A Memory

            In the Fall of 1963, I was with the group in N’dende working on the school there. Bill Wilkes asked (?) me to take a truck and travel up to Fougamou to do some preliminary work on the school site there: 2 schools and, I believe, 6 teachers houses, ultimately to be expanded to 4 schools and 12 houses in the region. Tentative arrangements had been made for me to stay with Edia & Carolyn Silvis, Protestant Missionaries, at least until the full crew moved in to town. Their Mission was directly across the road from the new school sites.

            So, on October 1st, I packed up and drove up to Fougamou. When I got there, I discovered that the Silvis’ were on Home Leave, but were expected back any day. Being young, inexperienced, but somewhat resourceful (I was a Peace Corps Volunteer, after all!) I made arrangements to stay at the local Caisse de Passage until they returned. Of course, at the Caisse, there were no cooking facilities, just a bare room with a bare bed and a bare table, no electricity, but a community shower and toilet. Food became an issue, despite our boxes of Ready-to-Eat Meals! The SHO was just up the street and I could augment the meals from there, but I was ready for some good home-cooked meals from Carolyn’s kitchen. As Edia was to be my point of contact, I didn’t even feel that I could start the process of buying stone, digging sand, and all of the other little things needed for the schools. So, I just waited, day after day. The sous-prefet had no knowledge of schools to be built nor any money from Libreville to finance them, so I couldn’t even strike out on my own.

            The Silvis’ arrived around the 10^th of the month: Edia, Carolyn, and 6 year old Priscilla. They were late returning because they had taken the older two children to the Protestant Mission in the Congo (as my memory serves) for the school year. This was at a time when the Congo was enduring some internal unrest and stories of atrocities kept filtering back to us. (Rumor had it that at times in N’dende; we could hear the mortar shells firing from the Congo . Unconfirmed!!)The other big issue for them was that the barge which was bringing all of the donated items which they had been accumulating during their year’s Home Leave had sunk in the Ogouwe between Port Gentil and Lambaréné. They lost it all except for a gasoline power mower to cut their grass and a couple of drums full of soggy, moldy clothing. Life was hard for Missionaries in those days.

            Anyway, they returned, I made contact, and we agreed that I could rent a room from them including meals, for an unspecified period of time. Edia had been in-country since 1959, so had many contacts to use for laterite, sand, labor, etc. Not only that, but he was fluent in Eshira and knew the local village elders for miles around. His previous 4 years in-country made him an invaluable resource.

            Living with the family was an interesting study in contrasts. I was not a particularly religious guy, a smoker, and didn’t mind tipping a few every now and then. Life with the Silvis’ of course revolved around their religious beliefs and their reasons for being in Gabon in the first place: conversion to their faith. There was grace at meals, services on Sunday, and a much different attitude towards life in general. But it was nice to have a house boy and cook, as well as someone to handle the wash. There were also conversations about what we were doing in Gabon , colonialism, US politics, the aims of the Missionary Societies, etc. There were also trips to the brush to visit some of ‘their’ villages. At times, I’m sure, both Edia and Carolyn felt a certain level of frustration with this rough talking, idealistic young American they had taken in. However, the long term benefits for both of us were worth it: schools were being built for the improvement of the local community.

            The group arrived around the 5^th of November, rented a house from the sous-prefet along the river in town, and construction began. Kennedy’s assassination happened shortly after and at the end of November we all traveled to Mouila for the day to celebrate Thanksgiving, a non-Gabonese holiday! At some point during all this, I contracted malaria for the 2^nd time and was laid up for about 2 weeks. Fortunately, Carolyn had training as a nurse and cared for me until I could get about again. Her care was much better than if I had been living in the group’s house, I’m sure!! It was also at this time that the infamous Gabon Viper incident happened, which has already been discussed here.

Toward the middle of December, Edia found it necessary to travel to Libreville for a couple of weeks, leaving Carolyn and Priscilla at home. He asked that I move in with the guys while he was gone, as he felt that it wouldn’t look good to his community for a single man to be staying alone with his wife and child. So, I moved into the house for a while, and then moved back with the Silvis’ when he returned. After our Christmas trip (memorable for lots of reasons!!!) Don Reighard & I drove trucks back to Fougamou and points south to drop off supplies. I returned to the Silvis’ and in the next week or so, went up to N’djole to wait for a barge load of cement which was 2 weeks late in arriving.

 So ended my stay with the Silvis’. When I left, they presented me with a signed copy of their Bible, inscribed:

To Steve Bean,

     A souvenir of days

at Fougamou. We hope

and pray that this Book

will become as great a

treasure to you as it is

to us.

Edia and Carolyn Silvis

 

It was a memorable time with them, a piece of home away from home for me at an important time in my life. I still have the Bible.  

            I never re-contacted Edia nor Carolyn during the remainder of my time in Gabon . In fact, over the years, with school, marriage, kids, work, etc., I could never seem to find the time to drop a note to BP 7 at Fougamou to see how they were doing. Finally about 3 years ago, I contacted their Society (the Web works wonders these days!!) and received their address and phone number. After a couple of more years of procrastination, I called Edia and we talked for about an hour and a half, bringing each other up to date on happenings in his family and mine.

            While still in Gabon , they moved around some, leaving Fougamou for Mouila, then out into the bush, and then back to Fougamou. They built an elementary school on their property, using material from the school we built at Youmbi. That school was being torn down and the material was theirs for the hauling. They left Gabon in 1987 or 88, and came back to the States. His father was in poor health and they needed to be closer. Sadly, Carolyn was diagnosed with a brain tumor in April of 2005 and passed away shortly thereafter, an event that drew the family back together after a period of separation and estrangement. Edia has since remarried, an old friend from 8^th grade! I asked Edia if had ever put his experiences down on paper for his kids or future generations. He hasn’t done so yet. However, he does have a basement full of treasures and trinkets from their years in Gabon which he will need to do something with one of these years.

            As with all of us, my memories of that time with the family are precious to me. If I only knew then what I know now, etc., etc., but hindsight is 20/20 as they say. 

   

Steve Bean

March 21, 2007