Somebody asked me today: “what was the most significant thing you learned during your time here in Kumbo?”. I don’t remember what I answered because I really don’t know. I have learned and experienced so much that I do not know where to begin in order to express those thoughts and feelings. However, as I lay in bed on my last night in Kumbo, what I do know and what I can put into words are the things I will miss about Kumbo and the Banso Baptist Hospital. I will miss going to devotions each morning with the guys on the OR staff and singing from their “sacred songs and solos” book. There is no guitar or piano or anything; just twenty guys singing their hearts out to the Lord. I will miss going on rounds with Dr Ndasi, even though I don’t know what he’s saying or doing half the time. I will miss scrubbing in for surgeries and seeing things I am told I will only read about in medical school. I will miss the residents and their joking, stories, godly character and friendship. I will miss joking around with the guys in the OR between cases. I will miss them ask me questions about anything having to do with internet or computers because they are convinced that I know all about it. I will miss the craziness of the market and trying to bargain with the store owners. I will miss the homecooked meals and motherly love that Yvonne showed to me. I will miss making jokes with Mark and learning about medicine from him. I will miss going on a run with Mark and stopping by the Ngwangs house, saying hello and convincing Prosper that he should run with us rather than study. I will miss Prosper, the 17 year old boy who wants to be a doctor but his family has no money so he has to work extra hard to get into medical school. The boy who was too shy to carry on a conversation, but by the end of my time here we would talk on our runs. I will miss seeing the Ngwang girls, their smiles and teasing Yvonne about her fiance. I will miss falling asleep to torrential downpours on the tin roof. I will miss the long and early church services on Sunday mornings. I will miss the smiles, friendliness and simplicity of the Cameroonians. I will miss Kumbo.
things I will miss
Easter Weekend
In Africa, and maybe other countries as well, Good Friday is a holiday. As a result, last weekend was quite relaxed. On Friday morning we had grand rounds and then the rest of the day we had nothing planned. So a group of us went to the market again. I was recruited because Yvonne wanted to get some sandals for her son and we have the same size feet, but I was glad to go regardless. The soles of the sandals were made from old tires and then the straps were made of leather. They were different, but pretty neat. We continued to walk around and look at the different “shops” along throughout the market. I say “shops” because most of them are huts with all of their goods out on the front porch. While we were down there, it started to rain. If you’re from Seattle, you’re thinking rain, which means a constant drizzle or mist, no big deal. Well, in Cameroon rain means drops the size of nickels coming down faster than a Randy Johnson fastball. They can seriously sting if they hit you right. So we all ducked into a shop and hung out with two semesters for about 20 minutes until the rain stopped. Then it was done raining for the day and we headed home. I really like the Cameroon style of rain: rain hard and with the greatest quantity possible for about thirty minutes and the rest of the day is sunny. That is so much better than the twenty some days of straight drizzle that we have in the Pacific Northwest.
On Saturday I slept in, did some reading in the morning and then Mark, Emma, Tersius (a plastic surgeon from South Africa) and myself went on a hike to a cave about forty five minutes from our house. The hike would have been a breeze except for the fact that I don’t have nearly enough red blood cells to accommodate for how thin the air is at 6000ft above sea level. All that training I did in Seattle at 200ft didn’t exactly prepare me…hah! The cave was pretty neat and it had a small waterfall coming down the front of the opening. There were some boys there and they caught a bat that was flying around and Mark took a picture. Apparently they ended up eating it…not exactly what I consider appetizing. I thought the best part of the cave was the scenery around it. It was on a hillside leading down into a valley and on either side there were farms and fields coming up the sides of the hills. It was quite a site. On the way back it started raining so we ducked into a garage. But then it didn’t really get any harder, and we were about 10min from home, so we decided to continue trekking along. About 4min later the rain started picking up and it actually hailed. I had no idea it could hail in Africa, but it did. By the time we got home we were drenched, but it was an experience I wouldn’t want to have left without.
