Home on the Range

Saturday night at midnight we made our arrival into North America with one bag and a dog.  The other three bags were some where between Washington DC and Victoria.  We were greeted with much excitement and joy by our families and were covered up in warm clothes before leaving the airport for exposure to the cold Canadian air.  We slept in after having been traveling for 36 hours straight and started Sunday morning with a chill in the air. 

 

We spent a good amount of time Sunday sorting through clothes that had been in boxes for three years or more only to find that Darren's wardrobe was significantly well stocked compared to mine!  Sunday evening we had a nice dinner with my mom and the Bosses and were able to catch-up a bit over a really good club-house sandwich and French fries.

 

Monday morning mom and I went shopping so I could find same pants in order to prevent death by exposure on my part.  Monday afternoon was more essentials shopping with my dad and step-mom and then dinner with them and my sister.   Mmmm, pizza.  So we have eaten well in the last two days, are slowly acclimatizing and realizing how much work we have to do in the next month.  We are scheduled to fly to Florida on the 16th of January to start our year of work in Florida.  I am trying to not be critical at all that I see but Christmas is definitely a hard time to not think back to the poverty we just left in light of all the excess around us here.  I need to keep reminding myself that we are in a different culture and because of that, we need to be just as sensitive and tolerant as we were in the Central African culture.  There is no difference. 

 

Anyway, I plan on writing more when I have time to think and be still for more than a few minutes.  Our dog, Koko, has adjusted well and everybody loves her so she is doing better than we are. 

 

Well, better go....Later

Tearful Goodbyes

After a very difficult week of good-byes, we have arrived in
Yaoundé with our dog Koko in tow, awaiting our flight to
Canada on Friday. It is hard to say where home is now.
When we first set out for CAR one of our main motivations
was to learn the ropes of agricultural missions, to help out
Roy Danforth and to seek further direction for our future
careers. I don’t think it ever occurred to me that I
would want to stay in CAR, nor have my heart captured by the
people of Gamboula.

On the contrary, if I could have found some way to hang on I
would have. I have never felt such heart break in my life
that I can remember. Leaving Canada or ECHO did not feel
like this. I am so thankful for our two years in CAR and I
am looking forward to going back. There is no shortage of
need for missionaries and development practitioners in CAR
and if God allows, I intend to be among those meeting the
need.

Our last week was busy with packing although, I have to
admit that I had very little to do with packing down the
house. Darren, bless his heart, saw how much I was grieving
at having to leave behind such good family and friends that
he gave me the week to do what I needed to do and he took
care of nearly everything else. I have such an awesome
husband. We had a party at Clarisse’s house with all the
Nguebe family in the Gamboula area as well as her sister who
arrived from Bangui after an 8 year absence right in time
for our party. We fed 54 Nguebe’s, and that was only half
the family. Not unlike what a Coupe family reunion would be
like. Next we had a party with our ladies bible study, each
one bringing something to share around the table. Thursday
was a big day at our house as I got my hair braided by
Nadege and Clarisse. It took a total of nearly seven hours
but I am so happy with it and am determined to keep it in
until mid December. Friday, December first is the biggest
national holiday in CAR. The big thing to do on the first
is to be in the parade. Leonard, Nadege and I made uniforms
for all the workers with their names hand embroidered onto
their shirts and complete with ECHO hats. We loaded up the
agroforestry golf cart into the back of the truck and I
drove it at the head of our team in the parade. We got all
kinds of cheers as people were especially enthralled to see
Roy and Darren marching with the workers doing all kinds of
crazy stuff as they tried to march to the beat of the drums.
After the parade festivities were over I headed back down
town with Clarisse and a few other agro workers to take in
some of the fun. Darren went back to the house to pack
before he and Roy headed back to the Mayor’s party. I
hung out with Clarisse until nearly 10:30 that night. We
had a lot of fun but it was also very sad at the same time.
We saw all kinds of people we knew from church absolutely
drunk in the name of the holiday. It seems as though all
the people who would normally never do such a thing
transformed into some one else. Clarisse and I ended the
night in tears on our knees praying for our friends to
remain faithful to their convictions and that no one would
be injured. There were a number of motorbike-taxi accidents
because of excessive speed and drunk driving.

Saturday, we were honoured by the agroforestry staff at a
going away/Christmas party at our house. The wives of many
of the workers prepared goat, beef and greens (just for me)
and we gathered, wives included!, on our veranda for a
feast. We were so encouraged by the presence of all our
staff and their willingness to have their wives eat with us
(not a normal thing). I specifically asked if they would
mind inviting their wives as I know many of them and wanted
to say good-bye to them as well. Chrysler, one of the two
head guys who I have travelled a lot with and given lots of
counsel too, made such a nice speech and read a beautiful
prayer from Colossians that he asked me to pray on behalf of
the workers. When it came time to pray I couldn’t hold
out any longer and the tears started to flow. I think I
really surprised the guys. I have a reputation of being
pretty tough so I think it was good for them to see my more
vulnerable side. Even Chrysler had tears in his eyes.
Sunday night after a nice meal and Sunday service with the
missionaries I headed down to Clarisse’s house. To my
surprise, all the Nguebe siblings from Gamboula had gathered
there to wait for me. Clarisse, Nadege, Severene, Eloi,
Berenice, Regi (a cousin), Hortence (Mathew’s wife
visiting from Berberati), and a few of the older kids had
gathered in the living room. I arrived around 9:00pm
prepared to stay up all night. Once I got settled in my
spot and the laughing subsided, Eloi brought out a new
cassette player and a blank cassette. They had devised a
plan to record the group of us singing songs onto the
cassette for me to bring back to Canada so I can be reminded
of them. By 12:30 am we had filled up both sides of the
cassette, laughed at each other a lot and had a really good
time ‘breaking up our sadness’. I eventually crawled
into bed at 1:00am only to be up at 4:30am filled with the
dread of sadness I knew would come that day.

Monday morning I was up early finishing up all the things I
had neglected to do the week before. After running around
all morning, saying various good-byes it was time to think
about leaving for the airport. We had a lunch date with Roy
and Aleta but I couldn’t think about food at all. Instead
I took off for the Garden of Eden to have a good cry that
had been building up all morning. By the time I got out of
the garden there were people waiting for me at the garden
entrance to say their goodbyes, Nadege, Mama Maggie, both in
tears in no time. Once we had everything all packed up the
agroforestry staff said they ALL wanted to accompany me down
to the airport. We loaded everyone up in the agroforestry
truck, nearly 20 people, and took our funeral like drive
down the airport. I sat in the front with Eloi, my big
brother, on one side driving, and Clarisse, my big sister,
on the other side. Clarisse and I cried nearly the whole
way there and poor Eloi was doing all he could to hold it
all together. The plane was a little late so we tried to
lighten the mood some sitting under the hot sun. Once the
plane arrived and the guys got to refuelling, different
staff pulled me aside to say their personal goodbyes, their
thanks for various things and my last words of counsel.
There was also a lot of just staring at one another, words
exchanged without being spoken. When it was time to get in
and go the guys formed a long receiving line towards the
plane (African style) and we filed along it giving hugs and
shaking hands. Once the plane started up so did I, the
sound of my tears drowned out by the noise of the engine.
It was so painful to see all my dear friends, men and women
alike left standing there, eyes welling up with silent
tears.

So here we are in Yaoundé, waiting for our flight back to
Victoria tomorrow. If not for the continuing education that
is really going to be very helpful for our return back to
CAR, I am not sure I would have left just yet. Change is a
part of life, I know, but it doesn’t always have to be
easy. I realise even more so now in my departure, that what
I contributed to Gamboula was far more than just planting a
few trees and establishing productive gardens. These things
are good, but the real work happened in the relationships,
the lives I influenced, the hearts that changed. One of my
workers wives came to me on Sunday to thank me for working
so closely with her husband. She said before I came there
was no peace in their house. He would be away with other
women for days at a time, only to come back drunk, rough her
up and leave again. Now, after these last two years, peace
has returned, he sleeps at home, he no longer hits her and
things are slowly improving. Love is starting to appear in
their home. She says it is because of my counselling her
husband and the example of Darren and I’s marriage. What
an honour to be a part of transforming lives. And what an
honour it will be to one day soon return to CAR to be used
by God to transform more lives in his name.

I will write again on Monday when we are home and give you a
glimpse of reverse culture shock and all the things that
makes us look like a couple of people who just left the
jungle for the big city!

Rainy Days

I just got back form my 5:00am morning walk and the rain has started falling again.  It has been a very wet 'end' to the dry season and some say it is the final anger of the rain at having to give way to the dry season.  Whatever it is, it makes for some muddy days in the garden.  Maybe it is just here to help acclimatize me to what we will be returning to in Victoria for Christmas.  There has been a lot of activity since I last wrote, hence the lateness in this letter.

