Hello again Cameroon. But this time it is a bit different. I am still struggling to figure out what it is that I am supposed to be doing. I started a new job with UNICEF working on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). It seems that my direct boss is out until February, so I am left hanging a bit until she comes back. In the mean time I am reading a lot of documents in French from UNICEF to try and figure out the current situation of my program in Cameroon. It has been informative, but it gives me a headache after a few hours.
On other fronts, I have moved into my new apartment. It is a bit big for me, but hopefully soon I will have some new wicker furniture to fill it. I bought a bed and a fridge and now I am broke. Living in a big city has a much higher cost of living than a village. I could walk everywhere, but I am under more time constraints so I am forced to take cabs. The taxis are not expensive, but it adds up. Also food is much more expensive because all of it is trucked or trained in from villages. To add, there are more opportunities to spend money, like going out to a Chinese restaurant for Chinese New Year. I am trying to get into a habit of buying food on the weekends for the whole week, but I am not there yet.
Recreation and relaxation options are much greater in the city. Peace Corps Volunteers are always in and out and ready to hang out. My fellow UNICEF workers are a very interesting and experienced group of people that I hope to get to know more. My officemate is a French volunteer working on a malaria initiative. There is also an expatriate community here that organizes activities like: ultimate Frisbee and yoga! So for now, until work picks up, I am enjoying discovering the city and all of its surprises.
24 January 2012
01 January 2012
Pennsylvania for the Holidays
The United States is an interesting place. What was the first thing I did when I arrived in the western world? Well I paid about $10 for a french vanilla soy latte in the Brussels airport. I really needed a good coffee and I only had dollars on me, the shop accepted dollars but used euros, so I gave them a $20 and got 8 euro back. Was it worth it? yes it was!
So on that note people ask what I have missed most and I respond by listing a few foods: mostly cheese, good coffee, and the ability to order things like pizza and have it delivered to your door. Bagels is another big one, although I have made my fair share of bagels in Cameroon because I just couldn’t wait any more. Besides food I have missed friends and family. I have missed some milestones in people’s lives while I have been away and there is no way to go through that experience with them again. I have also missed the idea of efficiency and society valuing multitasking.
Now that I have been back for a few weeks and I am preparing my return to Cameroon I have realized that there are a lot of things I miss about Cameroon too. I miss people selling food on their heads anytime you seem to want it, especially on the road. I miss the warmth and the ability to walk everywhere I could possibly need to go. I also miss the slower paced appreciation for life. Everyone seems to be in such a rush and I feel like I am getting lost in the aftermath.
All in all I have had an amazing time seeing my friends and family for the holidays and I am so grateful that people have made time to see me. I have overindulged in cheese, coffee, and bagels. It has been great while it has lasted, but I know that I could not continue the kind of life I have been living for the past three weeks. So for that reason I am happy to be going back to Cameroon for a third year. I think this will be a great transition year because I will be living in a city and life will be a bit faster than the village life than I am used to, yet I think it will be more reasonable than the east coast pace of life in the US.
Cameroon here I come...again!
So on that note people ask what I have missed most and I respond by listing a few foods: mostly cheese, good coffee, and the ability to order things like pizza and have it delivered to your door. Bagels is another big one, although I have made my fair share of bagels in Cameroon because I just couldn’t wait any more. Besides food I have missed friends and family. I have missed some milestones in people’s lives while I have been away and there is no way to go through that experience with them again. I have also missed the idea of efficiency and society valuing multitasking.
Now that I have been back for a few weeks and I am preparing my return to Cameroon I have realized that there are a lot of things I miss about Cameroon too. I miss people selling food on their heads anytime you seem to want it, especially on the road. I miss the warmth and the ability to walk everywhere I could possibly need to go. I also miss the slower paced appreciation for life. Everyone seems to be in such a rush and I feel like I am getting lost in the aftermath.
All in all I have had an amazing time seeing my friends and family for the holidays and I am so grateful that people have made time to see me. I have overindulged in cheese, coffee, and bagels. It has been great while it has lasted, but I know that I could not continue the kind of life I have been living for the past three weeks. So for that reason I am happy to be going back to Cameroon for a third year. I think this will be a great transition year because I will be living in a city and life will be a bit faster than the village life than I am used to, yet I think it will be more reasonable than the east coast pace of life in the US.
Cameroon here I come...again!
