Dear family & friends (again the line seems blurry),
News since Feb 27…
Sunday, Carol and I did a week and a half worth of laundry in our ‘bio-powered eco-green’ washer; okay, by hand, as usual. The normal tasks of the day were still in full swing at 6PM when Gregory showed up for a Bible study with me. The house was filling with teachers wanting to play flute-like ‘recorders’ before the weekly teacher supper and staff meeting. Gregory and I padded down the reddish brown road to the church. I produced our two Walkman players and connected the ear ‘buds’ to each. He just loves hearing the New Beginnings Bible studies that Naphtali and I produce in his own Noone language. He listened to lesson 18 while I, Noone impaired, listened to Desire of Ages being read. He would stop the player periodically to discuss some point of the lesson. Twice he told stories of his childhood that I had never heard. Apparently, his parents died during his early childhood. None of his relatives took him in their homes to the extent that meals were regular. He told of being so hungry that he stole the lunch of ladies working a farm. He jumped into a stream to escape identification, but was beaten badly by his school master when he was finally identified as the ‘thief’. He asked me how he should make this wrong right. How can I answer that? After a quick but sincere prayer, I reminded him of the really good feeling that one has after confessing a wrong. He stated that he planned to apologize to each of the people that he had stolen food from as a child.
After the Bible lesson, we walked together to our home where he had left his t’rusty’ motorcycle. Under a sea of stars, he began discussing ‘our’ school. He has worked so hard to expertly complete the concrete work; four large classroom floors, plastering inside and outside of all walls, and recently the large ‘veranda’ (porches). In doing so, he and his two faithful hard working helpers have heard the sounds from inside the classrooms. They have heard ‘much’. Gregory began saying how he was impressed by the abundance of school teaching supplies, “even more than the government schools have. Even more than the Catholics.” But then he said, “You know what the number one important part of the school is?” He explained how much he valued the Bible stories taught daily in all four classrooms. “My son Ignacius …” (in Jessica’s 2nd grade room) tells the daily Bible study to Gregory’s wife Caroline in the evening. If corrections are necessary, Zachariah (in Vivian’s 3rd / 4th grade room) will fill in the gaps. Although it was too dark to see Gregory’s face beam, his voice was ‘beaming’. He loves the effect of Christian education on his entire family.
With the school building project completed within the budget, the next project is the well shaft casing. We plan to accomplish this using concrete blocks. I called in an order to Home Depot for a truck to deliver 500 blocks this Thursday and charged it to my Discover Card. (Nothing could be more American, or less Cameroonian.) Again, Gregory’s helpers will spend a week or two digging and carrying sand from the nearby creek bed. I made plans to drive to Kumbo for more sacks of concrete. The blocks will be formed from a hand planed eucalyptus form that I made in Franklin’s carpentry shop last school year. My dad gave me the block dimensions via satellite text message exactly one year ago. Gregory will boil palm oil until it becomes greasy, then apply the orange slop to the inside of the form to keep the concrete from sticking.
This is the ‘lead-in’ to yesterday’s drive to Kumbo for 10 50kg sacks of concrete. Naphtali’s brother Alfred accompanied me. But before departing, I added half a quart of motor oil, a couple ounces of power steering fluid (ATF), topped off the radiator and reserve, glanced at the new tires (still beautiful), then recruited Alfred to help push start the car. It seems that the month old brand new battery has failed. No warranty here, of course, that’s an Amer… custom. After driving about 30km (18mi), my taxi driver buddy Gerald honked his horn furiously and informed me that I had a leak, then he leap-froged me for the 3rd time that morning. Sure enough, my engine was heating up and pushing water out from the reservoir. I had expected an overheat since it had happened on the last trip when we accompanied Jessica to Yaounde to extend her visa, but there was only time for my mechanic Njong to rebuild both hydraulic clutch cylinders before we returned home. Now, a little more than a liter of water was enough to make ‘Ruby’ happy to complete the trip to Kumbo. Three hours later, Njong (‘Jong’) had repaired the radiator and adjusted my clutch pedal so that the clutch would not slip on steep hills. Ruby and I headed down the dusty main drag of Kumbo toward the large market and Promise Enterprise. ‘Shey’ greeted me warmly with his massive hand and asked if I needed more cement. He knows the routine well, each Monday I buy another 10 sacks. I paid, the ‘boys’ (young men) were directed to help me, and Ruby bounced down to the warehouse. After these incredibly strong men climbed narrow hand-made wooden ladders to the top of a stack of cement, then climbed down with the 110-pound sack on their heads, and placed 10 sacks into Ruby’s payload, a new face asked me for a ‘book’. Nearly each time I pick up cement, I give out Young Disciple magazines and Sabbath School quarterlies to the warehouse workers. Today I had decided that the guys were probably still reading last week’s copy. Mistake. I explained that I was sorry and had no magazines, but asked how many people worked at ‘Promise’. “Thirteen.” “Okay, I’ll bring 20 books next time.”
