Saying Goodbye to Cameroon

Getting the cars ready for the sail!

Exactly 1 year and 6 days ago, I first arrived in Cameroon. It’s hard to believe all that has happened, all the adventures, laughter, mistakes made, lessons learned, friendships created. All the people I am closest with now, I hadn’t even met them yet. The person I was then, isn’t the person I am now. Looking back and seeing all the things God brought me through is incredible. It certainly wasn’t an easy year but I was blessed to do it alongside some amazing people, to be pushed and challenged to pursue God even when it was a desert season, to learn to heal from long ago hurts, to experience new ones and get back up anyway. And while I may be ready to leave Cameroon, I’m not sure I’m ready to leave Mercy Ships. I have 25 days left on this wonderful Ship. 25 days to be present and intentional and to pour out as much love as I possibly can. Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly excited for this next season. I’m excited to be home and part of my family’s everyday life, to learn new things, to see what God has next for me. But I’m also mourning the loss of this place, a safe place to learn and grow, a place to see Godly families and relationships modeled, a place where I am known, a place where almost every day I can see the tangible ways we are changing lives. I think this is the inevitable struggle of transitioning from something amazing and wonderful and good to something that will also be amazing and wonderful and good.

These are some of the amazing men who keep us safe.

I have definitely been struggling and the countless goodbyes haven’t made it any easier. Imagine if your whole town or church left inside a two or three week period…that’s kind of what the last few weeks have felt like. The goodbyes are coming fast and furious now and it’s been rough. Bosses, spiritual leaders, friends, community leaders, acquaintances…everyone has an impact on you. This is my first time fully finishing off a field service (I left early in Mada to do onboarding, and in Benin I left for Advance), and I’m so glad I haven’t had to experience this every year. I couldn’t do it. I don’t know how people do this every field service, over and over. This is absolutely stretching my newly learned vulnerability. How do you not put all your walls up and shut the world out when there are so many emotions and feelings tied up in seeing people leave? 

Before Michele left, we went for one final Comms team dinner and as we sat there, I looked around the table and realized that every single one of these people would be on the Ship next year. Except me. Wow. What a change from previous years. In Mada, I was the only one to still be there. In Benin, everyone left except myself, Michele and Tammy. And now everyone was staying and I was leaving. It’s the same with my group of friends – last year they all left, and I was the only one to stay. This year was a complete reset in terms of friendships. And this year, they are all staying. What a reversal. And yet, I still have absolutely no doubt that God is calling me home. Both our new Media Liaisons have been chosen and we’ve had the opportunity to train one of them over the last two months, so I know the job is well taken care of. God provided exactly who we needed to fill these roles and for that I am so thankful.

So other than all these goodbyes what have we been up to? Well we packed up our hospital and the dock, and we’ve been prepping for sail. The Ship leaves this weekend. We’ve been doing a lot of ‘lasts’: last time going to karaoke, last time going to the Indian place, last time at my favourite schwarma place, last time hosting local media (woo!), last time living in my 4 berth cabin (I moved into a single cabin!). That actually affected me more than I thought, saying goodbye to the bed that had been my home for the last two years.

Our Crater Lake group :)

We also had some new experiences. We had a big celebration for our Day Crew, to thank them for their all their hardwork and dedication. Of course, it turned into a big dance party until we said our final goodbyes on the dock. We also went on one final adventure – the crater lakes! This is a beautiful area with two large lakes created by volcanic craters. One of the lakes is sacred and only the village chief can swim in it (or something like that); but the other lake was fair game and it was delightfully cold! The whole hike was 9 hours, with about 2 hours’ worth of breaks; 18 miles and 453 flights of stairs. It was a majestic view, but I spent most of the time looking at the feet of the person in front of me. Rose and I had lots of laughs (mostly) bringing up the rear, as we focused on putting one foot in front of the other. On the way there we reached a part where you went almost straight down…climbing up on the way back was insane. We weren't quite sure we would make it! But we had nice friends who walked with us and set a manageable pace and talked to us to distract us and just encouraged us in general. We reached a small school building and I thought we were almost there, so I asked the guide how much longer? He said, 2 hours. My face dropped. That was a rough two hours. After that, every time I asked him, how long? He said it depended on how slow we walked…And to make our descent even more pleasant, it started pouring rain and everything turned into a mudslide. Thankfully, only Rose got to see me wipe out/lose my footing dozens of times. It’s a good thing that before we started, I told her I was sure-footed like a goat. Overall, it was quite an adventure and I’m thankful I got to do it with such remarkable people. The following day we went to visit the Ekom waterfall, although some of us (ie. me), could barely make it up and down the stairs. 