We had two great weeks with Phil Hudson, President of NMSI, Angela Nelson, former ECHO intern and on staff with NMSI, and Twila Schofeld, an illustrator with NMSI.  The girls had lots of projects to work on in Gamboula and we had a lot of opportunity to talk with Phil, gain valuable insights into our ministry as well as having the opportunity to dream about what the possibilities are for the future.  It was a very encouraging visit and we will have fun stories to share with them in the future.

Since their departure I left for a week with Chrysler, the main seminar teacher for Agroforesterie, Eloi, our new agri chauffeur and one of my older Nguebe brothers, and Romeo, one of the agri labourers.  We left on a Monday with the plan to visit 6 agroforesterie cooperatives in the Southern region.  The truck is only a two seater so Chrysler and Romeo rode in the back while I sat in the cab with Eloi.  I know Eloi pretty well and I have travelled with Chrysler before but out in the villages I am not known as 'me' really.  The cooperatives know me, or about me, but most everyone still has pre-conceived ideas about what a white girl can and can't do, where she can sleep and what she can eat.  It has been my goal to slowly if not forcefully break down some of these stereotypes, not for all white girls in general necessarily (I know some who would not sleep where I have) but for myself and the guys with whom I work.  It is hard to be the real me, when you are shrouded with stereotypes of who you should be.  Chrysler said he likes to travel with me because it gives him a kick when he gets back to Gamboula and people ask him what I ate, where I slept, did I use the outhouse?  He loves to see their reaction when he says that I did everything the same as their own wife would have done!  I had an especially hard time in Sosso-Nakombo, as we had arrived shortly after a bandit attack some 30km away.  It was far enough away for my feeling of safety but not for everyone else's.  When they saw I was with the agri team they sprung into action to find me a comfortable place to sleep.  Thus, I was swiftly delivered to two wonderful nuns at the local Catholic mission where I was locked in for the night along with our truck.  I must say, after two very cold nights of fitful sleep, I had a wonderful sleep in the mission house, with running water and warm blankets (yes, I get very cold here as well).  It weighed on my conscience though.  What makes my life that much more valuable that I am safely tucked away in a comfortable house and my colleagues are sleeping on the floor somewhere.  Don't get me wrong, I understand all the cultural nuances, but it still bothered me.  At that moment I counted their lives more valuable as each of them has a wife and children to look after and I don't.

The purpose of our trip was to meet with each cooperative and to visit as many tree gardens as possible.  In Sosso, we walked more than 8km, through some beautiful rainforest and savannah in order to look at 4 tree gardens. It was a long walk but most satisfying.  At one point we had to take off our shoes and walk through 100m of water up to our knees.  I had to fight to get to go on this walk as the village coop members didn't think I could walk that far or through such conditions.  It was Chrysler who finally convinced them I would be fine, after a hard glare from me.  The whole transaction was in Gbaya so I am not sure what all got said but I heard enough to know there was some doubt as to my hardiness.

Five days later we were back in Gamboula and I have been working closely with Medard and Chrysler to get them settled in their jobs before we leave. Chrysler is now responsible for writing reports so I have been advising him on how to do this.  It has been a learning opportunity for me as well so I am thankful for the chance to work with the two of them.  They have really grown in their abilities and in the respect the other workers and missionaries have for them.  We had to let go two employees this last week and that has been difficult but essential for the continuation of the agroforestery ministry.

With only three weeks left we are busy getting things prepared for those taking up the slack behind us.  I am leaving the nutrition project in capable hands but we have a few details yet to iron out.  As I am not known for my patience when it comes to packing up and leaving, I am going to go on one more trip with the agri team next Sunday through Saturday.  That leaves me with only two weeks here to work and get organized/packed.  I will be heading up north to give a seminar to a women's cooperative (finally) and then will continue on with Chrysler and Eloi on their visits with 6 agroforestery cooperatives in the region.  Darren will be busy in Gamboula getting computers sorted out, backed up and ready to turn over to the hospital.

I will be leaving here having accomplished and learned more than I first imagined.  I am excited to write about my up-coming trip as well as the various parties we will be attending.  Between Clarisse and I the tears are already flowing but I am determined to come back for a visit next January to do a control on the various projects while Roy is away on furlough.

From the heart of Africa, Angela

 

 

The In-law

Last week we found ourselves in Berberati again, helping ICDI's Agriculture project get off the ground.  Elise, Clarisse's sister, is the cook of one of the missionary families with ICDI.  We typically are not invited to eat with the missionaries for the evening meal and I usually end up visiting with Elise and her family in the evening and Darren generally spends time fixing people's computers or eating out with Roy at some schwiya stand (grilled beef).  This particular week, however, Darren agreed to come with me and visit the family.  Clarisse has three siblings in Berberati: Remy, the oldest of the twelve and also the head of personnel at ICDI, Mattieu, the second oldest son, who splits his time between Berberati and his diamond mines in Nola, and Elise.  Typically, I start by visiting Remy's house as it is closest to the mission.  From there, someone in the family, usually Calvin, the youngest (20), leads me on to Elise's house and from Elise's, Mattieu's.  I generally make it home by 9:00. 

 

In past visits I have typically eaten with Elise and it is whatever the family happens to be having.  I am included as part of the family, as if I was Elise's own sister, with a little extra special treatment (for instance, she wouldn't serve me water from the village, only from the mission).  We may only eat gozo and greens in a sauce, or gozo and caterpillars, as we did three weeks ago, big fresh ones!  Yum.  Earlier on the day in question, Elise was telling me about how Central Africans relate to their in-laws.  Essentially, you are expected to respect your in-laws above your own family.  Anything they ask of you, you do without question.  Thus, it was an extra special treat when we arrived at Elise's for supper to find that she had gone beyond the normal in order to show respect for her brother in-law, Darren.  We were served gozo, meat, greens and sauce and she had prepared donuts and tea for dessert.  Darren was quite honoured after I explained the significance to him. 

 

I have known for a while that Darren is respected by Clarisse's family.  Only Clarisse and Elise ever call Darren by his name.  Most everyone else calls him Monsieur Darren out of respect.  I am called Angela by everyone, except by the children who call me by the appropriate title of Omba (Aunt) Ma Kete or Ma Kota (little mother or big mother) depending on the case.  The other big honour we received this week was by Remy, who introduced me to his friends as his younger sister, then went on to give proof of this relationship.  Given that I am his Gambe (younger sister) this makes Darren his Beau Frere (brother in-law).  So rather than use Darren's name, he only calls Darren 'Beau', in the true Central African custom.  I am thankful and honoured beyond words to be part of this family and I am torn at having to say good-bye.  However, I know my position in the family and according to custom, when I return I will be accorded the same place in the family.

 

Clarisse's aunt, Mama Maggi, has been very ill for sometime without knowing the cause of her illness.  She is a kind hearted woman who was left by her husband when she could not conceive children.  She is a mid-wife and a pharmacist and has raised Clarisse and many other children, most of whom are orphans.  She left two weeks ago to visit her family and mother in nearby Cameroon, but fell gravely ill.  Clarisse was worried sick and wanted her to return to Gamboula but her uncle refused to send her back.  After her two weeks of sick time from her job at the hospital were up we decided to take drastic measures and I rented the hospital ambulance to go and bring back Mama.  Needless to say, the family was not happy to see us, and they were mad that Clarisse had brought the 'white lady with her' to force their hand into agreeing to let Mama Maggi come home with us.  Though it wasn't at all a friendly visit, we returned safely without too much border trouble with Mama.  She has undergone tests all day at the hospital and it is suspected that she has gastric tuberculosis.  Please pray with us for healing for this dear woman.

 

We have made some very important changes in the personnel of the agroforestry program, especially following Constant's accident.  He is on a two-year probation in which any incident, even the pettiest argument, could land him back in jail indefinitely.  We have removed him as the head of the program (a position he probably never should have had) and have put him in charge of the nursery.  Chrysler is now in charge of communications, conducting follow-up with the agroforestry groups and giving seminars.  Medard remains accountant and head of personnel and we are in search of a new head of the centre.  I have been very busy working with both Chrysler and Medard, coming up with report sheets, job descriptions and the like.  We are trying to put together a workable system that will help them do their jobs efficiently and that will facilitate reporting to Roy when he is out of the country.  It has been good to work with these two men, to strategize and empower them in their gifting.  I can't think of a more satisfying job! 

 

Our friends and president of NMSI arrive this Saturday for nearly two weeks of work and travel.  Time is running short but we are trying to make the best of it, to leave work here in a good position to continue on in our absence.

All things are possible...