Sunday was Easter, obviously. We opted to not attend the sunrise service at 3:30am and went to the 8:30am service instead, which went till about noon. The service was not much different from the service the Sunday before other than the sermon was on the resurrection of Christ and the service was “themed” towards that. As I walked away from church I was initially a little disappointed that my Cameroonian Easter experience was not too spectacular or different. But as I began to think more about it, I realized that the service was very different from the last 22 Easter services that I have attended. There were no special decorations, extreme media presentations, special music performances, dramas or anything like that. It was simply a Sunday to specifically reflect on Christ and the sacrifice he made for us and for our sins and his resurrection back to life. It was then that I began to realize, as I have many times over the last 2+ weeks, that Africans have it figured out. Easter is not about how big of a presentation the church service can be or the ham and potatoes we have with family afterwards; it is entirely about Christ and his sacrifice and resurrection. I wonder if all the glamour of those Easter services in the states is what has caused me to focus so much on Christ’s death and resurrection on that one Sunday and completely forget to reflect on its significance many of the other fifty one Sunday’s, or 364 days for that matter, throughout the rest of the year. How much can be learned and gained from simplicity? In our efforts to “celebrate” Easter Sunday have we merely lost sight of the simple, but incredibly powerful, message that Jesus Christ came to earth and was beaten, spit on, speared in the side, taunted and hung on a cross to die a brutal death so that we can live eternally with him and his Father? I know that I forget it all too often and pray that I will continually be reminded of the very thing that my faith and life is grounded on.
Later in the afternoon, Yvonne, Mark and I went to the Children’s Ward and passed out suckers and crowns. They were like the kind you get at Burger King with the kids meal. It was so neat to see the smiles on their faces just from receiving a sucker and that crown. I have been in the Children’s Ward many times, most of them brief, but this time it hit me a little harder and my heart wrenched for this kids. There were kids of all ages with different illnesses. Many of their parents were there sleeping in the bed with them. Some of them will be there a few days, some a few months. As I passed out the suckers many of them smiled, their day brightened by a stick of sugar and someone showing that they care. I pray that that moment of joy will stick with them until the next person comes by to give them a jolly rancher and a balloon. I hope that I never forget or cease to pray for those children as long as I live.
Well today is the eve of my last day at the Banso Baptist Hospital. I cannot even begin to process or comprehend all that God has done in my heart and life these last 2+ weeks that I have been in Kumbo. I have seen and experienced more than I could have hoped or imagined and am sad to be leaving. On Thursday we, the Snell’s and I, travel back to Douala (a nine hour car ride) where we will stay the night and then head to the airport on Friday. A few months ago when I wrote many of you I was unsure of my plans, but I will be traveling to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where I will be visiting my good friend Josh Tuggle. Josh has been in Ethiopia since August and is teaching English and working at a feeding center through an organization called Hope Enterprises. I will be in Ethiopia for a week until I fly home to Seattle, Wa on April 5th.
Well, those are all the thoughts I have for now. I am tired and have to get up early.
Blessings to you all,
jon
the residents
I want to tell you all about three people, other than the Snells and Ngwangs, with whom I spend a lot of time. They are the surgical residents of the PAACS program. There are three of them, all from different countries and backgrounds and at different stages in the residency program. Below I have attached a picture of them. Their names are (from left to right) Dr Martin Salia, Dr Henry Ndasi and Dr Arega.
Dr Salia is from Sierra Leone and is in his final year of residency; he will graduate in June. He has two daughters and his wife is going to nursing school in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr Salia is most interested in general surgery, although all of the surgeons have to be able to do everything. He is also the coordinator of the hospital’s futbol team. He is like a little spark plug, but seems to always be sleeping (as you’ll notice in the picture below).
Dr Ndasi is the doctor I spend the most time with (both in the wards and in surgery) because he does lots of Orthopedic cases, which is where my interest lies. He is also in his last year of residency, but will finish in December. They are actually hoping to set him up with an Orthopedic fellowship once he is done with his residency here. (A fellowship is just a way to become more specialized and get more training). Dr Ndasi is a Cameroonian native, which is to his benefit because he speaks nearly every language and dialect that can possibly come through the hospital. His wife is currently in medical school in Nigeria and he has two children that live with his parents in a city about an hour from here. Dr Ndasi is the (more) serious one of the three, but is still a very light hearted Cameroonian with plenty of smiles and laughs.
Dr Arega is from Ethiopia and anytime you mention Ethiopia his eyes light up and he gets really excited. He is a very happy person in general though. He always has a smile on his face and has a varying pitch to his voice that is quite funny. Dr Arega is in his first year of residency, but is still a very good surgeon. I’m not sure what type of surgery he likes most, but he seems to do a lot of C sections. He is single, but Yvonne wants to hook him up with Elvyne Ngwang…we’ll see what happens.
