Our last couple of weeks in Cameroon

We’re back in the UK! Our lack of blogging for the last couple of weeks has been due to a selection of internet problems...it’s amazing how much you take for granted in the UK. Our final week in Meskine started with my birthday party J We invited all the other foreigners along for homemade mango sorbet & party games...’salade de fruite’ and a relay race which dissolved into a water fight with the kids! I spent my actual birthday in the bloc and got to do my first sutures whilst listening to Christian worship music in French. Sarah had a more adventurous week in the hospital spending some time in the laboratory and with the physiotherapy department before we both finished our time in Meskine in the same way we started...with the 2 amazingly committed Cameroonian doctors who work full-time in the hospital (despite being past the national retirement age), Dr Bray and Dr Salamatou. Our overall impression of l’hopital de Meskine is that it is a well-respected hospital in the north of Cameroon which unlike the government hospitals isn’t corrupt and makes the most of the limited resources adapting the way things are done to maximise the care that can be provided. Personally, I was initially sceptical about care being provided at most levels than less trained people at nearly every level...from personal needs being met just by a family member (the ‘garde-malade’) to surgery being performed by 2 Cameroonians one of whom had completed only 1 year of uni & the other left school at 16!...but I have come to realise that having years of training isn’t always necessary, it’s having a heart of compassion and willingness to learn that’s necessary...if I needed an operation I would now trust the skills of Baba & Sadjo.

Please continue to pray for the hospital... Praise God for raising up staff (mostly Cameroonians) who are passionate about caring for the sick in the north of Cameroon. Pray for continued energy, compassion and wisdom for all the staff especially the surgeons, Baba & Sadjo, and Dr Salamatou & Dr Bray. Pray for God to send out a couple of Western surgeons to both improve the range of surgery the hospital can provide and to enable the hospital to train up men and women from across central Africa to become surgeons as part of the PAACS scheme (Pan-African Association of Christian Surgeons)...if you know any Christian surgeons maybe suggest this to them! Finally, please pray for wisdom & continued passion for those involved (both Cameroonians & westerners) in reaching the Fulbe people (a large Muslim tribe) with the gospel.

As you can see from the photos we spent our last few days in Cameroon enjoying the cooler south and the beautiful beaches at Kribi. The journey to Kribi was very cramped & hot with 5 of us sharing the backseat of a bus definitely only designed for a maximum of 4 but it was good value...less than £4 for a 4 hour journey. The beaches were stunningly beautiful & we stayed just round the corner from Lobe falls, one of the few places in the world where water falls directly into the sea. We spent a little bit of time in Yaounde before flying back staying in the hostel where missionary kids from central Africa live in order to go to the international school...although their life was different in some ways to if their parents hadn’t decided to work in Africa they all said they enjoyed it & Rainforest International School does an excellent job of making their lives more exciting than most kids of their age in the UK...the night before they left they a Prom night for all the senior students & then stayed up all night for their after party. Please pray for the provision of more teachers for the next academic year & if you or someone you know may be interested in experiencing another culture whilst teaching some amazing kids please get in touch!