Rest, Relaxation, and Anticipation

Today was our first weekend. It is also a national holiday - Youth Day. We awoke early, had a wonderful breakfast of coffee (grown, roasted, and ground all within our hospital complex), yoghurt (made yesterday by Angela), honey (locally grown here at the hospital), and fresh pineapple and papaya. After breakfast we hiked down to Mbingo II, the next town down the road where all of the schools in the vicinity were gathered for Youth Day. The day celebrates the upcoming generations of Cameroonian children, and honors the hard work and dedication that they place into schooling and education. There were many people in attendance, and it was a wonderful display of pride in their younger generations.

Below are a few pictures from the event:

I have purposely not posted too many pictures of the landscape on the blog. We are currently experiencing the Harmattan - a strong, dry, and dusty West African trade wind that covers Sub-Sahran Africa with dust during the winter months. When the rainy season comes (about 1 month away now), the dust will settle and the surrounding valleys, plateaus, and vistas will become fully apparent. For the meantime, here is what we are seeing:

Overall it has been a lazy Saturday. We will attend church tomorrow with the local congregation, and then we will prepare for Monday: my (JR's) first day on the pediatrics ward! I am eager to interact with the residents, the staff, and the patients. I just hope that I have something to offer. Please keep us in mind as we learn how best to teach, treat, and care for the people here at Mbingo.