Four Year Anniversary!

The 25th of July we celebrated four years of Green Eyes in Africa in Cameroon. Every year that passes is full the good, bad, sad, happy, scary, exciting, triumphant, disgusting, inspiring, overwhelming, empowering, wonderful, miraculous...thinking over the past four years is quite overwhelming to me. But miraculous is the word that best describes how I see where we are today.
Our four-year celebration was my favorite Green Eyes in Africa event we’ve ever had, hands down. We were honored with the presence of the U.S. Ambassador, Janet Garvey, and many other prominent individuals. We spent days getting everything ready for our big “Hoedown” event. It was a blast to put everything together…I thought the best way to share the experience is to take on the third-person voice of a party guest….
I interviewed an actual diplomat who attended the party. The following is based on that interview.
Welcome to Yaounde, July 25 2009…4 pm.
About a week ago I received an invitation from Green Eyes in Africa for the party today. Inside my invitation was an adorable drawing by a child that had the words, “I hope you can come” written on it. How could I refuse such an offer?
Today was a day I shan’t soon forget…
After battling crazy traffic in Yaounde, I turned down a bumpy dirt road full of pot holes. I thought, “Where the heck is this place?” My invitation had directions, but with no street names or address numbers, I was sure to get lost. The street ended…there was the Green Eyes in Africa mini-bus and many other cars…I made it.
I walked through an obviously home-built tin gate, down little stepping stones surrounded by red earth and I saw the garage area decorated as if it were a barn, full of rope, lanterns, a griddle, cowboy hats, cans of beans, and more. A large painting on wood was hanging from the ceiling. It was of a sunset with the silhouette of a lone cowboy and it said, “Welcome to the Green Eyes in Africa Ranch Where Dreams Begin.” I heard the song “Ghost Riders in the Sky” playing on speakers and I saw many other smiling guests munching on appetizers and talking. The crowd was about half foreigners like me and half Africans, the Green Eyes in Africa family.
Dozens of children were running about dressed in different costumes. One was dressed as a Chinaman, another as an Italian ballerina. I knew we were in for a show—it wouldn’t be a Green Eyes in Africa get-together without dance performances. Ryan greeted me wearing a Green Eyes in Africa t-shirt, a neckerchief, cowboy boots and a large cowboy hat. Behind him came Olivier dressed identically. These people really got into the hoedown theme! “Howdy!” they said with enthusiastic handshakes.
I wondered if I was safe…there were “bullet marks” on the walls! I suppose there had been a shootin.’ I read a sign painted in redneck handwriting. It said: “Rules: 1. No shootin’ ‘fore 5 a.m. 2. No ladyfolk after 9 p.m. 3. Clean up after yer own horse 4.Keep yer briches on.” Another sign said, “Round Up Yer Donations! –Billy the (orphaned) Kid.”
Apparently the Sundance Kid had passed by earlier that day and written on a wall with coal. It said, “It just ain’t gentlemanlike to let those poor lil kids get to suffrin.’ I reckon as much.” I agreed with what he wrote. There was much more to see but Ryan and others came “roundin’ up” all the “folks” for the big hoedown kick-off dance. A group of enthusiastic adults and kids straight out of the Wild West did Ryan’s version of the “Hoedown Throwdown” dance from the Hannah Montana movie. They got the audience clapping and stomping and laughing out loud. I wonder who taught the kids to wink at the audience when they dance…they had obviously worked very hard.
As I mingled in the crowd, I met people from France, Germany, Japan, Cameroon, the United States, Jerusalem and more. It was entirely appropriate that the second dance was to the song, “It’s a Small World.” Ryan, Olivier and a group of kids representing America, Cameroon, China, Italy, Kenya and Tahiti danced their hearts out with ear-to-ear smiles to a reggae-remix of the famous song. They were supposed to have a British Soldier to complete the group, but that little boy had just been operated on and he wasn’t ready to perform.
Ryan and Olivier then gave very moving speeches. Ryan read the poem, “Don’t Quit” and paused many times in order to control his emotions. He obviously believed very strongly in what he read. Olivier’s speech impressed me very much, especially his words about the power of music and reading in children’s lives. His words about the future of Green Eyes in Africa also gave me much hope. He and Ryan work together to help the American side of the work balance with the Cameroonian side. Judging from the smiles on everyone’s faces in the pictures all over the house—they’re balancing things very well.
I wandered back into the yard and met a fellow for whom Green Eyes in Africa is caring —Idrissou. His face is terribly deformed with an extra appendage hanging down to his chest. But he was dressed in spectacular traditional clothing from his Northern Village (close to Chad) in Cameroon. It was cream colored and embroidered with sparkling maroon fabric. I wish he spoke English, his one visible eye told me that he has a tender soul. Ryan and Olivier introduced him to the American Ambassador as if he were their guest of honor.
I spent a good ten minutes in front of a large, framed painting of the “Green Eyes in Africa Family Tree” covered in small photos and photo captions. I saw all of the children and families that are currently being helped, people who have been helped in the past and moved on, and dozens and dozens of big-hearted, smiling volunteers amongst the “roots” of the tree. I was there in the roots. I felt proud to be part of this work.
I saw many guests gathering in front of what looked to be a Swiss-like mountain-village-esque area. On the wood yard barrier was a large, hand-painted Matterhorn Mountain and amongst white-washed rocks was a little Swiss Cottage on a huge heap of dirt with a sign in front of it that said, “Die EntrichHaus Von Der Wunderschon Berg.” Ryan told me this means, “The Duck House of the Wonderful Mountain.” Ducks were waddling around behind a fence marked with the words, “Imagination is Power.” But on a sad note, there was a little pink cross below the mountain.
Olivier told me that the day before the party, the guard dog got loose early in the morning and killed three residents of the Duck House of the Wonderful Mountain. One female was found dead, and Ryan attempted to nurse two others who were badly torn apart. They didn’t’ make it. Olivier said that Ryan cried and cried but that the four-year anniversary party was a good distraction from the sad event.
The premises of the new Green Eyes in Africa headquarters are rather small, but there was so much to see and do at this party. In the Pirate Room there was a music video showing touching images of Green Eyes in Africa’s work from the past four years. There were happy images and many I wish I could forget. But it’s important that people like me understand the realities of Green Eyes in Africa’s work. I suppose the difficulties they face are made lighter through their use of imagination.
Imagination is perhaps the most prominent ingredient in the whole Green Eyes in Africa Headquarters experience. From the “Pirate Room,” a room decorated like a pirate ship filled with swashbuckling objects and pretend treasure, to the mini-library surrounded with decorations representing every corner of the world, to the Swiss Mountain, to the Hoedown room…it was a lot of fun. It was all the more fun when I was given a tour by a bright “tour guide” child representing Green Eyes in Africa.
The evening went on and the fifty or so guests gradually began to leave. The last two dance performances were a hoot. One was a tap dance to an Abba song; the other an 80s tribute to the song “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston. They have so many beautiful costumes that were donated by friends in the U.S. That’s definitely showbiz (with), kids.
I wrote a comment in the guest book and glanced once again around the yard. I saw Grandma Abomo cuddling little two-year-old Majoie, one of six orphans for whom Grandma Ambo is responsible. They’re one of the Green Eyes in Africa families. I was glad to have attended this event and to have put something into the donation bag. I left in the hopes that more people like me will keep this work alive so that in another four years, when she’s six, Majoie will still be healthy and happy in her Grandmother’s arms.
Congratulations Green Eyes in Africa. Here’s to four more years…

(Lots of photos of the celbration on www.photobucket.com/GreenEyesinAfrica)