Mount Cameroon (January 20-22)

3^rd Tallest Mountain in Africa!

Day one: 6 hours, 6,036 ft. elevation gain, 4.6 miles.

Mt. Cameroon, there are definite mixed feelings when I hear the name. “Do you climb mountains?” this was the question I got the night before we were supposed to climb Cameroon. I can’t say that I have climbed any impressively tall mountains, but I do enjoy hiking… if that even counts. The rest of that evening’s talk centered on different climbs or hikes people had done and I started getting more and more concerned about climbing the next day. Moriah and I set our alarms for 5 o’clock so that we would be sure to have everything ready and be loaded up at 5:45. We should have known that even though we were told 5:45 we wouldn’t be leaving the house till at least 6:15. After much waiting we finally made it up to the Old Bicec (bank) where we met up with our guides and porters.

The porters were awesome. At our planning meeting with Walters, we had been told to bring our big backpacking backpacks with us (if we had them) because it would make it easier on the porters. Once I saw their packs, I understood why Walters had said that. They had plastic grain sacks for the pack and twine for straps.

Our trek started and by the time I made it to the Upper Farms, I was already out of breath. I was thinking to myself that, if I was already tired what was I going to be doing later when it got tougher?! After about 2 hours of hiking we made it to Hut 1, where the cook gave us fresh avocado, hard boiled eggs, and bread.(Mmm, Mmm Good!) Once we rested for a bit we headed on up the trail, well I should say, I crawled up the trail. After we got out of the jungle the trail basically went straight up (at least that’s what it felt like) and it was mostly lava rock. (Bring on the StairMaster.) Basically throughout the whole trip Moriah and I were bringing up the rear just to make sure there were no stragglers (had nothing to do with fact that I was out of breath and dying!). Once reaching Hut 2 at about 2:30 we all sprawled out and took naps. Not long after I lay down I was awoken because fire was coming our way. There has been a lot of clearing of the mountain in preparation for the Race of Hope at the end of February, so we were just in the path of some of that. (If you’ve never heard of the race you should check it out on Youtube, it’s pretty intense!) The rest of that day was spent just relaxing and socializing. We had a wonderful dinner of rice and stew and since a lot of us were pretty tired we headed to bed fairly early. There were a couple of people that slept in tents, but the majority of us in the shelters. The shelter had raised wooden platforms that we spread our mats and sleeping bags out on. (not the comfiest, but still pretty decent!)

Day 2: 9 ½ hours, 3,939 ft elevation gain, 5,726 ft elevation loss, 10.4 miles.

Woke up at 6:30, packed up our stuff and had a breakfast of tea, bread, and hard boiled eggs. We were able to head out of camp by 7:45. It was hard starting again, kind of like on the first day, but as I got farther up the trail it became a little easier starting again after the breaks. I’d have to say though that, during my many breaks I did enjoy the scenery! It was really gorgeous up there!

Each hill we climbed I would hope that we were almost there, but I was told that it was just a little farther. When we did finally see the summit, that’s when it seemed to take longer. The altitude was getting to me and I was having to take more breaks just to catch my breath. I felt super bad for our guide, Walters, because he was having to wait for us. He was extremely patient with Moriah and I as we slowly made our way up the mountain. I also felt bad that the rest of the group was having to wait for me. (They all were at the top probably an hour or so ahead of us, and it was pretty chilly up there too!) As we got closer the group at the top started giving encouragements and cheering us on, telling us, “Only a little bit farther!”, “You can do it!”. It was so nice having that encouragement and knowing that they weren’t completely frustrated with how slow we were!

At reaching the top I looked for the closest place to collapse. I then pulled out one of my granola bars, put another jacket on, and then crawled over to the summit sign to get a group picture. It was so exciting knowing that I actually made it to the summit. (And the whole way down the other side of the mountain I, kept remembering it and getting SO excitedJ) About 15 minutes after Moriah and I got to the top we all started down the back of the mountain, headed to Man Springs where we were going to be camping that night. Going down was a whole lot easier then going up (at least in the beginning). There were three main areas that we went through: gravel area, lava rock, grassland and jungle. Many times throughout the trip I had to stop to dump out all the sand, dust, and gravel from my shoes.