Ruby and I lumbered back up the red dirt road, Njong gave his final blessing to the radiator repair and I left for BBH (Banso Baptist Hospital). While ‘collecting’ Alfred, a Lassin woman ‘begged’ a ride for her frail, elderly mother and her to Lassin, explaining that her money was ‘finish’. I had ‘carried’ them to BBH some weeks ago, but then there was room. Now, poor Ruby was bursting with dirty cement, the back seats folded forward to shift some of the weight onto the front tires. But you can’t say ‘no’ to these folks if there is any way to help. ‘Mom’ can sit in front with Alfred. “Would you mind sitting on the front edges of the back seats, just in front of the cement?” No problem. She climbed in and settled down on about 8 inches of space and no seat back except the end of a Chinese cement bag.
Ruby and I eased out onto the ‘Ring’ road leading out of Kumbo for Lassin. It was going to be a ‘first gear’, 3 hour ride home if all went well; after all, 1100 lbs of cement and 550 lbs of people require a gentle touch. All went well until we got to the only police check-point on the road. The officer who usually smiles, drops the rag laden rope across the road, and waves me on had other ideas this night. He walked out to the car. “You are moving with a badly overloaded car.” “Yes sir. But, my grandmother and sister begged a ride at BBH. I couldn’t say no, sir.” The officer studied the faces, the enormous load, then waved us on. “Thank you sir.”
The first half of the road home to Lassin is comparatively smooth; it would cripple an ordinary car. But the last half of the ‘road’ has sections that pound the daylights out of most every vehicle foolish enough to venture over it. For instance, I have had a right rear suspension bracket repaired once and replaced again; the left rear bracket just gave way and was repaired a month ago. The fuel line has been replaced twice now. About five tires have died on that road. My exhaust pipe has been crushed. You would think that to accomplish this disaster that I must drive like a nut or not pay attention to the road. Well, in a feeble gesture of self defense, Tobias, a highly skilled taxi driver was pulled off a car and given an old clunker (even clunkier) to drive because he went through two tires in one week.
The sun had set, the lights were on, but the road was littered with large stones and hard mud ruts. We had been creeping along in first gear, but the sudden sound of breaking metal told me that there was trouble. How much trouble? We’ll see. I found a place level enough for the parking brake to hold and got out to examine. The rear suspension brackets were intact. The muffler was still blowing exhaust and the pipe was in place, but blocking it with my hand did not affect the engine. The wheels were still on, upright, and pointing in the same direction. Try again, maybe the sound was imagined or just normal on these rough roads. The second and third inspections revealed nothing. The steering, braking, and 4WD power each seemed fine. Noticing that the noise nearly resolved when driving less than 10kmh (6mph), we pressed on. What else could I do? Staying overnight with 3 other adults in a cement filled car was not an option.
The 40km (24 mile) trip took 3 hours and 18 minutes; a record ‘long’. But God got us home. Carol, ‘sister’, and I walked ‘grandmother’ home. I ate dinner, washed off and hit the hay.
This morning Ruby carried the 10 sacks the last 5km to the school. On the way, we picked up two friends and carried them to their farms. They did not notice the grumbling coming from the front right wheel assembly. After Gregory and a helper deposited the cement in the school magazine Ruby stood a little taller. She hardly fussed as we went home. Next week Njong will have a wheel assembly to work on. It’s just as well, I told him about the Young Disciple magazines and he was really interested. Maybe only 8 sacks of cement; we’ll see, I hate to waste a trip.
Summary of other exciting stuff:
Naphtali and I begin recording New Beginnings lesson 24 of 26 tonight (Tuesday 3/1/11).
