Today is Sunday…I arrived in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, on Thursday
evening and was met at the airport by Mr. Benson Tanjong. He is a nurse
anesthetist in Shisong and he was in Yaounde for the 4th Congress of
the Society of Camaroonian Anesthesia and Critical Care. He kindly
arranged for transportation for me from the airport to the site of the
congress and the next evening back to the center of Yaounde so that I
could meet my transportation to Shisong. This transportation was
provided by people that he knew that had cars, and who generously drove
the distance to and from the conference site. While I was there, I was
graciously received by the Cameroonian physicians and nurse
anesthetists, and was able to assist with a successful program for the
Lifebox program (www.Lifebox.org) which involved training on the pulse
oximeters, the WHO Surgery Safety Checklist, and distributing the
donated pulse oximeters to the representative anesthetists of hospitals
who needed them. Sr. Xaveria, the matron of St. Martin de Porres Hospital in Njinikom, and Sr. Ruphina, the matron of St. Elizabeth Hospital here in Shisong were in the US to receive an award for their work from Medicines for Humanity (www.MedicinesforHumanity.org) and returned Friday evening. They, along with 2 other sisters and their driver, picked me up on Saturday morning to go to Shisong. The distance from Yaounde to Shisong is long and some of the roads difficult; however, any travel in Cameroon is made particularly lengthy by the many stops that must be made along the way. Yesterday, the most important stop included a visit to Dr. Leslie, a physician who had worked for several years with Sr. Xaveria in Njinikom and who has been ill. Additionally, his father was being buried in Bamenda yesterday and Sr. Xaveria made arrangements to have someone from Njinikom attend the service. Another interesting stop was for lunch, which was at a roadside café somewhat different from those we are used to in the US. They did, however, have coffee, and that was key.
Today at Mass, along with the regular Mass, we celebrated the Feast of St. Francis which actually occurred on Friday October 4. This parish is served by Franciscan Capuchins, and of course the hospital and schools by the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis, so there are also numerous secular groups observing Franciscan spirituality. The Mass was indeed a festive event, with joyful processions for each event of the Mass. The music was provided wonderfully by the school children who sang numerous songs accompanied by electric keyboard and African drums and rhythm instruments. The joyful procession of the lectionary made me wonder if this is what it was like when Ezra brought the Torah forward and read it before the people, as described in the book of Nehemiah (Neh 8:1-6). As the Gospel reading was about the apostles asking Jesus to “increase our faith,” Father spoke in his homily about receiving and living the gift of faith, and went on to talk about the faith of St. Francis and St. Clare as lived out among all of the Franciscans present, and to speak about the spirituality of Pope Francis and his teaching on love and service, especially to the poor.
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