It was probably the last hour of the hike that day, that I started just going into robot mode; putting one foot in front of the other trying to keep my legs from buckling under me! I was very glad to reach camp that evening. To rest and clean my feet off. (It was crazy I had dirt all the way up to my thigh!) After getting some rest Hilary, our cook, made a wonderful meal for us and then I headed to bed.

Day 3: 5 hours, 4,370 ft elevation loss, 8.7 miles

We got up at about 5:30 ish and had another breakfast of bread, hard boiled eggs, and tea. Then we packed up our gear and headed out for the last 5 hour stretch. Once again the view was amazing, more lava, grassland and jungle. I would have to say that this was probably one of the hardest days. I was kind of ready to be out, and it seemed like the trail just went on and on, straight down. I’m sure that I fell (at least) 5 or 6 times because my legs giving out randomly. My walking stick, which I named Jed, kept splitting and getting shorter and shorter.

But despite all the achy muscles, seemingly endless downhill hiking, and biting ants there were many times through out the trip that just cracked me up. If I could have been one of the porters and been able to see myself limping along while they literally ran down the trail. Or being able to see myself jumping over the ant trails so that I wouldn’t get bitten. And the other one was when Moriah and I started singing “Higher Ground” and changed the words, instead of, “Lord plant my feet on higher ground” it was, “Lord, plant my feet on lower ground” J.

We got out of the jungle at about 12 which wasn’t too bad of a time… yet apparently we didn’t look that great because all the villagers kept saying, “Ashia!” (I’m sorry) as we passed them. I was very ready to be done at that point and even more so ready for a shower. So, after waiting for the rest of our crew to show up and for our ride to get to Bakwango (the village we ended in) I was able to have a nice cold bucket bath, since our water had stopped working! The rest of that day I just sat in my room and enjoyed not having to do anything!

I am VERY glad that I did the climb! It was extremely challenging, the scenery was spectacular, our group was tons of fun, and the weather behaved! I’d say over all it was a great trip.

Life in the Clinic and Buea

In the last couple of months Trixy has been letting me sit in on her consultations. It always fascinates me seeing how easily she goes through the assessments, how she figures out what’s wrong, and seems to always have an answer for the complaints. She’s been encouraging me to do the assessments also, but I stumble through, not knowing what is applicable and what is not. Despite the challenge of it it’s still an awesome experience and I feel like I’m learning a lot.

In the beginning of February we had our first rain of the season. I had been sitting in the clinic enjoying the downpour when I heard that the hospital roof had come off. Later I found out that it was only leaking (leaking majorly) and the top floor had about 2 or more inches of water flowing through out the building. So, basically whoever wasn’t needed at the clinic came up to squeegee, sweep, or bucket water out of the hospital. After about an hour or so we had it fairly cleared out, but all the beds were soaked and the hospital was in an upheaval.

That same day I had started feeling sick so by the time we had finished with the hospital I wanted to just collapse. I made it through the rest of the day, but the next day I was dragging pretty bad. I had two more day of work and only Moriah was ‘free’ to work for me. The problem with that was that she was also work nights so she would be on for 34 hrs. I was out for the next 4 or so days with fevers, headaches, chills, vomiting, you name it I had it. I was afraid it was malaria or typhoid but both of those tests came out negative so I guess it was just the flu. Moriah was a great nurse she got me all my drugs, made me meals, and kept me entertained. I REALLY appreciate all the help she did for me (she’s basically the best friend and the best room mate!).

Lonely

Lonely (SM version)

Written by Moriah Ward and Cherilyn Clayville

Lonely, I'm Miss Lonely,

I’ve got no cyber, to send e-mail.

