SakerPride - "Telling the Saker Story & MORE"
WELCOME
TO
SAKER PRIDE
Saker Pride ®
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The CAMEROON COLLEGE SINGERS, composed predominantly of Saker Girls, who toured North America in 1969, with Principal Don WITT (RIP)
THE ENTRANCE TO SAKER BAPTIST COLLEGE IN 2012
January 29 2012; Exuberant First Year Students at Saker Baptist College Celebrate!
SAKER BAPTIST COLLEGE IS 50 YEARS OLD 1962 - 2012
PIONEER CLASS, 50 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD.
(2012)
PIONEER CLASS GRADUATING IN 1966
Miss BERNEICE WESTERMAN (MA BEE),
FIRST PRINCIPAL OF SAKER BAPTIST COLLEGE
January 1962 - December 1962
S.B.C CHAPEL, BUILT BY SAKER BAPTIST COLLEGE ALUMNAE
Thanks for making a "pit stop" at this site. I hope you are able to interrupt your journey in Cyberspace long enough to discover what it is all about! In fact, just pull up a chair and "settle in", so I can tell you how the site came to exist, and what it has to offer!
Well, thirty-six years ago, I began a five year "sojourn" in an all girls boarding school called Saker Baptist College, which is ensconced between Mount Fako and the Atlantic Ocean, in Cameroon, West Africa. I did not know it then, but that "School by the Sea", firmly planted on a hill overlooking the town of Victoria, (now Limbe), would wind up being the one, single institution to have had the most meaningful impact on my life, since the principles instilled in me in the five years I spent shuttling between "Banga Bush" and "Likomba", have remained with me to this day, and given me a life and world view that help me successfully navigate through life's vicissitudes and challenges.
"All things Saker" have ALWAYS piqued my interest but that already heightened interest spiked with the onset of Saker Baptist College's 50th Anniversary, this past January 2012! I found myself unable, for a plethora of reasons, to make it to Limbe, where the GOLDEN JUBILEE was celebrated with unprecedented pomp, splendor and pageantry. So, what to do? Instead of moping around, griping and sniveling, (things which my Saker "pilgrimage" taught me are completely futile), I decided to find viable alternatives to missing out, a pitiful state of affairs we, Sakerettes, call "lebbing", and decided to get the rest of the "lebbers" involved. I designed Crossword Puzzles, "Fill in the Missing Lyrics", "Name That Tutor" contests and games , etc., all of which helped us take gleeful rides down Memory Lane! To crown it all, I wrote a TRIBUTE TO ALL S.B.C. STAFF, PAST & PRESENT, and put together a Picasa Photo Album to go with it. (*It can be accessed from the "Gallery" Page on this website.)
This album made many very enthusiastic rounds all over the Saker World, with the incredibly fortunate and life-transforming result that it spurred, more like galvanized me into wanting to KNOW and DO even more! Next thing I know, I am sending and receiving emails to and from Miss KERN, Mr. Roger HAND, Mr. Don and Mrs. Ruth WITT, Mr. Fred FOLKERTS, and Miss WESTERMAN, all of them, people who were there when it all first began!!! I also tracked down Mr. Jesse Nfor and a handful of Ex-Sakerettes who had been part of the famous Cameroon College Singers who toured the United States and Canada back in 1969! I listened to all these people as they reminisced and, the more I heard, the more fascinated and enthused I became.
HELLO!!
The 1964-1965 staff and students of Saker Baptist College
The staff at this time was
made up of North American missionary ladies and Peace Corps volunteers.
TUESDAY, MAY 1st 2012
Now, if the “reminiscing” had been limited to just phone calls, (and even emails), this website may never have come into existence. What triggered and hatched the idea were the actual, written NARRATIVES, and palpable “ARTEFACTS”, DOCUMENTS and REALIA that these wonderful individuals shared with me! There are no words in the dictionary fit enough to describe how ELATED I was to hear the MUSIC sung and performed by the Cameroon College Singers in 1969, when I was just four years old, and a vast majority of Ex-Sakerettes were not even born yet!! In fact, there is a fat chance that some of them are completely unaware that such a group ever existed! A VERITABLE CRYING SHAME!
