Pictures!

I stayed up almost all night to upload photos and now I have a shutterfly account. You can check out lots of photos
here

Engineering and Politics

I am certainly not an engineer and sometimes I wish that I had my dad, the engineer, with me here. but I am learning a lot of innovative ways to make something with the few materials I have. Right noz I am working on making tippy-taps for the primary schools. For those of you that don't know, tippy-taps are bottles that are filled with water to serve as a make shift faucet for those places that do not have running water. There are many different models and I am trying to work out one where you have a hanging bottle and then you pull a string to invert the bottle and allow water to come out.

The reason that I am working on this is because last time I was at the primary schools we were talking about the fecal-oral route and how to prevent these diseases. ONe main way is washing your hands after using hte latrine. Se we walked over to investigate the latrine situation. Guess what? There was no place to wash your hands. So I told them to think about what we could do and I would think too. The next time I come we are goign to figure it out.

Back to the engineering thing, though. I think Cameroonians have engineering brians - and not necessariy hypothetical or theoretical brains. Obviously this is a huge over generalisation, but nonetheless here is my logic: Cameroonians can fix anything to make it work. The just need to see it and they will figure it out. I would say that they are learners by doing things hands on. NOw they do not necessarily fix it 'properly' but it works.

Maybe I have talked about this before, but as an example, the children make these amazing toy cars. They use old sandal shoes for the foamy wheels, sardine tins for the body, and rafia limbs for everything else. The amazing part is that they attach a long limb that splits off into a steering wheel that they use to drive the toy car. I know that I could not have made something that complex as a toy for myself at the ages that these kids start constructing them.

Now on to politics: local politics are a funny thing. Every month, we, my health center, do a mobile vaccination day in several small villages that are farther away from the health center. Yesterday I went to help out for the one at Batsepou. When I got there, guess what I found? A brand new health center! It was like it magically appeared. They had new beds and chairs and tables. I have no idea where the money came from for any of this or who came up with the idea. All that I do know is that no one informed our health center (which is the main health center for the area and in charge of all the others) or even the health committee (the president of which lives almost across the street from this brand new health center)!

Then since no one was informed my health center wanted to call it quits on the vaccination day, but the new health center is private and without a fridge - aka no money for the vaccines of a way to store them.

Finally, though, we decided to do the vaccination day anyway so that it would not look like we were against this new health center. After that we went to the local cheif and told him to appoint a health delegate for the health committee so that we would not have issues like this happen again. When we went to visit the chief we chatted for a while and drank palm wine. The first batch was very strong and all the men I was with liked it a lot. I only took one glass because when it is strong like that it smells like vinegar. Then They brought out some more that was sweet and fresh. I had another glass while the men sent it back for a stronger version.

Oh Cameroon!

Hail?!

So maybe the rainy season is finally starting. It came for one week in March and the rains have yet to return in full swing. But the other day we finally had a downpour. It was even hailing! That is the first time I saw hail in Cameroon, but I am sure it will not be the last.

As a side note to that, I used the water from the storm to shower with: very cold and I am guessing that the hail did not help that.

This morning I went for a run and I tried to make it a little bit longer by taking a slightly different path. I ended up about 2 hours from my house before I knew where I was. But now I know a few more roads near me (or rather not the near).

Now I am off to an all day meeting, my favorite kind - not.

La fete de travaille

Today is Labor day. What does that mean...instead of working we get to have parades! I am in Mbouda, where my prefecture is to see the parades today. My postmate is marching with his bank and I am just going to hang out and watch everyone else. Unlike for Women's day where I marched, I have no stress about today. It is nice to come to a city every once in a while, but I think it makes me appreciate my post more. It is so quiet at my post; I can go running without getting harassed; it is cool out and there are a lot less mosquitoes.

Lately I feel like my life has been all over and so it has been hard to post a lot. Work is coming together at the primary schools. We have been talking about clean water and the oral fecal route recently, so our next step is to try and make tippy taps at the school latrines so that everyone can wash their hands with soap after going to the bathroom. I am trying to figure out a good model for the tippy taps right now with the available resources.

I am also working with a few womens groups on making soap. it is surprisingly easier than I thought to make soap. Three ingredients: caustic soda, water, and oil. I think the problem is that the soap does not smell well, but the women do not seem to think it is a problem; generally soap here is unscented (or rather smells like palm oil).

My health committee delegates have decided that water is the big problem. So we are going to work on an action plan for how to address the problem from the perspective of decreasing the water-borne diseases. I am happy that everyone is showing up for the meetings and excited to do work. Hopefully we can come up with some inexpensive ways to fix things and then eventually work up to the spending money for a project. My biggest fear is that we could get money for a project and then they would think that money just comes out of nowhere.

Well I am going to watch the parades now, shout out to my sister...Happy Birthday Mary, I love you and I miss you.

4 Months at Post

Has it really been only 4 months in my new home ? I just got back from a conference for the Peace Corps and I can not tell you how glad I am to be back home to Bamboué. I can greet people in patoi again, people know who I am, it is great.

A lot of good things have been happening lately. I have been meeting with a few new groups who seem really motivated. One in particular is a group of health delegates. We just did a community survey and are about to analyze it together to figure out where to go next. Hopefully everyone will work well together and we will be able to work on a project. I will try to keep updates about that coming.

Just so that everyone knows and does not worry about me, my water is back for the most part. It comes and goes, but it is not a problem. I am also way better at carrying things on my head now. Even with no hands!

I have been really busy lately and hope to write more soon.