11 December 2011
Overwhelming
I have been busy over the least month. I said bye to all of my friends in village, had a going away party, hosted 22 peace corps trainees (now volunteers) at my house, packed up all my things, and moved out of my house. And that all happened during my last day in village.
It was extremely bittersweet. I think I have been fooling myself that it wouldn’t be hard to say bye to village friends and village life. I told myself that I would still be living in Cameroon for another year so that I would have the opportunity to see everyone again. The truth is that I may see my friends again, but not in the same capacity and not for extended periods of time. So now that I have had more time to reflect, the sadness of the situation is sinking in.
Luckily during my last day, I was able to see almost everyone. I had people over to my house for a little food and dancing. Peace Corps trainees also came over, so my women’s groups showed off a little and gave presentations to the trainees about what they had learned while I was working with them. The first group presented about nutrition (using the ‘house of nutrition’ with shows the three main food groups we talk about in Cameroon: carbohydrates, proteins, and minerals/vitamins). This group has been one of in not my favorite group to work with over my time. They are always so motivated and thankful to work with me. They never omit their graciousness to my work with them. It may sound selfish, but sometimes it feels so great for people to remind you that they are greatful for what you are doing. After they talked about nutrition in general, they went more specifically into the nutrition of soy and shared tofu that they had made. It was a big hit and after a quick taste test, everyone bought more tofu. I am so proud of this group. They have perfected the art of making soy milk and tofu and they are able to share the reasons why people should be eating it. In a place where meat is not often given freely to children and there are not many other sources of protein available and/or used, the source of protein that comes from soy is crucial to the livelihood and growing years of children. This group has done a few expos about tofu so far and they are going to start selling it in market. I can not express how happy this makes me. Sometimes it is hard to see evidence of impact as a peace corps volunteer, but this is one group that continues to show me how they have changed!
Another group presented on basic hygiene practices, specifically why it is important to wash hands after going to the bathroom and before eating. This group is the one that my counterpart is in and they really have their act together. They catered my going-away party, wore matching outfits, and danced for the trainees. Everyone was really impressed by the event and it was a great way to say good-bye to my village.
So after moving out, I sent my things down to Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. This is where I will be living for the next year. At the same time, I traveled down to Buea to climb Mt. Cameroon with Kevin. We left the day after a group of PC volunteers who were also climbing. Buea was a really nice college town. Our guide was name Vitalice and we had two porters named Flaubert and Bernard. Kevin (and me a little bit) was against the idea of having porters, but eventually we accepted that this was our first mountain to climb, so we should take the advice of the Cameroonians. We embarked early Thursday morning on our planned three-day adventure. The first day we climbed slowly uphill and made it to hut 2. I wish we would have gone farther, but Vitalice says that it would have been too cold to sleep at hut 3. The first day was pretty relaxed, but we went up the steepest parts. Then we stopped to camp for the night and make dinner. Apparently water boils faster in higher altitudes (either that or our fire was burning hotter). Either way, we made pasta that turned into mush because it cooked so fast. We watched the sun set really early and then got ready for bed so that we would be set for a good day of hiking tomorrow. On Friday then we set off a little after 6. It took us about 3 hours to summit. I felt like I was going very slowly and I had trouble keeping up with Kevin. I think that the thinner air really affected me. The summit was surprisingly anti-climactic, except for the bone-chilling wind. I thought at times that I was going to be blown off the mountain. Kevin and I only stayed up long enough to take a picture before heading back down. The descent was scary at first because we were going through a lot of loose gravel. But once I realized that I could ‘ski’ down, it was a lot of fun. At this point we were making good time and the guide decided that we should try to make it all the way back to Buea today. The route we were taking was up the guiness trail (which is steep and straight up the front of the mountain) and down the mann’s springs trail (which is longer and windier). So we kept a pace to try and make it all the way back to Buea. The descent is by far the prettier and more interesting part of the hike. We walked through lava flows from 1999 and 2002. Mt. Cameroon is still an active volcano and we could see multiple calderas near the top. After making it to mann’s springs at a good time we decided to do the last four hours through the forest. By the time we made it to the forest, both Kevin and I were regretting this decision. Our bodies were tired from 9 hours of hiking already and the though of 3 more was not appealing. We kept slowly along. The forest seemed the hardest part because we were tired and it was so steep and rocky. Finally, though, we made it by a little after 6. So we went from 6-6 that day with only short breaks along the way. I was so happy to be finished, eating good food, and then sleeping on a mattress.
