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
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