Back from the Break...

Our older girls doing dishes in Yaounde;
 C is wearing a "wrapper" as an apron
to protect her clothes from bleach splashes.

No blogging for a few months... part of which can be "blamed" on wonderful times with family!!  More in other posts to (hopefully) come, but I thought I'd put up some quick food pictures for your enjoyment :).

A delicious guava

Plantain chips,
bought from vendors
 coming to the car window

Raw plums - picked by
K and his friends!

Cooked plums - an acquired taste :)

A variety of fruit, sold at our door.  Pineapple, oranges, lemons (bumpy),
and pomelo (which people here call shadok/shadof).

Delicious banana bread
baked by J!

Pink shrimp chips (they also come in white) :)

And the unusual foods....  K's friends showed him some palm grubs they had collected; and after they cooked the grubs, they kindly brought some for K to eat :).  Since I encouraged him to try this new food, I figured that the second time they brought him some (which he graciously accepted and ate), I should be willing to eat one too - and I did :).  Just to say I did....  And then I saw this article which says that these palm grubs may be the answer to world hunger :) .  http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/29/world/africa/can-a-palm-weevil-cure-world-hunger/index.html .

Then there is the process of harvesting the egusi which we grew in our garden this year.  The melons were gathered, split open, and left to rot until the seeds were easily removed.  Then the seeds were rinsed off and spread out to dry in the sun.  Ground up, the seeds make a very nutritious addition to sauces etc.

Mangoes, Mangoes, EVERYWHERE!

The first batch...

The second batch.

In the middle of the busiest week of work this month, mangoes have been arriving at our door by the bag - children of all sizes making a bit of money by picking mangoes and then selling them.

We have taken advantage of the opportunity and have been eating lots, and canning even more.  The first time we ended up with 6 quarts; the 2nd time we had 4 quarts and 15 pints; and the most recent batch (today) was 19 quarts!  And we're stopping (though the mangoes are still coming to our door).

I am SO thankful for a husband who does the actual canning, and for two willing children to help with the process.

 I am also thankful that the culture here promotes people of ALL ages working together - it is perfectly normal for children of similar age to do work projects together, so our kids enjoy having their friends help with the process (don't worry - we often have these friends in to share food with us, so it's not a one-way street :) ).

"Pears" (avocados) are also in season; when I was cutting one open, the seed split and I thought the inside was picture-worthy :)

Contrasting beliefs at Easter

"He is risen."


"He is risen indeed!"

These are welcome words, reminding us of the reason for our Hope.

And yes, we have our Easter traditions of decorating eggs and hiding/finding eggs.



Here in the village, another tradition reminds us of the false hope of many religions.  During this school break, the "jujus" (young men boys covered from head to ankle in a variety of costumes, meant to represent the spirit world of African Traditional Religion) have come out.  And there are many young men who see nothing wrong with sitting in church (and participating) on Sunday morning, and wearing a juju costume (and chasing people) on Monday.

And yet there are people, like our kids' friends, who requested to see the Jesus Film (for Children) this weekend.  It was very encouraging to overhear some of them out on the porch afterward, discussing Jesus vs Satan, jujus, etc.  They are old enough to think this through for themselves; pray that they would have wisdom and discernment, these future leaders!!

Birthday Boy (young man)!

We have a male teenager in the house now!! Celebrations included:

--a meal with friends (plantains and njama-njama, along with sliced oranges)








--a family meal of tacos (homemade flour tortillas)










--an experimental cheesecake made with homemade cream cheese (milk powder, water, salt, vinegar) using basic cookies for a base (no graham-crackers here!)

Older sister C. was able to be on Skype at the right time to watch K. blow out his birthday candles!!




--And the rare event of having bacon for breakfast - bought over a month ago in Bamenda and saved for this special occasion; well-enjoyed by this very (ahem!) mature 13-year old :).

Remembering Prisca...

Last week there was a death in the village.  In our neighborhood, in fact.  That is not really unusual - death is a real part of life here.  But it was a young lady, someone who had been a childhood playmate of our two oldest daughters.  People say Prisca had suffered from seizures, perhaps epilepsy, for the past 5+ years; I knew nothing about it, and didn't even know she was still in the village.  So here are a few old pictures in memory of Prisca (the beautiful girl to the right of Christy in the group pictures...).

Upgrades...

Today our house was busy... not with the usual busy-ness of translation, but with practical "upgrades".




A technician from Kumba came yesterday (and stayed overnight) to help Mike take down the old solar panels and part of the frame; then he welded (and cut off the excess) rebar, and drilled new holes.



[I was happy to see that some real scaffolding was constructed - last time, work was done standing on a combination of platforms balanced on top of vehicles parked under the solar panel frame!]

Then the new solar panels (more efficient, etc.) were put up.










The old solar panels will be sold to help recoup some of the cost of the new ones!


Meanwhile, INSIDE the house, a carpenter from Kumba was working on the skylights - making a new one in the largest bedroom (it can be quite dark in there during the day, as it only has one window on the smallest wall) and putting transparent "zinc" (clear roofing material) on all the skylights (some were "boarded over" with normal silver roofing material until we could find the transparent one - not available right now except in major cities).  It sure brightens things up!!

Notice that we don't have a regular ladder, so the carpenter made do with Laura's school desk and a bedside table....



And to get up on the roof, he used the one leaning ladder we had, and propped it on a bench.  Good thing he is responsible for his own safety!!

Seriously, these men are amazing in what they can do with very limited resources, and they are always looking for ways to learn more.  We are very grateful for their expertise, and will enjoy their work a lot in the months to come :).

Revisiting Kenneth's Birthplace

In January, we headed to Bamenda for a conference.  It was good to get out of the village for a while, and spend some time getting spiritually challenged as well as interacting with same-culture friends.



The kids especially enjoyed time spent with other N. American friends; the local traders are very friendly towards the kids, sometimes allowing them to try out various artifacts :).

One hotel on the way to Mbingo; some have wealth!

After the conference was finished, we headed to Mbingo, where K. was born many years ago.  We stayed at a rest house on the hill above the hospital, enjoying a few precious days with some friends.

 A bit of rest...









 A view of the hospital complex & housing, as well as the airstrip.

Big leaves - both on and off the plants :).














Mbingo market