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.
11 October 2011
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.
16 May 2011
Each end is a beginning
The school year is coming to a close and so does much of my work. This summer I look forward to working on making tofu with some groups. I have finally succeeded in making tofu myself and hope that my women's groups will enjoy it and be able to do an income generation project with it. I will also do a summer camp for girls empowerment focusing on looking into the future. Dreaming about the future is something that is definitely missing here.
I also look forward to the next few months, making decisions about extending, and figuring out what comes after my service. I can hardly believe that I have only one quarter of my service left.
It feels like just yesterday I was getting to this country and meeting some of the best friends I will probably have in my life. And now it comes time for a few of them to leave. It is hard to see people leave. In Cameroon we were neighbors and back in the states we live so far away. I guess this will give me more excuses for cross country road trips.
With one group leaving, another one is coming. So the cycle continues. PC Cameroon has recently expanded and now due to budget cuts, we are already ‘streamlining operations.’
I also look forward to the next few months, making decisions about extending, and figuring out what comes after my service. I can hardly believe that I have only one quarter of my service left.
It feels like just yesterday I was getting to this country and meeting some of the best friends I will probably have in my life. And now it comes time for a few of them to leave. It is hard to see people leave. In Cameroon we were neighbors and back in the states we live so far away. I guess this will give me more excuses for cross country road trips.
With one group leaving, another one is coming. So the cycle continues. PC Cameroon has recently expanded and now due to budget cuts, we are already ‘streamlining operations.’
09 April 2011
Supervisors, speaking, and soirees
It has been a satisfying past few days. My supervisor recently came to visit. Before I go on I must admit that in the past my relationship with my supervisor has been tense. He is an intelligent man, but he no longer lives in the village and he loves to lecture me. I have been trying to find the best way to interact with him, but I seem to either only zone him out or listen to him and give feedback. He would prefer if it I simply nodded in agreement to everything he says. Well for whatever reasons, probably that both of us have been trying harder, we were able to have an enjoyable weekend. He listened to me when I spoke, I listened when he spoke, and he did not proceed to lecture me. We just talked and it worked out. I think we have both found new found respect for each other!
On a different topic, I just attended my village's annual development committee meeting. It was held all in patoi, so I did not catch much of it, but my friends were translating as important things were happening. Then all of a sudden someone was whispering in my ear that 'Mme Christina is going to talk about the water project.' What?!? No one said anything about this. And this entire meeting has been in patoi, which I certainly can not talk about the water project in. Slowly I stand up, the only white person in the room full of people dressed in only two different pagne outfits; one for the villagers and one for the migrants who now live in Bafoussam – I am neither. As soon as I stand up and walk to the front I call up the president of the water committee to translate for me since I think it would be rude to simply speak in French. But amazingly somehow I just start speaking to the room full of hundreds of people. I know before coming to Cameroun I would have just about had a heart attack if I was faced with this situation. I would lose my train of thought, forget what to say, and I would be shaking uncontrollably. I was able to stay very calm and just speak. It went so well and people even clapped when I was finished.
This week was development week, so along with the committee meeting there have been other events, one of which was a cultural soiree. For whatever reason I was expecting a high school dance (because it is put on by the youth). But it was a lot closer to a talent show. Most of the performances were either dancing or theater. There were even some teenagers from Cote d'Ivoire who danced. One thing that struck me as I was watching was the tradition here of giving performers money (particularly dancers). It is done by approaching the stage, jumping up there, dancing with the performer, and then placing the money on their forehead so that everyone can see. I remember when I will still in stage back in Bamena and this happened to me. I was so confused and awkward and quickly ran away from the money, letting it fall on the ground. Later it was demonstrated to me that this was a way of telling me that I was doing a great job. I am not sure if I will ever completely agree with this method, but at least now I understand it better.
My favorite act of the soiree was a short skit. Two boys, who I know well, were in it along with another girl. Each of the boys was trying desperately to flirt and get the girls attention. They were calling to her sweetly and touching her leg or arm. She did not respond and proceeded to put on her make up. Each of the boys sat down on either side of the bench inching their back toward her. In the mean time she stood up and walked away. Eventually the boys were back to back and so excited that she was finally responding to their flirtations. They were so surprised to see that it was not in fact the girl, but their friend who they were flirting with. The skit ended with them running away from each other while the audience laughed. Even though the play was all in patoi, the words were circumstantial and the humor was clear.