The next day we went to Limbe to meet up with the other crew of volunteers that started the hike the day before us. Saturday was a nice day of relaxation on the beach and exchanging hiking stories. We all went to good restaurants in Limbe and swam in the ocean. The water was very relaxing to my sore muscles.
Sunday, Kevin and I said our goodbyes. He was heading back to village and I was heading to Yaounde for a week of medical/admin stuff before starting my month of vacation in the US. It was really difficult to say goodbye to Kevin and I am going to miss him over the next month. Actually we took so long saying goodbye we basically missed our buses out of town. Instead I had to go back to Buea to find another bus to Yaounde and Kevin had to do his trip in parts, first to the Carrefour outside of Douala and then find a ride to Dschang. We both made it to our destinations by nightfall, thankfully.
My week in Yaounde went quickly as I had a lot to do to get ready for my visit to the US. I went to the artisanat and packed my bags. I made sure everything was set PC Cameroon side for my extension. And then I had a meeting with my new supervisor, Dr. Bechir, with UNICEF. He was very friendly and seemed excited to have me joining the UNICEF team. He was helpful in explaining what my role with be with the water and sanitation project and how everyone works together. I am very much looking forward to my work here. It will be nice to have such a big change, while still being in Cameroon. I feel like I will have to opportunity to experience something so different while still being a PCV. I will be living in a city and working out of an office. I think these two experiences will contrast and hopefully provide me with how the two can fit together in the development world.
So then I had a long day and a half of traveling to get back to my family. I left Friday night for the airport outside of Yaounde. It was a lot of waiting at the airport because our flight did not leave until 12:45 in the morning. Finally it did, and actually I was able to layout and sleep for this flight because it was not too crowded. Then I had a short layover in Brussels where I bought a coffee for $9. It was worth it though. The next flight dragged on to Chicago and there were these francophone men who were enjoying playing practical jokes sitting right in front of me. At first it was cute, but by the end of the flight it was enough. Then I had a 7 hour lay over in Chicago, so close to the end of the trip, but so far. Finally the last leg of my trip was in a very small plane to Allentown. Seeing my mom and mary as I walked through the airport was so surreal. I am happy and overwhelmed to be back.
I look forward to trying to catch up with everyone of the next month so please make sure to get in touch with me.
It was extremely bittersweet. I think I have been fooling myself that it wouldn’t be hard to say bye to village friends and village life. I told myself that I would still be living in Cameroon for another year so that I would have the opportunity to see everyone again. The truth is that I may see my friends again, but not in the same capacity and not for extended periods of time. So now that I have had more time to reflect, the sadness of the situation is sinking in.
Luckily during my last day, I was able to see almost everyone. I had people over to my house for a little food and dancing. Peace Corps trainees also came over, so my women’s groups showed off a little and gave presentations to the trainees about what they had learned while I was working with them. The first group presented about nutrition (using the ‘house of nutrition’ with shows the three main food groups we talk about in Cameroon: carbohydrates, proteins, and minerals/vitamins). This group has been one of in not my favorite group to work with over my time. They are always so motivated and thankful to work with me. They never omit their graciousness to my work with them. It may sound selfish, but sometimes it feels so great for people to remind you that they are greatful for what you are doing. After they talked about nutrition in general, they went more specifically into the nutrition of soy and shared tofu that they had made. It was a big hit and after a quick taste test, everyone bought more tofu. I am so proud of this group. They have perfected the art of making soy milk and tofu and they are able to share the reasons why people should be eating it. In a place where meat is not often given freely to children and there are not many other sources of protein available and/or used, the source of protein that comes from soy is crucial to the livelihood and growing years of children. This group has done a few expos about tofu so far and they are going to start selling it in market. I can not express how happy this makes me. Sometimes it is hard to see evidence of impact as a peace corps volunteer, but this is one group that continues to show me how they have changed!
Another group presented on basic hygiene practices, specifically why it is important to wash hands after going to the bathroom and before eating. This group is the one that my counterpart is in and they really have their act together. They catered my going-away party, wore matching outfits, and danced for the trainees. Everyone was really impressed by the event and it was a great way to say good-bye to my village.
