Some views to enjoy

March 6th

March 6^th, 2012

It has been an adventuresome couple of days! We left Douala on Monday the 5^th. We were allowed a late check out as we didn't need to be at the Airport until 3pm. We checked out promptly at 2pm, and asked about the 2:30pm shuttle bus to the airport that we had signed up for, and wouldn't you know, so he could take us immediately! Yeahhhhh, right? Not really; we were meeting the porter Abdouleye at 3pm. Of course we got there early and no he wasn't there, so Llonda made the bus driver stay with us to protect our luggage from the sharks. We had to pay him extra to stay, as well as a young kid who we had use his phone to call our porter and tell him we were there. Our previous morning trip to the Cam Air office was a bust, as they do NOT take credit cards so we used nearly all the rest of our CFA to pay for the extra luggage fees, and found that nearly everyone had a roll on carry on with them, which is what we were told we could not have. So our gifts we left behind in Douala, could have come with, but didn't.

The Cam Air flight flew from Douala, to Yaounde (the capital) to drop off and pick up passengers, only being a 40 min flight it wasn't all that bad, and they even gave out full cans of beer, as well as pop/or water. Brussels Air being an international flight didn't even offer that! After leaving Yaounde, en-route to Garoua, they offered another drink. Again the flight was fast, at about 1hr 10 min. Despite the smell of body odor it was not all that bad.