It, therefore, didn’t take me more than a New York minute to realize I just did NOT have any other option, but to find a SAFE, WEAR & TEAR-RESISTANT and “EVERLASTING REPOSITORY” for these “PRICELESS GEMS” which would be accessible to ALL and ANY who would be interested! In my judgment, the most realistic and viable, no red tape or crippling strings attached option readily available to me, was to find a CYBER HOME for them so, on Saturday, April 21st 2012, at 8:35 in the morning, I sat myself down in front of “LADY DELL”, my Desktop Computer, googled “HOW TO BUILD A WEBSITE”, and simply clicked on the first option that popped up, and “the rest is history”!!! (Thank God - and Al Gore, I suppose, for the internet!!)
This is, therefore, NOT an “OFFICIAL” website for Saker Baptist College or any branch of ExSSA, (its Ex-Students Association)! It is a totally PRIVATE and INDEPENDENT INITIATIVE that was born, as I have already pointed out, from my desire to TRACE, PIECE TOGETHER, RECOUNT and PRESERVE an ACCURATE, TRUSTWORTHY and AUTHENTIC HISTORY of SAKER BAPTIST COLLEGE from THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE ACTUAL INDIVIDUALS WHO WITNESSED IT, and IN SOME CASES, EVEN, ORCHESTRATED and MASTERMINDED IT!!
To give the Website a little bit of a modern, twenty-first century twist, I thought I should also dedicate some of its pages to showcasing, highlighting and reporting on some of the SUCCESSES and ACHIEVEMENTS of The WOMEN OF UNPARALELLED SUBSTANCE who constitute the ALUMNAE of this illustrious school because they are a de facto testament and affirmation of the school’s worth!!
Of course, anyone who knows me even remotely, would realize and understand that the ULTIMATE PURPOSE behind all of my clearly inexperienced and amateur efforts, is to
BRING GLORY AND HONOR TO THE MASTER ARCHITECT and DRAUGHTSMAN WHOSE BLUEPRINT and SITE PLAN and CRAFTMANSHIP actually UNDERLIE, BUTTRESS and SUPPORT THE WHOLE S.B.C. STORY. HE WAS, IS, AND ALWAYS WILL BE THE SURE FOUNDATION and CORNERSTONE, without which the centre cannot and will not hold!
GLORY TO HIS NAME!
Be Sure To Come Back And Visit Often!!
From: exsa_usa@yahoogroups.com [mailto:exsa_usa@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Egbe Monjimbo
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2012 3:51 PM
To: exsa_usa@yahoogroups.com; SakerClassof81@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [exsa_usa] I GUESS MOTHER'S DAY CAME EARLY THIS YEAR!!
GREETINGS TO ALL OH!
MY TWO INDEX FINGERS, LEFT THUMB & DESKTOP COMPUTER, (aka Lady DELL), ARE THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE THE “READY-OR-NOT, HERE-I-COME” ARRIVAL, THIS LABOR DAY, (MAY 1st), OF THEIR “offspring”!
NAME OF CHILD: http://www.sakerpride.com/
PLACE OF BIRTH: CYBERSPACE
TIME OF BIRTH: DIS VERY 4 O’CLOCK FOR AFTAHNOON TIME! (May 1 2012)
WEIGHT: 25GB
LENGTH: 11 WEB PAGES
GESTATION PERIOD: 10 DAYS
ATTENDING PHYSICIAN: NONE! (This Queen of “NJOH” and “AWOOF” is much too “kontoh” to enlist anyone’s PAID services!! I CAN CERTAINLY DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF, yah!!!!)
MIDWIVES & "MIDHUSBANDS": THE AMAZINGLY GENEROUS MEN & WOMEN WHO CONTRIBUTED THE INFORMATION & DOCUMENTATION I HAVE INCORPORATED INTO THE SITE.
REMARKS & OBSERVATIONS:
- NO PLANS IN THE WORKS FOR ANY "BORN HOUSE", "PIKIN PLANTI" OR C.C.C. SOAP!!
I DO PRAY THAT THIS WHOLE “UNDERTAKING” OR “VENTURE” WINDS UP BEING WHAT I CONCEIVED, DESIGNED AND INTENDED FOR IT TO BE:
A SALUTE TO OUR BELOVED ALMA MATER, ITS ALUMNAE, AND MOST ESPECIALLY, ITS EARLY STAFF, WITHOUT WHOSE SACRIFICE & DEDICATION, WE WOULD NOT BE WHO OR WHAT WE ARE TODAY, ON SO MANY DIFFERENT LEVELS. IT IS OF PRIMORDIAL IMPORTANCE TO ME THAT THEY GET TO HEAR THOSE “THANK YOUs” THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN, IN THEIR GOLDEN YEARS!! 'NOUGH SAID!
