Happy Easter

Happy Easter! The second term flew by. The third term starts on Monday April 8, but the TTC will be back for mock exams on April 1.

Besides the usual busy-ness of the second term, the school secretary "put to bed" (gave birth) at the beginning of March, so I was helping in the office especially with entering the end of term marks (grades) so the report cards could be completed. Also in the first week of March, the mother of the dean of TTC and the mother of the school chaplain both died. I went with the school staff to both funerals - one in Njinikom (about an hour from Bamenda) and one in Sop (about 40 minutes from Kumbo). The roads were pretty bad with the start of the rainy season again. Happily, the government has started to work on the road so it's getting better a little at a time.

 Palm Sunday weekend was the diocesan world youth day celebration, which was held in Jakiri (about an hour from Kumbo) at the new Cardinal Tume Comprehesive College (secondary school) with more than 3,000 youths. While there, I stayed with some sisters at a convent near the parish church. There is another set of sisters who are working at the school, one of whom is Brazilian. The bishop came on Saturday evening to join the celebration and stayed until after mass on Sunday morning. Bishop George is very good with the young people and they love him.

I spent the beginning of Holy Week in Kumbo, relaxing and typing term papers for TTC students. After the Chrism Mass on Wednesday, I got a ride with Fr. Anthony at St. Albert's in Bafut, where I spent Holy Thursday and Good Friday with the Marist Brothers. Then, it was back to Kumbo on Saturday (via public transportation - a small bus). On the way back, the bus got a flat tire in Babessi (about the halfway point). While we were waiting for the new tire, the clouds decided to let loose and there was a good downpour with lots of wind. I took shelter with the other passengers in a bar by the road. Between the tire and the rain, we were stuck there for about 45 minutes before the driver gathered us up to continue on. I was sitting by a window and got a little bit of a sunburn on my shoulder which I didn't notice until Sunday morning (it was sunny most of the way).

Holy Saturday Easter vigil was in Kikaikelaki where I was greeted by some students from St. Pius and TTC. In the morning, I watched the Easter Sunday mass in Rome on EWTN at the fathers' house in SAC.

And that pretty much brings everything up to date.

Got blessed by the Papal Nuncio for Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea

One hundred years ago, the first missionaries came to the Kumbo area. (To be exact, the Sacred Heart Fathers from Germany arrived in Shishong on December 31, 1912.) So the whole diocese is celebrating the centenary of faith in the diocese -- which is really cool since Pope Benedict XVI declared this to be the "Year of Faith". The festivities culminated on Friday, January 25 with a big mass and feast at Saint Augustine's College (SAC) Nso. There were about 15 bishops present (including the retired Cardinal and the Papal Nuncio) and I would hate to try to figure out how many priests were there.

I came down to Kumbo from Tatum on Thursday evening in time to get to the cathedral for the arrival of the Papal Nuncio and vespers (evening prayers). I got the blessing because I happened to go in the entrance next to the sacristy just as the nuncio was heading there to vest for the service.

It's wonderful seeing how alive the faith is here.

Aside from the centenary celebrations, I've been busy with school as usual. School re-opened on January 3. But I guess I overdid the holiday because, as soon as I got back to school, I came down with a bad cold and couldn't work very well for a few days. And I had to finish up the school magazine in order to get it to the printer which turned into a bit of a fiasco.

It was suppose to be done for the PTA meeting on the 19th, but since I was sick I didn't have it ready until the 13th. That should have been enough time. Now, usually they go to Bamenda to get it the magazine printed, but we decided to try the Diocesan printer in Kumbo this time. So on Monday (the 14th) I took my thumb drive to Kumbo. I met with the manager of the print shop and he agreed that they could get it done by Friday. I copied the data onto his hard drive and went back to Tatum for the rest of the week. On Friday (the 18th), I returned to Kumbo with Br. Isaac to pick up the magazines (assuming they were done). However, it turned out that they hadn't finished printing the covers and pictures (the only pages in color), but they promised to have it done on Saturday morning. The PTA meeting was scheduled to begin with Mass at 9am on Saturday. They worked all night but then the color machine broke in the morning before they had finished. So... there  was no school magazine for the PTA meeting. The main reason for the school magazine is to advertise the school and secondly to be sold to parents as a fundraiser. Since we didn't have it at the PTA meeting, we couldn't sell it to the parents.

The magazine is now done (the chaplain went to pick it up with afternoon). And we've decided to hold on to it and try to do it as a fundraiser at the graduation(s).

Oh, I will now be teaching Form 1 English Language. The original teacher left at the end of first term to go back to school and the principal couldn't find a full time teacher to replace her. I had to collect the students' notebooks to find out how far they had gotten. We have tests this coming week, so I decided to include on the test only what she had covered with them before I going on to anything new. It should be interesting because the Form 1 students still sometimes have difficulty understanding me.