Once landing in Garoua, we were meeting up with Thomas, a connection made prior by a friend of Llonda's. We walked through the airport and waited for the sign being held with her name on it. He was a terrific man, who spoke English well. A man of God who travels all over Africa spreading the gospel to Muslim's trying to teach them about Christianity. On the way to our Motel we learned a lot about what he does, and I was impressed with his faith in God, and the confidence he has with his beliefs. Our Motel was not far, which we loved as it was already nearing 9pm. Thomas got us all set up with our room and agreed to pick us up again in the morning and take us to the bus station to get on the bus to N'Gaoundere. He left and we went to our room. After opening the door I hesitated & wanted to start running after the truck and begging for him to come back and take us anywhere else. The Motel, which at one point must have been a fabulous place had been run down, with walls covered in mold and peeling paint. There was no toilet seat with the toilet in one bathroom and a baud-ea with the sink and tub, in the other. In a matter of 5 minutes we managed to break the toilet and the lamp. Our only light. Llonda went up to ask them to come fix them and no one spoke any English. It was like a game of charades trying to explain to them about the toilet and lamp. Finally he said he would come and look. I think it was mostly just to shut us up. He got them all fixed. The toilet handles are a plastic pole sticking up out of the middle of the toilet lid that you pull UP. Not down, in case you ever need to know:) Since we were too late for dinner, we decided to try to have a drink at the bar. Llonda asked where it was, and we started to follow the man. I walked in and turned around and Llonda was gone. Lovely, I tried to ask the women if she was open and showed her my watch. She told me 10pm, I looked again at my watch and saw it was already 10:20. “Oh so your closed,” I said. She looked at me again and said 10 or maybe 10:30pm. The best she could say it to me. So again I said, Ok so your closed. Llonda walked in at that moment and in pure frustration I said “THEIR CLOSED!” We walked out and she said she wanted to jump in the pool; we had been sweating all day, and neither of us had showered. Sounded like a good idea, but we had only one towel in our room. Again to the front desk for a game of Charades, which was not understood so after this I reached my breaking point and figured I was best just going in that awful room and try to go to bed. Scared to even undress I laid on top of the sheet in a bed that I was jack knifed in from the mattress sinking to the boards in the middle and I just wanted to cry. Pure stubbornness kept me from totally breaking down. I set my alarm on my phone which was all we had, and tried to figure out if he was going to be there at 5:45am, we had to be up by 5:10, knowing neither of us would touch a thing in that bathroom, and hadn't even unzipped any of our luggage just hoping and praying for morning to get there. I had to set it for 10pm as the time never changed from local time at home, and so I was hoping it was right. Thomas came with another nice young man who spoke no English who was also traveling by bus to N'Gaoundere and he would watch out for us. Thomas got our tickets and waited for us to get loaded and we couldn't be more thankful for him, and Jim N., who connected us up with him. He did all of this for us with asking nothing in return! Which is not common around here, when it seems everyone expects a tip. And they expect an even bigger tip if your white. (especially a fat white, that means your rich). The bus ride was very long. We departed at 7:10am and I sat in the middle seat between Llonda and an African gal. It was not a fun ride. Both of them leaning on me, sweating, and no one would have the window open. African's like it hot! I felt like a was suffocating a slow a painful death. The road was paved the whole way which was nice and along the way there were many villages that we saw with women fetching water out of the well by buckets and rope and their small stands by the side of the road and the little kids running around naked or at a minimum a shirt that was too big for them. Most of the school aged kids were in school, and their schools are nearby their village. Electricity is not seen for many many miles on the road and the radio signal is weak for most of the ride. The closer we get to N'Gaoundere more life starts to appear. You can see electrical towers on the side, and certainly more markets. We went up a Mountain before getting into N'Gaoundere, and it is nothing for these buses to pass other vehicles going up the hill. Lots of broken down Semi trucks hauling goods, surely due to overheating. At the bottom of the mountain Security gets on the bus to check our passports and we are all cleared to continue on. We arrived at the bus station where one of the hospital workers met us there and waited for another vehicle to come and pick up our luggage. He drove us around to see the markets and there must have been markets on every street. Covered with people we could barely drive through. Honking left and right he finally gets through and we safely make it to the Mission Station. We arrived here (the Mission Station) around 12:30pm and couldn't wait to take a shower. It had been since Saturday night that either of us had showered and we were soaked in sweat with the same clothes we had had on for days, and my white shirt was now brown. They showed us to our apartment and informed us there was no water. Ummmm WHAT! They are shutting the water off daily from 7-5pm. Really? So here we were with no water and nearly no money left and filthy dirty. The mission house we are in is big, with two bedrooms, a living room, dining room table, kitchen, bathroom and even a laundry area with a washing machine. All of which we are grateful to have and look forward to being able to have water. It took all of an hour for Jean Baptiste (the chief supervisor at the Hospital) to come right over and take us over to the hospital and show us around. Llonda is clearly well loved over here and many recognized her right away and were very happy to see her. It only goes to show that the work she has done over here before has been welcomed and appreciated. She is happy to be back on her old stomping grounds and didn't take long to figure out where we both will be working and needed. The hospital is a large facility, spread out over a 10 acre complex. (I'm guessing) There are people every where waiting to be seen, and the Muslims are praying on their prayer mats in the hallways, outside, and inside. It smells of urine and the heat only makes it worse. The staff are clearly busy with patients and much like many hospitals in the states, they are under staffed and under paid (if they even get paid). They work long hours 7-5:30pm and 5-7am, with 3-4 per unit/department. We were well greeted, and most of it I'm guessing to due to Llonda's prior visits. Eric, on of our translators comes and joins us in our walk. He is a young kid with great enthusiasm and speaks English well. We meet in JB's (Chief) office and discuss the goals he and his staff have for us. I wasn't sure what exactly my role would be here, but they were very excited to have heard of my ambulance/trauma skills and have a whole list besides the CPR training of things they would like me train on. Llonda will be focusing most of her time in the ICU's which she is much of an expert at.