Don't forget to check de baby out when you have a sec, keeping in mind that de pikin e Mammy na 3 Finger “typist” with ZERO IT training!! Wuna chus me for whatever it is that may be crooked or not working like it should!!)
God Bless,
Egbe Mbiwan Monjimbo
(Class of ’76 – ’81)
p.s HAPPY BIRTHDAY OH, BIGGEST SIS! (EBOB)
ANNOUNCING THE BIRTH OF SAKER PRIDE!!
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U.N. Ambassador ANDREW YOUNG'S 1979 VISIT TO SAKER BAPTIST COLLEGE.
Principal W.N. TAYUI introduces him to Mr. E.K. MARTIN, Mrs. B. NOKURI & Mr. RAY HOFFMAN
as students look on.
Full Story recounted on this Website at:
Website Counter
Mr. WILFRED GHAWI SHOMSI
CURRENT PRINCIPAL OF S.B.C.
JULY 2016 - DATE
TRIBUTE TO SAKER BAPTIST COLLEGE
FROM
"THE MBIWAN GIRLS"
SAKER STUDENTS POSE TO FORM THE SAKER "S" (1967)
THE ENTRANCE TO SAKER BAPTIST COLLEGE - LIMBE, IN 1967
Sunday, March 2nd 2014
Hello there!
If you are an avid SakerPride Reader or recent Guest, then you must have realized that the description of what makes up the CONTENT of the Website as outlined above, has ceased to be accurate, with the addition of pages like The NOSTALGIA, ALMANAC, YESTERYEAR, REFLECTIONS and WORTH SHARING Pages!! The amazing truth is that the SAKERPRIDE baby has grown by leaps and bounds in less than 2 years of its existence, to now include these new pages that go beyond the confines of SAKER BAPTIST COLLEGE, (which remains the focus though), to encompass information regarding the SOCIETY and COMMUNITY within which the school's early students evolved, which is "THE WEST CAMEROON WORLD"! No entity or institution functions or operates in a vacuum, and S.B.C. was and is no exception. That is why I have gone on, in the additional Web Pages, to present the PROFILES of the Men & Women who made news back in the day, (ALMANAC & YESTERYEAR pages), the Sights, Sounds, Traditions, Customs and "Artifacts" that were common then, (NOSTALGIA page), enveloping it all with my thoughts and comments on various issues - past and current, (REFLECTIONS page), and spicing it all up with ageless WISDOM and LAUGHTER, (WORTH SHARING page). Based on the traffic to these new pages, my guess is that they are a Very Welcome addition, and I certainly THANK YOU ALL for continuing to VISIT and RE-VISIT this site.
GOD BLESS YOU!!
THIS SITE IS OWNED & HOSTED BY
Mrs. EGBE ETONDE MBIWAN MONJIMBO (Graduating Class Of 1981)
EGBE ETONDE MBIWAN MONJIMBO
(GRADUATING CLASS OF 1981)
STATS FOR MOBILE SAKERPRIDE SITE (Launched on May 28 2015 with dudamobile)
Site URL: m.sakerpride.com
HOME PAGE VISITS
Loading
May 28 2015 (launching)- June 30 2019
Total Site Visits: 69,994
Total Page Views: 107,872
SAKERPRIDE IS 5 YEARS OLD
MAY 1 2012 ~ MAY 1 2017
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!
WARM, LABOR DAY GREETINGS TO YOU ALL, LADIES & GENTLEMEN!
On this day, 5 short but DENSE, years ago, SAKERPRIDE sprung into existence - like play-play!
As the "INTRO" that still sits on its HOME PAGE says, it was anything BUT well thought out, outlined, or even budgeted for! It still really isn't, and that goes for its accompanying FACEBOOK & TWITTER "falla backs" - and, (as of a month ago), its Electronic Mail Group!
The MODERN DAY MIRACLE, (as in "PURE WANDA"), that SakerPride is, given how far its "tentacles" have reached and how much it has morphed, sprouted and blossomed in these 5 years still BAFFLES & STUNS the MANYANGA right off my KANDA!!
For a "thing" ...