So after moving out, I sent my things down to Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. This is where I will be living for the next year. At the same time, I traveled down to Buea to climb Mt. Cameroon with Kevin. We left the day after a group of PC volunteers who were also climbing. Buea was a really nice college town. Our guide was name Vitalice and we had two porters named Flaubert and Bernard. Kevin (and me a little bit) was against the idea of having porters, but eventually we accepted that this was our first mountain to climb, so we should take the advice of the Cameroonians. We embarked early Thursday morning on our planned three-day adventure. The first day we climbed slowly uphill and made it to hut 2. I wish we would have gone farther, but Vitalice says that it would have been too cold to sleep at hut 3. The first day was pretty relaxed, but we went up the steepest parts. Then we stopped to camp for the night and make dinner. Apparently water boils faster in higher altitudes (either that or our fire was burning hotter). Either way, we made pasta that turned into mush because it cooked so fast. We watched the sun set really early and then got ready for bed so that we would be set for a good day of hiking tomorrow. On Friday then we set off a little after 6. It took us about 3 hours to summit. I felt like I was going very slowly and I had trouble keeping up with Kevin. I think that the thinner air really affected me. The summit was surprisingly anti-climactic, except for the bone-chilling wind. I thought at times that I was going to be blown off the mountain. Kevin and I only stayed up long enough to take a picture before heading back down. The descent was scary at first because we were going through a lot of loose gravel. But once I realized that I could ‘ski’ down, it was a lot of fun. At this point we were making good time and the guide decided that we should try to make it all the way back to Buea today. The route we were taking was up the guiness trail (which is steep and straight up the front of the mountain) and down the mann’s springs trail (which is longer and windier). So we kept a pace to try and make it all the way back to Buea. The descent is by far the prettier and more interesting part of the hike. We walked through lava flows from 1999 and 2002. Mt. Cameroon is still an active volcano and we could see multiple calderas near the top. After making it to mann’s springs at a good time we decided to do the last four hours through the forest. By the time we made it to the forest, both Kevin and I were regretting this decision. Our bodies were tired from 9 hours of hiking already and the though of 3 more was not appealing. We kept slowly along. The forest seemed the hardest part because we were tired and it was so steep and rocky. Finally, though, we made it by a little after 6. So we went from 6-6 that day with only short breaks along the way. I was so happy to be finished, eating good food, and then sleeping on a mattress.
The next day we went to Limbe to meet up with the other crew of volunteers that started the hike the day before us. Saturday was a nice day of relaxation on the beach and exchanging hiking stories. We all went to good restaurants in Limbe and swam in the ocean. The water was very relaxing to my sore muscles.
Sunday, Kevin and I said our goodbyes. He was heading back to village and I was heading to Yaounde for a week of medical/admin stuff before starting my month of vacation in the US. It was really difficult to say goodbye to Kevin and I am going to miss him over the next month. Actually we took so long saying goodbye we basically missed our buses out of town. Instead I had to go back to Buea to find another bus to Yaounde and Kevin had to do his trip in parts, first to the Carrefour outside of Douala and then find a ride to Dschang. We both made it to our destinations by nightfall, thankfully.
My week in Yaounde went quickly as I had a lot to do to get ready for my visit to the US. I went to the artisanat and packed my bags. I made sure everything was set PC Cameroon side for my extension. And then I had a meeting with my new supervisor, Dr. Bechir, with UNICEF. He was very friendly and seemed excited to have me joining the UNICEF team. He was helpful in explaining what my role with be with the water and sanitation project and how everyone works together. I am very much looking forward to my work here. It will be nice to have such a big change, while still being in Cameroon. I feel like I will have to opportunity to experience something so different while still being a PCV. I will be living in a city and working out of an office. I think these two experiences will contrast and hopefully provide me with how the two can fit together in the development world.
So then I had a long day and a half of traveling to get back to my family. I left Friday night for the airport outside of Yaounde. It was a lot of waiting at the airport because our flight did not leave until 12:45 in the morning. Finally it did, and actually I was able to layout and sleep for this flight because it was not too crowded. Then I had a short layover in Brussels where I bought a coffee for $9. It was worth it though. The next flight dragged on to Chicago and there were these francophone men who were enjoying playing practical jokes sitting right in front of me. At first it was cute, but by the end of the flight it was enough. Then I had a 7 hour lay over in Chicago, so close to the end of the trip, but so far. Finally the last leg of my trip was in a very small plane to Allentown. Seeing my mom and mary as I walked through the airport was so surreal. I am happy and overwhelmed to be back.
I look forward to trying to catch up with everyone of the next month so please make sure to get in touch with me.