Half of the rented church roof (the part that covers the ‘kitchen / entry’) blew off in a recent rain storm. It landed over the part of the roof that covers the ‘main sanctuary’. Now the leak in that room is covered. Yes, we need a church of our own, but not this year.
Charles Ichu of Douala (our gracious and super helpful Cameroonian host) has agreed to stay with us for up to two weeks to record the sound tracks of all 26 New Beginnings lessons in ‘Pigeon’. The reason that Pigeon is such a big deal is that it is the ‘interface’ language between the scores of languages used in Western Cameroon and beyond (like Nigeria). Most people here do not ‘speak grammar’ (use formal English). New Beginnings in ‘Pigeon’ could be broadcast on radio or used in DVD format where power is available.
We are still planning to have an evangelistic series in April. Keep these families in your prayers. Divine takes the Fujitsu laptop to 5 homes each week, showing the studies in Noone. I take the Toshiba to Naphtali’s folks place Saturday nights. That’s 6 large compounds each week. Seeds are being planted, we’ll see what ‘comes up’.
Thanks to each of you for your prayers, Bible related literature, financial support, and boxed brownie mix! Unless the school well project becomes too big, I think you have given enough; we still have about $750. It should buy enough concrete and repair busted car parts to see us until May 1. If not, I’ll ‘beg’ for a bit more.
Weather: some of you have been complaining to us about the winter like conditions in California. Well, if it really gets to you, come join us. We have not worn our coats since January. We have not had to heat or cool the house. The rains that fell February 3 – 6, then late in the month took care of most of the dust and smoke in Lassin and Kumbo. Basically, it has been an endless Spring / Summer here.
Food: I think we have eaten a pineapple for breakfast on a daily basis since December. You have no idea how spoiled we are. We pay 100 – 300 FCFA each. (Okay, that’s 20 – 60 cents.) Jessica and Carol can hardly wait for mango season; should be here soon. We have seen full size green fruit, but nothing ripe yet. Avocado and oranges have remained plentiful. The other week I found rhubarb at the huge Kumbo market. Mom emailed us a pie recipe and Carol performed her wonders. I contributed by grinding wheat to fine flour for the crust. The pie did not last long.
Thanks for waiting for me to write this letter. Honest, we’ve been really busy, but have not forgotten you. Thanks for the Iridium SMS and emails to LassisFamily@Gmail.com.
Still looking forward to good news that someone is going to come to lead this project next year. Some good sounding rumors are coming from GMI.
Can I tell ‘one more story’? Just a thought really. Would you like to get into trouble for doing nothing at all? Me either. Daniel 12:1 says, “there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation…” Well, if we are going to get into trouble, then we might as well ‘deserve’ it. Are you ‘getting me’?
Love you guys,
Steve, Carol, Jessica, and Ruby
P.S. 3/3/11: We ran out of propane for cooking last evening so I had to go to Kumbo again today (Thursday). More stories came out of this trip too, but just wanted to report that the 1/2 inch thick spring in the front right wheel strut assembly had broken and was rubbing against the inner wall of the wheel well. Passed out 34 Young Disciple magazines today: 3 to the guys across the street from the house that usually help me push-start the car, 3 to the officers at the 'highway' check point, 7 to the worker 6 guys at the auto repair place, 20 to the 13 employees of Promise Enterprise (cement store, etc), and 1 to a fellow 'auto-needs-repair' customer. It was so fun to see folks in so many places reading these magazines. I realized that I need to carry a few 'Steps to Jesus' too. There were some adults that would have really enjoyed them; like one man who studied at a university in Cleveland, OH., and another who works for an NGO (Non-governmental organization) involved in improving elementary education. Bright men who needed more 'mature' reading material. Anyway, another long day, but we have propane, another 9 sacks of cement, 3 small bunches of carrots, and some laundry soap.
Thought you may be interested in what I spent and what for:
Auto repair: heavy spring $7, clutch repair kit $8, labor to rebuild both $10. Propane $16, soap $6. Cement $100. Auto fuel $20. These are 'high dollar' days. I'm glad that the school building project is nearly complete.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Greetings from the group in Lassin!
Steve here. Thought you would like to know how things are progressing from my perspective. (I sure am thankful when Carol can update the blog too)
Title: Christmas, cement, tires, and termites.
