The journey to apartment nr. 15

On Wednesday the 5^th of October I left home at 3:30 am together with my parents to drive to Kjevik airport outside of Kristiansand. Saying goodbye to them for the last time in six months, was not as hard as it was the last time I travelled by myself to stay somewhere else for this long. So when I had finally checked inn my two suitcases and got to the gate, that’s when I realised that I am actually going to Africa!!

The flight to Amsterdam went all right; I managed to find my way to the gate quite easily and boarded the next plane pretty satisfied.  In Paris I met Sara-Jeanette and we travelled together on the last flight. The flight from Paris to Yaoundé lasted for five hours. I managed to watch two films while Sara-Jeanette was sleeping.

Sara-Jeanette and me at the airport in Paris

At the airport in Yaoundé we were met by our contact person Amos and drove to a hotel there. It was so hot when we got here but after a while we got a little used to it. The day after Amos showed us around in the capital of Cameroon, and we bought new phones and sim-cards. We also visited the Norwegian Consulate before we went to catch the train to Ngaoundéré. 

The train journey was very interesting; we stopped after one minute and found out that there was a problem with the train... We started again with a jolt and continued on our way with a lot of noise, jerks and bumping. The random stops continued throughout the trip and it took us 14 hours before we were at the station in Ngaoundéré on the 8^th of October. 

Women and children selling food through the trainwindows

It is astonishing how the African people can carry very heavy things on their heads! I have thought about it before when I have seen it on pictures and films, but WOW! When we came to the train station here, the carrier we used, took TWO suitcases on his head. And they were both about 24 kilos! 


We were met by the missionaries and driven to the Mission Station here. We were served breakfast at the Bischler family’s house, and were showed to our apartment.
Here we met the two NMS “one-year-volunteers” Runar and Kristian, they live in the apartment next to us.

Apartment nr. 15

The first day here in Ngaoundéré has been great! We have met allot of people and seen a lot of different things! We joined in on leading the Sports club for the youngsters here at the station. And we have eaten a good dinner and had a chance to pack out most of our things after we had chosen which bedroom we wanted. I am looking forward to seeing more of the town here and living together with Sara-Jeanette :)


I have a feeling this is going to be a great year!
Johanne Teresie