I'm so lonely, I'm Miss Lonely,

wish I had cyber to Skype my folks.

I'm an SM, a lonely SM,

Away from home, out here on my own.

That's why I'm lonely, I'm Miss Lonely,

I wish that I could go back home.

Letters, never a letter,

I get no letters in the mail.

I've been forgotten, yeah, forgotten,

Oh how I wonder how is it I failed.

I'm an SM, a lonely SM,

Away from home, out here on my own.

That's why I'm lonely, I'm Miss Lonely,

I wish that I could go back home

Trip to Extreme North (Feb 27-Mar 16)

Moriah and I headed up out on our trip on the 27^th of February. Since both of our visas were going to expire on the 6^th of March (which would have been the middle of our trip) we had to go to Yaounde to extend our visas. We really weren’t sure where we were going to be staying while in Yaounde once we got there, but on arriving in the city Trixy sent us a text. She had a friend (well more of an acquaintance), Rachel, who knew of a place to stay. Moriah called and we got it all arranged for us to get a room. When we got to the compound, we were given an entire apartment. (3 bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, and living room) It was so spacious for just the 2 of us since we were used to our one room place in Buea.

The next day we headed over to the Union Office to get our visas figured out. We were sent to sit in the waiting area and we sat there for the good part of the day. Apparently they didn’t need us to go to the Embassy and other offices so we just hung out, slept, journaled and talked while waiting. Originally, Moriah and I were supposed to be headed to N’Gaoundere and the extreme north that afternoon with a bunch of other volunteers, but at the time that we were supposed to be meeting the rest of the group at the train station, we were told that we wouldn’t get our visas finalized till the next day. I was so frustrated! (The awesome thing though was that God used that frustration to teach me a lesson of patience.) After finding out that information we gave Rachel a call to see if there was any chance of us staying at SIL again. Our apartment that we had used the evening before was still open and we were able to check back in. Rachel also arranged for us to have supper with a couple, Jim and Jacque Rotruck, so we didn’t have to scrounge for food that evening!

We had a wonderful evening with Jim and Jacque and the food was amazing! They are missionaries through Wycliff Associates and are doing a 2 year stint, working with mission groups that come in to do building projects. Jacque is the one that takes care of the food and housing for the guests while Jim is the administrator, basically making sure things run smoothly. (Correct me if I’m wrong Jim and Jacque) They were a very enjoyable couple and we had wonderful conversations. Oh! And now Moriah and I have another pair of grandparents! So, if we hadn’t spent another night in Yaounde we wouldn’t have been able to meet Jim and Jacque Rotruck, (So God really did know what he was doing, who would have thought!?!)

The next day we had asked for a tour of SIL and during the tour we were able to experience the 10 O’clock Coffee Break (each work day everyone in the offices comes together for a break just to chat and relax, which I thought was a really neat idea to institute more community!). After the tour we went out to eat with the Rotrucks and then headed back to the Union Office to get our visas. We ended up sitting at the Union Office again waiting. They brought our visas to us at 4:15 so Moriah and I rushed to find a taxi and see if we could still make it to the train before it left. Traffic did not help anything and it took us about and hour and some to get about a 3 mile (at the most) distance to the station. On arriving we handed our reservation slips to the lady at the counter and she rattled something off in French. (Did I mention that neither Moriah nor I speak French?? )Well, we later learned, after someone translated for us, that she was telling us we should have gotten there by 3 (and it was 5:45) to have gotten our seats. Apparently we looked lost enough that they took pity on us and gave us ticket.

On the way up to N’Gaoundere, we got the bed compartments, which were fairly comfortable. The only challenge with the trip was the many stops that were made (15+ in all). At each stop it sounded like the train was about to fall apart or that we had crashed into something. There were also groups of vendors shouting for you to buy there wares at each stop, so it made it a bit challenging to get a good, sound night’s sleep. Oh! And probably the most entertaining part of the whole train ride was the toilets. For one thing the toilet emptied right out onto the tracks and secondly since there were no toilet seats (I don’t think it would have used it if there were) you had to straddle the toilet while trying to balance with the trains swaying and bumping, it was quite challenging!