We walk back to our place with Eric and visit, and ask him to take us to the market to buy some groceries. He is more than happy to spend the time with us. We hop on the Moto Taxi's, they are motor bikes, Eric, I and a driver ride on one, and Llonda with the driver on the other. They cruise in and out of cars and around pot holes at great speeds. Truly one would be very injured if they ever crashed. We go to the market with the little money we have left in CFA and choose our items wisely and get only the bare essentials. The International day of Womens festival is going on in town, and Eric suggests we go. We hop on another moto taxi and head over there. We meet Eric's mom, who Llonda has met before, and she is a nice woman who is happy to us. We walk around the festival seeing all of the different types of food and they way the prepare it in the various areas of the country of Cameroon. From porcupine, fish, chicken, steak to Boa (snake). Many vegetables being sold so we jump at the chance to pick up some potatoes and lettuce. They were cheap and plentiful in amounts given. We left the festival and went to a local pub, enjoyed a cool drink and then headed back home. Eric came with to visit, and good thing he did as we forgot our water. Beings you cannot drink the water here, it was much needed, so Eric took off with the last 3000cfa we had to buy us some water. As we stood outside with a man trying to sell us some silver, Adda, JB and another translator showed up. It was a great surprise as we had no way to communicate with them that we were here. Word got around fast and they knew. We talked about the wedding and the plans for the next couple of days, showed them the dress Llonda had picked up for Danielle (JB's daughter almost 4yrs). They loved the dress and shoes that she had picked out. We had a good visit and then they left and we had dinner plans with Jim and still no water at 7:15pm so we went as stinky and dirty as we were. Jim picked us up (he is only staying across the road) and we headed off to Le Plaza; a nice place downtown. The food was good and the company was excellent. We had wanted to pay for Jim's meal, but were broke so he had to pay with all intentions of us paying him back. We chatted for nearly 3 hours. It was hard to imagine we had been up since 5am and it was going on 10:30pm. Jim has truly been a god send for us and we could never repay him for all the contacts and set ups that he has made for us, and the security of knowing everything will be OK. He is a great man with many gifts and I am grateful God has brought us into our life. We finished dinner and came back home and started going over our list from JB (the chief) of all they would like to have done and where we should start. We pulled out all of the supplies we had brought with and sorted what goes where. Finally the water was back on, and it was more than due time to take care of the S's (s*!t shower and shave). All three of which I hadn't done in days! We knew it would be a short morning at the hospital but had to be to Chapel by 7:30am. Good night all, we love and miss you!

Afriucan Internet connection

This is our african Email connection! 
Proped up on 2 water bottles in the window:) 
Miss you all

Our first day in Africa

March 4^th,

Woke up this am around 9am! I was completely shocked that we had both slept that long. We took our time getting going and met up with a gal who lives here to give her a bag of stuff sent from her sister who lives in Duluth. Very nice gal, who speaks English well and her niece came after. We had a short visit and she is actually going to help us out by holding some of our extra luggage bags while we are gone to N'gaoundere.

We went across the street to see the one local vender trying to sell some stuff and they are nice guys who seem pushy, but speak good English and I want to believe they are honest men. We walked down the street a little ways and it's amazing to me that garbage is just thrown in the street and ditches and what garbage cans are out in front of stores are being eaten out of by people. Many sleeping on cardboard, or pallets with plastic and their shoes have holes in them, ones that we would have probably thrown out months ago.

Met up with a local Taxi driver who had some air tickets for us and he insisted on taking us around today, which we paid him for, but was nice to have him there. He took us to a local flower market which Llonda has been to several times and likes but it a place where they have a lot of the same stuff, but fun to barter with them. Llonda is a shark at bartering and I am the silent one who stands in the shadows waiting for her to make the deal. Yes surprising to many of you that I am the silent one! But knowing that we were not going to make any purchases yet, since we do not have anymore room in our suitcases to travel to N'gaoundere with I didn't mind. Was nice to get an idea of what they wanted for their stuff. So many beautiful hand crafted items that one can only wish they were that talented to do. The town smells of bad body odor and urine as it's nothing for someone to just urinate on the street or ditch or wherever they want really. And to my understanding they do not want to spend the expense on deodorant as many need the money for food etc. After leaving the market and finding many items that we would love to take back for everyone, our driver took us to a local African restaurant called the White House where it is a buffet. The beer was cold, and the food was plentiful. Not knowing the manners of the culture, we all headed up with a plate and Llonda and I wasted no time digging in. Me being picky of course, but certainly grabbed some items that I had no idea what they were. Our driver only grabbed salad. Not understanding that you went up as a group, and ate as a group and only took salad first. Whoops. It didn't stop us from eating it though. Cous-cous, rice, fish (a whole one), and more mystery meat, with deep fried balls of something that ended up being plantain (this is a fruit here), that I took a few of thinking it was deep fried it had to be good right! All in all it wasn't bad, but very sweet, and it was hard to leave anything on our plates as we are in a starving Country. So I choked most of it down, not wanting to be rude. Our driver refused to go up and get another plate until we all went and I could not bare to get another round, so Llonda went back and we all skipped out on the desert table.

