Jeff just left for Douala, barely four days after his return from a two-week trip to the Congo. Those familiar with our usual agenda’s would think nothing particular of this. But with the tumultuous times Cameroon is going through this week, it is definitely different today.
Initially scheduled to arrive from Kinshasa into Douala last Monday, Jeff’s flight was cancelled because of a volatile unrest that had been building up there over the course of the weekend, resulting in several fatalities. With the riots having in the meantime spilled over to other regions in Western Cameroon, it wasn’t sure whether Jeff could even fly into Yaounde the next day as our home town had also grown restless.
Thankfully, he got in the eve before it all broke out here on Wednesday. Taxi’s stayed off the roads for a third day in a row, and by now the protest had gone beyond the objection by the transportation unions to hiking gas prices, to include the peoples general exasperation with ever rising costs of living and the intended constitutional changes to eliminate term limits for the President. School closed early that day and our girls arrived home at a time we were hearing gun shots just down the road.
After a day of violent protests and riots, with statements from various religious leaders calling for calm, and a televised address by the Head of State later that night, the city woke up to an uneasy quiet on Thursday, as the army patrolled the streets and taxi’s remained on the curbs for another day of strikes. Some said the President spoke appropriately as a Father of the Nation, but many were dissatisfied with the lack of recognition for the difficulties faced by the population and upset with the harsh words spoken about the youth.
While unrest continued in the West Provinces, Douala and Yaounde became under control, and on Friday usual activities started picking up, allegedly under threat for the confiscation of cars and goods if taxi men did not start driving and if shopkeepers held their stores closed. The people are obviously relieved with the break in direct threat and the opportunity to purchase a few necessities, but given the suppressed frustrations it is not sure how long this relative calm will last. Allegedly, demonstrations that had originally been planned for this weekend have been postponed for the next week.
So, after checking in with our various sources, we decided that this weekend may be the best window of opportunity to get the church’s car from Douala, where it had stayed after our family’s outing to Limbe, with Jeff flying on to Kinshasa and the girls and me returning by bus to Yaoundé. We trust God will provide for Jeff’s safe return tomorrow. But under the current circumstances, his plans to visit next week with our church partners in Equatorial Guinea may well need to be postponed.
Please, lift up the Cameroonian people in your thoughts and prayers so they may continue to live peacefully, but with founded hope for a better future.
To read the special statement on the crisis in Cameroon from the Rt. Rev. Dr. Nyansako-ni-NKU, Moderator of PCC, click here >>>
Initially scheduled to arrive from Kinshasa into Douala last Monday, Jeff’s flight was cancelled because of a volatile unrest that had been building up there over the course of the weekend, resulting in several fatalities. With the riots having in the meantime spilled over to other regions in Western Cameroon, it wasn’t sure whether Jeff could even fly into Yaounde the next day as our home town had also grown restless.
Thankfully, he got in the eve before it all broke out here on Wednesday. Taxi’s stayed off the roads for a third day in a row, and by now the protest had gone beyond the objection by the transportation unions to hiking gas prices, to include the peoples general exasperation with ever rising costs of living and the intended constitutional changes to eliminate term limits for the President. School closed early that day and our girls arrived home at a time we were hearing gun shots just down the road.
After a day of violent protests and riots, with statements from various religious leaders calling for calm, and a televised address by the Head of State later that night, the city woke up to an uneasy quiet on Thursday, as the army patrolled the streets and taxi’s remained on the curbs for another day of strikes. Some said the President spoke appropriately as a Father of the Nation, but many were dissatisfied with the lack of recognition for the difficulties faced by the population and upset with the harsh words spoken about the youth.
While unrest continued in the West Provinces, Douala and Yaounde became under control, and on Friday usual activities started picking up, allegedly under threat for the confiscation of cars and goods if taxi men did not start driving and if shopkeepers held their stores closed. The people are obviously relieved with the break in direct threat and the opportunity to purchase a few necessities, but given the suppressed frustrations it is not sure how long this relative calm will last. Allegedly, demonstrations that had originally been planned for this weekend have been postponed for the next week.
So, after checking in with our various sources, we decided that this weekend may be the best window of opportunity to get the church’s car from Douala, where it had stayed after our family’s outing to Limbe, with Jeff flying on to Kinshasa and the girls and me returning by bus to Yaoundé. We trust God will provide for Jeff’s safe return tomorrow. But under the current circumstances, his plans to visit next week with our church partners in Equatorial Guinea may well need to be postponed.
Please, lift up the Cameroonian people in your thoughts and prayers so they may continue to live peacefully, but with founded hope for a better future.
To read the special statement on the crisis in Cameroon from the Rt. Rev. Dr. Nyansako-ni-NKU, Moderator of PCC, click here >>>
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