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
