico) came over to the Fathers' house for a nice simple private mass in the sitting room with Fr. Edwin Kewai and Fr. Paul. It was in the sitting room because Fr. Kewai injured his ankle a few weeks back and so is on crutches and therefore can't manage the stairs to the chapel very well. All in all, it was a good holiday.

I returned to school on Saturday, Jan. 4, to have a few days to prepare for school to resume. Br. Simon had gotten me to do some work when I was in Tatum on the 30th, so I also completed other pending tasks that day, which meant I could still relax on the 4th and 5th. Next week the TTC is having exams, so this week I have been typing the questions for most of the subjects. Plus, we posted the results of the pre-mock for Form 5 and Upper 6th this evening, so I had to enter all the marks this week. It doesn't take very long to enter marks into the computer, what often takes more time is chasing down the teachers to get them to give them to me. So it's back to the usual until the Easter holiday.

News from the homefront. Welcome to my newest nephew (#14) - Eric Michael Williams - born on Jan. 5th. ...Guess my prayers for a girl weren't strong enough this time. ;)