What a beautiful hike! PC: Kate Pitchford 

As soon as we arrived back to the Ship, it started… one by one we started to get very sick. I was first and was quickly followed by some others. Everyone else in the group was nervous, waiting to see who else would get sick. Apparently married couples are immune to whatever parasite/virus/illness we had. While being that sick was definitely no fun, I actually felt so loved through all of it because we were so well taken care of. Kate and a few other people brought us ginger ale and water and toast throughout the evening and the next day. I woke up and there was a bottle of Gatorade outside of my door. I was overwhelmed with gratefulness for this place and the servant hearted people who call it home. It was like having 5 moms J But thankfully we are all better now and ready to sail!

I know I sound very melancholy, but it’s only because I’ve been blessed to love and be loved well in this place, and I know I will miss that. But writing it all out and acknowledging the feelings is helpful, and at the end of the day I always rejoice, because our God is good and His ways are better than my ways. I would love your prayers for joy and peace during this time of transition, and for your grace with me as I deal with the mixed emotions of grieving the loss of this place but also being excited for home.

Give praise to the LORD, proclaim His name;

Make known among the nations what He has done.

Sing to Him, sing praise to Him;

tell of all His wonderful acts.

Glory in His Holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

Look to the LORD and His strength;

seek His face always.

~Psalm 105:1-4

These two beauties both got orthopaedic surgery to correct their bowed legs and now they can both run freely. Mariama &
Salamatou live right near the Crater Lakes where we were. This iconic shot was taken by the one and only Shawn Thompson ;)

Three Joubarnes in Cameroon

Limbe. PC: The one and only Caleb Brumley.

A few weeks ago I learned that I had a twin…okay, I’m just kidding. But I was incredibly blessed to have my mom and sister come visit me here in Cameroon, and many people thought my sister and I were twins. Some people even thought it was me and that I had gotten my hair cut. I thought it was pretty hilarious. So what was it like to host my mom and sister onboard the Africa Mercy? Well, it was a bit like two worlds colliding. My mom visited me in Madagascar but hadn’t stayed on the Ship because I was short term. This time, they both got to stay onboard in one of our lovely guest cabins with an ‘ocean view’. They got to experience a 6 am fire drill, overhead announcements, the Ship rocking, the constant presence of others whose names you can’t quite remember, every Day Crew greeting us, waffle Friday, the hassle of coming and going from the Ship, curfew, sharing cars, not having grass to play on, Ship food, and so much more. Like the Media Liaison that I am, I had a whole schedule prepared and printed out for them (my friends thought this was hilarious). But hey, hosting is something I know how to do!

Mom and Jess visiting me in Cameroon!

They got the full Hospital Experience Tour, including the OR (led by yours truly), and I took them to all the offsite locations. They also got to see the chimps, eat at my favourite places (Indian and schwarma), attend a lively Bible study, worship with us, meet all of my favourite people onboard, sing karaoke (Jess and I rapped some Drake) and participate in some movie nights and pool/dance parties. We even played rugby on the dock with the Captain and his boys. Instead of our normal Community Meeting, we had a joint celebration on the dock with Day Crew, which of course turned into a big dance party as well. We heard some testimonies, from a patient, from a crew member and from a Day Crew. The Day Crew shared that he never knew what a fistula was until he started translating some documents for our MCB team. Then at one point in the field service, he saw one of his family members onboard the Ship (his cousin I think). He asked her what she was doing there and she replied that she was a fistula patient. He couldn’t believe it. He had no idea that she suffered from this. No one in his family knew. He was so convicted by this that he and a few other Day Crew started an organization to help women with fistulas and to bring more awareness to the issue. What a story! 

I also brought my mom and sister to a local African church. Interestingly, the pastor was threatening to dump water on people if they fell asleep. He also invited up a couple who had gotten married the day before and asked them how the previous night had been. The man was very eloquent and said, the night was very long and very short. The pastor kept pressing him so he then said, the room was filled with honey. Even that wasn’t enough, because the pastor kept asking. He then had them kiss while the whole church cheered and took photos. It was a very strange experience and we laughed a lot.

My hair is always a source of amusement.

Their time onboard was pretty quick, especially considering that I whisked them off to Yaounde so that we could visit Edith and Valerie. You’ve heard me talk about both of these beautiful ladies at length. They have been a big part of my time here in Cameroon. I had planned on hiking the crater lakes with my mom and sister, but that was off limits due to some security issues. I am so thankful for God and His timing in this, because I think it was so important that I bring my mom and sister to visit this lovely family. We traveled with one of my Cameroonian friends (who will soon be coming to Canada for school!) and arrived at their home in the late afternoon. We only stayed for a couple of hours but it was so lovely to talk with them, play many games with the kids, and have no agenda other than being with them. I am always reminded of how similar we all are, and that we don’t necessarily needs words to communicate, but can do so with laughter and silliness. It was my fourth and final time to visit them, which made for a difficult goodbye. I’m so thankful to have been a small part of their journey and for all that they have taught me. 