Back to the hotel to pack and repack some more, fit in a nap, and time to blog:)

After getting back to the Ibis we took a nap, which may have been a bad thing as we were both more tired than when we had laid down. Got up and went across the street for some coke, then down to the restaurant for dinner. While outside “checking the weather” we met a local who speaks some English who refers to Llonda as “Big Mama One” and me as “Big Mama 2”. He is really into boxing, and is excited to take us to his club. He gave us his email and phone number and is anticipating us coming back from N'gaoundere so he can pick us up and take us to watch him. He was thoroughly impressed with the fact that even in a knee brace I could kick up to his face and throw him some upper cuts and knock outs. Thanks to my Billy video work out sessions. I very much enjoy talking with the locals no matte how much I can understand them and them understanding me. I had my first experience with an African gal who kissed both my cheeks and befriended me like we had been best friends for years and then asked for a beer. Sadly I could not oblige. It is not by far a cheap trip. But I am grateful for the time here and feel as if I am making some lifeline connections, and only wish I could provide for them the simple needs that they have. Everyone that I have met has truly been a wonderful person!

 A special note to my Re:form students!  You are in my thoughts and prayers everyday, and please behave while I'm gone!  Love you all:)

We love you and miss you all!

Llonda and Steph

Made it to Douala

March 3^rd, 2012

We are currently on the flight to Douala and this by far has been the longest lag of flights yet. We are both overly tired and dehydrated from the little glasses of water given out and no time at the airport to get any bottles of water. After landing in Brussels we took a bus over to the other terminal where we once again flashed our passports and played the hurry up and wait game. That game is very popular when traveling as we have played it on nearly every trip! Our bodies are sore and our heads are pounding from the lack of everything, sleep, oxygen (it smells) and water. We should land in Douala around 6pm here (11am MN time). It will be dark by then and by the time we go through customs and get all of our luggage and find arrangements for a ride to the hotel it will most likely be 8pm.

After landing in Duoala, the airport was very hot! Humidity level at 90% with a temperature of 88 degrees. I (Steph) still had my MN clothes on which included a hooded sweathshirt and jeans and so glad I had my bandana on to keep the sweat from dripping down my face. We both had large amounts of luggage and had not made prior arrangements to get to the Ibis hotel which we will later regret. We walked through the long hallways with windows open and the floor that had cracked tile on it and stairs that chipped and falling apart. Llonda grabbed a couple of luggage carts as this time since two of carry on bags had previosly taken away from us, we had 7 bags to try to get off the rotating luggage rack. The airport is filled with Africans above watching everyone which was a picture moment. I handed the camera over to Llonda and she started clicking away. Security was over in less than 60 seconds stopping us. They frown upon photos being taken of or in government buildings. While waiting for our luggage Llonda was spoted by Abdoulye a former porter she had used before on her travels here. He was most certainly our saving grace at that moment. He was there for another traveler and heard we were coming in, but had the wrong date, so as fate would have it he told us to hang tight while he picked up the other gentleman and came back to our rescue. He took one cart of luggage while I took the other and he brought us over to the Chief of Customs where he approved our luggage, and then had a couple of kids (I'm sure they were adults but they looked like kids) to watch our luggage while he took us back into the police area to meet a couple of the commissioners. Neither of us was in a presentable position as both were drowned in sweat and smelled horribly, and were totally exhausted from being up for 30 some hours straight. But we shook their hands with the last bit of strength we had left to lift our arms from the total of 400 pounds of luggage we had been handling and smiled which was the last thing I could think of doing at that moment. He introduced us as Dr's, which was not correct but was too hard to explain the difference so we graciously accepted the compliment and went on our way.