Last night we had the residents over for dinner and Dr Salia got to talking about how Sierra Leone, his country, was the western port for the African slave trade. There is an island just of the coast of Sierra Leone, Bones Island, where they would take slaves and drop them off and leave them. They would keep them on the island, without food, for about 10-14 days and then the slave traders would come and select the ones they wanted. The reason they starved them was because they figured the ones who survived were the strong ones and the others they would dump over board as they set sail. As I listened to Martin talk I felt guilty for being white and wanted to apologize for what people of my race had done to his ancestors. I wondered if he looked at me with any sort of resentment. It is very possible that his great, great grandparents were on one of those ships.
Martin also told us about the war and rebellion in his country that lasted for about 10 years, from 1991-2001. He was in medical school at the time and was right in the heart of the chaos. As he told the story I was struck by how different my life is from his. In the future, we may be colleagues or at least share the same profession, but I have never had to endure the types of hardship that he has. He told us of friends who had died and others who had joined the rebels and were bombing the cities; women who were raped and children who were used and abused for the sake of power. War to me is something so distant I could not even begin to comprehend what he was talking about. Yes the United States had a Civil War, but it was so long ago that it seems like almost like a distant myth. We only get to experience the benefits from it and I think that I tend to take them for granted. I cannot even begin to comprehend or process what some of these people have endured. I pray that I am able to appreciate my blessed life more each day and pray for the unrest and unjust circumstances that are still very real on this continent.
These three men truly amaze and inspire me. I will definitely miss seeing them everyday when I leave here. I have loved seeing a huge variety of surgeries, but I am also able to see first hand a bit of what life as a resident, and a doctor, is like. Their commitment to their patients, their work and to God is incredible. They often sleep few hours a night because they are called in for emergency cases. It is also very evident that God is the focal part of their life. Not just because they attend morning devotions and pray before surgeries, but by the way they live and how they interact with patients and staff throughout the day.
The other thing that strikes me is that each one of these doctors could have easily gone to a university and/or medical school in the United States. You may not think this is a big deal, but let me explain. Here, in Kumbo and Africa in general, the average doctor makes about $12,000-$15,000 a year. That is at less than a tenth of the average salary of a general surgeon in the States. My point is that, out of a love for their country and their people, these men have chosen to be schooled in Africa, trained in Africa and stay in Africa to practice medicine. Yes they will be in the higher class and have more money than most of their fellow countrymen, but they could have lived an extremely plush life in the states just as easily (or maybe easier). How often do we as Americans make a decision to take a job or enter a career based solely on how well it pays and how nice we will live as an outcome? Are we basing our decisions on a call and a passion or how good our life will be as a result? Is God calling us to cut back or give more? Just some of my thoughts for you all as I observe the friendlier, simpler, and more genuine, lifestyle of my African friends.
jon
A weekend in Kumbo
Well, I have now been here a full week in Kumbo and I am feeling more settled and at home. In some ways I can’t believe I’ve already been here a week and in other ways it seems as if I’ve been here for weeks. I am sure that is partly due to my plush living set up and the blessing it has been staying with the Snell’s; they are like my African parents (even though they aren’t African at all).
The weekends here are quite chill. The only time we go into the hospital is if there is an emergency case, but we didn’t have any this last weekend. On Saturday I got to sleep in, which was nice because every other day I have to get up around 6am. I then went to the market again with the Yvonne’s and Elvyne. (In case you haven’t read my other posts I am staying with Mark and Yvonne Snell, who are from Bonney Lake, Washington. I met Mark last spring through my Spanish professor at SPU, who is Marks cousin, and we got to talking about medical missions and that is how I ended up here. We have a Cameroonian house maid, Yvonne Ngwang, and she lives with, and takes care of, her younger brother (Prosper), sister (Elvyne) and cousin (Emma). Yvonne and Mark have basically adopted the Ngwang’s since being here). Ok, back to Saturday…the market is much less hectic when it is not market day and there was hardly anyone there. I bought some flip flops to wear in our house and Yvonne and the girls looked for fabric to make a table cloth and aprons. The rest of the day was quite relaxed with some pinochle, a nap and a run mixed in there as well.