- Whose "OFFICE SPACE" is, most often a Kitchen Table, (but could also be anything from an Airport Gate to a Parking Lot);
- Whose "BUSINESS HOURS" are (usually) between when THE WRITER/EDITOR/TYPIST/PHOTOGRAPHER/CEO/ puts her planti & ndole for faya and when e done;
- Whose "BOARD MEETINGS" are held anywhere from in the CEO's MATOWA, at her BATHROOM SINK, or in her CLOSET with zero words spoken since "Ma MANAGER" and the "LONE EMPLOYEE" have the exact same brain and share the same 3 FINGERS that do all the TYPING/FORMATTING/CROPPING/PUBLISHING etc. (Manager don sack/halla Employee tire!! But as wey, Employee dey work "sans salaire", why Manager go carry e goodluck go ngambi??? Na onley for tie heart dassoh oh!!!! LOOOL!);
- Where "OFFICE ATTIRE", 99.99% of the time, consists of a faded (if not tear-tear) KABA - or Pyjamas, a Hair Net or Shower Cap, and absolutely NO FOOTWEAR, (not even "DSCHANG SHOE" or SANS CONFIANCE), and where WORK is ALWAYS wantonly and GLEEFULLY interrupted by WhatsApping, Singing Along - and, when e bad, Tan'apping For Up and SEKELE-ING AWAY to THE ONLY DANCE MUSIC THAT REALLY MATTERS ON PLANET EARTH, to wit, CAMEROONIAN MUSIC, as fed to my grateful ears by some darn good HEADPHONES that make me so thankful to the mothers of ALAJI TOURE, VICKY EDIMO, EPEME THEODORE aka ZANZIBAR and KOTTO BASS for birthing them! (Will not attempt to list any of the vocalists, every single one of whom MA SAKERPRIDE accompanies, OUT LOUD, whether they happen to be singing in DOUALA, NGOUMBA, KENYANG, EWONDO, LIMBUM or LINGALA!!!! Who says you have to understand what you are singing or even be singing the right thing? All those Roman Catholic Big Mammies in the kontri who sing LATIN that would make Caesar, Brutus, Romeo and Juliet pass out during mass, nkoh??? Ah beg!!)
Yes, for a "thing" that is as "off the cuff" as SAKERPRIDE is, the fact that "IT" is viewed as often and consistently as it has been, from countries (complete with flags) I had no clue existed on this globe - as in, FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA, and TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS, is mind-boggling.
Before I digress any further, I want to, - strike that: I NEED TO do what it is I started typing this email for, which is:
THANK EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU for READING, for COMMENTING, CRITIQUING, SUPPORTING, RESPONDING, PROVIDING FEEDBACK, PROVIDING THE CONTENT/MATERIAL SakerPride thrives on, and even for CRITICIZING and "CHACKING" it oh! (A whole JESUS THE SINLESS who was, is, and always will be PERFECTION, WISDOM & RIGHTEOUSNESS INCARNATE, was not "up to par" in the eyes of some, before na common Ma SP??? Impossible!)
Now, did I hear someone ask what the PLANS are FOR YEAR #6??? Well the answer to that question is THE SAME as it was last year, and the year before that:
NA GOD E ONE SABI!!!!! May the ears of my heart always be as keen as keen to hear His Voice and my fingers as swift to do His bidding. And should the day come when He bids me "cease and desist", may I be just as compliant, for HE'S THE BOSS! Always has been; Always will be!
GLORY TO HIS NAME!
THANK YOU SO MUCH & GOD BLESS!!!
Egbe Etonde Mbiwan Monjimbo aka Ma SakerPride
PLEASE CLICK ON "SIGN IN" BUTTON ABOVE TO LEAVE A BIRTHDAY WISH, COMMENT, MESSAGE, SUGGESTION, etc.
Ms BERNEICE WESTERMAN (aka MA BEE)
FIRST EVER PRINCIPAL OF SAKER BAPTIST COLLEGE
TURNS 95 TODAY, SUNDAY APRIL 7th 2019
PLEASE CLICK ON "SIGN IN" BUTTON ABOVE TO LEAVE HER A BIRTHDAY WISH!!
THE STUDENTS OF S.B.C.'s WESTERMAN DORMITORY BACK IN 2014 WHEN MISS WESTERMAN TURNED 90, SING HER A HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG & WISH HER WELL!