We went back to our luggage which was safe with the kids, and started outside. After being cleared by the chief of customs our luggage wasn't even searched which was wonderful. Headed outside into the darkness and looking at the large amounts of people loitering around and trying to sell their stuff to you, which is how most make their living, we made our way down the broken pavement to wait for two taxi's. No way we could fit in one with all our luggage. We got loaded up and Llonda thought it may be best to talk with Cameroon Air whom we will be flying with on Monday to Garoua to get their luggage requirements. So back into the hot airport to speak with them. Of course it will be another small fortune to fly with all the luggage, despite the fact most of it is medical supplies. So we already know we will have shuffling around to do with our luggage. Finally we are off in the taxi's and enroute to the Ibis. Thanks to Abdouleye all is good!

We get settled in, cleaned up and go to the Ibis restaurant for a late dinner, which would be my first African meal. I struggle with the menu, and push to order off the kids meal which is not allowed and after long negotiations our waiter allows me to order something he choose for me but agrees to keep it seperate on the plate in case I don't like it. Llonda knows exactly what she wants and has no problem ordering. Excited for her choice, the waiter comes back that the avacado's are no good. So she orders something else with no hesitation. The place is nice and they speak some English and when our food comes I have meat on my plate that is white and both of us are unsure of what it is. Starving, I waste no time digging into it, and it's a familiar taste to me but I still don't know what. Llonda figures it out as smoked fish. Ahhh, yes! That's exactly what it is. All in all, not a bad first experience. We came back to the room and I worked on the computer a little bit while Llonda went to bed and I got to bed around 11pm which is only 4pm home time but after not sleeping I was TIRED!

Good night everyone!

Travel Day

March 2^nd 2:53

We arrived at the Mpls airport at 12:15 and unloaded the 5- 50lb pound bags to ck and the 4- 44lb bags of carry-on's (2 each) and headed in. A special thanks to our neighbor Sven who brought us to the airport and has been waiting with us ALL day:) Because he works for Delta he has special clearance to come thru to the gate and could wait with us. We were suppose to be able to board at 2:12, make it to Chicago. by 4:44 for our connecting flight to Brussels by 6:01. It is now 3:15 and we are sitting in a nearby cafe waiting for our flight. It was pushed back to 3:30 and now to pushed back to 4:30! We will obviously miss our connect flight and Llonda is very worried, and I have another tall one. Llonda has gone to stand in the long line to find out what is going on, and I am working on my first attempt of the blog. She sends me panic stricken texts from the line that we are totally screwed and I try very hard to not get too worked up, as I already had melt down #1 early this morning on the side of the road at the school.

Llonda has returned and she convinced the attendant to move us up in seats to be closer to the front so we can “run” off and catch our connecting flight in Chicago. Security check in was probably one of the best expierences I have had yet. Amazed that in the 88 pounds I could get on and the quart size bag fully packed with liquids and PASSED through I am pretty confident that we did good in our choices.

With our 5 bags everyone of them ranged from 49.7 pounds to 51!! And they were so impressed at how close we were that they let the 51 pounder go! The amount of time spent packing repacking, weighing and re weighing, was truly time well spent! We were able to board the plane in Mpls and officially hit the airways and are now en route to Chicago. Text's and phone calls have been exchanged by all the kids and we hope to have contact on the ground in Chicago but time will be limited and we will be rushed. In order to get on earlier, Llonda and I could not sit together and for sure I got the better of the deal. We both got middle seats (yuck) but I was fortunate enough to have the exit seat so I am free and clear on one side while Llonda a row back sits between to men sleeping.

Break time and will write more once we get on the long overnight flight to Brussels.