Christmas break was the time to kick off the major school improvement project. With the students out of the classrooms, we began to work in 'high gear'. At the school, Gregory began putting a concrete floor in Carol's first grade room. He was using about 6 sacks of concrete a day. I began to purchase and haul the concrete from Kumbo to Lassin.
Monday before Christmas, I bought 20 sacks of concrete and carried 10 home. The taxi that had agreed to carry the other 10 sacks became too busy with the Christmas rush and the high fares that luggage brought.
So, Tuesday I returned for the remaining 10 sacks.
It is good to know your limits, and those of your little car. You can hear it coming. I bought an extra 2 sacks, and picked up 4 boxes of sugar cubes for Shey John. This brought the load to 12 x 50kg (1320#) plus 4 x 25kg (220#). That's about 1540 lbs behind the driver's seat.
Well, it can be done, but it turns out that the small bulge in the back right tire was more significant than the moderate tread. The sidewall blew out about 30 km from Kumbo. We inflated the spare and headed down the road. The spare looked fair, but when leaving the road briefly to make room for a laden motorcycle proved too much for it. Now, to find a 3rd sacrificial tire. My riding companion, our church landlord, had an idea. He commendeered a motorcycle taxi out from under its customer. Off to Lassin. He found a car just like ours, but he did not find the owner. No problem, the spare was removed and he motored back to me. This time, the issue was a borrowed tire with bulges again. Can you imagine how gingerly I drove the last couple miles to our house?
The next day, Wednesday, I delivered the cement in two loads to the school.
Thursday, off to Kumbo by taxi to buy 4 tires. The fronts had threads showing, the spares were in shreds, and the stolen tire still had the bulges. This leaves the back right in pretty good shape. Hey, life should be exciting. In Kumbo, no used tires looked encouraging, and the new Chinese stuff looked little better. A fellow at a really nice tire shop assured me that he could get good Firestone tires for a reasonable price and have them delivered on Friday. It takes faith to live this way, but I paid him and went home.
Friday afternoon, Gerald the very responsible taxi driver pulled up with 4 of the most beautiful tires tied to his car. Sunday, Emanuel put them on. I returned the stolen spare and included the 2 badly worn tires as spare spares; Frank was grateful. I confessed and he said 'no problem'.
Since then, the little red car has kept up with the cement demands.
Classroom 2, Jessica's room is completed. Carol's room has a new floor and the inside plastering is coming.
Termites... Well, it seems that Jessica was harboring the little bugs under the front right seats. This is a problem as the dirt floor can eventually give way, leading to the loss of students and their desks.
It's hard to replace those desks. Gregory has exposed their nest and poisoned them.
Our consumption of cement is about 1/2 complete and the funds are holding out well- thank you so much!
This next Sunday we plan to mark the boundaries of the school officially and record it with the government. This is really exciting. Note- only about 1/3rd of ALL SCHOOLS in this region have their boundaries marked. Amazing.
Soon, really soon, we'll have high speed, pay as you go Internet at the house. This will allow us to send photos and perhaps short movies. We can hardly wait to show you the progress.
We're still looking for new project leaders for next year. Contact Babi at GMI if you have or have become a lead.
God bless,
Steve & Carol Rose
Title: Christmas, cement, tires, and termites.
Christmas break was the time to kick off the major school improvement project. With the students out of the classrooms, we began to work in 'high gear'. At the school, Gregory began putting a concrete floor in Carol's first grade room. He was using about 6 sacks of concrete a day. I began to purchase and haul the concrete from Kumbo to Lassin.
Monday before Christmas, I bought 20 sacks of concrete and carried 10 home. The taxi that had agreed to carry the other 10 sacks became too busy with the Christmas rush and the high fares that luggage brought.
So, Tuesday I returned for the remaining 10 sacks.
It is good to know your limits, and those of your little car. You can hear it coming. I bought an extra 2 sacks, and picked up 4 boxes of sugar cubes for Shey John. This brought the load to 12 x 50kg (1320#) plus 4 x 25kg (220#). That's about 1540 lbs behind the driver's seat.
