things I will miss

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.

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 5^th.

Well, those are all the thoughts I have for now. I am tired and have to get up early.

Blessings to you all,

jon