Doing and Learning Life in the C.A.R.

[Blogger's note: I just spoke with Jeana via Skype and I also could see Barb in the background (knitting) and Heidi walked across the camera once to tease me about going to eat another mango... or maybe she was serious. This time of the year C.A.R. has the most delicious mangoes and I became famous for eating too many of those... Anyway, everybody is doing well and Jeana remarked on how God has orchestrated so many situations to allow the team to minister and be ministered to. We talked for a little bit until the electricity went out and the generator took over and the screen got dark there. We were just done praying anyway and were getting ready to say good-bye. It was still great talking to them, though!].

This blog entry is a team effort, and you will hear from each one of us.

(Jeana) The morning started out slow as we were waiting for our ride to return from Air France. John Hocking, Jim’s son, and another couple were checking their luggage in for their evening flight tonight. Once they returned, Heidi, Zac and I headed out for a morning tour of Bangui and a stop at the market. Barb headed back to the Orphan Care Center to help Nurse Rebecca.

(Zac) This morning, My mom, Heidi, and I went for our tour of Bangui and stopped at a Go Cart race track. We got to ride the Go Carts and have lots of fun. There was a lot of dirt and cut grass on the track so when you zoom around, it flies up in your face. It wasn’t Acres of Fun, but it was still lots of fun. I also got to teach Brice, our driver, how to play Dutch Blitz.

(Jeana) After that, we stopped at the market to see all of the fresh fruits and veggies. A lady there came up to me and started talking. She had recognized me from church. The second part of the market was all of the fresh meat. It was, shall we say, interesting at the least to try to identify some of the animal parts for sale. It reminded me of biology class. I really don’t want to go into too much detail in case somebody reading this won’t be able to take it. If interested, ask later.

We went to the orphan group where our two sponsored children meet. Ruth, my girl, had a cough tonight. Their director, Jacqueline, asked for prayer for this group because there are many children from this group who are sick. This is group 004. We saw a little girl whose stomach was so bloated that she looked like she was pregnant, but she was very young. She is pictured with Barb above. Her arms and legs look like toothpicks. It turns out that this little girl has AIDS. She just lost her sister last month to AIDS as well. Nurse Rebecca is working with a doctor to get medicine for her. I believe Rebecca will see her tomorrow. She just sat the whole time looking very sick.

A highlight today was getting to visit the homes of Ruth and Mathurin. Mathurin lives in a small mud hut with 16 other people. Ruth lives is a nicer home with her oldest sister and her family. Only 8 people live there. Ruth’s sister was very welcoming when we arrived. They brought out chairs and invited us to sit and talk with them. Ruth’s brother-in-law has a sewing machine on their porch by which he sews clothes to sell. They have a nice garden area to the side of their house. They live up the side of a mountain and it is very pretty there.


Zac once again gave the group a soccer ball. The director of the group was telling us earlier how their group gets together to hear the gospel, memorize bible verses, learn about health, hygiene and parasites. They also spend time singing and dancing in their games. They use to have a soccer ball and the boys played soccer. But they don’t have one anymore, so they don’t play soccer anymore.

You should have seen their faces when Zac pulled out the soccer ball we brought. The boys took off running with huge smiles on their faces yelling to go play. At the end of our time, they asked for one of us to pray for them. Zac prayed.

(Barb) It was so good to go back to the Mercy Care Center today. I got to see Firmin the little boy with the painful, swollen thumb. He had brought his x-ray back and the good news was no fracture, just sprain. Nurse Rebecca put some pain relieving cream on and wrapped his hand and thumb. Then I got to soak and wash his foot, how brethren is that! I then redressed his foot wound. When I was all done he presented me with flowers and a big smile. That’s the best pay check I ever received.

Saturday when we were at the Mercy Care Center party, I told Williams that I want to find a child to sponsor during this trip. After all of the hand prints were on the sheet, Maurice came up to me and pointed to a hand and said “Maurice needs a sponsor.” I got so excited looking for little Maurice before I realized it was his hand. I thought it was great that he could joke with us. Today God worked and I found little Guilaine Mbangoe, an eight year old girl and Heidi and her parents are going to sponsor her seven year old sister, Sonia. So, now Bill and I (Ata) are grandparents of seven. We had decided for our birthdays which are in May and June not to get each other anything so we could sponsor a child. This was so much better. I cannot wait to get home and share with all my family and friends. Just to see their smiling happy hopeful faces. Joy is the word of the day. My little Guilaine was one of the leaders when it came time to recite the scripture verse and also to answer the questions about the Bible stories. Thanks to all the sponsors back home, I feel blessed to get to go to all eight orphan centers.

(Heidi) Again today, I learned more about the culture of the C.A.R. During our morning tour, we saw the jail, and the cemetery, among other things. It was interesting to see the differences between an American cemetery and one here. I also learned that the Africans are scared of the spirits of the dead, so they will not return to the cemetery after a person is buried. On this tour, I decided I will never complain about the potholes in America again! The roads here don’t even compare to American roads.

In the afternoon, I had a conversation with Williams about marriages in the C.A.R. and marriages in America. (Williams is the Assistant Director of the orphan care ministry here in Bangui. He also has a Master’s degree in English.) We talked about wedding ceremonies, and what a woman does to prepare for marriage. According to him, the women here have to know how to carry wood (because they cook over a fire), prepare and cook the Manioc root (gozo), and be strong. When I told him I was single, he said, “Oh, you are a bachelor.” At this point, I corrected him and explained the difference between a bachelor and a bachelorette. All in all, it was a fascinating conversation, with much laughter, about marriage.

Thanks for praying for us!