Critters

Critters are on my mind this week, so I thought I'd give you a rundown on the local wildlife. I've categorized them for no other reason than that I like organization. If you're squeamish, you might want to move right on to another entry!

BITING TYPE

Two weeks ago, we returned from a week at the coast, where we attended BGC meetings, saw fellow missionaries, spent Benjamin's October break with him, and ... were bitten. In fact, the bites are just now healing, and I'm planning a trip to Yaounde in two weeks to visit Benjamin again (we try to visit every 4-6 weeks.) The offenders? "Moot-moots" or "no-see-ums" take your pick; it's the same insect. It looks like a gnat, if you are fortunate enough to get a glimpse. I know, because I squished one on my meeting agenda, and there was a red smudge. Most people have never seen one because they are so elusive! Yeah! They don't live in Ndu.

I DID use insect repellent! They seemed to rather like it: 50 bites. What they don't care for is Philemon.

Mosquitos. The altitude in Ndu is over 7,000 feet, and it is too cold for them! In Bamenda, where we go for home school co-op and for our annual January missionary get together, there are plenty of the little malaria-carriers. So whenever we go to Bamenda or the coast or anywhere lower than Ndu (which is pretty much anywhere) we take anti-malarial medicine. So far none of us has had malaria.

Snakes. Most missionaries have snake stories, but we don't have any yet. Some of our workers saw a long thin black one crawl up the wall behind our house once, but we never could find it, and never saw it again.


BURNING TYPE

It is the end of the rainy season, which means creechies. These are bugs about half an inch long, with alternating red and black segments. They fly, and are attracted to fluorescent lights, i.e. all the lights both in- and outside our house. Leave them alone and they'll leave you alone. Unfortunately, we've found them in our beds, on the toilet seat, on the walls and floor, and in the bathtub. They secrete an acid which leaves a painful burn. So far, we've found them before they found us, except for Benjamin. One fell on the nape of his neck about a year ago. If you see one on you, you should flick it off, rather than brush it off. Element of surprise, you know, before he can leave a signature.

Jelly fish. Carry vinegar with you when you go to the ocean. It is supposed to alleviate the sting. No Yong victims yet.




INFESTATION TYPE

We had quite a bout of larva migrans a year ago, but none since. It is the hookworm of dogs and cats, picked up on the beach when barefoot (maybe we just shouldn't vacation!) One critter book we consulted in our bid to rid the boys of them, said quite truly that "the urticaria (itching) has been known to cause dementia." Fortunately we found the right medicine before that happened. They leave little white tracks just under the skin, and you can feel them move, especially at night. Thiabendazole finally killed 'em. We also tried some locally recommended remedies for symptomatic relief. We dripped hot candle wax on them, and we also tried a Chinese salve sold here, named "No Be Sick." These last two remedies made the worms wiggle a lot, but didn't seem to put a dent in their nightly travels.

"Rats." Actually they are mice, but are called rats here. Makes them sound even more loathsome than they are. Our cat Pericope is an outside cat, and is supposed to patrol the perimeters, but lately she has let many of these pests pass through. We have seen her in action. You can set her down right next to a plant concealing a mouse beneath. She looks at the plant, then questioningly at you. Then she moseys on. If the mouse makes a dash for it, she looks mildly curious, THEN moseys on. Not a mouser. We've been using traps, then putting the remains into the cat dish.

At elevations lower than Ndu, there are tumboh flies. These lay eggs on your wet clothes as they are drying on the line. If the clothes are thoroughly dry, the eggs die and there is no problem. But, if you take the clothes down before they are completely dry (as often you must do in the rainy season) and then wear them, the eggs recognize a healthy host immediately, and larvae hatch and burrow in, usually at the waistband where they are nice and cozy. It looks and feels like a very itchy mosquito bite, but as days go on, the lesion looks more and more like a pimple. The only way to get rid of it is to squeeze it and the worm pops out. (Do not say I did not warn you not to read this if you are squeamish.)

This infestation category is turning out to be the largest! Jiggers, also known as chiggers or sand fleas. Anna had a run-in with one of these last week. They burrow into your feet and lay their eggs there. At first bite, you may feel a pinch if you are sensitive. After that, you will feel intense itching, and see a little black spot. You wisest course of action is to beg an experienced Cameroonian to get it out for you. One of our house helpers is an expert with a razor blade, a toothpick, and a piece of toilet tissue. Anna didn't even whimper, Macceline is so good at it!



EDIBLES

Both Samuel and Anna have developed a liking for fried grasshoppers. During dry season, the elementary kids go crazy making grasshopper sticks, and trying to catch them. (Any long branch with some foliage at the end will work.) After you catch them, you keep them in your pocket or a plastic bag til you can get to a frying pan. Philemon used to eat them, but has refined his palate. Linda ate one once just to say she had done it. They taste like bacon-flavored snack crackers--really! The green ones are reportedly tastier than the brown ones. Last night, Samuel went hunting with his friends (easier to catch at night) and they rapped on his window at 6 am today with 4 hot ones for breakfast!



FUN WITH CRITTERS

Yesterday, Anna and Linda got together with our next door neighbors, the Runduses, and had a day at the zoo. We read zoo books, saw a video of the San Diego Zoo, ate a picnic lunch on a red-checked tablecloth on the parlour floor (complete with cutout ants), made animal masks with rubber bands to hold them on our ears, and took a walk to see how many animals we could find. We were just as tired after our "trip" as if we had been to a real zoo.

