An elementary teacher's version of history

Once upon a time the people of West Africa were living in their various little tribes. Then people from Europe started coming to Africa for a variety of reasons (to explore, to get rich, to share Jesus with others); they also brought along Western culture. The tribal chiefs were curious about all the new gadgets and such which eventually led to Europeans trading things like alcohol, guns and cloth for other things like ivory and gold. Then some chiefs on the coast got greedy so they made a deal with Germany to become a German protectorate/colony if they could have some special trading privileges. So suddenly, all these different tribes and people groups with different languages and customs were lumped together to become this political whole. After a while Germans got distracted with World War I and ended up losing the war as well as their colonies. So the world leaders got together and decided that Cameroon should be divided between the French and the British. France got a big chunk of the country and Great Britain got a little sliver on the west side of the country. Several decades pass and the people learn to speak English or French depending on whether they live in the little sliver or in the big chunk. Four decades later (early 1960s) it’s not very trendy to be a colonial power anymore, the Cameroonians fight for their independence, lots of people die but eventually they are allowed to rule themselves again. After that, they all lived happily ever after (okay, so not really, though Cameroon is a stable country in comparison to some of its neighbors in Africa).

The real historians can correct any facts that I have butchered in my paraphrase of events, but the mini history lesson helps to explain the change of scenery I have experienced in the last week. Yaounde, the capital where I lived upon arrival, is in the big chunk that had a lot of French influence and Bamenda, the city where I’ll be hanging out for the next while, is in the little sliver that has had a lot of British influence. Bamenda is about six hours northwest of the capital in the highlands at about 4, 500 feet.

In Bamenda, I have started to play the “plus and minus” game (some family friends play this game on vacations when things are going differently than they expected). It goes like this:

I wasn’t expecting people in Bamenda to speak English

- I will not be learning French while in Cameroon

+ I can usually understand what people are saying

+ They can understand what I am saying

I wasn’t expecting the climate in Bamenda to be quite so cool.

-I didn’t pack enough long-sleeve clothes

+ I am not often sweaty.

+ I have an excuse to buy myself some new clothes.

I wasn’t expecting my supervisor to be gone my first week in Bamenda.

- I have had to fend for myself.

+ I have had more opportunity to rely on “cultural guides”

+ I have had a chance to use my sense of adventure

My supervisor gave me a tentative plan A and tentative plan B for this week but both plans fell through upon arrival in Bamenda.

- I felt frustrated since I am a maximizer (always wanting the most out of life).

+ At church yesterday they announced they are doing Vacation Bible School this week so I went this morning and blew bubbles with Hilda (and many others).

+ I have had some time to read some missionary biographies while waiting for plan C to take shape

(for the record: when I’m a famous missionary and someone is writing a biography about me, please make me seem human and approachable. Perhaps you could write about what a sissy I am in the dark, how I lose things a lot, even how I don’t read my Bible every day and I doubt God repeatedly; that way perspective missionaries won’t feel like they are applying to join the ranks of Super Man or Wonder Woman).

You can see that I play the game that you must counter the minus with two pluses, but feel free to borrow the game and create your own variations.