Their Prayers were answered and Wishes granted, 'cause she has made it to '95!!! GOD BE PRAISED!!!!
Many Thanks all over again to Ms STELLA MATUKE - the Principal at the time for granting SakerPride's Request to have the video made.
SakerPride's Interview with MA BEE to mark Saker Baptist College's 56th Birthday, FOUNDER'S DAY - JANUARY 29th 2019
ALL FEMALE S.B.C. staff - 1963
(Ms Westerman stands second from right, back row.)
Miss Westerman with some Pioneers at SBC's 25th Anniversary Celebration in 1987
1966 Graduation of SBC's PIONEER CLASS
(Miss Westerman stands 2nd from right, Front Row)
STA SINGS AT MA WESTERMAN'S VISITATION from Egbe Monjimbo on Vimeo.
THE FUNERAL SERVICE
THE VISITATION/VIEWING
STA CONDOLENCE MESSAGE
(Broadcast on Radio and TV in Cameroon & The U.S.A.)
LEFT:
The lobby of Hill Crest Church, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on the morning of Saturday, June 8th 2019.
3 of MA BERNEICE WESTERMAN's SAKERETTE DAUGHTERS from the SAKERETTES TRANSGLOBAL ALLIANCE (STA) "stand watch" till the time comes to close her casket and begin the funeral service.
About an hour later, just before she was interred at Hills of rest cemetery, the family was kind and gracious enough to give each of those 3 SAKERETTES present A WHITE ROSE STEM from the WREATH which had rested atop the casket all through the Visitation and Funeral Rites. It is those 3 rose stems that make up the "superimposed insert" in this picture. TALK ABOUT AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE!!
Above: Wreath sent by THE PIONEERS
Right: Wreath sent by ExSSA-USA
Above: THE 3 SAKERETTES (STA DELEGATION) WHO ATTENDED THE FUNERAL.
Below: Wreath from STA
THE BURIAL
A WEEK AFTER ... ExSSA-LIMBE PAUSES TO REMEMBER!
ExSSA-LIMBE REMEMBERS MA BEE WESTERMAN (Talk by Pioneer Ms Maria Mukete) from Egbe Monjimbo on Vimeo.
The specifics may vary but most, if not all Cameroonian Tribes & Cultures have some kind of TRADITION where a ceremony is held 3, 7, or 9 days ... or even 1 year after a loved one passes on; Some kind of "SASSA" or "AMO N'EWU" kind of thing.
Not quite sure what KONTRI NAME to give the "CEREMONY" ExSSA-LIMBE held yesterday, Sunday, June 16th 2019, during their JUNE meeting - 8 days after MA BERNEICE WESTERMAN was laid to rest in SIOUX FALLS.
Doesn't quite matter what NAME is ascribed to it though!
What does matter is that, the hosting group, which, coincidentally, happened to be "THE WESTERMAN" group, (The various groups are named after SBC Dormitories), decided to take a moment to PAUSE and REMEMBER our ALMA MATER'S FOUNDER-IN-CHIEF!
It certainly was a huge plus that they had, in their midst, PIONEER Aunty MARIA DIBO MUKETE who was able to reach back 57 years, to recount what life was like in SBC - or should I more accurately say - THE BAPTIST GIRLS SECONDARY SCHOOL, during those first days! (See Video posted LEFT)
And what else do you notice? The ORANGE, BLUE, GREEN and PINK plastic cups they expressly had made with the SAKERPRIDE OBITUARY FLYER FOR MA BEE, smack in the middle! SO COOL!!! (See Picture and Insert Above)
Pretty sure MA BEE herself would LOVE it and even surer that her Family will APPRECIATE the gesture!
Well Done, ExSSA-LIMBE.
MA BEE, "MISSIONARY TO CAMEROON" ...
Certainly recognize Class of 1969's Mrs. Juliet Kange Kemmer, (right), erstwhile Sewing/Needle Work Tutor at SBC!
The Statement-Question the President of The SAKERETTES TRANSGLOBAL ALLIANCE posted on the Sorority's WhatsApp Chat Group within a couple of hours following the passing of Ma Bee Westerman, was this:
"Na Big Die dis for SAKERETTES oh! Na we FOUNDER don die so.
HOW WE WAN CRY DIS DIE EH?"
