We were able to visit the refugee camp just north of our Cameroon border town when on our way to Yaounde last week. It is a huge place, and I didn’t have much hope of running into anyone that I knew. Some say there are 8,000 people there, some say 12,000. Whatever the number, it is TOO many, and it is overwhelming to think of this whole ethnic/religious group having been chased from CAR. We started walking into the camp and we hadn’t gone but about 50 yds when a man came up to us with a grin a mile wide. His was the last big group of Fulani that had come through our town, the group that we were able to help out with food and also some medicine for the rampant eye infections of the kids. They were the group that had been on foot for about 6 weeks, with one guy, a handful of moms, and a baziliion kids, having separated from the other adults in their clan and their cattle early on in their trek. Kim had helped them get across the river and they had amazingly run into the rest of their group very quickly. Now, what joy to see them! The kids’ eyes are all cleared up, and they basically mobbed us, excited to see a familiar face. A couple of the children who had been emaciated are putting weight back on. A young girl with what looked like polio seemed to be doing quite well given the circumstances. That encounter made my day, I’ll tell you what! We are so thankful for the UN’s work on giving these newly homeless ones such a place to live as they wait to see what the future will bring. Please keep praying for these displaced friends, for the country of CAR, for healing and peace!