11 October 2011
Bokito
I have spent the last two weeks in the Center region in a small town, Bokito, helping to train the next group of future community health PCVs. I will spend one more week here before going back to my post for 7 more weeks. This is all just a little too real in some ways. The trainees that I am now working with will be replacing myself and my stage-mates. As a group we are leaving in two months or less. This means that my home for the last two years will no longer be my place of residence. I am saying good bye to my friends all over again – the difference here is that keeping in touch will probably be a little more difficult. So I have 7 weeks to bring activities to a close, prepare my community for a new volunteer, and say good bye. I am getting a surreal feeling about it all.
But on a positive note, I will be in the Lehigh Valley in two months – December 10 to be exact! I will be there for a month. This will give me a chance to see everyone and stock up on supplies for my final year. Please get in touch with me so that we can meet up.
Back to training…It has been really nice to help out with the new trainees. Seeing the new excitement is really inspiring and reminds me of the energy everyone had when we first got here. Also I love being able to share my experiences with a new set of people who really want to hear everything I have to say. For the first week we did not have electricity and the town was very quiet. Once the electricity came, it feels like the town woke up and there is a buzz in the air.
The election was this weekend. It was disappointingly quiet. The town shut down for the election so there was no place to hang out and observe how everything was going. I am thankful that there is no political turmoil, but it would be nice to hear the people supporting the election process. Hopefully by the end of the month, we will hear the results because paper ballots are used. Paul Biya is expected to be the winner with little to no competition (as there are 21 other candidates).
Kevin has been back in our village while I have been helping out with stage. It will be nice to go back and see him this weekend. He has applied for and received a receipt for a carte de sejour (residence card). This means that he is free to stay for at least a year, maybe even two. Logistics of this were difficult and he was doing it all while I was in Bokito. Thankfully everything seems to have worked out and we will be able to be in Cameroon together until my extension is over.
But on a positive note, I will be in the Lehigh Valley in two months – December 10 to be exact! I will be there for a month. This will give me a chance to see everyone and stock up on supplies for my final year. Please get in touch with me so that we can meet up.
Back to training…It has been really nice to help out with the new trainees. Seeing the new excitement is really inspiring and reminds me of the energy everyone had when we first got here. Also I love being able to share my experiences with a new set of people who really want to hear everything I have to say. For the first week we did not have electricity and the town was very quiet. Once the electricity came, it feels like the town woke up and there is a buzz in the air.
The election was this weekend. It was disappointingly quiet. The town shut down for the election so there was no place to hang out and observe how everything was going. I am thankful that there is no political turmoil, but it would be nice to hear the people supporting the election process. Hopefully by the end of the month, we will hear the results because paper ballots are used. Paul Biya is expected to be the winner with little to no competition (as there are 21 other candidates).
Kevin has been back in our village while I have been helping out with stage. It will be nice to go back and see him this weekend. He has applied for and received a receipt for a carte de sejour (residence card). This means that he is free to stay for at least a year, maybe even two. Logistics of this were difficult and he was doing it all while I was in Bokito. Thankfully everything seems to have worked out and we will be able to be in Cameroon together until my extension is over.
26 September 2011
UNICEF extension
A lot has been happening lately. Shortly after my summer camp, Kevin and I took a vacation to Kribi with a bunch of other people from my stage. It was a sort of last official hoorah with my stagemates, because we are no longer able to take vacation until our service is over. The week after was Close of Service (COS) conference. It was held in a nice hotel in Yaoundé. It was so great to see everyone again from my stage. But the experience was a bit jarring because it was a lot about re-entry into the US. In particular I enjoyed going to the US embassy. But the whole thing was a bit too hypothetical because I was thinking about extending my service for another year.
So on that note, I recently received word that my extension has been approved! This means that I will be spending a 3rd year in Cameroun. For this last year I will move to Yaoundé and work for UNICEF with the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) team. I am really excited because this will be a completely new experience for me. So far I have been living in a small village and working out of a community health center. At this point I feel that there is only so much I could do in this position and while the lack of structure has been freeing it has also been constraining. Once I start my new position I will be working out of an office with more of a defined role. I will hopefully still be going out into the field very often, but I will have the infrastructure of UNICEF backing me up.
Living in Yaoundé is an exciting and at the same time a scary opportunity. I have never been much of a city girl, but here is my chance to see if I can handle it. Honestly I will not enjoy the overcrowdedness and lack of personal space norms that exist in the capital. But I will really appreciate the coffee shops, weekly yoga classes, and the access to internet.