We arrived in N’Gaoundere at about 8 AM and managed to find and buy a ticket for the bus up to Maroua. It was amazing how dry it was and how the scenery changed. It became more of what the typical “Africa” looks like. There were little, mud hut villages, adorable little naked kids running around and the dry open areas. And it was probably the first time I have had dry lips for about 6 months… it was nice! When arriving in Maroua we gave Lynn, one of the Peace Corps volunteers, a call to see if we could spend the night with her before heading to Koza in the morning. That night I was SO hot because there was no air flow in the house and it was in the hundreds (well it felt like that, not really sure how hot it really was).

In the morning on Thursday, Moriah and I grabbed a breakfast of beans, koki, and benye (basically fried bread). One of the most amazing meals that they have here in Cameroon in my opinion. Elissa met up with us at about 10:30 AM and we wandered around the art and hand craft market, bought some mangoes and then went to and grabbed a drink (nothing alcoholic J) before heading out to Koza. It was so awesome actually meeting Elissa in person. The crazy thing is that Elissa and I live about an hour from each other in the states, but we had to come all the way to Cameroon to actually meet! J I knew the minute that I met her that it was going to be an awesome 1½ weeks hanging out with her! Anyways, from Maroua it was about an hour and a half drive to Mokolo which is where we had to take a 45 minute moto ride to Koza. I’m sure we were a sight! There was both Moriah and my backpacks strapped to the moto with Elissa and her driver. Then our driver and Moriah and I on the other moto with our big side purses. (Really we probably could have fit more stuff onto the motos, but I felt plenty squished!) There were a couple times I felt like we were going to crash and halfway through the trip my legs got super tired from bracing myself to keep from squishing Moriah and our driver. But despite that, it was a gorgeous trip into Koza! There were more of the mud huts with tons of little kids yelling hello’s out after us as we sped by.

The hospital in Koza was actually larger then I was expecting. There are three wards that can hold at the most 100 patients: women, children, and men’s. (Even with the different “wards” you found a mix of all of them in each ward J) They also have a pharmacy, emergency room, 2 operating rooms, and lab.

There was one little 5 or 6 year old boy that had come in a couple weeks before with burn wounds to his head and chest. When I first met him, I could hear him long before I actually saw him. His caretaker (not sure if it was his mother or not) was giving him a bath out on the side of the sidewalk. Whenever she would pour the water on him he would scream out and shake in pain. It made my heart break, because I really wanted to help, but there was nothing that could be done. I’m not sure what will happen with him, but I hope that it heals and fairly quickly so he doesn’t have to go through all that pain!

Another thing that we got to experience while at the hospital was surgeries. 2 C-sections, ½ of a hernia repair, and a gunshot wound. Actually the second evening we were in Koza we were called into the OR for the first C-section. It was my first experience of seeing a major surgery so it was quite fascinating. Not only was it my first time to see a surgery, but also to see a birth so that was neat seeing a new life come into the world. I would have to say though that I felt for the mother, because all the ripping didn’t not look very pleasant, not that natural births are very pleasant either J For the hernia repair, we were called a couple minutes before it was supposedly supposed to start, but once we got there they were almost finished so we didn’t get to see much of that one. The guy that came in with a bullet wound to the stomach ended up not actually having a bullet in him. He was cut up anyways and they searched for the bullet, but then found out that it had only grazed the guy. So, that was interesting to see the whole abdomen cut open, but it was kind of pointless.

Our last Sunday there, a women delivered a set of twins and we got to watch! And as I’ve already mentioned with the C-section, it wasn’t that pleasant but very fascinating! Both boys were very tiny, but they came out healthy and crying so that was wonderful! It was also neat seeing how they do deliveries here. Apparently the mothers labor in one area and then when they are ready to deliver the get on the delivery bed and push that baby out. Once the baby is out, the mother walks back to her room that she shares with 3 or more other mothers and then her baby is brought to her once they’ve gotten all their shots and they’ve (kind of) been cleaned up.

