I’m not sure we will be going to Boubuo and Mile Eight villages this evening. It has been raining since early morning. I, personally, do not see how a 4 wheel vehicle can get down that road. Perhaps motorbikes but nothing else. All the team are comfortable with riding on the backs of the motorbike taxi but not us “whites”! In fact, Cyrille left very early this morning to go to Buea as we/he left all the “shoes that grow”, the soccer balls, and balloons there by mistake. He wants to give some to the children at Mile Eight village.
When we went to eat breakfast at 9 a.m. we saw Rachel sitting in the lobby of our hotel. She asked if “Pastor” was still there. That is what they call Cyrille. We said we hadn’t seen him this morning. Apparently she slept late and when she woke up she couldn’t find the 4 men of her team so she came over to the hotel. We asked her to join us for breakfast and she was very hesitant but we insisted. And, we insisted on her ordering some food, if she wanted. She did order the same as us…..the infamous omelet. I don’t think she had eaten yet this morning as I think Cyrille is paying for their meals. We enjoyed her eating with us as she told us some of her story but I do believe she felt very out of place. I wonder if she has ever eaten in a restaurant like this one, simple as it is. She did enjoy her very creamy, sugary coffee and the bread.
After the meal she went back to sit in the lobby. I joined her as I didn’t want her sitting alone. We talked for awhile and then I excused myself to put some aloe on all the mosquito bites on my legs. And, the odor of the oil based paint that is being put on the walls in the hallways is nearly overbearing. It was nicer to come to our room, shut the door to the hallway and open our windows to cool, rainy fresh air.
Around 11 a.m. Sam went out to walk over to the little town center to the photo shop again to see if he could get the photos printed that he couldn’t get yesterday. Rachel was still in the lobby. While there he saw the 4 men of the team. He mentioned that Rachel was in the hotel lobby. He said all but Abraham took off. When he returned Rachel was gone so we assume they came over to get her. But Abraham stayed with him and walked back to the hotel with him. I think it was a two-fold reason. Perhaps so that he wouldn’t be alone and also to remind him to not forget his “need” when we return to the States. Abraham spent some time digging a hole last night at the film site to put a pole into that would hold up the screen. He used a long machete to dig it out. He mentioned that it made him very sore and he’d had to ask Cyrille to find him some medicine. Of course, he had to come say hello to me also. He is the one who told us that Cyrille took off for Buea this morning. He also said that we were to plan to go ahead to Boubou and Mile Eight despite the rain, which is still falling…so we’ll see.
It’s 1p.m. now and Sam is off to town again to pick up his pictures. Then lunch and then we’ll see about going on a trip. Sam returned about 1:20 with some very good prints of the pictures he wanted printed. Then we decided to meet Johnnie in the lobby for lunch. Standing there also was Cyrille who had just returned from Buea. While the team members were coming in through the door I went back to our room for the prints. They loved them and Rachel and Godwill both wanted their pictures taken with Johnnie and me so they could get prints done before we left. Hopefully we can get them done. Then the three “whites” went to lunch at the hotel restaurant and Cyrille & the JF team took off toward town. We had a delicious salad of grated carrots and onions in a light cream sauce that had a hint of mustard. Then we all had the beef with our standard rice and fried plantains. Dessert was again half a papaya with lime juice on it.
We were to be ready to go by 3 p.m. again. It was still raining. 3:30 came & went. Still waiting. So, Sam went to the town center to see if he could find any of the guys. He did and found out they still were unable to find a vehicle to take us. Apparently the driver that took us yesterday now has a phone that doesn’t work. Sam suggested they take motorbikes and go ahead without us. Johnnie is willing to ride on one of the bikes but I don’t think either of us would. Sam reminded Cyrille that it is important to go since they told them they’d be back tonight. Cyrille agreed but said they were still working on finding something to take all of us. I worry about the road. It’s not good anyway and now with all the rain…… Rachel had said this morning that “this is dry season. It shouldn’t be raining like this”.
