Dear Family and Friends,
Fall colors, falling leaving, crisp and cool evenings waiting for the first snow . . . OR NOT. Back ‘home’ autumn has arrived, but here it is actually getting warmer. The past few months have been relatively pleasant. In fact, I have even been wearing a sweatshirt from time to time! However, in the past few weeks temperatures have been rising rapidly. The numbers aren’t outrageous, but the warmer temperature along with the intense humidity that has been blanketing the region has gotten unpleasant pretty quickly. Theoretically the rains will end and the ‘dry’ season will begin by mid-November, but that really only means the end of daily rain, not the humidity. You couldn’t even see across campus this morning because the fog was so dense!
Other than the natural ebb and flow of nature’s seasons, as unnatural as Cameroon’s seasons still feel to me, life has been relatively consistent. Managing our mission’s property here in Yaoundé has been frustrating at times, as everything from fried electrical breakers to dead water pumps tend to interrupt my school day. I don’t know WHAT I would do without Emmanuel who works for us! He units down replacement parts, supervises random projects, and fixes everything from water filters to electrical breakers and leaky toilets to doors that don’t close properly. In the past few months we have laid a bit of cement outside my apartment, replacing the giant mud puddle I had to stand in when unlocking my door, fixed and finished gutters, re-screened a good share of the hostel and the rest of my apartment, repainted some metal work that had started to rust, replaced a faulty water pump, hooked our water system up to a reserve tank, and so many other random repairs that I can’t even begin to list them. I am constantly amazed at the things we need to fix and/or replace. For example, the plumbing parts and electrical breakers purchased here are often of very low quality and simply spring leaks or fry for no apparent reason. Even in a normal year, I don’t know how I would deal with all of this while teaching full time, but this year I am also serving as the Assistant Director, a member of the Development committee, and trying to get a basic lighting system organized for our drama department. It has been amazing to watch how, in the midst of ach little disaster or rush of deadlines, God has been faithful to balance my other responsibilities in a way that has allowed me to be where I need to be at any given time.
Enough about me J We are well into our 2nd quarter at RFIS, and are beginning to realize how quickly Christmas break is approaching. There has been a lull in enrollment of missionary kids, so our student population has dropped to 72 kids (7th-12th grade). There are definitely some advantages to a small student body, but it creates its share of challenges as well. Fewer students doesn’t change the number of classes we need to offer, so our teacher-student ratio is probably about 4:1 if you count support staff working with students like guidance counselor, learning support, and ESL support. With a smaller student body, the influence of the local Cameroonian cultures is also more apparent. It has been exciting to watch many of our Cameroonian students step forward into more leadership roles and the beginning of ‘Cameroonian worship’ team.
As always, thank you for the many ways you support me and the ministry of RFIS! IF you are interested in a more frequent update, keep an eye on my facebook page and/or my blog (www.tenclay.org/cameroon).
Thank you, and may God bless your work as well!
Kristi TenClay