Festive greetings

Algol
Hamish Tait, Robin Hastie & Jim Hepburn
Thu 3 Jan 2008 12:06
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everybody.
Still no sign of the replacement power charger, so can only communicate via an internet cafe in Maroua.
Anne's work with the schools is making good progress and they seem to be responding in a positive way to the initial approaches on development. She's working with four schools in the area and already other schools and villages are asking if she'll take them on! As this is a pilot project at the moment, she can tell them we can let VSO know of their interest, but it's a case of "watch this space".
Once our own computer is in action, I expect Anne will want to do a piece on her cultural experiences, including an animist funeral!
I am now much more involved in the daily routine of the hospital. There's only Anne Poppelaars and myself, so it's a rota of one week on and one off for "on call". To be honest, I'm finding it quite stressful. At the moment, I have a week's leave and we're spending some time away from Zidim, but have just heard that Francois (Anne P's husband) had a motorbike accident on Hogmanay (no drink involved!) and is in hospital in Meskine (near Maroua) with a broken thigh bone. I suspect our holiday will have to be cut short.
Christmas was certainly different, especialy as I was on duty. The dancing & singing in the village started at 8pm on Christmas Eve and continued until dawn on Christmas Day! We spent Hogmanay & New Year's day at Waza, a game park north of Maroua. We didn't stay up for the bells as we'd arranged to get into the park at 5.30 am to catch the animals at the water holes. It was a great experience: we saw hyenas, wild boar, different species of antelopes, giraffes and a great range of birds. Although we saw fresh lion prints and drove over enormous holes left by elephants' feet, we weren't lucky enough to see either.
A big thank you to everyone for the messages and for the Christmas cards.

Anne & Hamish