Tuesday of the 8^th was Women’s Day so Elissa, Moriah and I all went down to one of the main town building (not sure what building) and watched the women all march in there pink and green Women’s Day clothing. We were even privileged enough to get to sit up on the stage with the rest of the village officials. I started feeling sick while at the ‘parade’ and later found out that I had malaria. Whoopee! Thankfully it wasn’t very bad so all I had for the rest of the trip was just being really tired.

Our first weekend in Koza we actually headed out to Djinglia which is about 3+ miles from Koza to see the dam with the sunset. One of Elissa’s friends let us borrow his friend’s moto. So, there we were three white girls on a moto… quite a site and we drew a lot of attention, (if being white didn’t already draw enough attention). The greatest part of that trip was when we started going up hill and we crashed. We were in too high of a gear so we basically did a wheelie and then crashed J None of us were hurt too badly, but we did manage to dislodge a tube that had a bunch of fuel running through it. Two other motos stopped and they helped us get things fixed and we were on our way again with no more problems. At the dam we got great pictures of the sunset and we played a game of hit the frogs. I received the title of #1 Frog Abuser because I hit the most. We actually had another adventure to Djinglia later in the week too. But this time we walked, it seems a lot farther when you’re walking instead of taking a moto! J There they had a little art/craft market that had some reasonably priced crafts made by the people in the area… pretty awesome!

In the afternoon of our last day in Koza we went to visit a couple of different people that we hadn’t visited during the week. Well, first off we stopped at Momzi’s house. They are both English teachers in Koza and are a very sweet couple. And as regular African culture they offered us something to eat (actually it was a full meal). All the food was really good! we had sweet potato fries, beans, and stew with extremely chewy, rubber like unknown meat. Unfortunately I was already stuffed from eating earlier, but I managed to get the food down. As we were leaving their house Elissa, Moriah and I all comment on how full we were. Next we went to Vambe (the moto driver that had brought us to Koza) to see if he would be able to take us in the morning to Mokolo. When we arrived there Vambe was out, so we waited for him to return and his wife made a whole another meal for us to eat. We tried to convince her that we would be just fine with out food and that it was a quick visit, but we were not successful. This time we had corn couscous and stew to go with it. I probably would have enjoyed the meal a WHOLE lot more, if I had not been so focused on not throwing up. Each bite I had to concentrate to keep down. Oh! and on top of that they gave us liter bottles of soda to finish! When we finished there it had gotten dark so we decided that we should head back. We really couldn’t walk, it was more like a waddle. If anyone had actually been able to see us, they probably would have thought that we were 3 pregnant girls with our waddling and huge stomachs! Once we got back we didn’t want to do anything else so we got our slideshow of the week and half time in Koza and watched that.

The morning when we left I got up at 4 and couldn’t go back to sleep. At 5:30 we headed off on the first part of our adventure of traveling. A 45-minute moto ride with suicidal animals, donkeys trying to kick us, and almost crashing on the way to Mokolo, Then a 1½ hour bus ride to catch the next bus for 8½ hours to get the train. In the middle of the 8 ½ ride they stopped one time to let everyone out to use the bathroom and stretch their legs. When I asked where the toilets were, I was shown to an open area filled with trash. There were people either squatting, standing or whatever to do their business. That’s when I was SUPER glad that I was wearing a skirt that day!