Sunday morning we went to church, at 7am! There are two services, 7am and 9:30am and at first I wondered why in the world we were going so dang early. Mark told me that at the 7am service they have to be done by 9:15 in order to start the second service. But, at the 9:30am service they can go as looong as they want…sometimes till 12:30 or 1pm. So I was thankful to be attending the 2hr service rather than the 3-4hr service. The service itself though was great. When you hear the phrase “the four walls of the church” this building it what should be added as the illustration. It consists of four walls, a tin roof, some pillars inside to keep the roof up, a stage and wooden benches.
One quick note about African, or at least Cameroonian, culture is that when they have guests in the congregation, they ask that they stand and introduce themselves. I was for-warned of this upon my arrival and was told the proper protocol, or a general idea of what you should say. You’re supposed to say something along the lines of, “Hi, I am Jon Vaux. I bring you greetings from my church and family in Seattle, Wa. Thank you for having me; it is an honor to be here”, or something like that. Now if I was African and felt really uncomfortable, I probably could have gotten away with not standing up. But when you are one of 4 white people in a room of 200, it is hard to go unnoticed.
I knew this was going to happen on Sunday at church, but I was not prepared in the least for this to happen at Chapel last Wednesday at the hospital. So, at chapel, when the lady up front asked Dr Snell to introduce me I was relieved, stood with Dr Snell, he talked, and then we sat down. But then she asked me to stand and say something…I froze. All I said was “Hi. Good morning. Thank You” and sat down. The whole chapel erupted in laughter and all I could think about was all of the other ways I could have introduced myself. So, knowing that the same situation was going to occur on Sunday, I prepared myself plenty in advance. As I was falling asleep on Saturday, and on the way to church Sunday morning, I recited in my head what I was going to say when they called on me. And when the time came Sunday morning I was well rehearsed and prepared and didn’t choke! So if you ever go to an African country, be prepared to introduce yourself and make sure to error on the side of a long introduction rather than a short one.
Back to the actual service…I really had no expectations going in to the service, but was hoping for some sweet African music, and I was not disappointed. It was a pretty normal “order of service”, but there was something different. It was so genuine and real. Their sound system sucked, they had one keyboard and a drum set, and their songs were really repetitive, BUT they were worshiping with all their hearts. Almost all of their songs even had the same rhythm with a different melody, but you could tell that their worship was genuine and that the spirit of God was there. As I listened to the 48 key Casio keyboard, that you could probably get at Fred Meyer for $300, and the same repetitive drum beat, it struck me that we don’t need a $30,000 sound system, power point, a full band and a choir to worship God. As I was trying to learn the songs and worship, I was struck with how simple and powerful worshiping God can, and in some ways should, be. I know this is said often, but it really is neat and encouraging to see that God is here and the same as he is in Seattle, Wa. That he doesn’t change because I’m half way across the world and that just because I don’t have a full band playing through a PA system. Next Sunday is Easter and I am excited to experience that here as well. There is a sunrise service from 3:30-5:30am, but we’ll see if we make it to that one.
Cameroonians do what many of us American do not on Sudnay’s and that is follow the fourth commandment, which is: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God”. I don’t know how many of them know this is a Christian commandment, but generally everyone practices it. Almost all stores and businesses are closed. Nobody does any farming or other work, but they do work very hard the other six days of the week. I think most of us could learn something about work and Sabbath from the Cameroonians.
The rest of the day was quite relaxed. We had brunch with the Ngwangs and played some ping pong. I did some reading and went for a run. As I sit and reflect on the last week of my time here in Kumbo, I am realizing how much I am being blessed by my time here. Whether it be the blessing of the Snell’s at home, the experiences I’m having in the hospital and OR, or at services like chapel and Sunday morning. My prayer for the rest of my time here is that I am able to be at least half the blessing to these people that they have been to me.
Blessings to you all,
jon
The OR
Well a lot has happened here in Kumbo in the last few days. Each morning the hospital staff meets for devotions, either by department or as an entire hospital. The OR staff has devotions M, T, TH, F, but the entire staff gets together on Wednesday’s and Saturday’s for a devotion. It is really neat to see everyone come together and sing, pray and listen to Gods word. I feel as if people say this all the time, but it really is neat to see that God is the same here in Kumbo, Cameroon as he is in Seattle, Wa. From the devotions that I have been apart of, it seems to me that the people here really understand what it means to follow Christ and to live their lives for him. I am excited to learn more from them as my time here continues.