...including the reparation of a lightning damaged satellite phone in the heart of Africa.  With huge thanks to Jim Hocking, director of the NGO ICDI, who graciously agreed to take our phone with him to Bangui, he knew just the place to take it, and presto!, we have a working sat phone again.  All this and it only cost us the equivalent of $25.  He said that as soon as the guy heard what happened to the phone he knew just what part was busted, and amazingly of all, he had the piece needed and the right type of screw driver to take it apart.  This proves many people wrong from around here who thought it impossible that Central Africans could fix a thing such as this, but in my thinking, where else in the world could you fix a satellite phone.  They are more common here than many other places due to the fact that other modes of communication are nearly non-existent and there are probably a lot of dumb ex-pats out here who leave their phones plugged in during a thunderstorm, when every one else knows better not to. 

 

We are both well, though I must admit that time is passing far too quickly for me.  Each day that passes it seems that my relationships with my colleagues grow stronger, and the bond between Clarisse and I and her family grows deeper.  There now resides a constant ache in my heart at the thought of our inevitable departure and I find myself wanting to spend more and more time away from the mission, visiting with family or chatting and planning work with my colleagues.  Last Saturday afternoon, Clarisse, Eloi (her older brother, a chauffeur) and I rented a motorbike and took it with all three of us on it to Kentzou, Cameroon to visit her mom and dad and Clarisse and Eloi's kids who are there at school.  I felt like the creamy filling of an Oreo cookie, sandwiched between two chocolate cookies.  It was a great visit, Eloi is a good driver, and the military checkpoints were a breeze to pass through once I told them I was a missionary in Gamboula.  They normally ask for money but once I got to talking with them they let us alone.  I think they were all stunned to see me on a motor bike with two Central Africans and it made their day enough that they didn't ask for anything more. 

 

Tomorrow we are heading for Berberati again to help Josh and ICDI with their new demonstration farm.  We are planning on fencing it in over the next three days so that goats will not enter the trial plots and eat up all the beans they have already planted.  I hope to write more in depth once I get back.  I have plenty of thoughts to share as I reflect back over our time here, and look ahead at what is to come.  Writing helps me sort it all out. 

 

Hapata!

The road home

 

It is with true sadness and a heavy heart that we come to the time of speaking about our return home.  All good things must come to their end, or at least find themselves amongst change.  Our original commitment to the work here and to our donors was to spend two years in Central Africa.  We will be returning home just shy of our two years in order to be present for the ninetieth birthday of Darren's grandmother in Victoria.  Thus we will be leaving Gamboula in early December and we will be spending Christmas with our families in Victoria.  It is a rare treat for us to spend Christmas with our families, and as our lives take us on ever far-reaching paths we imagine being home will become ever more rare. 

 

When we first decided to come to Gamboula it was with the expressed interest of learning as much as we could about agricultural development and missions from those who have been doing it successfully for a long period of time.  We have not been disappointed.  In fact we have learned more than I thought possible and have been given the opportunity to try out our own ideas, to express our opinions and to ask a lot of questions.  I could not have imagined a better place to try out our wings, so to speak.  Far from just sitting back and soaking in all that is around us, we have strived to really 'do something' while we have been here and as we have discovered more deeply each of our spiritual gifts, we have seen ourselves plunged into all manner of work.  Darren has found a real desire to help missionaries and nationals with their technology needs which is evidenced by the time he spends giving computer lessons and fixing computers.  Some days our house has looked more like the back room of an outdated Future Shop!  He has managed to restore 10 year old laptops back to working order with no help from the Internet.  I have seen more and more where my interests lie and where my gifts are best utilized.  I still love to work with fruit trees but even more, I love to work with people working with fruit trees.  My heart is for the relationships built while working with people in the area of food security.  I have enjoyed getting to know each of our workers, knowing their stories, meeting their wives and children, helping them work out different things in their lives, praying with and for them and generally helping them excel in their area of service to the Lord.  I can find no better satisfaction.  It is true that many days I return home from work saddened by the stories told, grieved over the sin in people's lives and other days overjoyed with the victory achieved in other's lives.  Without the help of my dear husband and my dear friend Clarisse, I might not be so quick to love my job, as their listening ears have helped me process a lot of what falls on my ears during the day.  I enjoy managing people and projects and look forward to what happens next. 

 

So, what does happen next?  Given all that we have discovered about ourselves here, we can undeniably say that we see ourselves in a long term career of service in foreign lands.  However, before this becomes reality, we both feel that a little more preparation remains.  While we are both committed to life long learning, Darren has a little more left in the university realm of things.  So here is the plan (subject to change, of course).

 

December - Return to Victoria for time with friends and family around the Christmas tree.

January - We will be returning to Fort Myers, Florida where we will debrief with our mission, NMSI, and then Darren will start an IT (Information Technology) apprenticeship at ECHO while I help manage the Tropical Fruit nursery at ECHO.

August - Darren returns to British Columbia to start classes at either UVIC or UBC towards a degree in Computer Science. 

December - I return to Victoria after finishing up at ECHO and attending their annual conference.  This is when I start job hunting like crazy to support my student husband! 

I am also planning on doing my MA degree at Royal Roads University via distant education, starting either May 2007 or May 2008.  It is a program called Human Security and Peacebuilding and is designed for those with previous work experience in insecure countries.  It is a two year program and includes a six-month internship overseas, which I would like to find a placement for in Central Africa.  This little plan takes us to about 2010 at which point we will be seeking opportunities to return to a career overseas.

 

This e-mail is for the curious.  A more formal letter will be sent out to all our donors in October.  The nutrition garden at the Gamboula hospital has been an incredible success and I do not want to see such an important and successful work fall apart due to lack of funding.  Two or three hundred dollars a month would put the project in good shape and due to my flexible school schedule, I would like to be able to return to CAR once a year for follow-up visits and to consult on the work here in Gamboula as well as with ICDI in Berberati, possibly leading short teams from NMSI.  All this is to say that we still have need of our donors and the work here will go on even in our temporary, if not elongated, absence.  Our hearts have been so captured by this land that to leave without a thought of returning is nearly impossible for me. 

 

We welcome your questions, your comments and your prayers.  Even the best laid plans are doomed to fail if they are not the plans of our Father. 

 

On a totally different subject, please put to prayer a meeting we will be having tomorrow with all of the Agroforesterie staff and the elders and pastor of our church.  We will be discussing problems that have surfaced between staff following the truck accident.  There is a lot of finger pointing going on to do with voodoo and such and there is no unity between the head of the program and the staff.  We all need wisdom and patience going into a meeting like this, especially when it comes to accusations of voodoo which is so unreal to us and so very real to our African counterparts.

Lightning sucks when it strikes you!

I have always been fascinated by lightning.  It was a rare thing for us growing up in Victoria and so was always exciting when a stormy night came along with thunder and lightning.  We would stay up at night just to listen to it, cuddled up on the floor in the living room, me, mom and Sarah.  When we moved to Florida it was commonplace for everyone else, but it still caught my attention.  I would sit in our screened in porch and watch the lightning light up the distance.  Not being all that familiar with lightning I hadn't yet earned a healthy respect for it until we heard reports of farm workers dying from lightning strikes nearby.  I was once caught out in a storm on the farm and had to take shelter for an hour with my rabbits in their hut for fear of being struck on my way home.  Lightning is a truly amazing thing, all that energy all balled up and then thrown out of the heavens in one distinct, frightening path of light that can destroy things instantly.  Like satellite phones for example.

 

We have our share of lightning here in the Central African tropics and this being rainy season we see it every week.  It never ceases to amaze me, and I listen for it the same way we used to listen for the train whistle everyday when we were kids, when we would run out to meet the nightly train passing by our house.  After receiving warnings from Roy about the destruction lightning can cause inside homes here, travelling through electrical lines, we quickly learned that when a storm is approaching we need unplug everything, computers, radios and phones, including the phone antenna, which sits on the roof of our house.  Last night we heard a storm far off in the distance and we went to bed before it snuck up on us in Gamboula.  We woke up to a loud CRACK and instantly Darren jumped out of bed to unplug everything, but too late.  The lightning struck the short-wave radio antenna in a building 50 metres from our house.  The energy was so great to have travelled through the electrical circuitry of the station tripping circuits at the hospital and agroforesterie and travelling up into our satellite phone.  Darren knew instantly that our thousand dollar piece of marvellous technology had taken a direct hit and we mourned the loss all night in a fitful sleep.  It isn't completely dead as it will still make phone calls but some part of it is damaged to the point that it will no longer make data calls, in other words, send e-mail, nor will it charge the battery on AC power.  Fortunately we have wonderfully generous neighbours who are willing to let us use their phone system and we are trying to get our phone credit transferred to their number.  We will try sending the phone back to the states for repairs but have little hope it will make it back here before our term is over. 

