March 4, 2002

Dear Colleagues,

I just wanted to let you know that we’ve had a very, very sad and heavy weekend, but one that leaves us deeply aware of the preciousness of our family. Last Thursday, Jeff had gone with Matthias on a school field trip of the middle school classes of the American School. They were due back on Saturday afternoon (March 2), but one of the two buses the school used was pushed off the road some 30 kilometers outside of Yaoundé by a third speeding and out of control bus coming from Yaounde. As it turned out, Jeff and Matthias (as well as Lisa Sthreshley, Larry and Inge’s daughter) were in the second school bus that had been driving a bit behind the first bus. Arriving at the scene, Jeff helped Matthias’ homeroom teacher and some of the children out of the wrecked bus, but he already saw that it looked very serious for them. The teacher and three of the seven children in the bus eventually died. The students were all one grade higher than Matthias. The other four (7th and 8th grade) children were wounded—one in critical condition, the others with fractures and cuts. As of Sunday, at least six passengers died on the bus that had caused the accident. Many more were injured.

I was with the other parents at the school awaiting the buses. You understand the emotions when news came that one bus had been in the accident. Details only trickled in, which made the parents very anxious. It wasn’t known who was on the bus that had the accident, and there was an awful sense of fear and hope. Awful because while you were hoping that it didn’t involve your child (and husband), you knew it meant that you’d rather have it be someone else’s child.

Though Jeff is still processing the images and the experiences, he is also as board member, deeply involved in all the necessary measures to be taken by the school to make sure that the grieving families are looked after, and that the injured and traumatized students and their parents as well as all other students of at least the middle school are taken care of. They’ve seen a horrific scene and have lost people they’ve known and been closed to on a daily basis. Matthias’ grade has lost their very cheerful and dear homeroom teacher. An interreligious ceremony will be held tomorrow evening as the four victims were from Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, and Protestant traditions.

Fortunately, Jeff does talk with me about what he has experiences, but he says the images continue to come up. Last night he slept better than the night before. It is the second time here in Cameroon that he has experienced and been closely involved in the accidental death of friends’ children. Matthias was for the first 24 hours very lethargic and had difficulties communicating with us what he has seen and what he felt. He had been with the deceased children on the school soccer team; with one of them he was on a chess club. But when he was with classmates yesterday, as they visited another friend who had just been released from the hospital, it seemed to go a lot easier for him. Today and tomorrow there are many possibilities for people to come together and get counseling if they want to.

Peace,

Christi

The 2002 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 31