Lolodorf

I am just getting back from a trip to the south in Lolodorf. I went there to help another volunteer, Amanda, with a camp she was hostin. It was a week long overnight camp for boys and girls ages 11-15. It was fun, interesting, and challenging. We had a lot of great community speakers come and talk to the children about: waterborn diseases, reproductive health, STDS and HIV/AIDS. We played soccer everyday. The best part was probably the nightly camp fires. The power was out in the town so at night we would sit around the fire waiting for dinner, singing; dancing, and storytelling.

One of my favorite songs is called "ya ya tinga" One girl picks out a girl and a guy from the audience while everyone is singing ya ya tinga. Then the girl directs the couple to shake hands, hug, kiss, and dance together. Everyone gets so into it. The energy is just amazing.

The people in the south are different from the Bamileke that I am used to. The two main ethnic groups where I was were the Bassa and the Bulu. In the south the people are known for being lazy and aggressive, an interesting combination. Overall I think the people are more attractive as well. But in the end I missed all my friends from post and am so happy to be back and speaking my patoi again.