Advent Blessings ... following the Light

 The Love of God enfolds Everyone

To each and ALL    

Merry★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★Christmas★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
                                       ˚ ˛ •˛• ˚     ｜ 田田 ｜門｜ ˚ And a Happy New Year ✞

Bonne Année 2013

Jack & Val

❤

The Kids Helping Kids ACTIVITIES

ACTIVITY REPORT FOR MAY AND JUNE 2012

“Glory be to God on High and in Earth Peace, Good will towards men” The month of May had its peculiarity with the fact that Kelly and Lisa were still around and had decided to have that a good time with the kids before their final departure for Canada. They had as well brought some gifts of tooth brushes and past for these little ones.  
The month of May is also a busy one as many of the kids prepare for the final exams for the year.  More over the national day celebrations are prepared within the same month thus give the kids a very busy schedule.

During the assembly for that month Kelly, Lisa and her mother had prepared to say goodbye to the kids and brought them gifts of toothbrushes and toothpaste which we believe just came in time after receiving the same articles in February before the departure of Pastor Jack and Mama Valerie. They also received crosses to put on the neck from Lisa’s mother. The significance of these crosses can never be under estimated. Within this meeting, planning for the Day of the African Child started and it was an opportunity to review the activities of the past year and to see which ones could be improved on. There was a talk on the importance of doing what the parents normally ask children to do. Madame Fanta was very bent on the fact each and everyone should concentrate on her/ her studies so that they can move to the next class after the evaluation. She reiterated that the school year ends on the last closing date and it is important that all are there to get their report and present them to us so that planning for the next academic year begins. 63 children were present out of which 47 were those officially registered with the program.

    June is usually the month in which the kids come along with their report booklets for the end of year results. It is also always a special month during which the International Day of the African Child is celebrated and there is always an excitement.

   The usual monthly assembly held on the 3^rd June 2012 during which we collected some of the report booklets from the school children who were already on holiday and we also planned for the International Day of the African child. During the planning it was agreed that there will be human investment activities to be carried out by the kids a day before the D-day. At the end of the assembly the kids moved to the container where they were handed their food items. They received rice, maize, groundnuts, milk, domestic soap and cooking oil. We found a new brand of plastic bags in the market which are bio-degradable as we are fighting against environmental preservation. A new brand of rice (football rice) was our choice. A total 46 registered children were present. Some forget bringing their pails and Fanta was bound to hold back their milk until they brought them to the office.

    On Friday 15^th June, the kids came with material and cleaned the surroundings of the OSEELC Office after which the major boys brought out all the remaining 4 bags of groundnuts, sieved out the dust, selected the bad nuts and dried the good ones. We lost close to one bag after this work.

     On the day itself they assembled at the little chapel as agreed and were divided in groups. The girls were to help in the cooking committee headed by Fanta and the menu was jelloff rice, doughnuts and fuleri drink, pop-corn and roasted groundnut were to be taken home as evening snacks. The boys keep the chapel clean while the little ones played around with the indoor games.

When all was ready, the small hospital chapel became the center for attraction from the early hours of the afternoon as the children started singing and cracking jokes amongst themselves. A word of prayer was said by two of the kids followed by an elaboration of the theme of the year which was “Promoting the rights of the Handicap Children in the Society”. After which the cooked rice, doughnuts and local drink were served to the kids. It was easy to see the joy of sharing in a common meal through the faces of these happy kids.  After the eating and drinking, it was now time for sketches and dancing in which then closed the feast at about  17:35. This time we asked the kids to come with friends and neighbours.

 Helpers

putting our pails & bags together...

A letter from Fanta...

Hi happy to write you in the peace of the Lord  - Jack and mama Valerie.

It’s since I did not wrote you because my children were sick but now they are better. So, how are you doing and the other members of your family?

Here in the hospital we are passing bad moments because we don’t have many patients, and we are challenged by many hospital and medical center in town. William was absent about two weeks he came back today, you are supposed to have a activities and financial report of the month of June, if not let me know because it is William who was in charge of sending the two reports although we worked together. About the list of children we moved eight of them away because the OS-EELC will take care of them, we are about to replace them with the new children. We will communicate you their names and photos when we will have all the information about them two of them informed us that they are not sure to be in Ngaoundere next school year; we provide also two places to replace them.

Otherwise we carried many activities of the month of June:

-The monthly meeting on the third, there sang two new songs, we prayed for cases of illness for holidays for those who will go on journey and for you.