Wednesday was also the first day that I scrubbed in. In case you forgot, or didn’t read a few days ago, in short scrubbing in means you are sanitized and wont contaminate the patient you are doing surgery on. The process is quite involved so I will spare you the minute details. (warning again that this is the more “graphic” paragraph, but really good!) The first surgery that I scrubbed in for, among many over the last few days, was a C section. I was basically the surgeons assistant for the procedure…amazing! I helped pull on the stomach to open it up and expose the uterus, pushed on the belly to get the baby to come out, and helped the surgeon close up the patient (that’s the short version). I was in awe the entire time and couldn’t believe that I was actually helping a new life be born! There were a few other surgeries that day, but the one that was incredible was a guy who came in with six toes, yes six. As a result of his extra toe, which protruded in perpendicularly to his other toes, he was unable to wear shoes and had some trouble walking. So we removed one of his toes and then broke the joints of the perpendicular toe, brought it in and stuck a pin all the way through to keep it in line. Now he can wear shoes and hopefully walk normally and all! (well after he recovers) I am just in awe every day of the ways that surgery, and medicine in general, can keep people alive, make them walk again or just improve their quality of life. One other interesting case was a 70yr old man who came in with tetanus and a severe wound in his lower leg. Now when I say wound you might think a deep or long cut, but no. I’m talking a gaping hole in his lower calf/upper ankle area. There are actually many patients who come in with what I consider to be huge wounds or holes because infection has eaten away at their flesh. That is something that we don’t see often in the states because because we have antibiotics and such are so easy for us to obtain. One other surgery, that we actually did today, was on a boy who was about 6yrs old. He came in a few days ago complaining of pain in his upper thigh/groin area. The boy and his parents left because they didn’t have enough money, but his condition worsened so they came back. This afternoon we went to check him out and he yelped and cried when the doctors just touched his leg. The doctors were unsure of the problem, but suspected possibly a foreign body and infection in his leg, so off to surgery he went. We opened him up and sure enough we found a pencil, about 4 inches long, stuck in his leg! I couldn’t believe it. (I actually took a picture, so if you want to see it let me know:)
Well those are the highlights of the surgeries I’ve seen so far. I’m really excited that I have seen such a variety of surgeries and can’t wait to see and experience more. For example, the man with tetanus…Dr Snell said that he has never seen anyone with tetanus before and I saw a case 4 days into my trip here! I can only imagine what else I will see.
One of the cool things that I’m discovering is that there is a need for orthopedics here, which is the specialty of medicine that interests me the most. I have always been drawn to orthopedics, but been a little hesitant about it because I also want to be able to use my specialty in places like the Banso hospital. In the states, many orthopedic surgeries are needed because of chronic problems or overuse (such as knee replacements, shoulder injuries, etc.). Here however, there are plenty of people who have torn muscles, bone problems, broken legs, etc. In fact, just yesterday there was a guy who came in with both of his shins broken because he was hit by a car. It is neat to see that what I believe God has given me a passion for can actually be used in medical missions.
Well, that’s all I have for now. Thanks for reading and praying.
God bless,
jon
Photos…
Banso Baptist Hospital. The place where I spend most of my time. There are 250 beds in 5 wards. Patient privacy is not exactly a priority here.
A view of the city of Kumbo from outside my house. The hospital is directly below and the city is in the distance.
The butcher shop. And yes that is a cows head with fresh blood dripping from it and intestines on the table. Inside they use a wooden table that has probably not been wiped with any sort of disinfectant in a really long time. Definitely USDA approved.
The crazy market.
2 days gone already
First off, I need to correct myself and say that I am not in the town of Banso. Banso is just the name of the hospital. The city that I am in, and where the hospital is located, is Kumbo and it is in the county of Banso. With that corrected…I can hardly hard to believe that I’ve already spent 2 days here in Kumbo. My time here is going to go by so fast! Yesterday was my first day at the hospital. We have to be down at the hospital at 6:40am, so I woke up at 1:30am to make sure I was ready to go. Actually, I did wake up at 1:30am, but not because I wanted to! I guess my body was still adjusting to the time here so I was wide awake at 1:30am, but definitely wished I was sleeping. We headed down to the hospital and on the way it hit me how tired I was. On Monday and Friday Dr Snell does what is called grand rounds with the residents. They go through the entire hospital and talk about the patients that are there whom they have seen, what procedure they had done and what they plan to do from here out. Dr Snell listens to them, asks questions and corrects where needed. (For those of you that don’t know, residency is essentially where you learn to do the specialty you have chosen. For the PAACS program all of the residents are training/studying to be surgeons and Dr. Snell is their teacher, which is why he is here). I have been in many hospitals and worked in one for a year, but this hospital is so different. There are smells and sights that you would never find in the states and in some ways it is very sad. The people here battle things we would never even imagine simple because of their living conditions.
