“You don’t need to know what I do all day / It’s as much as I know - watch it waste away / ‘Cause I’ll tell you everything about living free”

I’ve been a bit lax in keeping up on the day-to-day events, so I’ll catch up at least to the end of August.

The sensitizations in various quartiers have gone well, though lectures eventually just disintegrate into comedy sessions with the crazy white lady.  Case in point, my attempt to inject some humor while giving a diarrhea/dysentery presentation to a men’s group.  Translated to English, it went a little something like this:

                Me: Raise your hand if you’ve had diarrhea in the last week.

                (I shoot my hand up in the air but no one joins me.)

                Me: Just me?!  Just the American?  Come on!!!  You’re lying!

    Me: Okay…who likes eating feces?

                (Bewildered looks.  Bleating goat even appears to have raised an eyebrow.)

Me: No one, right?  Of course not!  Yet, let’s look at the fecal-oral route of disease transmission.  (Unveiling my artistic rendition of this as we examine the pathways.)

Me: So obviously somehow we’re putting this in our bodies.  How?  Let me give you an example.  Imagine I pooped this morning and didn’t wash my hands.  Now, I know everyone is super friendly here in Cameroon so I see Francois and know I must greet him.

Me: (Shaking Francois’ hand heartily while sporting a big smile) “Hello, Francois!  How are you?  How’s the family?  Everything’s good?”  (Breaking character)

Me: (Turning to the crowd) It’s possible that Francois has poop on his hand now, right?

(Francois is now looking back and forth between his hand and me giving a look nothing short of terrified.)

Me: (Reassuring Francois) I promise, I washed my hands with soap and water this morning.  But, what happens if Francois and I share a meal right now…?

Development work tends to focus on women and children – and with good reason.  However, I find the men seem to be less annoyed by my presence and more receptive to chatting and learning…so I’ll work with whatever audience I can get.  Although they aren’t responsible for preparing meals or caring for sick children, they hold a lot of power when it comes to finances and making decisions as the head of the family, so I’m convinced they’re a good target group.

I didn’t think it was possible, but the rainy season has made it even colder in village. 

We even had a freak hailstorm one day

This means I’ve been keeping busy preparing warm and hearty dishes for dinner, including corn chowder, ginger green beans, upside down pineapple cake, carrot cake, a spicy curry ginger carrot sauce for rice, and vegetarian sloppy joes.  I’ve had fun hosting a few PCVs, too – which is better than eating these meals by myself for 3 days.  Of course, all this cooking meant that my seemingly bottomless gas bottle finally ran out.  I did gain some “street cred” – er, “village cred” – when I carried the empty tank through my neighborhood until I found a moto-man, though.

My village hosted an agricultural expo show.  A woman from a nearby village who has been making and selling tofu with success came to lead out for a demonstration.  Although there were some logistical problems (finding wood, building the fire, locating a working grinding machine), it all worked out and we had a GREAT crowd for the presentation.  It was fantastic having a few other volunteers there to help answer questions and troubleshoot, but to be honest the star of the day was the Cameroonian woman, Nadege. 

Although she initially comes across as timid, she is definitely in her element when preparing the tofu and did a great job describing the process as well as the benefits of soy.  Almost everyone loved the soy milk and tofu – and I always enjoy seeing their disbelief by the fact that not only is it the liquid that results in the firm product, but that there is no meat in it.   

The chief of the village even made an appearance at our “booth”

The jury is still out as to whether or not he liked it though

Speaking of rural-life formalities, we continued our string of cultural events.  This included the traditional dance of the notables.   

Apparently we have a female notable - pretty rare but progressive.

There was also a soirée culturelle one evening with dancing, lip syncing, a Q&A contest for the youth, sketches/comedy, and poetry.  It was really entertaining, but I left at 10pm since I knew I had a half-hour walk in the pitch-black dark to get back to my house.  I’m told the party lasted until 2am.  What can I say?  We like to party in village!

The culminating event was the traditional Pomedjouong dance.  The day of the event, I went all out getting ready – going so far as to take a shower, put on my new “Burburry-inspired” skirt, and apply some mascara.  When I left my house, I was feeling good but the chief of the health center announced multiple times when he saw me how much fatter I’ve gotten since my arrival.  I know this is a compliment here, but it always take a bit of self-restraint to smile and make a joke about loving Cameroonian food too much.  Eventually the dance got underway and we all had fun observing and participating. 

 

I also helped with some camps that neighboring PCVs organized.  These aren’t your typical American summer camps; instead, they were opportunities to discuss reproductive health and sexually transmitted infections with youth.  Being around that many kids each day is tiring (and I wasn’t even there for the entire time), but it is so important that they receive the information that is lacking in their homes and school curriculum.  

Trust falls - a standard camp favorite

Teaching the importance of working together as a team

  

In other PC news, I’ve gained a new neighbor!  Although she is technically in another village, we’re less than 4km apart which makes us essentially “postmates.”  She is within the education sector, so will be teaching computer technology (informatique) at a nearby high school.  In general, our region received a healthy influx of new PCVs, so we’re all looking forward to getting to know one another better and perhaps begin some collaborative projects.