Cameroon, a year later…
Pierrette Boissé, CND.

A first smile

I had just arrived at Ebolowa. A knock at the door. Three children wanted to show the Sisters their report cards. A little shy, very polite, beautiful! I joined the group and talked with them. This is where I received my first gift from Cameroon, a smile from the children! There were to be many others in the three months that followed, as faces of children became familiar. As well, I engaged in frequent dialogues with the youth and adults. All encounters were a delight as well as a lesson on life’s important values.

Africa was a wonderful albeit a difficult experience

I was delighted with the people’s ways of greeting and accepting me, but at the same time, I was often close to tears. Will I ever forget, for instance, my first experience of a rural market place? It was on a Sunday, and it was market day in Douvangar. I saw people walking around, having a good time, visiting each other, and examining the goods. But there was hardly anything! A little area here with dry fish or a little meat, another space there with soap, thread, batteries, and somewhere else, a small corner with oil. On my list, on the other hand, were sandals, chocolate (!), brown sugar, candles and a mirror… None of those items could I find! I was bewildered and ready to leave when two young girls I had been tutoring during the week came and greeted me the usual way, shook hands, and smiled.

-"What do you buy here?" - "Everything, Sister."
Everything? I swallowed and pursued.
-"I would like to offer you something. What would you like?" -"Soap, Sister, please."
-"Alright. Anything else?"
I could see they were eyeing the BIC pens. I bought ten of them and gave each one four.
-"We can have four? Grand merci, ma Soeur."

You see, they always say "thank you", but for something special, it is "grand merci". On my way home, I gave out the coins I had left to the children who were walking around the area. I was distracted. I don’t even know how many pens and pencils I own! How many pairs of shoes? What do I want most, when I go shopping? Am I ever, really, hungry? Those were disturbing questions.

Giving – a bar of soap, a pen or a pencil, candy, T-shirts, peanuts – that was the easy part. Not being able to alleviate suffering, sickness, poverty, that was a different story. Life is not fair. I say that often. But in Cameroon, I lived it more than I ever lived it in my life. What did we do to have access to everything in our western world? One wonders. Oh, I know there is real poverty in our own country. I am reminded of this in the very place I live. But after my Cameroon experience, I do not even dare make a comparison. I think, though, that when people are not spoiled by the abundance of goods, they tend to be more easily grateful and ready to share.

Not unlike the poor widow from the Gospel

A case in point is the following incident. I was walking in the village. The women I met, dressed in colorful "pagnes", were carrying huge loads on their head. They walked so tall and proud, I thought they looked absolutely beautiful and dignified. I met children also, of course. They were beginning to know me and on this particular occasion, they gathered around me and I gave each one of them two candies. One of them even got three! All of a sudden, from quite a distance, we could see one of their friends running towards us. My pockets were empty. I looked straight into the eyes of the luckiest boy.

-"We will share, yes?"

But the boy would not let go of his treasure. Then, a very small child in the group looked up at me. He was chewing his first candy and clutching his second one. Holding out his hand, he said,

-"Je donne."

He was just beginning to learn French, but I gave him A for his gesture. The face of this giving child still haunts me. "Blessed are the poor. The kingdom is theirs."

Multiple frames of a moving video

When I start thinking of the Cameroon people, the children’s faces are usually the first that come to my mind. Then, come all the other people I have met, visited, talked to, cried, laughed, prayed and worked with. I hold a very special place in my heart for the girls and the young women whom I tutored in different academic subjects. Because we were together on a regular basis, we got to know each other. I loved talking with them about our lives and customs. It was a wonderful sharing of our realities and our dreams! Then I see committed Associates, hopeful prisoners, fervent youth preparing for Confirmation, vibrant faith communities, Sisters from other religious communities, friends everywhere. The list is endless, it seems.

I also like to remember

The children do not own toys. Yet, they play and laugh with any old football they put their hands on. The women do not have a full wardrobe, but they stand tall in their beautifully colorful dresses. The soil is harsh, hard and dry. It does not prevent men and boys from working it to produce food. The parish communities are young and fervent and the liturgy is alive, vibrant, inspired by the local culture. The quality and quantity of the participants left me a little envious…

The Sisters

In this portrait of my stay in Africa, I did not talk about the Sisters. There is so much I could say about their deep commitment, their welcoming manners with people, their gentle way of giving their time and energy. It is not enough to give material goods to people. It is not enough to love unless some actions follow the words. This, I have witnessed in Cameroon. I have said to them and I like to repeat it, "a lot of the wonderful life I have witnessed in Cameroon is the result of the Sisters’ caring presence and patient work." It simply would not exist without them.

Finally, I would like to express once more my gratitude to the Community for the chance I was given to live in Cameroon. Many people were instrumental in this unique, beautiful, unforgettable experience. I would like to thank in a special way Jo Badali, Thelma Renaud and Solange Monfet; all the Sisters in Cameroon; Mary Alice Danaher who kept the fort alone for part of the time while I was away and who feared- rightly so- that I might not come back. I know I cannot ever repay them all.

There are wonderful African proverbs. I have chosen a few. The first two are from Cameroon, the others, from different African regions.

He who asks questions cannot avoid the answers.
Rain does not fall on one roof alone.
It takes a whole village to raise a child.
By persevering, the egg walks on legs.
Until lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.
A person who knows the use of proverbs reconciles difficulties.

Pierrette Boissé, cnd
Canim Lake, B.C.
December 2002

# The invisible giant of our world is indifference.