After grand rounds we went to the OR (operating room) to start on the surgeries for the day. I was asked, before each surgery, if I wanted to scrub in (which means put on sanitary gloves, apron, etc and work right there with the surgeon), which is something I would NEVER be asked in the states. I declined yesterday because my stomach wasn’t feeling too good, but I am excited to scrub in on as many surgeries as possible from here out! The surgery that I watched first was a woman who had fibroids in her uterus. Warning, if you are sensitive to this kind of stuff skip to the next paragraph…fibroids are benign tumors that form out of tissue. They believe that they occur in the uterus of women who don’t get pregnant because they don’t go for a period (9months) without having more tissue formed in the uterus, which is what happens during the menstrual cycle. So, they cut her open and removed the fibroids from her uterus and sowed it back up with the hope that she will be able to bear children. Now, you’re probably thinking, well maybe they are like the size of a ping pong ball or a racquetball…I think there were about five that they cut out. One was about the size of a football, two a bit bigger than a softball, and a few that were about the size of a baseball. Yes, all of that was inside of her. Needless to say, when she came in she looked like she was pregnant and when she left she looked normal. Pretty incredible.
Welcome back those of you that skipped the good part…there were a few surgeries after that one and then we headed home for the day. The rest of my day consisted of a nap, a run, some great home cooked food and heading to bed. Something that I have noticed just in my two days here is that medicine here is very different than in the states. For example, during the fibroid surgery yesterday, the doctors noticed that she also had a hemorrhage, so they fixed it at the same time. In the states, you would have to do the procedure you had set out to do (only) and then sow her back up and ask if they could do the hemorrhage later. If you don’t, you get sued. Another example is that there was a guy who came in with a fractured femur and when they went to put the rod in they realized there was a lot of puss surrounding the fracture and they determined that it had calcified enough to not need to put in the rod so they sowed him back up. In the states, you would probably remove the puss, clean it up and put in the rod. Medicine here is done so that the person can live, breathe, walk, work on their farm, etc. In the states we do surgeries to make people walk and keep them alive, but we also do surgeries to help people lose weight, to make people look good, etc. However, there are many times here when surgery is the patient’s only option, whereas in the states there are cortisone shots, medication and other things that can be done. Not to mention all of the preventative medicine that we have in the states.
So that was yesterday, today, Tuesday, I actually didn’t go to the hospital, but rather I went to the market with Yvonne and our house maid, also named Yvonne. The market only comes once every 8 days and because they are still unsure if the violence is done for sure, Mark wanted me to go today so that I could see and experience it (it didn’t happen last week because of the strike and violence). We walked down to the market and it was quite the experience. All the farmers come and bring their vegetables, beans, fruits, meat, etc. The craziest thing to me was the butcher. We get there and there is a cow head leaned up against the hut and guts on a table with fresh blood on them and flies all over the place! Yvonne Snell said they were most likely trying to tell you that they had just killed the cow that morning so it was nice and fresh. We then go into the hut and order the beef. It is all laid out on a wood table that has probably not been cleaned with any type of disinfectant in a really, really long time. We ordered the meat we need and he cut it up, weighed it and put it in a plastic bag for us. Definitely USDA approved!
There was one thing that really struck me while at the market today with the Yvonne’s. Yvonne Snell (who for the sake of confusion will call Mrs. Snell) has essentially adopted the other Yvonne while she is here. Three days a week Yvonne comes over and Mrs. Snell does a devotion with her and prays with her. Also, there is a laundry machine next door, but Mrs. Snell chooses to pay Yvonne to wash our clothes by hand to support her. Yvonne is pretty incredible. Her mom died about two years ago from breast cancer, so she lives in a house with her brother (a senior in high school), sister (22) and her cousin (20). Their house consists of two rooms about 12ftx12ft each. They have one bed, where two of them sleep, and the other two sleep on the floor. She works very hard for her wage, which is about 7500 francs/week (which is about $17). Today we were near an electronics store and Yvonne wanted to buy a calculator for her brother because he is finishing up high school and next year will go to the college here and plans to study pre-med. The calculator she was looking at getting for him was 3500francs. Now pause for a second. Say you make $1000/week and you want to buy your brother a calculator. Can you imagine spending $450, nearly half of your week’s salary, on one?! I know it’s a bit out of context because calculators are not $450, but you hopefully get the picture. The love that she has for her brother and desire to see him be able to study in college compelled her to buy a calculator that financially she should never buy and will have to sacrifice a lot as a result. But that is the type of love that you will see here. Thinking of that almost brought tears to my eyes. We spend $20 a week just on coffee sometimes, which is almost what Yvonne makes in 2 weeks as her salary! My how we are blessed in the states!