-We cleaned the whole hospital on Saturday second.

-The children played many games: football, jumping ropes, running, crafts, puzzles and drawing.

  

ACTIVITY REPORT FOR JULY AND AUGUST 2012

"Unless we are converted and become as little children, we will by no means enter the Kingdom of Heaven"   (Matthew 18:3). Humility was the watch word of our July assembly where we tried to look into those aspects of life that make feel proud of ourselves instead of being proud of our Lord and master Jesus Christ. The kids were urged to be humble at all times to their parents and help in the growth of the family. 

The kids brain-stormed  on what humbleness was and in most of the responses it is; showing respect for someone elderly. Others said it is the act of being submissive and taking orders form our parents, teachers and seniors. This were all good answers based on the general aspect and as stated in the bible that "whoever humbles himself will be lifted and made greater in the eyes of God". 

After this brief lesson, we did the evaluation of the International Day of the African child feast. It was remarked that we did not have as many kids as expected, some of the kids did not show during human investments and the morning activities. Nonetheless, those who were there did a remarkable job which was also appreciated by the OSEELC and HPN authorities. They suggested that we should involve many more kids in the next celebration (2013)and most possibly involving the children of hospital staff to compete in a football tournament  for the boys and the girls play basket ball. 43 of the registered kids were present during this July assembly.

"Have you noticed that the childlike faith of a little girl or boy has so often shown to older folks how to know salvation's joy?" August month started on a good footing though with the absence of Fanta who took some days off as part of her annual leave. After the purchases, Zebazé Thomas and Mpokia Dieudonné came on Friday 3rd to help in the parceling. I concentrated on the milk while they embarked on the g'nuts, maize, beans and rice.

On Sunday the 5th, we all assembled at the usual point and talked on the method of approach and passing out information with due respect. In this case we tried to make a clear-cut difference between humbleness and respect which are quite similar. Respect in relation to our context is being obedient, polite and taking instructions from our parents, teachers, the elderly and even from the younger ones,  and respect should always be reciprocal and mutual. We also emphasized that when we intend to give out an information or ask for something from anyone, it should be done with much respect and following the normal procedure; i.e greetings, drawing attention and speaking calmly.

After this we all moved to the container for the distributions with the bigger boys helping in the process as usual. There were 41 registered kids present. Five kids who travelled for holidays commissioned their brothers or sisters to collect their packages and we found that OK for now while expecting to see them back in September before school resumption. We also agreed that we will finalized the information on school needs only in the next meeting when even the new kids would have been present.

September get together 

We continue to thank William and Fanta for their dedication to this program - helping us in the MNO Synod help the children.    We look forward to their reports to keep us in touch with what and how the children are doing.  Photos have been difficult to send of late - perhaps the rainy season has hampered the communication problems even more so. 

Children in our area and in Selkirk say 'thank you' to the 'Kids' 

for their wonderful greeting cards.

 Redeemer Lutheran, Whitemouth Confirmation Class

 St Paul Lutheran, River Hills Sunday School

Church of the Cross, Lac du Bonnet 

We also want to thank our dear friends, the Fomgbami family - especially Pastor Etienne for his continuing help for us personally. We cherish their friendship, it has been 13 years of many great memories.

I am also sharing some of our youngest grands with our friends in Cameroon... Off to school they go - how fast they grow.

                Nick & Laine - Josie from frowns to grins - Hunter & Ty

 7yr & 5yr birthdays come at start of school also 

Until next time - see y'all soon,   Jack & Val

DRIP - DRIP - DRIP: it’s enough to drive a person crazy!

Valerie and I had been in Cameroon for almost four months (arrived on the 17^th October 2011) trying to accomplish some tasks for the MNO Synod Companion Synod Program and for ourselves.

We first travelled as missionaries to Cameroon in 1999. I spent four years working in different positions that varied from primarily a Parish Pastor (one English speaking and four village congregations) to Electronic Technician and Radio Broadcaster.

Valerie worked as a newspaper editor for Sawtu Linjiila – created a brochure/pamphlet for HIV/Aids in four languages (VIH Sida) in French/English/Arabic/Fulfulde in collaboration with OS-EELC along with Dr.Rakotoarivelo Solofoniaina – and lastly being her husband’s best friend and helper.

