The Bamenda Grassfields

Our Team of seven will be heading up North from Yaoundé to Bamenda before hauling ourselves to Elak Village, our home for two weeks. Here’s an article that describes the “Bamenda Grassfield region” where Elak and Bamenda are located.

Bamenda Grassfields courtesy of wikipedia.org. here.

Cameroonian Pidgin

“Oh Rita, you got nice back - side“

Translation:

”I say Rita, your back garden does look awfully nice!“

Here’s an article from the polymath’s friend, Wikipedia.

Cameroonian Pidgin English here.

... more Cameroonian Pidgin info’ here.

The Missionary Life

                “Lover of God, good food, and languages. Promoter of spiritual prosperity. American. Linguist. One who laughs and         cries easily. Bold. Sincere. Believer that weaknesses are strengths and trials are blessings. Dog-lover.”

No, not me, that’s my friend Jessica talking.

If you wanted to get a taste of what the missionary life for a single twenty-something laydee in Africa was like you could:

1. Ask the missionary seated nearest you "I say old girl, what is the missionary life like, what what?"

2. Become a missionary yourself, then ask yourself the same question.

3. If 1. or 2. don't appeal you could always swing by Jessica Lebold’s blog “Jessica’s Adventure in Language and Travel”. She’s full of beans and has only escaped polyandry by a very narrow margin. Spoil yourself with the chocolate fudge cake of Missionary blogs.

Jessica's blog is here.

Cameroon Photos

If you’d like to get a flavour of Cameroon, here’s a few possible sources.

        
Melisuz's photos - here

My friend Robert Peterson the pilot’s photos - here

I like pictures, yes I do - they really can help in preparing yourself for the transition from “here” to “there”.


The photo above is taken at the dedication of the Mofu New Testament, this may represent the work of a lifetime for someone, what an impact this could have on the people!

Bamenda, the Belfast of Cameroon?

Having lived in Belfast I mean that in the most positive possible way.

Here’s a useful on what is a substantial city, the third city of Cameroon.

Bamenda, courtesy of Wikipedia.org, here.

Wycliffe's Vision 2025

“go and make disciples of all nations”

who, me?

- yes, you!

on my own?

- don’t be daft, are you the only Christian in the world?

The Lord Jesus has given the great commission to the Church. But He’s no taskmaster, He expects us to function as a body, helping each other to obey his command. The spirit of cooperation, team work and body-life pervades Wycliffe’s Vision 2025, here’s the text of the 1999 resolution:

“By 2025, together with partners worldwide, we aim to see a Bible translation programme begun in all the remaining languages that need one.”

who, me?

- considered a trip to the optometrist?

on my own?

- which part of “with partners worldwide” don’t you understand.

We, the seven-strong team that will be heading to Cameroon this July, D.V., will be part of the “partners worldwide” who will play our part in moving forward to the goal, “ to see a Bible translation programme begun in all the remaining languages that need one”.

Find out more about vision 2025 here and here.

Book Plug - African Friends and Money Matters

From the blub:

“African Friends and Money Matters grew out of frustrations that Westerners experience when they travel and work in Africa. Africans have just as many frustrations relating to the Westerners in their midst. Each uses and manages money and other resources in very different ways, and these differences create many misunderstandings and frictions.
The author deals with everyday life in Africa. He first introduces the very different goals of African and Western Economic systems and then presents ninety observations of African behaviors related to money matters?. Explanatory comments are given hat show how each one works out in real life. he illustrates his and others’ experience”s with anecdotes from across the continent. Drawings by two African artists add further clarity to the text as they capture Africans and Westerners in authentic situations. The result is that the reader is able to make sense of customs that at first seem incomprehensible.”

Life death and money are all very much in-your-face in this great continent. If you want to understand or help or befriend then this is a resource not to miss. The book is available from most online book retailers.

Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com
S.I.L.

Languages in Cameroon

If you want to get an idea of the number of languages in Cameroon, browse on over to Ethnologue.com. For us monolingual subjects of Her Majesty the idea of having almost three hundred languages in one country is mind-bending!

Languages in Cameroon courtesy of Ethnologue.com here

The photograph is available under a Creative Commons license
From here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alvi/157802685/sizes/l/

The OKU Language

The P.C.I. - Wycliffe team plan to be working with the OKU people during their time in Cameroon. Here’s some rather technical information about the language, just so you know that they exist.

Information of the OKU language, courtesy of Ethnologue.com here.

This photo was taken in the ring road around Mt. Oku by "Danny Boy" his FlickR photos can be found here.

Journalling: Medicine for the Mind

                        
                        “You know your problem,
                        you keep it all in”

                        The Beautiful South, “You Keep it all in”, 1989

The African continent causes many things to grow to spectacular proportions. Deserts, spiders, trees and scorpions all grow to outsized proportions. As with natural phenomena so with the human psyche, our heart and soul.

Seriously though, the pressures of heat, humidity and a clash of cultures can magnify any personal issues you might have. Journalling is a great way to get control over the pressure cooker of emotions that can explode or implode messily.

Here’s a bit of my journal from my time spent in the village:


                        Well, first big outing, went to the boutique and bought pens, pencils a cahier and some paper for sketching                         seem to have lost my Bible in Zig! Struggled a little for some light and blesing this afternoon. The                         answer is to fear God and keep His commandments, love, but let God give that love and define it.
                        Asked God to help me like the food - don’t know how that’ll go.
                        BTW - am very happy to have the hat.


It may not seem like much, but it sure helped me become the balanced individual that I am today.

I found this article useful. It talks about how journalling can help process information in a non-linear fashion. Interesting Article on journaling here.


Photograph is Creative Commons Licensed and was lifted from here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivewires/365288893/

Journalling: Medicine for the Mind

                        “You know your problem,
                        you keep it all in”

                        The Beautiful South, “You Keep it all in”, 1989

The African continent causes many things to grow to spectacular proportions. Deserts, spiders, trees and scorpions all grow to outsized proportions. As with natural phenomena so with the human psyche, our heart and soul.

Seriously though, the pressures of heat, humidity and a clash of cultures can magnify any personal issues you might have. Journalling is a great way to get control over the pressure cooker of emotions that can explode or implode messily.

Here’s a bit of my journal from my time spent in the village:


                        Well, first big outing, went to the boutique and bought pens, pencils a cahier and some paper for sketching                         seem to have lost my Bible in Zig! Struggled a little for some light and blesing this afternoon. The                         answer is to fear God and keep His commandments, love, but let God give that love and define it.
                        Asked God to help me like the food - don’t know how that’ll go.
                        BTW - am very happy to have the hat.


It may not seem like much, but it sure helped me become the balanced individual that I am today.

I found this article useful. It talks about how journalling can help process information in a non-linear fashion. Interesting Article on journaling here.

General Facts About Cameroon

If you want to visit africa but are too lazy to do every single country then go to Cameroon, that’s one of the things I learnt when browsing through Wikipedia. There some excellent information about this blessed country here.

Cameroon, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia here.