33 Export – “Trente-trois”
to use the common bar vernacular - is one of the top two beers here in
Cameroon. (At the standard 65cl size, it
makes “normal” bottles in the States seem puny.) So when a fellow volunteer knew she would be
celebrating her 33rd birthday in-country, she planned to do it in style. This meant I got to travel through the Anglophone
Northwest region for another party. I had
been to the capital, Bamenda, before but had never really taken advantage of
all it has to offer. Fairly developed, it
caters to tourists a bit better and I couldn’t help but have an “Is this still
Cameroon?” moment while eating pasta salad and topping it off with a slice of
frosted carrot cake.
Continuing on to where the festivities were to take
place, we were 9 people in a car for two hours.
I took petite chauffeur, where
you literally share the driver’s seat while he does his best to shift gears and
navigate the winding roads. It wasn’t so
bad though, and all discomfort was soon forgotten as we enjoyed a buffet dinner
of Cameroonian food. Some other
volunteers had made an impressive coconut cake and, when the power cut out at
night we continued the food coma by making S’mores by the fire.
I spent the night in Bafoussam as I passed back through
the West to return to post, but, due to logistical issues, the office was
without electricity. It was definitely a
“Peace Corps” moment watching T.V. by the glow of the computer and then, when
the faulty battery died, huddled close with a friend watching a movie on the
screen of a tiny iPod.
After weeks of work, the Books for Cameroon library in
village was ready to be seen by the public.
Unfortunately, since the school year was coming to an end, many of the staff
would be taking off during the break to return to their respective homes (due
to the system of affectation, many government employees don’t work where their
families live). I really wanted to drum up
interest though, so we decided that I would open the library once a week – on market
day – during the school break (congé).
Students aren’t able to check out books, but we talk about the library,
have story-hour, and do various activities – drawing, watching movies, doing
puzzles, crocheting discarded plastic sacks, etc. It’s a little chaotic, but a lot of fun and
it’s nice to see the space being used.
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| Bapa library - before |
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| Bapa library - after |
With a new physician in our health district, he offered
his services to come and do hypertension/diabetes screening at the Bapa Health
Center. I was pleased to see a decent
turnout amongst our older population, and I snuck in a presentation on the two
health issues before the doctor arrived.
It was incredibly helpful having people informally help translate the
points into the local patois since many village elders don’t speak French. I was extremely impressed with the physician,
who spent a minimum of 15-minutes with each patient, and didn’t even take a
break! Despite the long day, he even
took the time to talk with me afterwards.
I was so heartened to meet such a motivated Cameroonian young professional,
but could sense that he feels a bit overwhelmed with the disorder of our
district and the health problems our communities face.
Weekly prenatal consultations have been picking up,
too. I’ve had a few good talks with the
pregnant women who come in, and I’ve even been invited into the exam. Together, the nurse and I have a good rapport
and we’re able to pass along a lot of information to the mothers-to-be. I’ve even had the opportunity to feel for the
position of the baby and listen for fetal heartbeats using a very basic
fetoscope (think tin can meets funnel and you’ve got the equipment we’re
working with here).
I also helped an Agroforestry volunteer with an HIV/AIDS
presentation at her village’s Vaccination Day.
We discussed transmission routes and specifically MTCT (Mother To Child
Transmission). I’m coming to realize how
much I enjoy discussing reproductive/sexual health. Despite the openness of discussing certain
seemingly-taboo things in a very public way in Cameroon, there are many myths
and a lot of misinformation circulated.
By being armed with knowledge and bold confidence though (even if I have
to fake it), I can tackle whatever comes my way – including condom
demonstrations.
My adventures in the kitchen in June included
transforming Cameroonian food to near-authentic Mexican fare. Using pre-made balls of cous-cous de maïs,
I made arepas stuffed with Gouda cheese and served with a red cabbage/onion
slaw on top. It was smooth and creamy with
a little bit of tang. I also found someone
selling fried tofu in Bafoussam (success!) and threw it in a vegetable stew.