Ngaoundéré is located to the north and is in the Adamaoua Plateau at an elevation of 3400 feet, which offers for pleasant temperatures in the morning and evening despite being situated 8 degrees north of the equator. When we arrived in 1999, the population was approximately 100,000, but it dramatically increased to a sprawling community of close to 200,000 by 2011.

The terrain has great variety, but the usually scene is rocky and rolling with evidence of ancient volcanic eruptions. The soil is red and highly flavoured with iron and bauxite, and nurtures a variety of vegetables, grain crops and fruit and is, in many cases, being used as an excellent base for making bricks, which in this area is almost exclusively used for constructing of modest homes. 

The Vina River is located south of Ngaoundéré, and flows continuously throughout the year unlike the rivers in northern Cameroon where the dry season depletes them entirely of water. The Vina River is the source of water for Ngaoundéré. The water is pumped and piped to most homes, but there are many homes where the turning of the tap offers disappointing results: the water is metered and monthly payments are requirements that many cannot afford. The alternative is to go with a container balanced on your head and find the closest available well.

A good three hour drive north of Ngaoundéré will bring you to Lake Lagdo where the Chinese had built a Hydro Dam which actually provides electricity for Northwestern Cameroon including Ngaoundéré. Damming and preserving water in northern Cameroon is a necessity because most rivers as I said previously are deleted to nothing or a mere trickle in the dry season.

As I also mentioned previously, piped water is just not an affordable commodity for many people, and the same can be said of the hydro generated electricity. It is not a rare sight to view a high rising high powered voltage line passing through and over a village where people live by lights arranged by other means than the unaffordable flow of electrons oscillating overhead.

“What is wrong with that ‘stupid’ tap – drip, drip, drip: 

it’s enough to drive a person crazy.”

These are my words and my complaint about a trivial dripping tap in our guest  house in Ngaoundéré Cameroon this year. The reason why I recall the dripping tap and my complaint is because it happened in contrast to visits I made with my wife Valerie and two Social Workers in respect to the Kids Helping Kids Program supported by the MNO Synod.

One of Val’s desires for her trip was to visiting all the children in their care-giving homes – to ensure that they are in fact recipients of the care provided. I followed Valerie and the social workers in all the visits over four weeks:  in fact I was the chauffer.

One night we were returning to our home late in the evening: I don’t enjoy driving here at any time but especially at night. It hasn’t rained since the end of October and rain won’t appear until April: this is the dry season. We suffer from the harmattan winds, which picks up Sahara Desert dust, creating a lingering haze in the sky. The darkness, the harmattan dust and the dust from the steady stream of motos (small motorcycles) going in both directions are the conditions in front of the home of our final visit of the day.

We are gagging in the dust as we cross over a treacherous wooden plank that acts as a bridge to cross a deep ditch which invites a steep incline through a grass fence into the mud-brick home of an elderly beyond retiring age lady. Through tragic circumstance she is the care provider for a young girl of eight years, who is presently not at home.

The elderly grandmother is overwhelmed to see us. She is seated outside of her small home in a bricked in enclosure of maybe one and a half square meters. Three rocks offer the platform for her cooking pot, which I am sure, holds the evening meal. The only light is from the flickering flame of the two burning branches under the pot. We gather and offer greetings in the shadowy confines of her home when the young eight year old emerges from the darkened gateway into the house. She enters from the path we described as difficult and dangerous with a two-gallon container of water balanced on her head – her outfit wet from the difficult climb.  The young girl is very happy to see us, and to think that we would consider her important enough to warrant a visit.

There will be no electric lamp to cast light or tap to turn for easy access of water as the electricity and water bill are not in this family budget. There is no doubt in our minds that this family warrants supplemental food, and we say our prayers and goodbyes with lingering thoughts of could we do more.

We are overjoyed over the cooperation we have received from the EELC Protestant Hospital and the work of two social workers who have made our program successful, namely Fanta Gaknoné and William Tabebot. The program consists of meeting with 65 children whose care providers have died while being patients in the hospital.

All 65 children whose ages range from 4-17 years are in the care of an extended family or a foster family. The social workers meet with all the children once a month and offer advice on hygiene, personal and spiritual care. Every second month the child receives a large bag containing ground nuts, rice, maize and/or beans, cooking oil and a new addition of powdered whole milk. The validity of the program requires home visits to ensure that proper care is being provided. Those children who do not have the means to attend school receive the necessary funds for tuition and books. There are also funds available for emergency health care. To meet our budget we need approximately $90.00 Cdn per child each year.

