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October 2000
Orientation Week!
Dear Friends,
Before too much time passes, we wanted to tell you about the
various activities that went on during the opening days of the
semester. It is quite different from what we experienced at Princeton.
(We’d like to see some of our Princeton classmates doing
some of the things the students here must do!)
The school year opened with an orientation week for the new students.
Every morning there was (and still is) chapel at 7:00 a.m. The
different lecturers took turns leading the morning devotions.
As to be expected, Larry’s meditation created quite a stir.
Most were enthusiastic about his message, but others were uncomfortable—since
both the content and the delivery was so different from what is
the norm here in Cameroon. Larry was passionate, personal, and
challenging in his message. The Cameroonian pastors tend to preach
unemotional, moralistic types of sermons. He left quite a buzz
going on around campus for several days.
The mornings were then spent with the various lecturers discussing
different topics related to their courses or to life in general
on campus. During orientation week, new students have inspection
of the items they have brought with them to campus. Before the
semester started, each new student received a list of items they
were required to have. The list included things like a bush lamp
(kerosene lantern), a torch lamp (flashlight) and batteries, a
machete and machete file (for working on the seminary farm and
for protection and security of the campus), two sets of underwear,
two pairs of socks, two short-sleeved white shirts and two long-sleeved
white shirts, two pairs of khaki trousers (or skirts for the women)
and two pairs of black pants or skirts, plus bedding, notebooks,
eating utensils, dishes, etc. The lecturers were each assigned
students they had inspect to see if he or she had brought the
required items. Larry and one other lecturer were assigned the
four female students. Larry stated how awkward he felt checking
their belongings (even undergarments), though he said the women
didn’t seem uncomfortable in the least to have male teachers
inspect their things. Inspections of various types are so common
it is a part of life here. All living quarters for both single
and married students are inspected once a month for cleanliness
(even the commercial business district in town is closed the first
Thursday morning of each month for inspection by town officials
for cleanliness and orderliness). To us, this kind of inspection
seemed intrusive and authoritarian.
We are not sure what the consequences were for those who did
not have all of the required items. A couple of weeks later we
were talking with one male student who laughingly talked about
failing. He then said that with ten children in the family, his
parents just couldn’t help him financially with purchasing
the required items, so he came minus the second pair of pants
(cost $11 a pair) and minus the bush lamp (a cheap one goes for
$8), plus a few other items. Financing an education of any kind
in this country is not cheap, considering what the average monthly
salary is. To have the required items, plus to pay the $145 tuition
(per year) is quite a hefty burden for the average Cameroonian.
Besides scholarships, students rely heavily on the generosity
of extended family to help them. If they come from a particularly
poor family and/or large family, then it is very difficult.
The last two days of orientation week were spent cleaning the
campus. This event is the kick-off for what is a weekly activity.
Every Tuesday throughout the year the students clean (or work
on the farm) from 6:00 to 7:30 a.m. On Tuesdays chapel is delayed
till 8:40 a.m. Having students help with cleaning and maintenance
is one way the seminary is able to stay afloat. (The current dean
is very frugal and does his best to make every franc go to the
best possible use.)
The final great event of orientation week was the opening worship
service for all students, faculty, and spouses. What a lively
and wonderful service! It was a mix of the traditional Western
form of worship with liturgy and hymns, but they also had their
African spirituals where the drums beat and everyone danced as
they sang. We found it very worshipful and uplifting. We found
it interesting to learn that the former dean did not allow those
types of songs to be sung in chapel—and definitely no drums
and no dancing. We are so glad to be here under the new dean—the
Rev. Dr. Jonas Dah.
And so began the new school year. We’ll tell you more about
seminary life in the next letter.
Blessings and Grace,
Larry and Anna Bauerband
The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 32
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