Marriage counseling cross-culturally

(We originally wrote this article for the Baptist General Conference magazine, BGC World.)


A young couple sits uncomfortably in our parlor- she on the love seat, looking agitated and angry, and he on a side chair across the room. Everything about Jeremiah (not his real name) communicates frustration and impatience. Eleven months ago, having completed a series of premarital discussions with one of the best counselors in the country, they married.

Mercy (not her real name) has issues: "He will not plan our life with me. All decisions, great and small, are made by him. Then he may or may not inform me about where we will live next year, or even where he is going for the evening." His complaint: "She does not submit- married life is miserable. And then she rejects the gifts I know will be good for her!"

This could be a marriage in your town- a he-won't-communicate/she's-so-cold scenario. But this is no scenario, these are people we know and love. Here in our parlor sit Cameroonian Christians who are on the brink of divorce, and woven in and around are assumptions and cultural layers and traditions that are far from simple to sort out.

Listen to some of their comments, and consider how you would advise.

* He says: "After all, I did pay for her." Getting married here is an expensive endeavor. Some men are delayed for years as they gather the money, the oil, the rice, the cloth, and the cattle which may constitute the dowry. Then there are all the expenses of the wedding itself, and setting up the new household. All cultural indications are that after he has paid, she is his.

Some of my seminary students were discussing this dowry problem in class one day. "If my daughter marries in Cameroon, I will not ask for a bride price," I said. Puzzled, one student remarked, "But please, sir, then you would be giving away free property." Most of the class agreed. Though not usually stated so openly, the assumption permeates most marriages. The rights are his: he paid. And she would not dare to leave- how could her parents repay all that was given for her?

Here is another example of this assumption that she is property. If the husband dies, in most tribes the same brother-in-law who inherits the property of the deceased, also inherits another wife: the widow. She is not free to marry another, and at the very least she stays with her in-laws. If she does manage to leave, her parents will have to pay back the bride price from years past.

* She says: "We didn't even know each other very well." Though it took several years for them to negotiate the bride price, and satisfy all the cultural requirements for visits back and forth between the two families, it seems the two of them never actually talked very much to each other!

One day, I interrupted an animated before-class discussion. I had heard my name, but silence prevailed when I opened the class door. Reluctantly, they explained they were amazed that Linda (my wife of 16 years) and I are often seen talking and laughing together, even sitting together at public functions and discussing afterwards, sharing ideas and impressions. "Sir, we admire that and want it for ourselves. But how do we get there?"

Though marriage for love is becoming more common, it is still often the case that some young people (especially girls) get married under pressure from parents and others. One such young woman was shocked to be presented with a man she had never met and did not care for. But money and gifts had already been exchanged. Bravely, she objected and stated she could not marry the man. His family demanded the return of the bride price. But to complicate things further, her father soon died without repayment. No one else will marry one who is pledged to another by her family. Should she work for several years to pay the rejected man's family? Will either family ever forgive her for the public shame she has brought upon them? Most young people cannot face these troubles, and simply proceed with the arranged marriage, hoping that love will follow. But for these folks, moving ahead toward a companionable and joyful marriage is a monumental and discouraging task.

* He says: "But what about 'Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord' ? (ESV). If I talk things over with her, she'll be leading me."

Jeremiah, our uncomfortable young husband in the first paragraph, uses this text to explain that he is responsible to make sure that Mercy submits. His dedication to Scripture is less apparent as we move on through the text to "Husbands, love your wives…" He says, "I may shape my wife the way I believe is best. If she is the yam, I am the knife." He explains his imagery, which sounds threatening to us, by saying that since she belongs to him and should submit to him, none of his decisions for her and for their family should be questioned. This extends to the smallest detail, in Jeremiah's mind. If he decides that meat is what will make Mercy happiest for her birthday dinner, it is rank disrespect if she expresses a preference for eggs.


How can we move forward, both in this specific counseling situation, and in this culture? Bold proclamations of the "right" way to do marriage are met with a quick dismissal. "That's the American way." It seems best to continue on the path we committed ourselves to when we married, and then again when we promised to faithfully proclaim God's word in Cameroon.

" Teach leaders in each culture to apply Scripture faithfully in all life situations. Foundational is the knowledge that Scripture trumps tradition. Not easy to apply anywhere in the world, but foundational nonetheless.
" Teach directly about marriage, and about scriptural marriage principles. Use expository preaching to proclaim the truth about the passages which are so prone to misuse.
" Continue to enjoy our own relationship in this missionary fishbowl, which is ideal for showing joy and companionship even in the midst of difficulty.
" Be sincere about whether we are the best people to disciple people cross-culturally, when it concerns biblical marriage values. We can teach the Bible and biblical principles, but there are cultural issues that must be addressed from within the culture. Our most effective place may be to help teach godly church leaders, who can prepare hearts for reception of the truth of Scripture, and make insightful and relevant application.

Dr. K. Philemon Yong
Cameroon Baptist Theological Seminary
P. O. Box 44, Ndu
North West Province, Cameroon
W. Africa

(237) 793 7826