 

While I remain fascinated by lightning, even as I sit here this afternoon typing in the middle of a rain storm, I can now hear the anger in the voice of the thunder calling out its vengeance on unsuspecting citizens of earth who may be unlucky enough to meet the wrath of its force.  It is otherwise an amazing and beautiful thing, but it really sucks when it strikes you!

'Pretty much not guilty'

It is one those cloudy, cool days more typical of Victoria in the Fall then Central Africa in the summer, not that I am complaining.  In fact, I have received so many e-mails lately that I have been praying for a rainy afternoon that would jail me in the house in order to sit down and write, a cup of tea at my side.  We have had lots of guests the last few days including the return of Dr. Tim and Ann, missionaries from the USA.  They are back from furlough for a three (?) year term at the hospital here.  We have been providing them their first week's worth of meals to help them get settled.  We have had other missionary visitors from villages in CAR show up this week as well so Darren and I have been eating far too well the last few days.  Funny how you always eat better when there are guests!  We also celebrated Clarisse's thirty-sixth birthday yesterday with a big, yummy chocolate cake.  Just because I had to remind her of her own birthday doesn't mean it wasn't a special day, but on the whole, birthdays go by completely un-noticed, for those who even know their birth date.  However, we could not let the day go by without some mention of it and some tasty treat.  She was rather lucky actually as, for those who want to celebrate their birthday, it is up to the celebrant to fix their own food for their party and do their own clean-up.  Her sister's kids are already having kids so this makes her a grandmother at the age of thirty-six.  Amazing really when I have friends who are only beginning to have their own kids at the age of thirty-six. 

 

In the on-going saga of the search for justice, Constant's trial is now over and the verdict of 'pretty much not guilty' was handed down this past Monday.  While he is technically not guilty, they couldn't quite say this as his vehicle was involved in an accident and as accidents can never just be accidents someone living must be at fault.  To this end, he was released from custody and is back in Gamboula but remains on probation for two years.  This means that he cannot get into any trouble of any kind for two years otherwise they are able to send him back to jail or something, we are not sure what.  As far as the project is concerned, he will not be allowed to drive any of our vehicles for that two year period, lest we get into further trouble with another accident.  The judge also said that the families of the deceased are free to sue our insurance company for loss of life of a loved one, even though the accident wasn't Constant's fault.  Since the other vehicle wasn't carrying insurance I guess they have to have the ability to sue someone.  The other stipulation is that if the families don't succeed in suing the insurance company they are then allowed to sue Constant and the EEB church directly.  My interpretation of the ruling then is that it pretty much wasn't Constant's fault. 

 

While he is back in Gamboula he is not yet back at work.  Roy would like the family to meet with the pastor first to try and work out the accusations of black magic that are coming from Constant's family, which happen to be all over the place.  We can hardly have him come back to work when he still thinks that two of our workers cursed him into having his accident.  Somehow I don't think there would be a lot of love floating around between the workers.  Since Constant is the head it would also make it difficult for those under him to respect him.  Please continue to pray for a spiritual resolution to the problems of the heart that are going on here.  Things to do with magic are so much beyond our experience and our understanding but they are very real for those we work with.  Help us to be able to communicate freedom and truth from the darkness that so entangles the lives of those we love here. 

 

Be on the look out for my next blog detailing the plan for the rest of our lives.  Well, perhaps not the rest of our lives but at least the road we'll be travelling on for the next 12 months or so. 

 

Still on the war path for truth and justice,

Angela

Catching Up

Having safely arrived back in Gamboula last week, we have had the last week to settle back into work and our somewhat hectic but wonderful routine.  We were welcomed back with both good and bad news regarding life here but I suppose that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.  The good news is that Calvin, whom we and others back home having been helping with school fees, passed his exams and now holds his BPC, a kind of diploma that opens doors to college, nursing school and other government related jobs.  He is now continuing on with school and we, and hopefully others (hint, hint) will pitch in to help make his goals a reality.  He is last of twelve children so you can imagine that he doesn't get any help from family in regards to school as all of his brothers and sisters have married and have families of their own.  In fact, one of his older sisters gave birth this morning and I have just returned from visiting them in the hospital.  What a precious sight to see a brand new baby.  Speaking of babies, we were also greeted with the news that our friend Reufen and his wife are proud parents of a baby girl that they have named Angela, after me.  I am feeling quite honoured and the baby is beautiful with lots of curly black hair.  Precious! 

 

In other news, the saga of Constant continues.  He has been 'released' from prison but is being kept at the president of the tribunal's house.  Technically he is still in jail but he has really become the presidents house boy and chauffeur while he awaits a trial that has been post-poned twice.  The police reports say that Constant is not at fault, but now, one of the family members of one of the deceased has come forward to sue Constant, stating that the accident was his fault because prior to the accident he had had a fight with a women and that caused the accident.  Hmm?  Sounds suspect to me.  Roy has brought in a lawyer twice who has come all the way from the capital in Bangui, only to have them post-pone the proceedings, ONCE THEY HAVE SEEN the lawyer.  They really just want Roy to give up and pay them all off and call it a done deal, which Roy will not do.  Of course.  We have not been given a new date and it looks as if this may never end.  Perhaps once the president gets tired of having Constant around he will finally put an end to the cherade but in the meantime it is a game of waiting.  It is about as corrupt a system as you could imagine.  Every day his family has to bring him food to eat so imagine how anxious they are to get this over with. 

 

We received a letter from Constant the other day and he is also quite discouraged.  He accused three employees of ours of putting a curse on him so that either the trial won't happen or he will die in prison.  No one can accept that the system is corrupt, instead, there must be some evil spiritual reason behind it all.  Arrgh!  Everything in baby steps.  Upon our return from Bayanga I found that my friends younger brother was also in jail.  He was imprisoned under false charges and they refused to give him a proper trial or let him argue his case.  They only wanted money which they knew he had a bit of because they waited to arrest him until after he got paid for helping build a house locally.  After seven days in squalor the family managed to negotiate down his 'fine' and he was released much to our relief.  He was sick and hungry but happy to be home with his wife, kids and family.  Everybody in the village knew he was falsely charged but no one could do a thing about it.  Don't they call that a police state. 

 

It has been cool here for days but no real rain fall.  This afternoon there has been a lot of thunder but no rain.  Monday and Tuesday are holidays so we will be able to work around the house and in the gardens with relative peace.  I also put together a report this week of the Women and Children Gardening for Health Program and since January we have given away 19 machetes and vegetable seeds to mothers with infants in the hospital nutrition centre.  These women represent nearly 190 hours of labour that they put into the nutrition garden.  Of these 19 women, 8 were Fulani and 11 were Gbaya villagers.  Since January only two women have outright refused to work and the rest have been very happy to help out, harvest food for their kids and receive a machete and seeds at the end of their stay.  The hospital staff are more than pleased with the program, and frankly, so am I. 

 

We have three visitors coming out this October, the president of our mission, NMSI, and two US staff.  We are looking forward to their visit immensely as hopefully this will open up more doors for people to come and work here in the future.  The local evangelist that we worked with in Bayanga was adamant that more people come out to help him in his work in the area of development-agriculture, health, small business, what ever would be a help to the Aka pygmies that he works with.  I fully agree with the needs he sees. 

 

Speaking of needs, anyone wanting to help put some wonderful (no bias here) kids through school this year, as little as twenty dollars will put a child through school for the year.  Any size donations can be sent via NMSI (in the United States) or CCWM (in Canada) marked 'Bosses-special projects' and we will direct the funds specifically to pay for school fees and supplies.  If you have any questions please contact us through NMSI.  (www.nms-intl.org)

 

Have a great week, Angela

Tree-vangelists

Yesterday marked our first real day of work in Bayanga since our arrival last week.  Our time to rest is over and work has begun.  We rented a VCR, television and generator from the neighbourhood 'movie theatre' and set it up in the village of Yandoumbe, a couple kilometres up the road from where we are staying.  The residents of Yandoumbe have motivation issues when it comes to farming, as most residents prefer to work as temporaries in villagers gardens, getting paid just a little manioc each day, rather than work in their gardens and take home as much or as little manioc as their family would need each week.  Because it is hard to find a time to speak to everyone in the village at once, what better way than to show an outdoor film and gather the masses.  Once darkness hit we started with a twenty minute film in Sango that was produced in Bayanga introducing the work of the mission in Bayanga and the various activities they do.  i am not sure if everything in the film was understood by the mostly Aka speakers but it served our purposes of drawing a crowd of nearly 200.  During 'intermission' I, speaking through my Aka interpreter Jean Pierre, gave a demonstration and speech of why they should have their own gardens instead of working in everybody else's.  My visual aids consisted of a small bowl and a really large one, making the point that for their efforts in someone else's garden they are only rewarded with a small bowl of manioc, not quite enough for the whole family for one day.  But when you have your own garden, you can have enough to fill the large bowl which is plenty for your family for several days, meaning you don't have to go to your garden everyday even.  After a rather animated and convincing (if I do say so myself) speech we settled down to watch the second tape which was mostly Aka pygmies singing that was filmed during a pygmy church conference in the town of Liboko.  Just as I had heard about enough of the video, God did as well and we packed up just in time for a big rain storm to scatter everyone back to their homes. 