Well, it can be done, but it turns out that the small bulge in the back right tire was more significant than the moderate tread. The sidewall blew out about 30 km from Kumbo. We inflated the spare and headed down the road. The spare looked fair, but when leaving the road briefly to make room for a laden motorcycle proved too much for it. Now, to find a 3rd sacrificial tire. My riding companion, our church landlord, had an idea. He commendeered a motorcycle taxi out from under its customer. Off to Lassin. He found a car just like ours, but he did not find the owner. No problem, the spare was removed and he motored back to me. This time, the issue was a borrowed tire with bulges again. Can you imagine how gingerly I drove the last couple miles to our house?
The next day, Wednesday, I delivered the cement in two loads to the school.
Thursday, off to Kumbo by taxi to buy 4 tires. The fronts had threads showing, the spares were in shreds, and the stolen tire still had the bulges. This leaves the back right in pretty good shape. Hey, life should be exciting. In Kumbo, no used tires looked encouraging, and the new Chinese stuff looked little better. A fellow at a really nice tire shop assured me that he could get good Firestone tires for a reasonable price and have them delivered on Friday. It takes faith to live this way, but I paid him and went home.
Friday afternoon, Gerald the very responsible taxi driver pulled up with 4 of the most beautiful tires tied to his car. Sunday, Emanuel put them on. I returned the stolen spare and included the 2 badly worn tires as spare spares; Frank was grateful. I confessed and he said 'no problem'.
Since then, the little red car has kept up with the cement demands.
Classroom 2, Jessica's room is completed. Carol's room has a new floor and the inside plastering is coming.
Termites... Well, it seems that Jessica was harboring the little bugs under the front right seats. This is a problem as the dirt floor can eventually give way, leading to the loss of students and their desks.
It's hard to replace those desks. Gregory has exposed their nest and poisoned them.
Our consumption of cement is about 1/2 complete and the funds are holding out well- thank you so much!
This next Sunday we plan to mark the boundaries of the school officially and record it with the government. This is really exciting. Note- only about 1/3rd of ALL SCHOOLS in this region have their boundaries marked. Amazing.
Soon, really soon, we'll have high speed, pay as you go Internet at the house. This will allow us to send photos and perhaps short movies. We can hardly wait to show you the progress.
We're still looking for new project leaders for next year. Contact Babi at GMI if you have or have become a lead.
God bless,
Steve & Carol Rose
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Merry Christmas from Lassin, Cameroon!
What a privilege to celebrate again how God gave us His Son! Amazing love!
It will be so good to be re-united with our heavenly family someday soon!
In the meantime we are looking forward to seeing our earthly families again soon-less than five months.
We had a very interesting day today. Since school is out for the holidays, I enjoyed sleeping in a bit. We ate a leisurely breakfast of Steve's three-grain cereal (ground corn, soy, and whole rice). OK, ok, so I don't have to tell everything! Vivian, one of our teachers, came by to say goodbye. She is from a nearby town, and she and her son were planning to travel home today. She is such a sweetheart; always thinking about others and has a very positive outlook. Anyway, as she was leaving she mentioned that she was going to condole a friend across the street from our house. We had heard that the family's 5-year-old girl had died about a week ago, but I had not visited them yet. Because I had not gone over yet, I decided to go with Vivian to visit the family. Only the mother and a small child were home, and we enjoyed talking with them in pidgin. The mother does not speak the local dialect because she is from another town called Ncambe. We gave the mother "Steps to Jesus" and a Glow tract "Does God Care When I Am Hurting." The mother said she had seen that very book in a neighbor's house and had started reading it. She was thinking about that book that very morning and was very grateful to have her own copy. She told Vivian the circumstances of her daughter's death. She herself left town to visit her village. The next day the girl complained of stomach pain, but was playing around. That night the child had diarrhea and complained of stomach pain. The father carried the child to the local Health Center, and the child died there. Life is too fragile.