Expenses to date have been paid through the generosity of the members of the MNO Synod and others who believe in the value of offering nurturing care to those much less fortunate.

The fund (KIDS HELPING KIDS) is administered by the MNO Synod Companion Synod Program and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cameroon.

If you would like to help – 

donations can be made through the MNO Synod:

MNO Synod

 201-3657 Roblin Boulevard

Winnipeg MB    R3R 0E2

204.889.3760

http://www.mnosynod.org/ 

We are weary after a long day of family visits.

The tap is still dripping but we don’t hear it.

VISITING the 'KIDS' and their Caregivers

EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN CAMEROON  

        

“KIDS HELPING KIDS” 

EELC-HPN/ELCIC MNO-SYNOD ORPHAN PROGRAM

ACTIVITIES FOR JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2012

The year started on a good footing with the 70% recovery of Valerie’s neck after spending a Christmas and New Year full of good humor and blessings in many ways. It was just time to say bye to the year gone and to start the New Year in completely changed fashion. Our grand mother did not relent her efforts of making some cookies for the kids.  They also got sweets and Valerie also concluded with individual kids pictures for the picture chart. Mama Valerie also had her autograph book on which all the children were asked to write their names on. This was an exercise that took place for the very first time but the respond was very good as most of the kids anxiously wrote their following the sound for those could not write well.

      The month of January was also very charged and busy with the home-visit program. Despite the difficulties such as perturbations in health, uneasy access to some homes just to name a few, the KHK team made many trips to meet the kids in their various homes thanks to Thomas Zebazé who sacrificed much of his time after school to bring us to the narrow and rough terrains sometimes climbing to the top through stony paths. Nonetheless it was the most interesting part of the whole event and it is evident that all the families were extremely happy to receive us in their homes. Until today most parents still call around and thank the team for taking that initiative and expressing the Love of God to others. These visits continued and extended to the early days of February with all positive results. Only two of the kids were not visited but this will be done in the months ahead and we will love to have our Grandma and Grandpa back the next year. There were also meetings with the Director of the hospital, the coordinator of the Chaplains and Social Workers, and the Project and Programs Manager to make things better and to improve the KHK program.

       For the simple reason that Jack and Val had to get on the train on Sunday 5^th February, we agreed to have the February assembly on the first Saturday 4^th, just to give them more time to pack-up. The days before the meeting were also very busy with the buying, transporting and unloading the food items bought into the container. Making the packages was no easy task in the hot container especially when the sun came up before noon. We sweated in there but hung-on until we were done with the process.

Then came the day of our meeting, it was hard to say good-bye during a celebration and thinking of all the good times spent together within the last few months. This time not only the usual faces were around but other partners of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America also came to share in the same Love of God with these kids. A new song “Oh McDonald had a farm” was introduced to the kids, followed by the “Jingle bells” and Pr Jack giving us one of his “country music” songs. We also acknowledged the presence of Kelly, Lisa and the Pastor Catherine who also came from Canada to work with the young girls and women of the church. The cookies and fuleri local drink were made available for consumption on spot after which we all moved to the container for distributions of food items. This time the milk was put in small pails for better preservation at home. It was emphasized that the pails and the stronger bags come back before the next distribution. In addition *toothpaste and brushes, *New Testament Bibles with crocheted cross bookmarks (made with love by Val) were handed to each child for spiritual fortification which was very necessary in times like this. Finally, all the kids got good-bye sweets from Grandma before difficultly parting.   

*Special gifts from Pastor Jack’s past church, Holy Cross in Midland, Ontario.

A March Update from:   Tabebot William Besem,  Social Worker

                                       Protestant Hospital Ngaoundéré

OUR VISITS...

 

Thomas and his family

Football their favourite sport is played wherever

 dry season mud bricks for walls

 

 'Hello' Canada from Jerusalem

the power lines hang low...

Sewing for her family

 a unique fence out of car doors/parts

one of our mountain top hikes

 a satellite...

  'Thank You' Thomas for guiding us throughout

It was such a wonderful experience visiting all the children and their caregivers, some were in school but we had the opportunity to visit and talk with their 'folk'. The views were amazing from the mountain tops.

Wes Mandico is a Cameroonian singer

We THANK  Mr. William and Mme. Fanta for their dedication to this program and the children. Thank you again Thomas for your knowledge of where all the 'Kids' live - you are a wonderful young man. 

Always in our Prayers... in Christian Love,  Val & Jack