 

While I am not sure how well I would do preaching to the masses, I sure did enjoy encouraging folks with my tree-vangelistic campaign.  Speaking of preaching though, this morning at seven the local evangelist knocked on our door and asked if one of us wouldn't mind preaching at church this morning.  Darren, not one for public speaking kindly deferred to his wife and she, I, quickly prepared a sermon for delivery at eight thirty that same morning.  Me and my rapid fire mind found it a little difficult to preach through a translator (into the Aka language) as while your words are being translated you have to not lose your train of thought, but otherwise it went well.  It made me even more grateful for the time I spent with YWAM eight and a half years ago, when no-warning sermons were par for the course.  Every event in life has its purpose. 

 

Tomorrow morning we get up real early to head for Bomanzoko and Lindjombo to check in on the people and their trees.  I am sure that as I write someone down there is munching on a Jackfruit...

Firsts...

Just before leaving for Bayanga I had a terrible first--my first real grey hair.  It was long and wiry and for one short moment I thought, oh know, so this is what it feels like to really know you are getting older.  I am six months from turning thirty and while I know it isn't that old, I was still shocked to be shocked at finding my first grey hair.  I am pretty much over it so no worries.

 

Our other first occurred yesterday on our trip to two outlying pygmy villages.  We got our truck stuck in a nice, big mud hole.  It took 30 minutes, Darren at the wheel, two Aka pygmies digging with their hands, and me taking pictures to get us unstuck.  Okay, so me taking pictures probably had nothing to do with getting us out but the photos are impressive.  Once you have been up to the door handle in one mud hole I suppose all the rest don't seem that bad but I would rather not find out. 

 

So now that we have been stressed enough to get grey hairs, been stuck in a mud hole, eaten monkey and caterpillars, travelled on local transport (motorbikes sitting three people and the jungle-bus), slept in mud houses, and acquired a second language, we are well on our way to becoming 'real' missionaries, the kind that can either entice others or scare them away completely from becoming missionaries themselves. 

 

What a fun job we have!!!!

Interesting Places, Interesting People

I want you all to meet Jean Pierre.  He is a pygmy man from the town of Yandoumbe, a village 3 kilometres up the road from the Centre De Formation, our home in Bayanga each summer.  He is originally from a forest village in Cameroon but came here six years ago where he met and married his wife and is now the father of 4 children.  They say there is a sickness in Yandoumbe that causes people not to farm and its primary cause is unknown.  Some say its laziness, others say it's an aversion to becoming 'permanent', but whatever the cause, Jean Pierre is immune.  Having learned from his father long ago that life without fields is no life at all, he has been farming here since he arrived.  Every morning in Bayanga between five and six in the morning you will see streams of women coming down from Yandoumbe heading to the manioc fields of the Bilo (otherwise known as thr  typical village African).  These pygmy women will work from six in the morning until two or three in the afternoon and in return will receive a small bowl of manioc flour insufficient for the needs of a single family in a day.  Why would one want to farm for someone else for a little bit everyday when you could easily farm for yourself and gain as much as you wanted?  This we are unsure of and it is this that we are working towards changing the ideas of these pygmies but it is a slow process.  This Saturday night we will be showing a film in Yandoumbe about the work of the Centre De Formation in order to gather together a large crowd of people.  Before showing the film Jean Pierre, Capita and I will do our best at evangelizing the people of Yandoumbe about gardens.  Why farm for others when you can farm for yourself and reap all the benefits.  Jean Pierre will be our chief witness to what self reliance means.  He and his wife are not in the garden everyday, and their fields aren't the prettiest looking, but they also find the time to hunt and fish and to carry on with more traditional activities that also go a long way in providing for his family.

 

We sat down for a planning meeting with Jean Pierre, Capita and Bernadine this morning and as with most meetings here, it included a lot of story telling.  Jean Pierre told us about when he first got here he met Louis, an American that has been living among the pygmies for twenty years now.  He saw how Louis would give away money or food or soap to people without getting anything in return and immediately he told his wife that no way were they going to take things from that white guy.  He saw how dependent they could become and instead they put all their efforts into making their fields which is a pretty difficult task in the rainforest.  After having cut down all of the rather awesomely large trees in your field you then have the task of turning over the soil containing all of those trees' roots.  However, they are healthier and better off than most of their neighbours and for Darren and I, his family is a rare treat to work with.  Should you ever visit Jean Pierre's garden, you will find fruit trees planted here and there and if you walk to the end of his field, there underneath the trees at the edge of the rainforest is a fruit tree nursery containing the best of the best; Jackfruit, Mango, Avocado etc. 

 

This is the short story of Jean Pierre and we are priviledge to work with him and will be travelling with him all next week as we evangelize the masses about the importance of gardening.  Pray for us and our message.  After all, God was the first farmer on this earth!

Taking evil to court

The following true story I am about to relay to you comes only thanks to my mother who said that people are interested in knowing all about what goes on in the lives of the people we work with.  While this story may cause you to think the whole continent is crazy, if not just C.A.R., my only hope is that it challenges your world view, and that you may begin to see things amongst the unseen. 

 

Let me introduce you to a few people first.  I have changed the names of most everyone in case for some reason someone gets a hold of the cow involved.  (Will explain later.)  Christy is a young, vibrant midwife at the mission hospital.  She is widowed with 4 children and she is an active member of the church and the choir.  Her Dad is a retired pastor, her brother Rick works for agri and her sister Janet is the head of the women's bible school.  About three months ago Christy went, well, crazy.  At first her family thought she was only praying and prophesying but after two days of not eating or sleeping she began to say all kinds of crazy things, pointing out sin in the lives of many of the nurses in our hospital and church, including the pastor and the top people at the hospital.  She claimed that the hospital was killing people through the nurses use of black magic.  The pastors at the church went and prayed for her, the doctor tried to get her to go to the hospital, but nothing was helping her.  In fact she just got worse and worse.  She refused to have anything to do with modern medicine or the hospital, she stopped eating, talking and was nearly always awake, never sleeping at night.  After a week she confessed that her sickness was the result of black magic performed on her by the accountant and head lab technician of the hospital but of course there is no way to prove this.  The two hospital guys both deny having anything to do with black magic.  One is an elder and the other is a deacon in our church here. 

 

Two weeks passed and Christy just got worse and worse so to help solve matters, they called in a village doctor to perform his own magic on her using village medicine.  For the last three months they have been performing this medicine on her, which involves washing her body with the right kinds of herbs everyday.  They say her sickness isn't all that uncommon and has been seen up north.  They call it the cow sickness because when she first got sick she stripped all her clothes off and wanted to run into the bushes and eat grass.  They said she was acting like a cow.  Now it is 3 months later and she is showing little improvement.  They have moved her to another city where she is still receiving very expensive treatment from a witch doctor which is eating up three peoples salaries each month.  They are all very afraid she will die.  But it isn't quite like you think.  It isn't the physical symptoms that may eventually kill her.  What they believe is that the person who sold her to the original black magician has put her soul in that of a cow somewhere in Nigeria.  Should the cow in Nigeria die, then so too will Christy. 

 

If this in itself isn't sad enough, not two weeks after she first got sick, the father, a retired pastor, let's not forget, went down to the local police station and put in a request to sue the two hospital staff members because they caused her illness by selling her to a black magician.  I know this may sound crazy, and no this isn't  a remake of the Salem witch trials, but it is possible to be charged with causing illness or deaths by means of black magic, sorcery or witch craft, whatever you want to call it.  I have no idea how such cases are judged since to my knowledge, the hospital does not give out death certificates saying "Cause of death: witch craft".  It remains as one more example of how everything here has more than just a physical cause.  You don't just die of a heart attack here, there always has to be some underlying cause. 

 

I can't truly say what is wrong with Christy.  Maybe she just snapped, maybe she is possessed by evil spritis, maybe her soul is in a cow, or maybe she just thinks it is and fear itself has driven her mad.  I can't say but I wish I could.  I remain a physical evidence kind of person though the longer I am here the more my worldview continues to shift and challenge me. 