Once aboard our flight to Chicago we were still hoping we would make our connecting flight. It was a quick flight, and there and they were anxiously helping us off the plane to make our connecting flight that was right across the way. I was surely not going to board though without hitting a bathroom first which made us literally the LAST TWO to board. Which also means that two of our carry-ons (not the backpacks) had to go to checked luggage. So as we sat right outside the plane doors rearranging all of our bags trying to make sure we had our most important items with us, as we will not see those bags again until Douala. Neither of us were happy about that as now if our luggage is lost or delayed in getting to us, we don't even have a set of underwear with us!

We are Currently on the plane to Brussels and at the moment right over London. Every seat has a TV screen on it and has the option to view a map of where the plane is and its starting and ending point. I have taken a few pictures along the way and will try to post one at a later time. We also have a visitor with us. Flat Stanley is along for the ride! He is part of a book that a first grade classroom in Spokane Washington is doing. We received Stanley from our friends Paula and Noah who received Stanley from her Cousin in Washington. So periodically you may see a picture including Stanley.

As far as the flight to Brussels after kicking a couple who had moved into our seats out, we tried to settle in as best as we could with a back pack each that started off somewhat organized and now is a total mess. Llonda watched a movie or two while I listened to a book on tape and both of us have tried to sleep a bit. I befriended a cute little girl in the seat ahead of us, who has what must be her twin sister with and their dad. They couldn't be much more than 2 or 3, but we have had fun playing peek a boo. We occupied more time with a cribbage game (that I won) and of course ate. The food was certainly not terrible for plane food, but I wasn't hungry to eat the breakfast. We left Chicago at around 6:30 pm Friday the 2^nd, and it is currently 1:30 am in MN and 8:30 am here. We have about a half hour left of the flight with about a two hour lay over in Brussels to aboard another long flight to Douala.

Wishing everyone well!

Here is a view of the Sahara Desert.

Finally On Our Way

March 1st

The outpouring of support continues.  Our community, church, co-workers and friends keep piling it on & right about now; we wish that we could drive a semi straight to Africa.  We have packed and re-packed, weighed and re-weighed our suitcases so many times. Both of our stress levels are running high, at least at a 9.  We fight about what to take and how to pack it. How does one best decide?  Do you take life saving medications for patients with heart disease and high blood pressure or glucometers and insulin to treat diabetics? Or there are the screening kits for cervical cancer and needle-less IV systems to protect healthcare workers from Aids. & oh yes the package from Global Health that must be included, the list goes on and on.  We compromise and throw out one of the snacks we planned to take, less socks and underwear.  Hopefully we don’t regret that choice!

The emotions that one feels leading up to a trip such as this are really hard to describe.  The anticipation mounts; you are both excited and terrified at the same time.  You worry about the kids, the family, the house, and the dogs, the house/dog-sitter, and even the cats.  Will it snow while we are away?  Will the guy you have lined up to plow the driveway dig too deep into the gravel?  Will the houses old electrical system die while we are gone? Trust me when I say…you just worry about everything.  Things you typically don’t even give a second thought too.  It is hard to put a label on what one is feeling; perhaps it is not worry but just comes out that way.

Being total control freaks, we are reminded that control is an illusion.  For sure we are headed to a place where we will have control over nothing.  We will be running on African time, the plane comes when it wants or doesn’t show up at all.  This is a place very different from what we are familiar with, and one in which we must learn to go with the flow, take it as it comes and oh yes, there is patience.  This is difficult, as we are especially not patient people! We would throw in a book to read, but then that would put our luggage overweight. Oh what to do? For sure we will not be ready until we get on that plane and then we will cry most of the way to Chicago.  But hey it’s for a good cause right?

Some people ask, “Why would you even want to do this?”    I am uncertain of how to answer that, other than to say that mission work is probably more about building on the character of the one performing the mission, at least as much as it is about the very people you are trying to help.  Hopefully we will both return in one piece and be better people for it. 

Last night we had a big send off supper with our families and Pastor Noah.  We had one last feast of American food before we go.  Thanks everyone for the donated goods, well wishes, money, prayers, and oh yes that awesome African cake.

Departing Minneapolis to Chicago to Brussels to Douala, Cameroon…. Our next reporting, God willing, will come to you live from Africa