On a different topic, I just attended my village's annual development committee meeting. It was held all in patoi, so I did not catch much of it, but my friends were translating as important things were happening. Then all of a sudden someone was whispering in my ear that 'Mme Christina is going to talk about the water project.' What?!? No one said anything about this. And this entire meeting has been in patoi, which I certainly can not talk about the water project in. Slowly I stand up, the only white person in the room full of people dressed in only two different pagne outfits; one for the villagers and one for the migrants who now live in Bafoussam – I am neither. As soon as I stand up and walk to the front I call up the president of the water committee to translate for me since I think it would be rude to simply speak in French. But amazingly somehow I just start speaking to the room full of hundreds of people. I know before coming to Cameroun I would have just about had a heart attack if I was faced with this situation. I would lose my train of thought, forget what to say, and I would be shaking uncontrollably. I was able to stay very calm and just speak. It went so well and people even clapped when I was finished.
This week was development week, so along with the committee meeting there have been other events, one of which was a cultural soiree. For whatever reason I was expecting a high school dance (because it is put on by the youth). But it was a lot closer to a talent show. Most of the performances were either dancing or theater. There were even some teenagers from Cote d'Ivoire who danced. One thing that struck me as I was watching was the tradition here of giving performers money (particularly dancers). It is done by approaching the stage, jumping up there, dancing with the performer, and then placing the money on their forehead so that everyone can see. I remember when I will still in stage back in Bamena and this happened to me. I was so confused and awkward and quickly ran away from the money, letting it fall on the ground. Later it was demonstrated to me that this was a way of telling me that I was doing a great job. I am not sure if I will ever completely agree with this method, but at least now I understand it better.
My favorite act of the soiree was a short skit. Two boys, who I know well, were in it along with another girl. Each of the boys was trying desperately to flirt and get the girls attention. They were calling to her sweetly and touching her leg or arm. She did not respond and proceeded to put on her make up. Each of the boys sat down on either side of the bench inching their back toward her. In the mean time she stood up and walked away. Eventually the boys were back to back and so excited that she was finally responding to their flirtations. They were so surprised to see that it was not in fact the girl, but their friend who they were flirting with. The skit ended with them running away from each other while the audience laughed. Even though the play was all in patoi, the words were circumstantial and the humor was clear.
18 March 2011
Dusty Season
Dust is everywhere. Every time the wind picks up, there is more dust, when a moto drives by, when a car or truck rumbles down the road; more dust.
Right now I am dutifully waiting for the rain to come. Locals here say that the Ides of March is the official turning point between seasons, but so far no rain. Everything gets dirty right after you clean it and somehow the dust creeps into your house. Sweeping happens daily and somehow the dust still manages to be there.
Ok that is enough complaining about the dust; I just look forward to when the trees are green again, the sky is blue again, and the air is fresh.
Right now I am dutifully waiting for the rain to come. Locals here say that the Ides of March is the official turning point between seasons, but so far no rain. Everything gets dirty right after you clean it and somehow the dust creeps into your house. Sweeping happens daily and somehow the dust still manages to be there.
Ok that is enough complaining about the dust; I just look forward to when the trees are green again, the sky is blue again, and the air is fresh.
Dusty Season
Dust is everywhere. Every time the wind picks up, there is more dust, when a moto drives by, when a car or truck rumbles down the road; more dust.
Right now I am dutifully waiting for the rain to come. Locals here say that the Ides of March is the official turning point between seasons, but so far no rain. Everything gets dirty right after you clean it and somehow the dust creeps into your house. Sweeping happens daily and somehow the dust still manages to be there.
Ok that is enough complaining about the dust; I just look forward to when the trees are green again, the sky is blue again, and the air is fresh.
Right now I am dutifully waiting for the rain to come. Locals here say that the Ides of March is the official turning point between seasons, but so far no rain. Everything gets dirty right after you clean it and somehow the dust creeps into your house. Sweeping happens daily and somehow the dust still manages to be there.
Ok that is enough complaining about the dust; I just look forward to when the trees are green again, the sky is blue again, and the air is fresh.
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