HUNDREDS of posts later, it was decided:
- That A WREATH be made;
- That AN OFFICIAL CONDOLENCE MESSAGE be aired/broadcast on Social Media in the United States and via TV, RADIO and NEWSPAPER in Cameroon;
- That A EULOGY be written; and
- That 3 MEMBERS, (The President herself, the Public Relations Officer and the Secretary) go REPRESENT the group in SIOUX FALLS.
So it is then, that when Friday, June 7th 2019 dawned, the President and I flew into Minneapolis, MINNESOTA, (from Wisconsin and North Carolina respectively), and joined the the Secretary, (who resides in Minnesota), for the just under 4 hour drive to SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA.
We got there in just enough time to check into our hotel and head back out to HILLCREST CHURCH for the Visitation and, true, ours were the only CAMEROONIAN/BLACK faces in the premises ... BUT then, as soon as we walked into the hall where the Visitation was taking place, our ears were instantly saluted with:
"Mashi si yeni dunshi si nyorr ni nyu o!
Bishio yu le yeni a gin fa-a Nyu;
Gi tur le retuka;
Mashi si yeni dunshi si nyor ni nyu oo!"
Hopefully, you recognize the above phrases, (the many inaccuracies notwithstanding), as the lyrics of that upbeat GRASS FIELDS melody straight out of the CAMEROON COLLEGE SINGERS 1969 Music Album. The song accompanied a SLIDESHOW with images from the HEART of West Cameroon in the early 60s when MA WESTIE first got to CAMEROON. (Posted below).
After the very breath had practically been HUGGED out of us by several FLUENT PIDGIN-SPEAKING, erstwhile MISSIONARIES to CAMEROON, our eyes were drawn to this table on the right with "artifacts" that told THE STORY OF MA WESTERMAN's LIFE: Here's some of what we saw:
- A HUGE CARVED-OUT-OF-WOOD MAP OF CAMEROON at the very CENTER of the table, surrounded by 4 OTHER VERY IMPRESSIVE CAMEROONIAN WOODEN CARVINGS;
- ANOTHER SLIDESHOW CHRONICLING MA BEE'S LIFE which, given the fact that she spent 40 of her MOST PRODUCTIVE YEARS serving all over (WEST) CAMEROON, was full of images of the areas where she had worked - NDU, MBEM, BAMENDA, BELO, KUMBA, SOPPO, VICTORIA ...
- A copy of the THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 1949 edition of "THE LENNOX INDEPENDENT" NEWSPAPER which featured a picture of a Young & Pretty "Miss Berneice Westerman, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. HARM WESTERMAN of Lennox" stating that she had been "appointed missionary to the Cameroons in British West Africa during the 29th Triennial Conference of North American Baptists recently held in Sioux Falls". (Her actual Commission Date was August 28th 1949)
- An array of PLAQUES and AWARDS recognizing her SELFLESS, MERITORIOUS SERVICE in CAMEROON. There was one from the CAMEROON BAPTIST CONVENTION, (signed by Drs. WANKI and TANGWA) given to her in November 2004; Another from the NORTH AMERICAN BAPTIST CONFERENCE awarded in 1976, and yet another from the "BROTHERS AND SISTERS AT HOME" bestowed in 1989, to mention just these 3.
And then,
- MA WESTERMAN HERSELF lying in state ever so peacefully, CLAD IN HER FAVORITE OLIVE GREEN, EMBROIDERED, CAMEROON "BOUBOU" (caftan); the very same one she had worn on April 7th 2019 for her 95th Birthday, and even back in 1990 when she was presented with a retirement Plaque and Watch by Mr. Ron SALZMAN!!
And then, we were invited by the EVER SO WELCOMING, WARM and ENDEARING retired Cameroon Missionaries to go "CHOP FOWL"!
Oh, the REMINISCING that occurred between the time we sat at that Restaurant Table and the moment we got up to leave a good hour and a half later after they had each declared: "WE DON BELLEH-FULL! WE DON CHOP FI-I-INE"!!!
In that space of time, we got to LEARN from these AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSIONARIES such stuff as ...
- What days of the week LORRIES plied the "road" between BAMENDA and MAMFE or between MAMFE and KUMBA, going only ONE WAY on certain days and THE REVERSE ROUTE on another set of days! and that, sometimes,
- The items that made up a DOCTOR's "First Aid Box", were barely more than IODINE, GAUZE, "PLASTER" and Scissors ...