Unfortunately on arriving in N’Gaoundere we watched as our train, that we were supposed to be on, was pulling out of the station. Grrr! Thankfully though, one of the guys from Koza had a friend in town that met us and we were able to get a place to stay. The next day we got our tickets switch to the evening train and (Thank God!) the ticket person didn’t make us pay the usual 2000 cfa to switch the dates!! We spent the rest of the day waiting for the train and by 6:30 that evening we were off on the next portion of our trip. This time Moriah and I got the seats so it was even more challenging to sleep, but it was better because we didn’t spend as much on it J Halfway through the night I ended up sleeping on the floor and for the first 10 minutes I had to get used to the smell of the feet of guy in the seat behind me… eventually I was just too exhausted to care anymore! We arrived in Yaounde at 8 exactly and then we head for the bus station for our shortest portion of the trip; back to Buea! I was SOOO excited to be almost and as we pulled into the bus station at Mile 17 I couldn’t keep from smiling! J

So, the summary of our trip to Koza:

Delays in Yaounde, meeting the Rotrucks and Rachel, long train and bus rides, sketchy moto rides, getting a tour of the hospital, eating yummy food that Gatsby, Elissa’s house keeper fixed, playing with kids, helping out in the hospital, watching surgeries, attending the Women’s Day march, getting malaria, watching movies, sleeping outside, making homemade ice cream, receiving the title of “#1 Frog Abuser”, shopping for gifts, going to church, eating TONS of food, crashing on a moto watching a birth of twins, missing the train twice, being completely lost in a French speaking region, and over all having TONS of fun!

This trip has made me realized how much I will miss my home in Buea when I head back to the States. It really has become home for me!

Cyril

Cyril. Let me describe this guy for you. Each morning you will find him sitting on the bench in the corner. He asks for the same song 519, every morning. He is determined to marry Moriah and I, If we don’t marry him he will write to “his friend” President Obama to have him force us to marry him. He is a 7-year old boy in a grown man’s body. He is “studying” psychology, but claims, on different days, to be a cardiologist, a detective, a chief of a large village somewhere, or a football (soccer) player. No, reasoning reaches him or at least when it does, it seems to not be remembered. He asks pointless questions over and over and over. I’ve been told he can become violent, but I haven’t seen that yet. And he drives me absolutely crazy!

This morning I was responsible for worship. The devotion I read was about Jesus’ healing and meeting the people’s needs around him. And in my prayer I asked that we would be witnesses to the patients we would come in contact with today. Little did I know, that God would truly test that and how soon he would do it. As soon as worship was over Mama Regina came in and said that Cyril was laying just outside our gates in the pouring rain, complaining of achy joints and not being able to walk. This isn’t the first time that he’s come complaining of some ailment. Normally there is nothing wrong aside from him, maybe, being schizophrenic. My first thought was, “Not again, please go away!” and after a bit I was fuming. Why here was here? Why couldn’t he just listen to our advice, take the anti-psychotic drugs and be somewhat reasonable? Why did he not cooperate and let me get his vitals instead of insisting on laying down? Why was I the nurse on duty when he had to come in with some issue? Then I heard the words I had prayed earlier, “Let us be witnesses to the patients that we come in contact with today” It was like I had receive a slap in the face. I was getting exactly what I had asked for. God had brought me one of the few patients that I was not willing to fully accept. The one who drove me absolutely crazy. I was given him today to put my thinking in check. It humbled me quite a bit, because I knew that I wasn’t at all the missionary I was wanting to be. Here was someone who needed my love, patients, kindness, and all I wanted to do was to send him back out; someplace that I didn’t need to take care of him.

I can’t say that I found great love for him after that. In fact, I had to do a whole lot of praying to keep from getting extremely frustrated with him. But it gave me a picture of just how patient and loving God is with me. When have I gone right on ahead with my own plans? Imagined myself as some great missionary, a perfect sister, an extremely kind person? How many times have I not cooperated or not taken my ‘Daily Dose’ of time with God? Or asked questions and never waited for answers? So, I suppose I would say that I’m not all that ‘normal’ or perfect either. I’ve still got plenty of learning and growing to do and will probably have some till the day I die. Each day will be a growing experience I just hope that I will stay open to all the growing and change! So, keep me in your prayers! J