That's me lying in the surf. And you wonder how I get
so sunburned...

Then it was time to say goodbye to mom and Jess and go back to work. But first, a day trip to Limbe (it had been off limits for a while) which was incredibly refreshing! Hosting my mom and sister hadn’t exactly been restful (we packed in a lot), but I know it was quite an experience for them, and selfishly, I know it will be so helpful for me when I'm adjusting to being home. They will know who I’m talking about and have more context for my stories and the things I miss. I am so thankful that they were willing to travel all this way to come and see me. I am also very grateful to my friends who took the time to get to know my mom and sister and do stuff with us, just because they knew it was important to me. There are some very special people on this Ship! But back to Limbe – this place has been refreshing for my body, spirit and mind, all field service. I ended up falling asleep for quite a while after a few hours of playing in the sun (and also came back very, very sunburnt…). 

Interviewing Trésor and his Mama with BBC.

And then it was time to host our very last team of the field service. That’s right, as of this writing, we have hosted our last team. I have hosted my very last team, maybe ever. Wow, what a thought. This final team was a media team from BBC West Africa and I was reminded of what a blessing this job has been. I get to hear amazing stories from our crew, Day Crew and patients. We interviewed a nurse who had grown up in Niger with missionary patients and spoke some of the local languages which allowed her to better communicate with some of our patients, and was so cool! Another nurse we interviewed had grown up in Cameroon, moved to the States at 16, become a nurse, and now come back to serve her own people through Mercy Ships. I just can’t help marvel at the amazing way that God works in peoples’ lives. We went on a short home visit to go see Trésor, a joyful 4 year old boy who had double cataract surgery onboard the Ship. His mama Larissa had quite a story to tell (I don’t want to scoop the Comms team on this so I won’t say too much just yet).  At the end, she said something very powerful. She said that there was no gift so precious as the gift of a life, especially a child’s life. She said that someone could give her new shoes or clothes but that eventually those things would rot away. Now, every time she looked at Trésor, until she died, she would be reminded of what Mercy Ships (and God) has done in her life. Wow, what a testimony. I could go on and on about the stories that I’ve heard lately, but I’ll leave it there for now.

Our matching fabric for the wedding.

Of course, it’s not just work that goes on here. Some friends talked me into coming for a massage and pedicure (Rose, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!). It was quite an experience and for me turned into quite a gigglefest since I’m basically ticklish everywhere. But hey, the massage lady (Nadia) and I were good friends by the end of it. One evening turned into quite an outing as it took us about two hours to get to our location (that may have been partly my fault). Our location was a Bowling fun center and once we arrived we had a blast! Kate and I even danced on a DDR machine (she’s a beast). It was an evening of laughter and bonding. Yesterday, some of us were blessed to be invited to the wedding of one of our Dental Day Crew, Solange. Apparently when you attend a wedding here, everyone is expected to get outfits made from matching fabric which is picked out for you. Our fabric was quite ‘lovely’ as you can see. The church part of the wedding was fairly traditional (although no kissing of the bride). The only big difference was that if you were sitting, you couldn’t see anything because everyone was right up in the face of the bride and groom, taking pictures of everything. It was pretty hilarious. Later that evening there was a reception, but we only got to experience a small part of it, considering the bride and groom only appeared at 10:15pm and we have curfew. Apparently these parties last until 3 or 4 in the morning! 

Our 'Oscars' - all of the bronze statues received from the MoH.

Two more quick things that I have to share (yes, yes, I know, I have a lot to say). The first thing is that the goodbyes are coming fast and furious now. A piece of my heart left this week as I said goodbye to the Silva family. They have been my Ship family and I don’t know how I would have done this without them. However, I’m fairly certain that this was more like a, see you later, than a goodbye. The second thing, is that we had our Thank You Reception last week to thank all of our partners (I had the honour of being the MC). The Minister of Health came up and after speaking, he started to present some bronze statues to our Managing Director and Government Liaison. But the neat thing is that after those two, he kept going. He had another 12 or so statues to give out to various Crew members, not necessarily all members of leadership. It was really great to see the surprise on their faces! Typically it is only head management that is honoured by the government and it was really nice to see that they went out of their way to thank many others as well, including people who mainly work behind the scenes. I loved that. 

Okay, I’m done rambling (for now!). God is good and He is here.

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ~ Romans 3:22-24

A family photo with Valerie, Edith and their whole family.