A month has past since my last post and for this I apologize. I was completely without Internet access following my stay in Bangui. So here is the quick and dirty version of all that happened since then.
-On leaving Bangui I took my dear 'daughter' Anne back to Gamboula as she was becoming very malnourished living with her aunt in Bangui. I am happy to say she is doing much better now that she is back in Gamboula. I was a 24-hour mother and well....no plans for our own kids yet, though Anne is a delightful little girl.
-Darren arrived in early June along with new computers and programs for Gamboula and the hospital. He was immediately put to work and everyone was so happy to see him after a two and a half year absence.
-I finished up my research and am so pleased with the way the nutrition program has been running and the direction that the staff want to take it in the future. In terms of numbers, more than 150 women have been trained and have received machetes through the program in the last three years. Thank-you to all who have helped make this a reality. New for the project this year will be a follow-up program with women in the area to help continue with lessons in the garden and to re-enforce what they learned while at the hospital.
-Darren and I went to visit family in Berberati and stayed with our oldest brother at the diamond company where he works. We learned all about the process of diamond extraction and met Claudine, their pet chimpanzee. She was lovely and am definitely going to avoid eating monkey after that. Just looking at her finger nails and eyes...
-On the 29th of June Darren and I parted ways in Yaounde after a day long drive from Gamboula with our new Swedish friends. We met a wonderful couple in Gamboula, a doctor and teacher, who are helping at the hospital for two years. We all have similar questions about missions, development, mission stations, etc., so we had a great time with them and we look forward to visiting them in Sweden some time in the future.
-Darren flew back to Victoria where he jumped back into work. I flew to Chicago where I met up with Bev, the international director for overseas programs with the Foods Resource Bank (FRB). I was intended to travel with FRB this summer as a translator for Ben, from Gamboula, but he was denied his visa. As were two of the other four invited guests. In light of this FRB invited me to travel in Benoit's place so here I am in Odon, Indiana.
I am traveling to an Amish farm today where I will be spending the day learning about vegetable production and staying the night in an Amish home. I will be traveling to Kansas tomorrow and will eventually make it to Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Florida. I am speaking about the past and future programs in Gamboula, learning about FRB and breaking down all my stereo-types of the mid-west. I will try and blog as I go now that I have everyone a little more caught up.