B the way, a good number of these stories were narrated by precious, BORN-IN-CAMEROON-TO-HER-MISSIONARY DOCTOR DAD and MOM, Miss Daphne !! The very same one who shared the fact that they, (Cameroon Missionaries), had another funeral to attend the following Monday, and that they had been asked to present THE 23rd PSALM ... in PIDGIN ENGLISH! I googled and my cell phone produced a version with expressions like "Kampe" and "Nyafu-nyafu"; she instantly "dismissed" it with: "NA NAIJA PIDGIN DAT"!! We offered, from the recesses of our own CAMEROONIAN brains: "PAPA GOD NA MY SHEPHERD" and the look of "shock" on her face was PRICELESS as she quipped back with: "SHEPHERD????!!! No be "GANAKOH" dem dey call'am??"
The experience could not have been more HEARTWARMING and just TOUCHING and I would be (criminally) remiss, if I did not seize the opportunity, right here and now, to THANK THEM - The MINERTS, the BLACKS, Miss DAPHNE and all other SELFLESS, DEDICATED and SKILLED Missionaries like them who, in addition to fulfilling "THE GREAT COMMISSION" given to us all as Christians, actually SERVED PRODUCTIVELY in non-religious capacities: TEACHING IN COLLEGES, BUILDING EDIFICES, DELIVERING BABIES, PERFORMING LIFE-SAVING SURGERIES (BY BUSH/KEROSENE LAMP!!), etc. , in parts of Cameroon that not many Cameroonians themselves are keen on visiting (let's not mention LIVING in) TODAY, talk much less of in the 50s and 60s!!!!
I'm going to just take this opportunity to let them know that their "WONA WAKA FINE OOO", wishes as we drove off, heading back to Minnesota after the funeral were granted!!!
Just one more "anecdote" before you run off to go VIEW and LISTEN to what's been posted. Something I did not know about about MISS BERNEICE VIOLA WESTERMAN - and her MOM, which just blew me away:
Miss Westerman was born "A BLUE BABY". In case you're not sure what that means and you're not the googling type, here's the layman's DICTIONARY definition of the term:
"A baby with a blue complexion from lack of oxygen in the blood due to a congenital defect of the heart or major blood vessels"
In addition to that, she suffered from DIPHTHERIA (now kept in check by immunization, but certainly no joke back in 1924 when she was born!)
Her mother PRAYED a very HANNAH, Mother of SAMUEL THE PROPHET-like PRAYER, asking GOD to please heal her daughter, and promising Him that if He did heal her, she would not sand in her way if she grew up and made the decision to SERVE HIM!!!
So it is that when, at age 25, young Miss B.V. WESTERMAN said she wanted to go off to this unheard of place across the oceans and her siblings and family were anything BUT enchanted by the prospect, Mrs. WESTERMAN had to remind them all of the PROMISE she had made to GOD regarding this daughter of hers!! And so our Miss Westerman set sail for AFRICA aboard THE BANANA BOAT in December of 1949, docking at CAMEROON'S shores only in 1950, given that the journey lasted 2 GOOD MONTHS!!!!!
NINI! NAH! NDIA! IYA! MBAMBA!
Your mortal remains now rest peacefully next to your DAD, your MOM and your SISTER out there in that HILLS OF REST cemetery but we know your SOUL is in the SAFEKEEPING of THE ONE you served so FAITHFULLY and SACRIFICIALLY. We will always be indebted to you and may God grant us - your daughters and sons, the GRACE to LIVE UP TO THE STANDARDS you set for us.
SEE YOU IN THE MORNING!
VERY GRATEFULLY,
Egbe Mbiwan Monjimbo/Ma SakerPride
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SAKERETTES TRANSGLOBAL ALLIANCE (STA) DELEGATION WITH THE WESTERMAN FAMILY
PLEASE CLICK ON THIS IMAGE TO VIEW PHOTO/VIDEO ALBUM OF VISITATION, FUNERAL & REPAST
Out "chopping fowl" and "nacking njakri" with our Cameroon Missionaries
Erstwhile Missionaries to Cameroon at the Viewing;
L to R: Mr. George Black, (Who worked at MBINGO Hospital and NDU Seminary) Mrs. Carol Black (behind), Ms Daphne Dunger (who was born in Ebolowa), Mr. Oryn Minert (Erstwhile JMBC NDU Principal and Baptist Mission Field Secretary) and Mrs. Pat Minert (Nurse)