Update on what actually happened during the holidays, as opposed to what I expected. The new parish priest for Kikaikelaki is Fr. Andrew who spent the last several years studying in Germany. He invited me to lunch on Christmas day at the Education Secretariat where he is currently staying. There were a mother and daughter (Sonja & Elinor) visiting him from Germany who I met on Christmas morning. We connected pretty much instantly. I ended up spending not just lunch, but pretty much all afternoon at the Secretariat and then we spent the evening at the Youth Center. Fr. Paul invited Sonja & Elinor to the mass with the altar servers the next day (the 26th), so I met up with them there and then we went over to the market (Mbve) where they bought a lot of fabric (since they like to sew). We didn't finish up there until late afternoon. For the rest of the holiday, I spent almost every other day with them. We even took a trip down to Mbiame with Fr. Paul and  Fr. Joe for a 50th wedding anniversary celebration. The mass I was expecting at the youth center on New Years Eve didn't get planned, so it didn't happen. Also, I haven't gone on the radio with Fr. Paul yet. He still wants me to do it, but because of school it probably won't be until either Easter holidays or summer holidays.

For the Easter holiday, I'm planning to go to Bamenda for the first week. We have mock exams for the TTC during the second week.

Monday kicks off National Bilingualism Week, so we'll be missing some classes especially on Monday and Friday. February 11 is Youth Day, so again we'll be missing classes. That's the way the second term goes.

Christmas Is Coming

Christmas is coming and I am getting fat... at least that's what people keep telling me (and it's a compliment here).  School is out for the holiday so I am down in Kumbo visiting friends and relaxing. Br. Evaristus had his final profession into the Marist Brothers on December 19 in Shisong. It was a wonderful celebration. He is the first ever Marist Brother from Shisong. Next week, December 23-30, is the Nso cultural festival (Ngon-Nso) in Kumbo. I am really looking forward to it. I missed it last year since I spent the holiday in Njinikom.

Fr. Paul has invited me to be involved with the youth ministry events during the holidays. The John Paul II Youth Center (home of the Kumbo diocesan youth ministry) is having the grand opening on Sunday of a little bar/restaurant to serve the community and the youth band (called an "orchestra") will be playing, along with other events all week. On the feast of St. Stephen (Dec. 26), the altar servers are having their centenary Mass with the bishop and afterwards they will have a celebration at the youth center (where many of them will spend the night before travelling back to their homes around the diocese). And on New Years' Eve, there will be a special Mass for the youths at the youth center, with a party afterwards until midnight. Also, every Monday and Wednesday night, Fr. Paul has a time slot on the diocesan radio station (Radio Evangelum) to have a program about youth ministry. He has asked me to come on the program with him one evening (probably  next Wednesday) to talk about my impressions of the youth ministry in Cameroon, since I can provide an outsider's perspective.

Exams were the last week of November and then we had only a week and a half to the end of the term. The students consider that time to be "rascal week", but many teachers continue to teach classes. I told my students that if they missed those classes or didn't pay attention, then they might miss something important for the next exam. That made some of them more attentive. The school Christmas party was on December 13. The students spent 2-3 weeks preparing songs and skits for the party. The school clubs for secondary students were only begun at the end of November, but many of the clubs were able to put something together in that short time. I was appointed as club mistress for the Creative Writers club. There are about 12 students in the club. I told them that it is their club and I'm just there to help guide them. They decided to draw some pictures for the Christmas party and to write a poem about Christmas which one of them read at the party. Here's  the poem:

OH CHRISTMAS

This day the King of Kings is born.

This is the day which down the void abysm At the earth-born's spell yawns for heaven's despotism, And conquest is dragged captive through the deep.

CHRIST, from His gracious throne of patient power, With boundless endurance, from slippery steep And narrow verge of crag-like agony, springs and folds Over the earth His endless kingdom.

Gentleness, virtue, wisdom, joy and endurance, These are the seals of this great feast, And most firm assurance of Gabriel Which fills the world with everlasting peace.

CHRIST born to:

Forgive wrongs darker then death or night; Defy riches, which seem omnipotent; Love and bear; hope until hope creates from its own wreck the thing it contemplates, This marvellous enriching glory of God.

This alone is life, joy, unity and victory.

What else? Oh yeah, during the holiday I also have to find time to edit the school magazine. The students typed up the articles during the last few weeks of the first term, but now they have to be compiled. The target for the magazine to be completed and printed is before the P.T.A. meeting on January 19. So once the second term starts, we'll only have 2 weeks to get it done. And two of the TTC students that I'm advising on their term papers gave me their first chapter before the holiday, so I need to read and mark those to hand them back as soon as school starts on the 3rd.

So as usual, I'm keeping busy and time is flying. I can hardly believe I'm at the half-way point in my time here.

Christmas Eve

Fr. Paul invited me to go with him for Christmas Eve Mass in the village of Yeh which is about 10 minutes off the main road.  We were accompanied by the seminarian who is helping in Kikaikelaki parish and Sr. Rosalia (who works at the Bishop's house).  When we got there, the church was empty except for two ladies who were cleaning. There had been some mis-communication so they weren't expecting a mass tonight. However, while Fr. Paul and the seminarian were putting on their vestments and preparing for mass, the ladies rang the mass bell and people (women and children mostly) started showing up. Sr. Rosalia and I sat down by the choir and joined in the singing.

