I’m so sorry for the long silence. At first, I was waiting for something interesting to happen so that I could write about it. Life was kind of stuck in the routine mode. Then, some excitement happened, and I couldn’t get on the internet. And now, I’m just procrastinating the writing part. So, I’m out of excuses, plain and simple. Allow me to fulfill my duty to you faithful blog readers.
Last Saturday night, Ellen and I found ourselves packing for a last minute trip to Yaoundé. I think I had 11 hours notice of the trip, and I was supposed to teach that week. But, we got the basic details squared away and headed down to the capital city to help a fellow missionary get visas for his two adopted children. Let me say from the get-go, this was no vacation! This missionary and his wife are from Canada, and they’re heading back to Canada in order for the wife to deliver. Last month the family was planning on heading back to Canada; however, the two adopted kids’ visas weren’t granted. The wife and three of the children were able to fly out, while the husband and the two other children stayed in Cameroon. Ellen and I headed down to help out with Yaoundé traffic and navigation and language translation.
During this trip, I got to experience the joys of African government efficiency. Monday, we had a doctor’s appointment at 8:00 a.m. for the two children. When we arrived at the doctor’s office, the lady who was helping us said we needed some more paperwork and passport pictures. Of course, she couldn’t provide us with the paperwork, so we had to find somewhere to print them out. Now, in the States, you would most likely drive to the nearest pharmacy to print some passport pictures. In Cameroon, it’s even easier to find someone to print out passport pictures. There are “booths” set up all along the side of the road, designed to help with picture and printing needs. Anyhow, we got what we needed and headed back to the doctor’s a few hours later.
This time, the lady said we needed to pay for the children’s physicals and then head across town to get an x-ray on the oldest. We could then come back at 4:00 to try to see the doctor. (Later, we found out that the doctor didn’t even come in until 2:00 p.m. I won’t even try to figure out why our appointment to see her was scheduled for 8:00 a.m., before she even came in to the office.) We managed to find the medical center for the x-ray. We waited around for a while, but we did manage to get the x-ray. Finally, at 4:00, we headed back to the doctor’s office. We sat in the outside waiting room for a while, and then finally an assistant came out to see us. Unfortunately, he did not bring good news. He told us the doctor was too busy to see us, so we’d have to come back the next day.
Up to this point, I had let Ellen do most of the translating, but I realized I needed to speak up. Ellen had told the man that we needed to see the doctor today because they would be “traveling” on Wednesday. He just didn’t understand the extent of this travel. I essentially said, “No. We need to see the doctor TODAY. We need to send the visa paperwork off TOMORROW so that they can FLY on Wednesday.” The man just stared at me, realizing that we did indeed need to see the doctor that day. (Oh, and a little detail I forgot: There is no Canadian immigration in Cameroon. Any visa applications need to be processed in Senegal. And, the Senegal immigration office phones do not work. Their offices cannot be contacted.) The man finally responded saying he would talk to the doctor and see what she could do.
Finally, a little after 6:00 p.m. (8 hours after our “scheduled” appointment), we got to see the doctor. When she learned a little more about what was needed, she took a look at the paperwork we had filled out and started laughing. She told us that with that paperwork, the children wouldn’t leave Cameroon for another 6 months. This was the paperwork for adopting children and never bringing them back to the country. But, because the missionary was just bringing his kids to Canada for a visit, the process suddenly became much simpler. After all the money and gas and time that was spent running around Yaoundé for various requirements, all that was needed was a handwritten statement from the doctor that the children were in good health. That was all.
While the situation was rather frustrating, I’m still thankful for how God worked. There could have been so many more complications than there were. As it is, that family is now happily reunited in Canada, after over a month’s separation. I also learned some important things about paperwork in Africa: Don’t expect it to be resolved in one meeting or one day. And, visiting Yaoundé always has its perks. Like chicken, and pizza, and Chinese. And the artisan market. I LOVE the artisan market! I bought a few presents, including my own Christmas present.
I have another praise of God’s working. On the way home, we had to stop in Bafoussam, a city an hour away from us, to get my temporary residency card extended. It expired on Wednesday, so on Wednesday, Ellen and I booked it back from Yaoundé to Bafoussam (a trip that takes about 4 hours). We weren’t sure what time the office closed, but we really had to get the card dated that day. We pulled into Bafoussam at about 3:45, and I ran up the stairs, into the chef’s office. I probably looked like a crazy woman after traveling all day, but I didn’t care. I just wanted him to extend my card. And 10 minutes later, I walked out of the office, stamped card in hand. Apparently, the office normally closes at 3:30, but for some reason, they were still open, and the chef was still there at 3:45. What a blessing from God!