Anyway, back to what I have been up to. After COS conference I stayed in Yaoundé for 2 more weeks to plan the training for the next group of trainees for health. It was a lot of work, but we finished in and the schedule looks great. After that I went back to post for 2 weeks and now I am back again in the capital. I will be going to the training site in Bafia for 3 weeks to help with training. Our normal technical trainer is a Cameroonian who just received the opportunity to go to the US for 4 weeks. While this is great for him, it means that our new trainees will be without a wonderful trainer for their first 4 weeks. While he is gone I will be helping along with the health assistant project manager.
Also this whole time Kevin has been in Cameroun since July 7th. He is working with a local NGO called ACREST which works with sustainable and appropriate technologies. Mostly he has been working on this charcoal brickette making project. During his first week here he went down to Yaoundé to present the project to the World Bank. The project was picked among others to receive funding through Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Since then Kevin has been working to finalize the budget and time line of the project so that things can continue. He has also been experimenting with different types of kilns and methods of creating charcoal. I am not sure if he is completely satisfied with the process ACREST is currently using, but I think it is getting there. He has had a great introduction to Cameroonian culture and his French is really improving. Currently he is working to renew his visa so he can stay longer.
Since I am extending for a 3rd year I will getting 1 month of home leave which I will take from December 9, 2011 to January 8, 2012. So please make sure I get to see you during my month in the US of A!
So on that note, I recently received word that my extension has been approved! This means that I will be spending a 3rd year in Cameroun. For this last year I will move to Yaoundé and work for UNICEF with the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) team. I am really excited because this will be a completely new experience for me. So far I have been living in a small village and working out of a community health center. At this point I feel that there is only so much I could do in this position and while the lack of structure has been freeing it has also been constraining. Once I start my new position I will be working out of an office with more of a defined role. I will hopefully still be going out into the field very often, but I will have the infrastructure of UNICEF backing me up.
Living in Yaoundé is an exciting and at the same time a scary opportunity. I have never been much of a city girl, but here is my chance to see if I can handle it. Honestly I will not enjoy the overcrowdedness and lack of personal space norms that exist in the capital. But I will really appreciate the coffee shops, weekly yoga classes, and the access to internet.
Anyway, back to what I have been up to. After COS conference I stayed in Yaoundé for 2 more weeks to plan the training for the next group of trainees for health. It was a lot of work, but we finished in and the schedule looks great. After that I went back to post for 2 weeks and now I am back again in the capital. I will be going to the training site in Bafia for 3 weeks to help with training. Our normal technical trainer is a Cameroonian who just received the opportunity to go to the US for 4 weeks. While this is great for him, it means that our new trainees will be without a wonderful trainer for their first 4 weeks. While he is gone I will be helping along with the health assistant project manager.
Also this whole time Kevin has been in Cameroun since July 7th. He is working with a local NGO called ACREST which works with sustainable and appropriate technologies. Mostly he has been working on this charcoal brickette making project. During his first week here he went down to Yaoundé to present the project to the World Bank. The project was picked among others to receive funding through Catholic Relief Services (CRS). Since then Kevin has been working to finalize the budget and time line of the project so that things can continue. He has also been experimenting with different types of kilns and methods of creating charcoal. I am not sure if he is completely satisfied with the process ACREST is currently using, but I think it is getting there. He has had a great introduction to Cameroonian culture and his French is really improving. Currently he is working to renew his visa so he can stay longer.
Since I am extending for a 3rd year I will getting 1 month of home leave which I will take from December 9, 2011 to January 8, 2012. So please make sure I get to see you during my month in the US of A!
12 July 2011
Summer Camps and 4ht of July
Lately I have been very busy. My postmate, Lindsey, and I have been working on doing two short summer camps in our area. The first part was in Bamboué with girls aged 15-20. The main topics were future building, empowering girls, and sports. So we taught the girls Ultimate Frisbee with Yaya, the agro volunteer outside of Mbouda. They got the hang of it surprisingly quickly and now we have weekly Frisbee on Sundays. Overall the sessions went well. We tried to do a lot of art and creative things since most of the girls are not used to thinking out of the box. There was a minor setback for this camp; we set up a panel of professional women to come and speak to the girls to talk to them about how they became successful, but only one of the women showed up (and it was my counterpart). That was disappointing and it was supposed to be our last real session, so the camp did not end on the highest note. I had an enjoyable time with Lindsey, Yaya, Eric, and all of the girls in the camp. I really hope that the girls walked away with a better idea of opportunities available to them for their futures and the actual path they need to take to get there.
