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Published: January 6th 2006
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Kumba
The family posed with Joe's aunt, a woman in her 70's. George warned us that the road to Mamfe was in disrepair and it would take a long time to get there. We were determined to spend Christmas with Joe's brother Phillip and his family in Mamfe and several people told me that the roads weren't really all that bad so we forged ahead. It should've been adequate warning that we had a hard time hiring a van that was willing to go to Mambe... Live and learn.
First we stopped in Kumba. Joe was brought up by his aunt and uncle in Kumba. He went there when he was seven years old in order to attend school. In fact, when he entered primary school, he enrolled under his uncle's name, Mbah, so that was our last name when we first married.
His uncle has passed away but his aunt still lives in the family compound so we stopped to meet with her. She looks like a little old lady from the village but she is very forward thinking. Very sharp. We enjoyed meeting her.
Cousin Richard in Kumba told us it'd be 2.5 hours to Mamfe. It took about 8 hours. As we drove, the road got worse
Kumba Compound
This is the front of the family compound -- very typical of a city dwelling. Clothing is hung to dry out front and every bit of farmable land has something planted in it. and worse. If you go back to my first email upon arriving in Cameroon, I said that the roads were "absolutely horrible." I knew not what a horrible road was. I pulled out my camera at the first bad pot holes and snapped a photo. Twenty minutes later we hit a pot hole that surpassed the earlier ones. Fifteen minutes I was snapping again. Soon the whole road was pocked with holes. And not pot holes. They were car sized holes... We hung on for dear life. There were many times when it seemed we were tipped and driving on two wheels. Plus, it was dusty with red clay. We covered our faces with towels when we hit the worst dust. It turns out that the road we took was abandoned and they didn't put up detour signs. You just had to know the detour. (I heard the detour was shorter but rougher but did shave off a bit of time...)
All the roads into and out of Mamfe are so bad that the large trucks can't make it. Consequently, gas/petrol is brought in from Nigeria on dugout canoes.
We stayed in a hotel close to Phillip's house.
First Rut
I took a quick picture of one of the first "bad" ruts enroute to Mamfe. I have to use the word hotel fairly loosely as it was sort of a bar/hotel. The beds were thin foam mattresses atop of wood slat frames. Walls were grimy, bugs aplenty. Our bathroom had no sink, just a shower and toilet. Our toilet had a sink but mom and dad's did not. Drinking, singing, and shouting going on at all hours in the "lounge". I wondered if they normally rented by the hour. At any rate, the price and location were right. $5 per night and walking to Phillip's -- we sucked up and managed. I had stayed in much worse (rooms with no electricity and no bathrooms, no sheets, etc.) but it was a challenge for mom and dad.
We spent Christmas in Mamfe. Most homes seemed to have a Christmas tree, something new since I lived here 25 years ago. The trees were small, branches often, and sparsely decorated. Sometimes hard candies were tied on them. There was no emphasis on gifts. If gifts were given, they were generally a new shirt or pants. People splurged and bought beef or chicken to add to their meal.
Our kids felt a bit cheated out of their
Second Rut
The ruts just got worse... usual Christmas celebration... I didn't miss it at all. It was almost refreshing.
While in Mamfe, Dr. Phillip took us around to his clinic and one of the hospitals he supervises. The hospital and clinic had just received an "upgrade" from a foreign country. Many countries donate their used beds and equipment when they replace them.
If you are admitted to a hospital in Cameroon, you must bring your own sheets, pillow, blankets and meals. Often a friend or family member sleeps on the floor near the patient's bed in order to take care of them. Curiously however, as spartan as the wards and equipment was, some of the wards had televisions! No inside bathrooms but outhouses for all. Also a place to hand wash and then hang your laundry to dry.
We also learned that Cameroon has two big medical concerns or emphases right now: The first is seeing that all children are immunized. The second is AIDS prevention and identification. There is a huge stigma attached to having AIDS and so many will not go in for testing and continue to spread the diease. The rate is highest among young women as the older men
Next Rut
After this "rut", I quit taking pictures of them... tend to target them for affairs.
On the way to Bamenda, enroute to Joe's home village, of Awing, we stopped to meet Caroline's brother's wife where my parents were presented with traditional Bamenda gowns. Beautiful. They take three months to stitch by hand.
Again, the road was bad and it took us six hours to reach the Baptist Center where we were thrilled to find clean rooms and bathrooms!
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besongfitts
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Thanks a million.