Next on the day's agenda--marketing. Today is the last market day before Christmas, and the market was bustling even at 9:30 am. I went to the market to check for unusual items that might disappear quickly. I saw a couple large pineapples and tried to buy them but was told they were not for sale. I also looked for a student's mother to see if she had some corn that she had promised me (to trade for tuition). I bought 3.5 meters of school uniform fabric for one more girls' uniform shirt and two more shirts for two boys. The fabric man gave me 50 francs off since we didn't have the change. He said we are his good customers now; he doesn't mind being a bit generous. It's true, we have purchased a lot of fabric from him. Then I visited Juliana at her sales booth. She always has onions, ginger, magi seasoning, garlic, and nice fowl baskets made by Naphtali. It's funny that more people don't buy those nice baskets. Most of the time, we see women carrying a chicken tucked into their side with their hand firmly on the chicken's tied legs. I bought a bunch of bananas and some avocados from her sister-in-law beside her. As I was heading home, I spied one thing I had been looking for--green bell peppers! I know, it's not first on your list of exciting food, but these are the first we have seen this year. I'm trying to grow some, but it'll be a good while for those to come. The bell peppers made a great salad dressing later on. Steve went with me to the market later and we actually found three nice pineapples. Chances are good that we will get to eat pineapple on Christmas Day!
Later Naphtali came when Steve was burning trash. He told us that the Bofa
(subchief) who gave us the land where the school is located wanted to see us. God blessed our visit. The man was very kind and very upright. We were happy to meet him. He is very supportive of our school. He will be coming back in January with Charles to "pin" the school boundary. That will be a monumental day, a day we have been waiting for.
Somewhere in the day, I made flat bread. Instead of baking it, I fried it in the frying pan with just a little oil. It came in handy for the next day's adventures. (Steve to Kumbo for cement and me to Juliana's farm in Mbinon.)
Tonight as I write, Naphtali and Juliana just came. Naph will translate the next New Beginnings with Steve, and Juliana will practice on the keyboard here.
Love you all,
Carol (& Steve)
It will be so good to be re-united with our heavenly family someday soon!
In the meantime we are looking forward to seeing our earthly families again soon-less than five months.
We had a very interesting day today. Since school is out for the holidays, I enjoyed sleeping in a bit. We ate a leisurely breakfast of Steve's three-grain cereal (ground corn, soy, and whole rice). OK, ok, so I don't have to tell everything! Vivian, one of our teachers, came by to say goodbye. She is from a nearby town, and she and her son were planning to travel home today. She is such a sweetheart; always thinking about others and has a very positive outlook. Anyway, as she was leaving she mentioned that she was going to condole a friend across the street from our house. We had heard that the family's 5-year-old girl had died about a week ago, but I had not visited them yet. Because I had not gone over yet, I decided to go with Vivian to visit the family. Only the mother and a small child were home, and we enjoyed talking with them in pidgin. The mother does not speak the local dialect because she is from another town called Ncambe. We gave the mother "Steps to Jesus" and a Glow tract "Does God Care When I Am Hurting." The mother said she had seen that very book in a neighbor's house and had started reading it. She was thinking about that book that very morning and was very grateful to have her own copy. She told Vivian the circumstances of her daughter's death. She herself left town to visit her village. The next day the girl complained of stomach pain, but was playing around. That night the child had diarrhea and complained of stomach pain. The father carried the child to the local Health Center, and the child died there. Life is too fragile.
Next on the day's agenda--marketing. Today is the last market day before Christmas, and the market was bustling even at 9:30 am. I went to the market to check for unusual items that might disappear quickly. I saw a couple large pineapples and tried to buy them but was told they were not for sale. I also looked for a student's mother to see if she had some corn that she had promised me (to trade for tuition). I bought 3.5 meters of school uniform fabric for one more girls' uniform shirt and two more shirts for two boys. The fabric man gave me 50 francs off since we didn't have the change. He said we are his good customers now; he doesn't mind being a bit generous. It's true, we have purchased a lot of fabric from him. Then I visited Juliana at her sales booth. She always has onions, ginger, magi seasoning, garlic, and nice fowl baskets made by Naphtali. It's funny that more people don't buy those nice baskets. Most of the time, we see women carrying a chicken tucked into their side with their hand firmly on the chicken's tied legs. I bought a bunch of bananas and some avocados from her sister-in-law beside her. As I was heading home, I spied one thing I had been looking for--green bell peppers! I know, it's not first on your list of exciting food, but these are the first we have seen this year. I'm trying to grow some, but it'll be a good while for those to come. The bell peppers made a great salad dressing later on. Steve went with me to the market later and we actually found three nice pineapples. Chances are good that we will get to eat pineapple on Christmas Day!