Well I think I have typed enough for now. By the way, not sure if I’ve mentioned this, but it is the beginning of the rainy season here and man does it rain. It generally is nice during the day and then in the later afternoon/early evening it just dumps! The nice thing about it is that because all of the roads are dirt it keeps the dust down, but there are some extreme potholes on the roads as a result. Also, I have added a few pictures if you care to check them out. I hope you are all doing well. Thank you for your prayers,
Jon
Here at last!
Well after 17hrs on a plane, 6hrs of layovers, one night at a guest house and 9hrs of driving I have finally made it (safely) to Banso Cameroon where I will be working in a hospital for the next 3 weeks. I consider it a miracle that I am here right now because at this time last week there was extreme rioting and violence in all of the cities of Cameroon. On my way here today from Douala we passed by multiple gas stations that had been burned to the ground because of the fuel strike that was going on here. Basically the workers were unhappy with the price of fuel and the wages they were getting so in an effort to revolt against the president they set gas stations ablaze. My driver told me they also burned 10 fuel trucks, which were directly tied to the president, and the loss of money due to that was about 25billion francs (which is about 6.25 million dollars). So as a result of the violence I was told I needed to reschedule my flight and come later, that was last Tuesday. So Wednesday night I tried, but couldn’t get through to the airlines. Then on Thursday at 5pm, after sitting on the phone for 2hrs, I found out that my ticket cannot be changed or refunded. So I emailed the people here and said I either have to come on Friday March 7th or not go at all. On Thursday night at 10pm I got an email saying it was safe to come, so I packed my stuff and left the next morning at 7am and now I’m here!
Throughout my entire travels the only time that I felt even remotely in danger was today while driving. If you have never driven anywhere else but the US, it is an experience. Just from riding in the car today for 9hrs I have made some generalizations about driving here and have come to the conclusion that they do not have driving laws, however there are 2 recommendations and 2 suggestions. The recommendations are: 1. stay to the right side of the road when a vehicle is coming in the opposite direction. 2. pass cars going in the same direction on the left. And as for the suggestions: 1. use your horn to alert others you are passing. 2. make sure your breaks work well! If you can keep those things in mind AND remain calm, you’re good to go!
So after traveling for what seemed like forever, I finally met up with Dr. Mark Snell and his wife Yvonne here in Banso, Cameroon. I will be staying with them in a guest house right near the hospital that was just recently finished. I have my own room with a full size bed, a sink, there is a bathroom with hot water, a ping pong table and plenty of food! I have only met the Snell’s one time prior to coming here, but when I got here they welcomed me with hugs and treated me like their own son. Yvonne heated me up some food and had already made my bed and Mark talked with me about what was going to happen in the next few weeks. After talking with Mark I have a better idea about what I will be doing here. The hospital we’re at, the Banso Baptist Hospital, is apart of an organization called PAACS, which stands for Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons. PAACS is a residency program that brings American surgeons over to Africa to train residents in this hospital (and others throughout Cameroon and Africa). The goal is to raise up excellent surgeons who are also Christian mentors for the patients in the hospitals. So, since I am neither a resident nor a surgeon, I will be following around Dr Snell or a resident and hanging out with patients or even assisting in surgery. (there were two pre-med students here before me that just left today and they said they got to assist on multiple surgeries. In fact the girl liked doing c sections so much that they called her whenever they had one…awesome!). I don’t know what I will be doing with the rest of my time here, but I am excited to experience the culture and everything it has to offer. Apparently there are some locals that play pick up soccer every afternoon so I may have to join in on that at some point. For now I am content knowing what I know and excited for what God has in store for me here in Banso, Cameroon. I hope this email finds you all well. Thank you for your prayers,
Love,
Jon