 

One more quick example.  My friend Elise recently moved away from Gamboula.  Her husband took a second wife after having some 15 affairs and Elise left him and took her children with her.  Technically, she isn't allowed to leave with her kids but she is frightened for their safety so they are with her. (She has 10.)  Only 2 days after she left town her ex-husband had a bad motorbike accident, breaking his femur and doing incredible damage to his leg.  After only 3 weeks in the hospital he left and headed for a small village in order to seek village medicine (which, by the way, after 4 months, is not working and he may never be able to walk again because of his stupidity).  He has since filed charges against Elise and Clarisse for 'causing' his accident by magical means to prevent him from following after Elise.  While it would have been a good use of magic the charges are false and how on earth do you prove that in a court of law.  Could you imagine a black magic episode of CSI?  Anyway, as long as her ex is hobbled, Elise is safe, though the military have come to warn her about the court case twice since she has moved.  They won't proceed with the case until he can travel and the way he is going that won't be for a while. 

 

You may think I am anti-village medicine but I am not.  However, there are some things that work and some that don't and in the case of a broken femur I think traction and a hospital bed are better than herbs and rubs.  I am also deeply concerned about women's rights and I am sure you will here more about this from me later. 

 

Ange

Life turns upside down

What is a reality in every big city weekly, is a rarity here in Central Africa.  Yesterday we were hit with the sad news that Constant, the head African of our agroforestry program was involved in a head on collision in a village south of here.  Constant was driving the centre's landcruiser truck while the other was a car.  They were both approaching the top of a blind hill from opposite directions at high speeds when they hit and two people in the car were killed along with a three year old boy who was riding in the back of the agri-truck.  To make things even worse, the two dead are the secretary of the province of Berberati and the vice-Mayor of Berberati, who also happens to be the younger brother of a recent presidential candidate and minister in the government.  There are four other people seriously injured and in our mission hospital, including a pregnant woman.  We are all in a state of shock and we are unsure as to what the final outcome of this tragedy will be.  Constant is generally a good driver, if not a little fast, but I know he must be beside himself right now knowing that his vehicle was involved in the deaths of three people. 

 

Not unlike the United States, lawsuits are common here and we are bracing for what could be an expensive battle with the families of these very important men.  One of the men has left behind four wives and numerous children.  The judicial system is very corrupt and we are hoping for the best but won't be surprised by the worst.  What this means for our programs here we are unsure.  Our work here will be unaffected but we are concerned about the mission as a whole.  We are asking for prayer from all our readers.  Please pray for Constant and for his family.  He is in protective custody as it is likely that if he is free family members of the dead men may try to harm or kill him.  Pray also for the impending court cases and for Roy who will likely be involved in much of the details as he is Constant's boss and the vehicle was a work vehicle.  Pray that we would have a positive attitude as we handle the fallout from this tragedy and that we respond appropriately and with love. 

 

Thank-you, Angela

The day I ate my genetic cousin.

Sounds kind of gross, but ask any scientist and they will tell you that monkeys are our genetic cousins, and even though I swore to my mother that I would never eat one, when it's the only thing on the table and you are the honoured guest of a Baka pygmy you have relatively little choice.  Okay, so we returned to Bamba last Sunday to plant trees with the Baka pygmies we met a few weeks earlier.  The same town where I got in trouble for taking the picture of a monkey.  I guess it isn't so bad if you eat one, only if you take it's picture!  We arrived Sunday night at the Baka village to find that in the two weeks since we had been there they had put up a house for us to stay in and they had high hopes that we had come to be 'their white people'.  This, I learned, meant that they were hoping we had come to live with them, to give them jobs, to provide food and clothes and school for them until the end of eternity, just like the Catholics are doing over in Cameroon.  I was immediately sadden by their request and though I could understand their desire for such a plan it also seemed to me like just another form of enslavement.  We suggested, that instead of us employing them, they employ themselves.  Why garden for me, I asked them, when you could garden for yourselves and then you would be the owner of both the garden and all that was in it.  No, no, no.  That wasn't a good idea at all they said. 

 

The Baka pygmies are a people between cultures fighting to find a place in both; not a very easy thing to do.  They have a natural fear of cities and the Bantu people in them and they are often taken advantage of.  However, if they could get over that fear, they would make nice profits selling their own produce in the town of Bamba, along with the sale of bush-meat.  One of the many problems is that even though they are currently selling meat in the Bamba market, they generally take that money and buy alcohol and cigarettes, not giving a thought to what they will eat next week.  Working within a culture like this is very difficult and progress is very slow.  There is a fine balance between helping out and causing dependency and I only know one or two missionaries who have succeeded at it.  We have very little time left in CAR this time around so we are doing what we can.  We planted 40 fruit trees in their village and started a small nursery with them.  We also bought them 25 high quality oil palm trees that produce high amounts of the red palm oil that is high in Vitamin A.  There is a severe shortage of oil palm in that area and it would make a good commercial product for the Baka.  After spending the night on the floor of the mud house they constructed for us we spent the day eating fruit and planting trees before going back to Bamba, the mill town, where we spent the night in the church's guest room.  Tuesday morning we went to visit another family of Baka on the West side of Bamba and were pleasantly surprised to see 2 simple mud houses surrounded by flowers planted all around and trees from the Bamba seminar.  We again ate fruit and planted trees and visited in their garden that has a very rich and productive soil.  They are very keen on planting a tree garden and are starting work on it tomorrow.  Then we sat down and ate a meal of gozo and monkey.  It is a very dark meat and tasted a lot like, well, meat.  I am not a connoisseur of meat so that isn't saying much coming from me.  I can't say I would want to eat it again but I was proud of myself for having tried it and feel initiated into the ranks of a 'real missionary'.  Darren said it was pretty good tasting if not a bit oily, but he too wouldn't be bothered if he didn't eat it again!

 

On the garden side of things, everything is growing well with the rains in the nutrition garden.  We are harvesting the Mung beans now, the first of the 17 plus varieties we have planted in the nutrition garden.  From quite a small plot we have already harvested 3.765 kg and we will be picking one or two more times yet.  It is turning out to be a very desirable bean for this area as it only took two months from planting to first harvest and total time from start to finish will only be 2 and a half months.  It seems to tolerate wet and dry conditions and the bean itself requires very little cooking time which is essential here as everything is cooked over open fire.  We are clearing space in the garden right now in order to plant a larger crop of mung beans to build up the number of seeds we have for distribution to all of the agroforestery cooperatives.  We will also be giving a large amount to the nutrition centre to cook for the children there.  The mung bean seeds are one of the 17 varieties of beans we brought back from Kenya last October for trials in the nutrition garden.  It is very satisfying to find something that works here so quickly.  We are also looking at replicating a red cow pea from Congo that I gave out to a group of women last Spring 2005, and received favourable reports about. 

 

The nutrition garden is becoming quite a model of variety on a small piece of land.  We have 5 different starch/root crops growing, beans, vegetables, bananas and peanuts on one hectare of land.  In a year and half there will be lots of food available for the nutrition centre in terms of the root crops and bananas and this summer we will be able to give them a lot of beans.  Things are happening and I am glad to be able to share the excitement with you all.

 

Till next time, Angela

Mail update

Dear friends, I hope you read this quickly and then continue on the next blog I sent out this morning about the monkey...

Just a note to inform anyone out there who has a mailing address for us that is Yaounde, Cameroon.  Please do not continue to use this address for mail.  We found out TODAY that we are not supposed to recieve mail at this address.  Why no one told us this before I do not know.  If you want to know how to mail stuff to us please send us an e-mail to bossbugs@yahoo.ca. 

Thanks for your help, Angela

Ask the monkey first....

...before you take its picture.  Well, maybe not the monkey so much as the monkey's owner.  So the story goes something like this.  I was recently in the village of Bamba, about 2 hours south of Gamboula, with Noel and Chrysler, the agroforesterie seminar teachers, and Josefine, a short-term Swedish missionary.  Bamba is a town of about 3000 people on the edge of the rainforest and the town itself is almost solely supported by a large sawmill and the trade in smoked bush meat.  We went down for 3 days (Darren stayed behind to work in Eden), and it was on day two of our visit that Josefine and I received our first Convocation in CAR.  Not conviction, but convocation.  This is like a summons to an government official's office when you have done something wrong. 

 

Okay, so Josefine, Noel and I were haplessly wandering around Bamba Thursday afternoon around 5:00 when I spotted a monkey tied up outside someone's house.   I asked Noel if he thought it was alright for Joesfine to take its picture and since we couldn't find anyone around to ask, he said no problem.  So, without getting too close, Josefine snapped a picture on her digital camera and we were on our way.  Friday afternoon we returned to Bamba after having planted trees in a nearby Baka pygmy village, only to hear that we had been summoned to the office of the Eau et Foret authority.  These are the government guys in charge of water and forests and anything that happens to live in them.  Actually we had been summoned that morning but we failed to receive their notice until the afternoon.  Noel and the Evangelist we were staying with promptly went down to the office to ask forgiveness of the head guy for missing our 'appointment' and they were told what our grievous errors had been. 