Later Naphtali came when Steve was burning trash. He told us that the Bofa
(subchief) who gave us the land where the school is located wanted to see us. God blessed our visit. The man was very kind and very upright. We were happy to meet him. He is very supportive of our school. He will be coming back in January with Charles to "pin" the school boundary. That will be a monumental day, a day we have been waiting for.
Somewhere in the day, I made flat bread. Instead of baking it, I fried it in the frying pan with just a little oil. It came in handy for the next day's adventures. (Steve to Kumbo for cement and me to Juliana's farm in Mbinon.)
Tonight as I write, Naphtali and Juliana just came. Naph will translate the next New Beginnings with Steve, and Juliana will practice on the keyboard here.
Love you all,
Carol (& Steve)
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Dear friends,
It's nearly Christmas again. Sure feels like it too. The skies are nearly continually blue, temps are warm in the day and cool at night. The roads are beginning to get dusty. All the signs of early dry season.
Carol, Jessica, and Kimberly have one more week of school before Christmas break. Perhaps they are more excited about the break than the kids are!
Jess and Kim are planning a guided expedition to visit some of the beautiful and interesting areas of Cameroon. The schedule is not firm, but will keep you posted. It may include a trip to the capitol city of Yaounde, then a train ride toward the Northeast to see a game park where elephants roam.
Then to the coast and Mt. Cameroon. Sounds nice. I'll stay home and eat pineapple with Carol.
Lesson 12 of the 'New Beginnings' Bible studies is done. It was finished in record time; Sunday evening recording, Monday sound editing, Monday evening recording completed, Tuesday the video was completed. I continue to learn about the recording and video editing software that makes the process more efficient. This is an amazing lesson. I can hardly wait to begin showing it. Keep keeping us in your prayers.
Speaking of prayers, it is probably time to mention a big need here.
Carol and I came to Cameroon to pursue the dual goal of 'mission pilot', and 'mission school'. Well, it became apparent last year that 'mission pilot'
was not going to be realized here. The roads are very exciting, but are functional. A plane is not required here. It is so expensive to purchase, transport, register, and operate a plane here; the cost / benefit ratio is disproportionate. On the other hand, the school idea was great. The school has grown from one class to four, grades 1 to 5. After trying to keep the kind folks at the local office of Basic Education happy, it is apparent that some school operations savvy is also required.
After spending one year here, I gave a one year notice of resignation to this project. We are spending the second year here to continue to develop the program in anticipation of handing it over to new leadership. So far, there have not been any volunteers to take the project. If you can help locate someone or be that someone, we would appreciate it. The potential is fantastic.
We would love to hear from you regarding this need. Use Iridium.com, 'free text message' feature (top center of home page), and send to our phone 881631672129; note 8816 is already entered for you.
Steve & Carol Rose
It's nearly Christmas again. Sure feels like it too. The skies are nearly continually blue, temps are warm in the day and cool at night. The roads are beginning to get dusty. All the signs of early dry season.
Carol, Jessica, and Kimberly have one more week of school before Christmas break. Perhaps they are more excited about the break than the kids are!
Jess and Kim are planning a guided expedition to visit some of the beautiful and interesting areas of Cameroon. The schedule is not firm, but will keep you posted. It may include a trip to the capitol city of Yaounde, then a train ride toward the Northeast to see a game park where elephants roam.
Then to the coast and Mt. Cameroon. Sounds nice. I'll stay home and eat pineapple with Carol.
Lesson 12 of the 'New Beginnings' Bible studies is done. It was finished in record time; Sunday evening recording, Monday sound editing, Monday evening recording completed, Tuesday the video was completed. I continue to learn about the recording and video editing software that makes the process more efficient. This is an amazing lesson. I can hardly wait to begin showing it. Keep keeping us in your prayers.
Speaking of prayers, it is probably time to mention a big need here.
Carol and I came to Cameroon to pursue the dual goal of 'mission pilot', and 'mission school'. Well, it became apparent last year that 'mission pilot'
was not going to be realized here. The roads are very exciting, but are functional. A plane is not required here. It is so expensive to purchase, transport, register, and operate a plane here; the cost / benefit ratio is disproportionate. On the other hand, the school idea was great. The school has grown from one class to four, grades 1 to 5. After trying to keep the kind folks at the local office of Basic Education happy, it is apparent that some school operations savvy is also required.