We waited and had about decided they couldn’t find anything but right about 5 p.m. a red Toyota truck pulled up to the front door of the hotel. In the back of it was a large white chest freezer. But it also held our team. Cyrille came and knocked on our door and said Let’s go! Getting us all in the truck was a chore. The truck was a cab & 1/2 with a narrow bench seat behind the driver and passenger seats. But all the guys insisted that all the women (Johnnie, me & Rachel) plus Sam sit in the cab. The problem was there was already a box and a big tarp on part of the seat. All the other men crowded around the freezer, some standing and some sitting on the edges of the truck bed sides. And off we went. Although this truck style is normally fairly close to the ground this truck had big tires on it and was raised a little. And the driver drove like he was off-roading. The road was fairly smooth until we came to the first deep pit. And we got stuck! With the truck listing at about a 35 degree angle toward the right it was a little nerve wracking until he put it into 4 wheel drive and pulled on out of the pit. Then we sped right on down the road hitting bumps and rocks (avoiding the huge boulders in the road) and slipping and sliding through all the mud holes. By 6 p.m. we were at Mile Eight village and unloaded our stuff. Then the driver left.
The team set up the equipment fairly quickly and this time they did it without any help. While they were doing that Johnnie and I decided to pass out candy to some of the kids until the kids started getting demanding, hiding their candy and asking for more, grabbing at my bag and hitting me. We emptied one of the candy bags into my backpack quietly and then showed them the bag telling them it was empty so they couldn’t have any more. It didn’t matter…they still stood there asking and pushing and hitting. We finally got them to go sit down and watch the video. As it was dusk already they immediately started the “cartoon” – what they call the video that shows similar pictures to what is on the Bible Story Cloth. The only problem is that while it was playing, with it’s narration nearly full blast at least two of them decided to talk and sing songs using the microphone. So you had both sounds competing with each other. Sam went to say something to Cyrille about it just around the same time the Humphrey went over to them and had them stop using the microphone. Then the JF video was started. By then it was dark and Cyrille came over to where we were sitting and told us we needed to go visit the chief in his palace. We walked on the road through the village to the edge of the village where a fairly large concrete house stood. The door was open. We stepped up on the porch and took off our shoes. We were met at the door by a woman who was also leaving the room inside. The chief was sitting at a table in the middle of the room doing some business and had a ledger and other papers in front of him. The room was rather plain with just a couple of wooden benches and a couple of chairs. There was a small coffee table in front of one of the chairs and behind the chief was a large entertainment center (no TV). There were two men sitting along one wall and an older lady on the chair by the coffee table. This chief is older so I am assuming that was his wife. The chief was dressed in traditional African clothes. He stood and came to greet each one of us and shake our hands. Then we all sat on the bench or in chairs on the opposite wall. Humphrey spoke a little, then Cyrille stood and asked if he could offer a prayer. The chief said yes. We all stood while he prayed. It was a very good prayer thanking God for the chief of this village and went on to ask for peace for the village and to give the chief wisdom, etc. Then we left. As we were putting on our shoes Sam asked Humphrey if we could take a picture of the chief. So he went back in and asked him. The chief said we could take a picture of his palace but not of him. Too bad. Then we retraced our steps back to the site of the video. As soon as we sat down the kids swarmed us again, with a couple grabbing at our bags. We shooed them away.
The video continued. Since we were able to show it outside (we were assured that since it rained all day it would not rain tonight) there were a lot more people. I would guesstimate probably at least 200 – 300, maybe more. We couldn’t see all of them from where we were sitting but we know they stretched back along the road on both sides. When the video was over someone from the village had helped gather together 10 of the children who they thought were neediest to receive a pair of the “shoes that grow”. As the team was putting away all the video equipment Johnnie, Humphrey and Cyrille put the shoes on them. There was quite a group of adults and other children surrounding them watching, and more kids lined themselves up to get shoes. Unfortunately, 10 pair were all we had for this location.
The truck driver returned by 9:45 and we were soon on our way. This time his truck was empty as he had made all of his deliveries, so we had more room on the back seat for the three of us women. I’m glad I was in the inside on the return trip as he sped down the road. I bet the guys in the back had to hang on for dear life! But, just before we reached the end of the dirt road before getting on the pavement just outside Njombe there was a big hiss as the right front tire went flat. He limped to the pavement and then we all had to get out of the truck so he could change the tire. It only took him about 35 minutes to make it from Mile Eight to the highway (over one hour the night before with the other truck and driver) but it took another 45 minutes to change the tire. We made it back to the hotel about 11:40. Now it’s time to go to bed.
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