 

According to Mr. Eau et Foret, our first fault was that we did not ask the monkey's owner for permission to take the monkey's picture.  I told the guys that since the owner wasn't around we should have asked the monkey if it was alright instead.  So, yeah, I guess we were at fault.  Our second, even larger fault, was that neither of us has the proper authorising papers to take pictures of any and all things in Central Africa.  This was a new rule to me and all our immediate reactions was, oh, so the guy wants money! 

 

Saturday morning at 8:00, under a heavy canopy of a rainforest downpour, we made our way on foot to the office of the eau et foret, and wouldn't you know but it was the same house as the monkey's.  We entered the head guys office with our peace offering in tow (a lovely little fruit tree) and we proceeded to be chastised for our grievous error in photo etiquette.  If I hadn't had been shivering with cold I might well have had to suck on a lemon to keep a ridiculous and inappropriate smile off of my face.  The whole thing seemed so funny to me.  I asked forgiveness for our sins and told him that we couldn't find anyone to ask permission and we had no idea it was the office of the eau et foret since they neglected to put a sign out front of the office.  You can bet when I go back to Bamba next week there will be a sign up!  I also told him how hard it is to be new in a country and to not know all the rules, especially when such rules do not exist in our own countries (Canada and Sweden).  I even offered to erase the monkey's picture but he refused.  We chatted him up for another 45 minutes until I concluded that perhaps the rule he mentioned does not apply to Joesfine and I since we technically are not tourists but rather residents and that we had already paid a hefty price for that very privilege.  After giving him our tree offering we left without paying a dime. 

 

Needless to say, Friday and Saturday we continued to joke about the monkey and the officer and I am not sure I have laughed that hard in a very long time.  I was thankful that I contained myself enough not to say anything stupid to the eau et foret officer and that my Sango proved better than that of the officer, who grew up in Cameroon.  I was more Central African than he was at that moment.

 

In fact, the whole time we spent in Bamba was one of the best times I have had here and was one of those occasions where you think to yourself, how can I possibly leave this place.  Chrysler, Noel and I meshed together like we had been friends for a long time and it was one of the first times I have spent with Chrysler where the colour/culture barrier almost seemed non-existent.  He didn't call me madam the entire time we were there.  While I was happy to be home with Darren it was also a little like the week after coming home from summer camp, all the fun and excitement left behind in exchange for the daily grind.  Not that there is much a daily grind feeling here but I think you know what I mean.  In fact, it has been an excellent week in terms of work and Monday we had a chance to group ourselves together and plan the weeks work as we were forced inside due to rain. 

 

Darren, Chrysler and I will be returning to Bamba on June 4 to work with two different groups of Baka pygmies who are interested in planting trees, especially improved oil palm.  The red oil taken from the fruit of the oil palm is very high in Vitamin A and a rich source of oil.  A Baptist evangelist lives and works among one group of Baka and he has started a school for the Baka children using the government curriculum.  It is an impressive little school, just poles and a thatch roof but he is a dedicated, if not somewhat discouraged man.  He receives next to no salary from the EEB church and is thinking about moving back to his own village where his wife and 12 kids live.  I told him that he wasn't an evangelist so much as a missionary and that hard times are part of the course.  We are helping him with trees and vegetable seeds but that is about as far as we can go with him.  It seems to me that a denomination as old and established as the EEB here in CAR ought to be financing their own missionary campaigns.  We shall see. 

 

We are off to Berberati for the day tomorrow to look at our possible future work sight with a Central African NGO.  The roads had been fairly calm but there have been two incidences in the last week so we remain cautious and only travel by night.  It is a pain but is also just part of the routine of working here. 

 

Better get going and pack for our day away.  Remember, always ask the monkey before you take his picture, otherwise you might get in trouble!

The keys to my canoe

Walking along the streets of Gamboula is a feast for the eyes.  From the bright coloured outfits of the women, half-naked children running about, goats and sheep lying across the road and houses in all states of repair.  However, if you look really close, you might notice the pineapple top hanging from someone's orange tree or the wad of rolled up leaves sitting above the door of someone's house.  A village form of decoration you might think to yourself.  But no, actually, this is the lock and key to your house, your protection against thieves stealing your ripening oranges.  How can a rolled up wad of leaves possibly protect your garden, your fields, your home or your possessions from thieves?  Because the belief is that the curse on those leaves is so strong that anyone stealing will drop dead as a result in no time at all.  The point was driven home for Darren the other day when he went fishing with his friend Bruce.  When they arrived at the river they came to two canoes sitting side by side.  One, belonging to a missionary, was chained and locked to a tree.  The other, belonging to Bruce, had a wad leaves sitting on the bow.  This, Bruce pointed out, was his lock and key for his canoe, and a fundamental difference between Western and Central African thinking that affects every aspect of how we live and work here.  Bruce, a church member, went on to explain that while he himself does not belief in the magic behind the leaves, everyone else does and so that keeps his boat safe which took many hours of hard work to make. 

 

This belief is not just something from the old animist religious ways.  In fact it is alive and well in the Christian church.  Not so much that Christians here practice using leaves but they remain in the fear of those leaves.  You see, while you can put leaves out to protect your things from thievery, the leaves can also be used as a means of thievery.  My good friends sister, Anne, is a prime example.  Anne is an active member of the Catholic church west of here but she recently came to Gamboula because of bandits in her village.  She asked around for a piece of land to farm and was given some to which she promptly set to work clearing and turning over the soil.  At about the time she was ready to plant the field, she arrived one day to find the garden littered with wads of leaves--medicine.  The result being that she completely abandoned the garden and moved on to a field somewhere else.  Why?  Because the fear is that if she continue to farm that field harm would come to her and her children.  The person to put the leaves in the field was likely the original owner who thought he could profit from someone else's labour, and he was right.  The next field that Anne got resulted in the same thing and she is, to this day, without a garden.  When I proposed that the church elders go to her garden and pray over it, thereby cleaning it of the evil curse on it, the idea was rejected.  They will only come back and put more medicine in it. 

 

Not surprisingly, this kind of thing only happens to Christians and in my view forms a kind of religious persecution here.  If she had put a wad of leaves in her new garden at the start, no one would have dared counterattack with their own cursed leaves.  Only Christians refrain from using this type of medicine and so they are prime targets for theft of all kinds.  I am not a theologian and so have little comment as to what to do about the problem except to write things as I see them.  It is however, a frustrating aspect of our work here and affects us as well.  We have a lot of thievery problems in the nutrition garden that could easily be solved by hanging leaf wads around our fences.  Not that I am suggesting this is what we do!  Nor am I genuinely surprised that this is the way Satan is working against the church here.  Reading the New Testament it is clear that we are to face trials of many kinds and things that test our faith and convictions.  That doesn't mean that I am not angered when it happens in my neighbourhood and against my friends, many of whom work very hard only to have the fruits of their labour stolen from under them.  My question is, how do I counsel them? 

 

The other day we had an early morning call from one of the sentries who was unlocking the mission gates.  One of the locks was stuffed with leaves and he was asking for bolt cutters to cut it off.  Darren told him to just dig the leaves out to which he responded absolutely no way could he do that.  When Darren arrived on scene he was informed that it was stuffed with medicine (cursed leaves) and so they couldn't touch it.  Darren had to dig every last bit of leaves out of the lock before the sentry would put his key into the lock to unlock it, so powerful was the belief that he would die from touching the leaves.  Darren, however, is alive and well and a testimony to the power of God. 

 

I can neither deny nor agree with the power of such medicine.  I can say that in many cases, fear can cause illness in and of itself.  We have seen it at the hospital here many times where people come in very ill even though medically, there is nothing wrong with them.  They are paralysed and diseased by their own fear.  Can this be enough to kill someone, or can an evil curse on a pineapple top be enough to kill someone?  I suppose if you believe in something strong enough it can do just that.  Our witness is that the Holy Spirit is stronger and more powerful than any curse in heaven or on earth, including the death curse on the wad of leaves I picked up and threw away yesterday!

 

In other news, we are alive and well and working hard.  The rainy season has been blessing us with wonderful rain and things are growing like weeds, including the weeds.  The bean trial looks great, minus the soy beans which apparently are a favourite of goats.  A side effect of our thievery problem in the garden is that people keep stealing the metal wire used to tie the pieces of woven fence matting together.  This makes ample opportunity for goats to sneak into the garden where they find a restaurant menu of things for them to eat.  The fight against goats is one that we will never win, but small victories would be nice. We plan on being in Bayanga June and July and I will try and be better at sending updates.  Until next time, your thoughts are welcome and your prayers appreciated.

