#29 Cameroon
Have you ever felt like a millionaire while living
near the US poverty level? We do, and especially now.
Our container arrived in Douala at the beginning of
November. Well it took a while for the Union to get
onto it and two weeks ago we got word it was getting
out of port and was going to be shipped to Yaounde and
there put on the train to Ngaoundere (half way up the
country). I received word that my truck is able to be
brought in with IT status. This means that I cannot
sell it in country but also I do not have to pay
taxes. Oh what a blessing, especially since I have
heard that the import tax is 80%. But still cheaper
to bring our truck with all of that than to buy one
here (3X as expensive). Also I wanted it taken out of
the container before shipped up here because we have
no truck ramp in Koza to offload it. Well apparently
it was felt that if they opened the container in port
that many things would be stolen so they decided not
to. Also there was a sudden push for being quick
(after 2 of sitting in port). So it was shipped. Our
administrator was asked to go meet it in Ngaoundere.
He faithfully did this.
Over the next 4 days tried to arrange for truck
transport of the container to Koza. Oh was this a
headache. Finally he found someone but they were REAL
expensive. He then a couple days later found another
who agreed for about half the price. The following
day if finally made it there and was loaded on the
truck. They said they would leave that night because
traveling at night was much better than the heat of
the day. That night they had decided to leave the
next day to do a few “maintenance†items. Does
“maintenance†include engine overhauls? Apparently it
does here. I guess he had money in his pocket and the
next day the engine was all out on the ground and
being overhauled.
Our administrator was not very happy. They promised
to leave the next morning. Well by the next evening
they were finally ready and they left for Koza. It
had to be cleared again by customs in Ngaoundere for
the trip from there to Koza. Well over the next two
nights it traveled up to Mora, arriving Friday morning
in Mora. This is a town 1 hour north of us by
motorcycle. They asked the administrator to meet them
up there to show them the way. He went up there and
found out that the customs officials in Mora would not
accept the papers it had traveled all the way up in
Cameroon with and wanted the originals that were in
Douala. Oh the corruption is incredible. Every one
seems to want something to “pad the pocketsâ€. So he
had to go to Maroua to solve the problem. Finally
after all day in Maroua it was permitted to leave Mora
for Koza. It traveled that night and then arrived in
Koza early Sabbath morning. I went to the hospital
and got a call on the radio, “eeeekk, there is a
container pulling in our front yard!†Oh what a
blessed sight that was. We have been waiting for this
for many months now. All of our things and many, many
hospital donations, and our pickup. That evening
after Sabbath was over we broke the lock, cut the pins
and cut open the metal band holding it shut. We swung
the doors open and what did we see. Our truck,
perfectly protected.
During the last week our guard and I, and one of the
hospital workers had dug a huge hole in our front yard
to drive the back of the container down into to
hopefully get the container to a level where we could
get out our pickup without much difficulty. We had
dug it about 4 feet deep and about 12 feet wide. And
with the pile of dirt at the end our truck drove off
without much effort. We then repositioned the
container in front of the house and unloaded
everything into our front room and dining room. It
was all rather obnoxious. To think that the people
here have at max what could fit in one box.
Fortunately we were a little consoled that about half
of what was there was for the hospital. We had
received many blessings from many hospitals and
individuals. We made a number of trips into the
hospital with truckloads of things over the next 5
days as we went through things. We are truly blessed.
This helps give us confidence when we still haven’t
caught up on our back salaries yet. We see Gods
blessing and know we will eventually make enough to
pay our workers what is due them. We thank you for
all of your support and prayers. Please keep my truck
papers in your prayers and this will greatly help the
hospital get medicines instead of sending all the
saline and meds on motorcycles (expensive too). Also
remember my ham radio license too. We are a year now
and still do not have it and would love to be sending
emails from home. Until then we do it whenever we get
to Mokolo or Maroua (once every 2-4 weeks). We miss
you all and can’t wait to be back in June for a number
of weeks. Until then… In His Service, Shanks