The second summer camp did not go as well. It was supposed to be with the Mbororos up in the mountains. We first encountered trouble trying to take motos up to them because we had too much stuff. The moto men were trying to rip us off and so we wasted a lot of time arguing and finally gave up. Then we decided to walk up. It took us a while and luckily on the way we found a moto to take our things for us. Then we got there and did a session on nutrition. It went really well and the mothers were all there and learning a lot. The ages were varied starting from a few years to the young mothers. It was Lindsey, myself, and Anaïs. Anaïs was the only one able to communicate in Fufuldé so we mostly spoke through her. (A side note is that my village all speaks the same patoi except for the Mbororo community which speaks Fufuldé, a Fulani, Muslim dialect. As a result this community does not communicate much with everyone else except in broken French or pidgin English.) So after the nutrition lesson we stopped for the day since we had gotten there late. We were then served two dinners of couscous and leafy sauce. I enjoyed it, but it was too much. We stayed up for the night to save time. They put us up in one of the houses near by all squished on one bed. Throughout the night my stomach was getting more and more upset. By morning I was not doing so well. Luckily I tried to push through so that I could milk a cow. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. We saw a baby calf just after it was born too. This day we did not get to do most of the work that we had planned, but we were able to do sports and some art with the kids. To end we took horses down back to my house. I am not sure the kids got much out of the short camp, but I can hope.
For the 4th of July the American Embassy had a party a little early. It was their ‘social event of the year’ and it featured the Peace Corps 50 year anniversary. 50 Peace Corps Volunteers were invitied along with over 1000 other guests. There were Embassy people, other international embassy staff, as well as important Cameroonians. I really enjoyed being able to get to meet several new people. Hearing about the lifestyles of foreign service officials was enlightening and bizarre. They are able to live in a virtual America even in Cameroon. We were just as bizarre to them.
On the actual 4th I went to Dschang and spent an afternoon at the pool with some other volunteers. We made pizza for dinner with potato salad and mango cobbler. What more can you ask for? Also I cut my hair! I now have bangs and about 8 fewer inches. It is much easier to wash now.
The second summer camp did not go as well. It was supposed to be with the Mbororos up in the mountains. We first encountered trouble trying to take motos up to them because we had too much stuff. The moto men were trying to rip us off and so we wasted a lot of time arguing and finally gave up. Then we decided to walk up. It took us a while and luckily on the way we found a moto to take our things for us. Then we got there and did a session on nutrition. It went really well and the mothers were all there and learning a lot. The ages were varied starting from a few years to the young mothers. It was Lindsey, myself, and Anaïs. Anaïs was the only one able to communicate in Fufuldé so we mostly spoke through her. (A side note is that my village all speaks the same patoi except for the Mbororo community which speaks Fufuldé, a Fulani, Muslim dialect. As a result this community does not communicate much with everyone else except in broken French or pidgin English.) So after the nutrition lesson we stopped for the day since we had gotten there late. We were then served two dinners of couscous and leafy sauce. I enjoyed it, but it was too much. We stayed up for the night to save time. They put us up in one of the houses near by all squished on one bed. Throughout the night my stomach was getting more and more upset. By morning I was not doing so well. Luckily I tried to push through so that I could milk a cow. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. We saw a baby calf just after it was born too. This day we did not get to do most of the work that we had planned, but we were able to do sports and some art with the kids. To end we took horses down back to my house. I am not sure the kids got much out of the short camp, but I can hope.
For the 4th of July the American Embassy had a party a little early. It was their ‘social event of the year’ and it featured the Peace Corps 50 year anniversary. 50 Peace Corps Volunteers were invitied along with over 1000 other guests. There were Embassy people, other international embassy staff, as well as important Cameroonians. I really enjoyed being able to get to meet several new people. Hearing about the lifestyles of foreign service officials was enlightening and bizarre. They are able to live in a virtual America even in Cameroon. We were just as bizarre to them.
On the actual 4th I went to Dschang and spent an afternoon at the pool with some other volunteers. We made pizza for dinner with potato salad and mango cobbler. What more can you ask for? Also I cut my hair! I now have bangs and about 8 fewer inches. It is much easier to wash now.
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