Thought we would give you a glimpse into our daily routine here at AOC in Cameroon. This week has been one getting back into routine after the beach camping, so not too much new to share.
We daily wake up around 6am and make our way through our morning cleaning and get dressed to be ready for breakfast at 6:30am…they are killing us here. The real kicker is if either my team or Gilles’ team is on breakfast prep, we have to be in the kitchen by 5:45 at the latest. God knew what He was doing when he gave us early risers in our three little chickens. Breakfast usually consists of homemade yogurt, bread, fruit and either cereal, oatmeal, muesli, or some other breakfast dish. We have had pancakes once and eggs a couple of times. The homemade yogurt sets up so easily here and is very good. It is made with whole milk and is super creamy. My Swiss husband even thinks it is pretty nice.
After breakfast we have about 40 minutes to get teeth brushed and the kids ready for school. Occasionally Gilles and I have time for a quiet time, but we have found that we most likely need to do that at nights. The kids head to school at 7:45 and Gilles and I go into the classroom for worship and morning chapel. One day a week, during the morning chapel time we each meet with an accountability partner to share and pray. Worship is about 20 minutes long and then we have had the chance to hear a testimony from either a staff person, or we have just begun the student testimonies. These are about 30 minutes long and it is not only the salvation testimony but also how we were called to ministry and specifically to Cameroon or Africa. After the testimonies, we begin our morning teaching session. We have teaching from 8:30 until 10am. These teaching are things like cross-cultural issues (African traditional religion, money matters, patron/client relationships), health issues or practical kitchen helps. At 10, both the kids and adults have a coffee break complete with either a piece of bread with jam or locally made “beignets.” These are a huge favorite with the kids (and adults). We return to teaching and the kids to school at 10:30 and we again have the continuation of teaching until 12:15pm.
We eat lunch at 12:30 and it is usually the biggest meal of the day here. We finish up lunch by 1 or 1:15 and start the afternoon rest time. The rest time goes until 2:30 or 3pm. Our family has adapted so well to this rest time period and we hope to continue it after AOC. The kids either listen to their Discmans, do their Leap Pads, read or play with Playmobil toys quietly. After rest time the kids head outside to play on the swing set, hide and seek, tea party or something else that they enjoy doing outside. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the Homeschool library is open and we love to go down and borrow books, games, and puzzles. It usually happens at least twice a week that Gilles or I need to go into the markets in the afternoon to buy food for our team meals. I often spend the afternoons on correspondence, laundry, room clean up or reading.
Supper is at 6pm here and we have been blessed with a ton of different meals. We have eaten chick pea curry, spaghetti, tuna salad, omelets with roasted vegetables and other things too. When supper is over we shower the three kids and then tuck into our room with them to read or play a game before bed. At least once a week, either Gilles’ or my team has supper clean up which usually takes about an hour depending on the meal. Doing dishes by hand for 30 people is quite an undertaking. They are still usually in by 7:30pm. Then Gilles and I either have quiet time, worship and prayer with some other friends here, games or a movie, just the two of us. And then showers and we are off to bed too. Zzzzzzz…I am tired and will end for now.