Water

How many times a day do you use water without thinking about it? Recently the water in my house was turned off, and now due to the rainy season the pipes keep getting clogged and so there is no water. When I am able to get water it is visibly dirty.

All of this has made me think about all the times I use water and how difficult and dirty life is without water. The obvious times: bucket bathing, after using the bathroom, to brush my teeth, etc. But then also to wash my dishes, to flush my toilet, to wash my clothes, to wash my vegetables/fruit, and to wash my hands while I am preparing food when they get dirty. When you do not have running water, or any water for that matter, it really makes you think about all the times when you use water.

It also makes me understand why people do not wash their hands regularly, and how they use and reuse water regularly. When water is not something that just magically comes out of the faucet; you would think twice for using it just to clean your hands because they feel a little dirty too. (or at least I do now). So this is how and why fecal oral route diseases are so common here. I have been giving health presentations to primary school children talking specifically about this topic. But changing these behaviors will be much harder said than done.

I have not had water for three days now; you may ask how has that changed my life? And I would say, great question. Well I have not washed my dishes for three days for one thing. I flush the toilet once a day if that because it just feels like the biggest waste of water. This is why I wish I had a latrine. But I still shower everyday and wash my hands. The problem is that I need to walk about a half hour to get to the nearest source and back. Now, though since the water is out on most pipes, there is a long line at the source. So I usually can wait for 20 minutes or so. But I am certainly getting better at carrying it on my head!

Get Down With It

This morning for breakfast I sucked on a juicy mango. You know what this means, mango season is coming soon. I found some mangos in the Mbouda market yesterday and I am not sure if I could be happier to know that supposedly I will be sick of mangos by the end of the season (I wonder if it is possible). Not to dwell on the subject too long, but mangos here taste different, just like the pineapples. They are sweeter, fresher, and truly amazing. I am not sure if I could eat a mango or a pineapple ever again in the states after tasting the fruit’s perfection here.

Recently I think I have been going through some difficult times, just with feeling like I am alone here and that no one can empathise. But things seemed to have taken an upward turn for now and my daily rhythms feel natural and exciting. In several ways my life has slowed down a lot and relaxed. I am no longer working two to three jobs while taking classes and simultaneously trying to plan the rest of my life. Now I am here in Cameroon living in the moment instead of for the future. I am assessing the needs of the community and figuring out projects to plan and other ways that I can be helpful. Some days it feels like a lot and other days it feels like too little (especially when I think back to how I lived in the states).

So after six months of living in Cameroon, I know that there is still a lot for me to learn, but it is finally my home.

I had a realisation the other day while watching a soccer game. The children at the primary school in Tsopeau (the small village farthest up in the mountains) were playing on the triangle shaped piece of grass that was there. On a side note, grass is an unusual soccer field here, it is typically just the mud/dirt ground. Goals were set up on either end, and somewhere during the game I got lost watching the ball go back and forth. And then I had a moment of clarity, no one was playing by any set of official rules, the children were playing within the realm of what they had. The out of bounds was identified by were the grass happened to end. This led me to think about life in general here. And I think this soccer game example can be projected onto other parts of life. No one here lives by rules that have been created that serve no purpose. People live by what is actually here; they do what they can to get by, and if they can get away with something they do that too.

When I play cards with the children that come over to my house, everyone always looks at the others cards, why, because they can. And they try to play cards that are incorrect according to the rules, why, because if no one noticed then they got away with it. Maybe that is just an example of kids who have yet to learn, but I think they have learned. They have learned that they need to do what it takes in order to win (a card game, or at a job, etc.).

I do not think this is necessarily a bad thing, on the contrary, it made me realize that I follow a lot of rules blindly. I know that I am supposed to do something, why, because there is a rule or a law that says so. But then most of the rules that I am used to following do not even apply here. Why should a soccer field be square if only a triangle is available?

Now I would argue that there are still lots of social norms that everyone follows regularly, but because they apply to the current situations, not because it is a rule that descends from the central government. One thing I am learning about life here, (advice from my postmate) is that ‘not only do you have to accept many things the way they are, but you need to get down with it!’ I have started taking this recommendation seriously and it makes life so much easier. There are of course things that I will never ‘get down with’ so to speak, but I can pick the parts of the culture and not only accept it but come to really appreciate it.

Here are some examples:
Carrying things on my head. I have not quite been able to do it with out hands yet, but I realize that this is actually a better way of carrying heavy things. It takes less energy over all and you can keep your hands free. I just need to build up my neck muscles some more and work on my balancing skills!

Importance of food and drink. When people offer you food and/or drink it is important to accept. In particular kola nuts and palm wine are traditionally important. Also I have realized that it is also important to have these things available when people come over to my house.

Local language. Most people speak limited French and really only speak ngiemboon (local patoi). If people are going to take me as a community member I need to be able to communicate and show them that I am trying. I can finally confidently greet people and say several other random things!

Making sport on Sundays. While I run almost everyday, Sunday is the unofficial official day of sports for everyone here. I am very happy that I have been able to ‘join’ the kung fu club and do sports with them Sunday mornings really early, often just before heading to church with one of my women’s group.

Tu m’as gardé quoi? Roughly translated, you were thinking of me, so what did you get me. At first I think I found this really offensive. Why was I supposed to bring you something? But now I joke with them and ask them what they have for me instead. And I have realised that sometimes gift giving can go a long way, I am just sure not to do it all the time or it would become expected.

On a slightly different note, the rains have started to come just as quickly as they disappeared. What does this mean, I will have to learn to get down with it raining every single day and the mud that comes along with it.

Oh life in Cameroon, I love it!