The church was the smallest I've been in since coming to Cameroon; I doubt it could have held 50 people. There was no electricity, so the light was provided by the two candles on the altar and by an electric lantern the seminarian had remembered to bring. It was a beautiful Mass. The people were very happy that Father had come and were still singing Christmas carols when we left.

Dry Season

The dry season is back, which means the muddy roads have turned into dusty roads.

Plusses: don't have to deal with rain almost every day, shoes are not muddy, don't have to be super careful getting out of the car so as to avoid getting mud on legs, roads are not slippery, sun is shining, and the daytime weather is warmer (don't have to wear a sweater everyday).

Minuses: allergies are worse, everything is acquiring a fine layer of dust (even inside), everything outside starts looking red, nights getting colder, and the sun is painfully bright at times.

My corn was harvested about a month ago, but I haven't started eating it yet because we decided to save it until later in the season when it's expected that the price for corn will go up, since there was not a good harvest of corn this season.

The parish priest in Tatum (Fr. Evaristus) noticed that I have been missing from Mass (in Tatum). This last Sunday (the 18th), there was a special mass for all teachers with the bishop in Kumbo to celebrate the centenary. The Sunday previous (the 11th), I was in Bamenda with Elise (from Mission Doctors), the Hakes (the couple in Njinikom), and the Newburn family where we went to Mass at a Piarist parish called St. Michael's. On the 4th, I was in Kumbo with Elise prior to her visit to Tatum. 

Since Mission Doctors and Lay Mission Helpers are sister organizations, Elise was visiting on behalf of both. She had to report back to Janice on how things are going here. A few days before she arrived, I let Br. Isaac know that she was coming. He had the students prepare some songs and dances to welcome her. It was pretty impressive what they were able to put together on very short notice. The week of Nov. 5-11 was Catholic Education Week for the diocese, which meant that schedules were disrupted. It was also the start of the first week of teaching practice for the TTC students, so they were not on campus most of the day. Elise only spent Monday at St. Pius X because she had to leave early on Tuesday morning to go to Bamenda to meet with the auxiliary bishop there.  On Monday, the secondary school students all had to march into town in the morning with the Catholic primary school children. But when they returned to their classes, we were able to visit the classes I teach and Elise had a chance to meet the students. In the afternoon, they gave their welcoming presentations and, afterwards, we had a little social gathering with some of the teachers.

The weekend I went to Bamenda (17-18), started with a trip to Mbengwe for all the staff of St. Pius X. We were returning their visit from last year. The plan was to leave in a bus at 5am. But the bus didn't make it to the school due to the bad roads, so we had to take taxis to meet the bus in Kumbo. We didn't leave Tatum until about 6:30am to arrive in Kumbo by 7:30am. For some reason it took another hour to leave Kumbo. So we didn't reach Mbengwe until close to 2pm. Near the school in Mbengwe there is a Claretian monastery that the teachers from Mbengwe took us to visit. It is a beautiful place, and they make their own yogurt (yummy!). The main thing we did once we got to the school was to have a sport competition. We played volleyball, handball, and football (soccer)... and lost all three. Because we arrived so late, the games didn't finish until it was getting dark. Then I had to get a taxi back to Bamenda (about 1 1/2 hours) to meet the LMH/MDA group  there. I arrived while they were still eating dinner. It was good to visit and exchange stories. I didn't get back to Tatum until late on Monday.

I had met the Newburns previously as they had managed to make a visit to Kumbo a few weeks before. The auxiliary bishop of Bamenda is from the Kumbo area. His mother died recently and many people came for the funeral including the Newburns. I was able to make a trip down to Kumbo on the Thursday before and spend the evening with them before returning to school for classes on Friday. They are a nice family and I'm impressed with how well their kids seem to be handling the new environment.

I think that pretty much catches you up.

Oh... here are my latest experiences with slippery roads:

First, on the morning when we were going to Mbengwe, we were in the taxis heading to Kumbo. About ten minutes from Tatum (right before a town called Kishong), we were passing a group of men trying to pull a car back onto the road (the front end was hanging over the edge) when the car suddenly plunged down the hill, but then we went around the corner and didn't see what happened. The teachers in the taxi behind us saw it too and told us that the driver had been in the car, but managed to get out without getting hurt. The next time I passed by the spot, the car was gone.

Second, and more personal, the following Monday when I returned from Bamenda, I was able to get a ride from Kumbo to Tatum with Br. Isaac but had to wait for a few hours in town because his car was getting fixed. When we finally left it was getting dark. We were about three-quarters of the way back (on the Kumbo side of Kishong), when we came to a spot where there were two large trucks blocking the road -- one of which looked like it was stuck. So we had to take a detour on the shoulder. As we were going, a car came from the other direction, so we had to pull over even more. The shoulder at that point is actually a raised hump on the side of the road with a fairly steep hill going down on the other side. So, Brother was trying to negotiate around the other car and we ended up sliding off the shoulder away from the road. With the help of some people pushing the car up, Brother was able to get the car back on to the shoulder and then on to the road. But in the process, the clutch was burned out. We made it into Kishong and then had to call the Marist brothers to send someone to pick us up. It made for a tense end to a long day of travel for me.