After spending one year here, I gave a one year notice of resignation to this project. We are spending the second year here to continue to develop the program in anticipation of handing it over to new leadership. So far, there have not been any volunteers to take the project. If you can help locate someone or be that someone, we would appreciate it. The potential is fantastic.
We would love to hear from you regarding this need. Use Iridium.com, 'free text message' feature (top center of home page), and send to our phone 881631672129; note 8816 is already entered for you.
Steve & Carol Rose
Monday, December 6, 2010
The weeks are going by so quickly. We are making progress at the school and with the Bible Study translations. We are actually right on track; thanks to God's help and a wonderful translator. Naphtali is also very excited about the progress and is happy to be a part of both the school and the translation.
Now that dry season is here, we are making steps to begin the work on the concrete floors at the school. Special thanks to a very sweet lady in Porterville! It just dawned on us that once we have the new floors, we won't have to pour water on the floors every week or so! (That's how you keep a dirt floor under control.) It will be so nice to have concrete floors especially at the end of the dry season when everything is so very dusty.
Gregory is our main man for the floor project. He is still studying with Steve about twice a week and is planning to leave his Baptist church pulpit at the end of this year and join our church! What amazing things God has done!
Today and yesterday all of us teachers attended a Teacher Workshop in Nkor, a small town about 30 min. drive away. Nkor is the headquarters of the Noni subdivision. The District Officer (otherwise known as the D.O. or the "Dew") and the IBE (Inspector of Basic Education) have offices there. It was a change of pace for us as we had to close school for the two days. The point of the seminar was to teach teachers how to write test questions. It sounds like the IBE will be asking us to submit test questions to accumulate in a test question bank at the national level in order to formulate standardized tests. It was mostly interesting. We were "invited" (required) to be in Nkor yesterday by "8 am (prompt)." I was a bit nervous as we arrived at
8:35 am. Anyway, the meeting did not begin until 12:45 pm! We heard that the administrators/teachers who were giving the workshop did not arrive until about noon, instead of the previous day as planned. Oh, well! Delays can and do happen. We actually had a nice time hanging out at the Nkor Literacy Center (similar to a library) and reading books for hours! It was quite funny-all of us Americans must be starving for books, because within a few minutes all five of us were deep into one book or another! One really neat thing at the workshop was when the teachers sang the national anthem-it was really beautiful! There was some wonderful bass harmony, etc. I wish I had a recording of it!
Well, bye for now. Love to all. We are missing you!
Carol (and Steve)
Now that dry season is here, we are making steps to begin the work on the concrete floors at the school. Special thanks to a very sweet lady in Porterville! It just dawned on us that once we have the new floors, we won't have to pour water on the floors every week or so! (That's how you keep a dirt floor under control.) It will be so nice to have concrete floors especially at the end of the dry season when everything is so very dusty.
Gregory is our main man for the floor project. He is still studying with Steve about twice a week and is planning to leave his Baptist church pulpit at the end of this year and join our church! What amazing things God has done!
Today and yesterday all of us teachers attended a Teacher Workshop in Nkor, a small town about 30 min. drive away. Nkor is the headquarters of the Noni subdivision. The District Officer (otherwise known as the D.O. or the "Dew") and the IBE (Inspector of Basic Education) have offices there. It was a change of pace for us as we had to close school for the two days. The point of the seminar was to teach teachers how to write test questions. It sounds like the IBE will be asking us to submit test questions to accumulate in a test question bank at the national level in order to formulate standardized tests. It was mostly interesting. We were "invited" (required) to be in Nkor yesterday by "8 am (prompt)." I was a bit nervous as we arrived at
8:35 am. Anyway, the meeting did not begin until 12:45 pm! We heard that the administrators/teachers who were giving the workshop did not arrive until about noon, instead of the previous day as planned. Oh, well! Delays can and do happen. We actually had a nice time hanging out at the Nkor Literacy Center (similar to a library) and reading books for hours! It was quite funny-all of us Americans must be starving for books, because within a few minutes all five of us were deep into one book or another! One really neat thing at the workshop was when the teachers sang the national anthem-it was really beautiful! There was some wonderful bass harmony, etc. I wish I had a recording of it!
Well, bye for now. Love to all. We are missing you!
Carol (and Steve)
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