 

Angela

 

 

 

Please note that this address sends and receives e-mail via a satellite phone connection.  All e-mails over 25 kb will be returned to sender unopened.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  For more updates on the Bosses, please log onto http://thebosses.blogspot.com

Questions from a college kid

I recently wrote this in response to questions from a Christian college
student who is preparing to go to Kenya for a two-week missions trip. These
questions were part of a pre-field assignment. I thought my answers might
be of some small interest to my readers. In other news, we finally had rain
today and our bean field trials are up and growing and will most definitely
appreciate the rain. Because most of the Fulani have fled from our area due
to bandits, it is getting harder and harder to find beef for sale and the
price is increasing. This makes a perfect opportunity to distribute bean
seeds and to really preach the replacement value of beans for meat. Will
let you know how it goes.
The questionnaire:
My name is Angela and my husband Darren and I are missionaries in the
Central African Republic. Where are you working?: We are into the second
year of our two year term here. We live in a small town called Gamboula on
an old mission station first established by Swedish Baptist missionaries
nearly 60 years ago. While the village has no running water or electricity,
the mission station has 24 hour electricity thanks to a small hydro-electric
turbine built on the nearby river. Power is supplied to the 7 missionary
homes, a 125 bed hospital, bible school and nurses housing. We are very
close to the tropical rainforests of Congo and have a short dry season in
the winter months. When we are not here, we are ministering in the Bayanga
region of CAR, in the middle of the rainforest zone on the border with Congo
and Cameroon.
Who are you ministering to?: Through our skills as agriculturalists we
minister to a broad group of people. There are three people groups in CAR.
The Bantu's make up the majority of the population and can be subdivided
into more than 100 tribes and languages. The Fulani are a nomadic cattle
herding people with some Arab origins and are almost 100% Muslim. The third
group are the pygmy peoples who themselves can be split into different
language groups depending on which part of the forest you are in. Through
seminars and one to one teaching and visiting gardens we are able to meet
and have relationships with a variety of people. We also minister to
missionaries in the country helping them start good development projects
with the people to whom they minister. Do you have a targeted group you are
ministering to?: We do not have a specific target group although when we
are able to go south we specifically target the Aka pygmies. Our original
intent was to work specifically with this group but it worked out to the
contrary. How long have you been there?: We have been here 14 months so far.
What is the biggest lesson(s) you have learned in your time in Africa?: We
have learned a lot of lessons and learn something new everyday. I guess you
could say the biggest lesson I have learned is to keep on learning and never
think you 'know it all now'. The other lesson I have learned is that God
really does put you in places, He decides when you leave, how long you stay
and when it is time to go. Sometimes this produces anxiety but He really
does know best. What are your biggest challenges personally and in ministry
in Africa?: Africa is a very challenging place to live and our country in
particular. We are living in one of the bottom 15 countries on earth in
terms of poverty. We are ministering to some of the poorest of the poor and
while we are trying to help, the fact is that most of the people we work
with will always be poor and will always struggle and this is very hard to
come to terms with. We are constantly bombarded with requests for help, for
requests for work, we see needs everyday--they come right to our door. It
has been difficult and will always be difficult to not help everyone, it is
just impossible. Jesus promised us that the poor will always be with us and
so we do what we can. The best thing we can give is hope and encouragement.
The other challenge is learning a new language. We are in a French speaking
country though most of the people only speak Sango, a national tribal
language. I picked up the language inside
of 2 months but for Darren it has taken longer and is sometimes a source of
frustration. Challenges in our ministry are there as well and many stem
from the lack of funds to do the things you really want to do. It forces
you to be more creative, however. For us in particular, we do not have our
own vehicle so this limits where we can go and when. We also have trouble
with bandits that make certain roads unsafe for us to travel on. What is
one thing you would tell me before coming to Africa?: BE FLEXIBLE. I can't
stress it enough and the more flexible you are the less frustrated you will
be. Nothing is at is seems, everything has a spiritual root or a reason why
things are done in a particular way. Nothing ever goes as planned and this
is OKAY, as long as something happens. The key is flexibility. If you go
with the flow you won't have any problems. What can I do to be as effective
as possible during my stay in Africa?: To be as effective as possible,
besides being flexible, remember that you are the outsider. As much as you
don't want to be, you are. Before you even arrive, they will have
assumptions about you and ever so slowly you can break through these
assumptions. Remember that you don't know everything and neither do you
have the answers to everything. You are a learner and the people you will
meet will be happy to teach you things about the themselves as they see you
have an interest in their culture and their way of doing things. One thing
I learned the hard way is not to be too quick to share what things are like
'where you come from'. Often times this can be seen as you asserting that
how you do things is better than how they do them. What are things I could
do that would bless missionaries and national church leaders while in
Kenya?: Things you could do to help missionaries would be to not have too
many expectations upon arrival. Be grateful for everything, even if your
bathroom has cockroaches crawling around and you aren't quite sure what the
pastor served for dinner but you ate it anyway. Flexibility. Also, a
little encouragement goes a long way. Many missionaries are tired, they are
'given' out, they are stretched and are under enormous pressure from the
groups they minister too and from their churches back home. Encouragement
and prayer are wonderful tonics for hurting hearts. This is also a good
thing to do on behalf of the locals you meet. A large part of my job is
encouraging women who have nothing but their gardens, and when I go visit
their gardens, ask questions about what they are doing and praise the work
of their hands they are significantly lifted up. You don't know how far a
kind word can go in cultures where their skills and worth as people are
underappreciated. M and M's are also appreciated! Can you describe for me
what kind of group a missionary loves to have and what kind they hate to
have?: Not having hosted a group before I can only guess but I have been a
short termer and I have heard from missionaries who spent many years hosting
groups. Groups that get the most praise are the groups that are there to
serve, who are willing to do anything to help and don't have an agenda of
their own. Make all attempts to communicate with nationals on your own
before asking for the missionaries assistant in translating. Try to be
happy with your accommodations and food even if it isn't quite what you were
expecting. Above all, the most complaints come when groups are noisy and
disrespectful in public places. Remember that as a group you are a
reflection of the missionary and the missionary will be in that culture a
lot longer than you will be. What is something I can be praying for you
about over the next 6 months? We are in a very busy time of year, doing
lots of travelling, giving seminars on tree planting and gardening, etc.
Please pray that we have safety on the roads, that bandit activity is not a
threat and for good health while we are in many small villages.

Culinary delights?

Darren suggested I write about the interesting culinary delights of the past
week so you all know that we are 'real missionaries' in a strange land.
Custom has it here that everyday at 10:00 is break time. Because of Roy's
big, soft heart, he agreed to provide coffee, tea and 'donuts' for all the
agroforestery staff everyday. This was great and we were all happy until we
had this great brainstorm that maybe if we order food from a local
restaurant it would be less expensive each day. Ends up it isn't! However,
for the equivalent of $3 each day, we are provided with 6 balls of gozo (the
local starch made from manioc which isn't at all nutritious but extremely
filling) and a bowl of meat and sauce that sometimes has greens in it. The
local restaurants are nothing more than a few local women who serve food to
the public in front of their houses, thus, a restaurant. We started by
ordering from a different restaurant each week until we decided on the best
one and she comes with her food everyday at 10:00. It happens that our cook
is Nadege, Clarisse's younger sister and my Gbaya teacher. Her food is
really good but in the last week beef must have been hard to come by or bush
meat is preferred, as we have been served gorilla, monkey and wild pig all
in the same week. I didn't try any of the above, and especially objected to
the gorilla and monkey. If it is an animal that women aren't supposed to
eat according to local custom (like gorilla, sorry, it is for the men only)
she always sends a small plate of beef and sauce for the women and for our
one Muslim employee. Muslims here don't eat anything with top teeth,
including pig and forest rat. We had the pleasure of eating forest rat the
other day after the women I had hired to work in the nutrition garden killed
two while cutting down brush. It was quite tender and not as bad as it
sounds. Darren partook of the monkey and forest pig as well as lele (forest
rat) and found them all to be quite ordinary tasting. I may be a
missionary, I may speak sango, know how to plant gozo, and wear traditional
clothes, but I am a North American and I don't think I will ever want to eat
a bowl full of monkey.

I also learned today that eating dog is quite a delicacy around here, if you
are a man. They are also forbidden for women to eat. I also learned that
if you eat cat and then subsequently find yourself in a bad traffic
accident, you will be the only one to walk away without a scratch, because
you ate cat of course! Guess I best keep a close eye on Coco, our dog,
right now. This is the time of year for cooking up dogs as people have big
work parties in their gardens and as payment they cook food for all that
comes. The favourite item on the menu for these work parties is dog. One
more reason to bring Coco home with us.

We are well despite the things we eat, though I have a wicked cough from
what I think is a bacterial infection of some kind. Don't worry though, I
am drinking all kinds of concoctions from local herbs and bark to get rid of
it (just kidding, I am on antibiotics instead). If the antibiotics don't
work I will resort to the potions from the medicine man. I hear he is very
good. Things are progressing well and the rains have started so we and
everyone around us here are busy planting gardens.
Till next time, Angela