Back in Cameroon, I threw myself into the large-scale Books
for Cameroon regional project. While I
had been on vacation, the shipping container had cleared customs which meant we
were finally in possession of the 21,000+ books! I missed my fair share of the book-sorting,
but was able to pitch in for the last few days – a major undertaking to say the
least. With several volunteers rallying
for the final push, the work went quickly.
It helped that all this was being done in Batié, a town 4 kilometers from
me. That community really rallied and
supported the project by offering building space, helping with meals, and
contributing boxes during the final round-up.
The days leading up to the ceremony were busy with
last-minute details and Cristina, the volunteer who coordinated it, deserves
recognition. The kids in my neighborhood
contributed by coming to my house and making American, Cameroonian, and French flags
(les drapeaux).
April 11th was probably my busiest day in
country. Having spent the night at
Cristina’s to assist with final preparations, I woke up early and booked it
back to Bapa for our monthly Vaccination Day presentation. After that, members of the high school’s Health
Club (Club Santé)
came to the Health Center. Along with my
counterpart and another volunteer, we had an engaging discussion about HIV/AIDS
(VIH/SIDA for those francophones
keeping track). The nurse was passionate
and enthusiastic and, although I’m not entirely sure all the information she
was spouting was correct, I was glad to have the support. Then, the students all got tested (dépistage
du VIH).
We quickly made our way to Batié for the Books for Cameroon
ceremony. Many people were already
loading up their share of books, and people were obviously proud standing
around the vehicles burgeoning with boxes destined for their communities. In typical Cameroonian fashion, the ceremony
didn’t even come close to starting on time.
We waited several hours and the frustration was palpable among the students
and guests – many of whom had been there since morning. Eventually, the “dignitaries” (Peace Corps
staff as well as local chiefs) arrived one-by-one. Those organizing the event gave the cue for
the speeches to start, and the Sous-Prefet
arrived. Five hours tardy, the Prefet made his appearance (though, in
his defense, at least he apologized).
The Chief of Batié gave a speech and, in a grand gesture, named Cristina
a queen – a very high honor. She
received the traditional garb and headdress, and I was bursting at the seams
with excitement for her. Distinguished guests
were invited to a dinner and then, back at Cristina’s house, the party
continued. After all that had gone into
the project, it was so good to relax and celebrate with other volunteers.
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| Newly-crowned Queen Cristina |
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| A few days later, my village arranged for our books to be picked up and brought to Bapa. Here, school boys carry the boxes the last leg of the trip. |
Following up on the HIV tests, I was ecstatic to learn
that none of the 28 Health Club members had tested seropositive! In other youth development work, I got to
announce to the high school staff that four bright young ladies were the
recipients of A2Empowerment scholarships for the 2012-2013 school year.
I went to Yaounde mid-month as the regional
representative of Peace Corps Cameroon’s Health Steering committee. I went a few days early since I had arranged
beforehand to serve as the featured speaker during EducationUSA’s monthly
public offering at the US Embassy on higher education opportunities in America. I spent a few lazy days in Yaounde watching
movies and relishing the company of other volunteers as we cooked, went shopping,
and generally just chilled. I got to better
know some of the newer volunteers and we took in Happy Hour at the Hilton
Hotel.
A few friends wanted to do a bit of travel, so we headed
back to the West together and I showed off Bafoussam in all its dilapidated glory. Coming from the North though, it was like a
different world to them, and that shock continued as we went to my village. The hills, the red dirt, the sheer greenness
of everything (“It literally hurts my eyes” Jeff exclaimed) – it’s easy to
forget how diverse this country is when you’re used to seeing your same portion
of land. Another volunteer joined us and
we feasted on delicious faux Indian food chez
moi: naan, peanut/ginger/carrot curry, a spicy potato dish, and rice. They had been warned about how cold it was up
in the mountains, but the weather cooperated and we sat out in my courtyard to
enjoy the stars, fresh air, and music.
The next day, they helped lead a wine-making demonstration at a friend’s
house in Bapa. We made a large batch of foleré
(hibiscus flowers) and a small bottle of pineapple (anana) and I was amazed at how simple it is to ferment things.
I only had one day of down-time before I was off
again. First, there was a wedding party
for a volunteer in our region who had married a Cameroonian a few weeks
prior. With music, paper crowns, and the
news that she had recently learned she was pregnant, it was an extremely jovial
celebration! We prepared four times as
much food as was necessary, which meant stuffing ourselves on a Mexican meal of
tortillas, beans, guacamole, mango salsa, fajita peppers, and rice. We still managed to make room to snack on
cookies, chips, and cheese though – while oohing and ahhing over the dress and wedding
pictures.
The next morning, we were up early to head to Bamenda in
the Northwest region. From there, it was
another vehicle to the town of Jakiri for a tofu demonstration. Having been there last year, it was good to
see that the road was better than before, but it still took awhile coupled with
multiple stops at check-points. True to
Murphy’s Law though, right as we put the soaked beans in the grinding machine
the power cut out. We waited a few hours
but eventually had to go with an alternative plan – paying someone to grind the
3 kilos by hand! Due to the delay, the
demonstration started late, but it went well.
Sadie, the volunteer there who had requested the soy expertise of
Marcelle and I, had arranged for a car but it wasn’t ready for us as promised
so we had to wait for another. After a
long day of cramped travel, we pulled into Bangui for the night where the
volunteer there welcomed us with tomato soup, salad, and banana cake.
We set off the next day for Fundong (yup, that’s a real
place), but of course had to stop half-way there to change the brakes. After a quick bite to eat, we found motos to
take us up to Abuh –20+ minutes straight up a mountain. The volunteer there, Sam, had arranged for us
to do a soy presentation with her Girls Club and people from the local health center. Abuh is possibly the most beautiful post I’ve
seen in Cameroon, but it’s also extremely remote. With no cell phone service or electricity,
Sam is an absolute champ. Not only does
she not mind doing without these, you can tell she absolutely loves her
village. The tofu turned out wonderfully
and we wrapped up just as the rains came.
In full headlamp/flashlight glory, we made individual pizzas for dinner
before sitting in the glow of candlelight chatting and roasting marshmallows
for S’mores.
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| Beautiful Abuh |
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| Sam's Pig Project |
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