Filed under: Cameroon, Peace Corps, Travel | Tags: Africa, Cameroon, Cameroun, Culture, Peace Corps, Travel
The classic patch, representing a tradition of which I'm proud to be a part
COS is like most other things Peace Corps: an acronym (for Close Of Service) and a lengthy and complex process. When we PCVs (another acronym for you) applied to serve, we all had to go through a one- to two-year process involving being nominated, getting medical and legal clearance—which required a lot of waiting and return visits to the doctor for additional paperwork—all before we could be invited to enter into Peace Corps service. Then after staging in Philadelphia and a slew of uncomfortable vaccination shots came the 11 week training that we had to do in Cameroon before taking the oath of a volunteer. A language level had to be reached too before we were allowed to swear in.
Now the COS process—which usually starts in March—has come to a close and all the paperwork and clearance processes that have to be undergone to return home are finished. I have received my RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer) pin and DOS (Description Of Service) and I am ready to leave Cameroon.
The last official event that I participated in was the Gonging Out, which is a tradition for Peace Corps Cameroon in which we are given a small word of praise for our accomplishments, our pin, certification for French language, and a certificate of appreciation from the government of Cameroon. Now all I have to do is pack my bags, make my way to the airport and take off to my next destination!
Filed under: Cameroon, Peace Corps, Post, Teacher Training, Travel | Tags: Africa, Cameroon, Cameroun, Culture, Excursions, ICT, Information Technology, IT, Peace Corps, Post, Teacher Training, Travel, Volunteer, West Africa, World Travel
And just like that, one year is coming to it’s conclusion here in Cameroon. It seems like not long ago that I signed on for a third year of service, but in a few days I’ll be going home. Sunday morning, after my bags were loaded onto a bus in the chaotic but charming manner I am used to at the bustling bus station, I left Bamenda for the last time. I gazed over the rolling hills of the North West Region, and I thought how much I would miss this place. I’m now in Yaoundé and will set about this week finalizing all administrative and medical business before I depart at the end of the week.
Looking back on this year I feel like it went pretty well. I didn’t accomplish every little thing I had hopes of doing, but I actually feel like this was my favorite year spent in Cameroon. Not only did I meet great friends and strengthen existing relationships, but I added a few accomplishments too. In the overall scope of things, I feel my contributions are small to say the least, but I hope I’ve helped people to improve their skills and knowledge in a few areas. Even though I’ve been teaching this whole time, I feel liked I’ve learned so much more. I only hope one day I can return.
Here are the photos taken as I made my way out of Bamenda:
Leaving Bamenda Town, North West Region, Cameroon
View of Bamenda approching Upstation, North West Region, Cameroon
Last view of the hills around Bamenda, North West Region, Cameroon
Filed under: Cameroon, Peace Corps, Post | Tags: Africa, AIDS, Cameroon, Cameroun, Camp, Education, HIV, HIV/AIDS Awareness, Peace Corps, Peer Education, Post, Seminar, Volunteer, West Africa, World Travel
Newly-trained peer educators, PCVs and guest speakers. Bamenda, Cameroon
After many months of planning, fundraising and recruiting, we successfully completed the Peer Education Camp! I’d like to extend a HUGE thanks to all those who contributed financial support through the Peace Corps Partnership — we couldn’t have done it without your help! Took a while for me to get an update here on the blog, so sorry for the delay.
The camp was a great success and was featured in local newspapers and broadcasts. What was also nice was that both youth and volunteers had a great time! The kids involved camped at a guest house at the training site and when sessions were not taking place we all participated in activities like frisbee, soccer, cards and boardgames. All of us PCVs teamed up for the various presentations, and we also supplemented the material with Cameroonian guest speakers. The young participants were model trainees and were very eager to learn all that was offered. They did very well, and their progress was measured through pre- and post-testing. The participants consisted of two youths (a boy and girl) each from eleven villages around the North West. We trained them on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, peer education and life skills topics, including some that were mentioned in my post Important project: youth peer education in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.
Conducting a peer education session, Bamenda, Cameroon
In addition to teaching trainees all of the topics, we also did action planning, where volunteers worked with the kids from their site villages on strategies for how to implement the newly learned material in the field. At the end of the camp, trainee groups did mock-presentations on selected topics for their fellow trainees, PCVs, and invited guests, and then all peer educators were awarded certificates and T-shirts. Now that Phase 1 is complete, we will move on to Phase 2 of the project, in which we will individually work with the two youths in each of our villages to help them develop presentations and outreach programs on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness.
Action planning with trainees from Bamenda, Cameroon
Filed under: Cameroon, Holidays, Peace Corps, Post, Travel | Tags: 4th of July, Achu, Achu Soup, Africa, Cameroon, Cameroun, Chop House, Culture, Excursions, Fourth of July, Holidays, Independence Day, Peace Corps, Pidgin English, Post, Travel, US 235th Anniversary, Volunteer, West Africa, World Travel
Landscape of the North West, Cameroon
Happy (belated) 4th from Cameroon! I’m sure everyone back home celebrated at a barbeque, parade or picnic, fireworks lighting up the sky at night and sparklers all around. I didn’t see any fireworks, but I did celebrate nonetheless. I gathered with a few other volunteers and Cameroonian friends in a small town in the hills north of Bamenda and we had chilli, coleslaw and french fries (or is it freedom fries?). A humble celebration, but it was nice to observe it in good company and share the tradition with non-Americans. And it was a beautiful setting in which to be together. This year makes it my fourth year celebrating the 4th of July away from home. But I have to say, I did celebrate a lot this year. After starting Wednesday night at the U.S. Embassy’s formal event, I concluded my stay in Yaoundé by returning to the Embassy Saturday for a good ol’ traditional pool party, complete with grilled hotdogs & cheeseburgers, and live Blues. It was a small slice of the world I’ll be coming back to in August—a stark contrast to say, yesterday, when I had Achu* for lunch in my favorite Chop House**.
*Achu—a traditional food of the North West Region of Cameroon consisting of 1) a paste made of cocoyams & plantains mashed into a bowl-like mound which holds 2) a yellow sauce or soup containing many spices and crushed limestone. You eat it with your index finger and dip the paste into the yellow sauce. Usually served with a cow product such as meat, skin, or towel/tripe (rubbery, inner lining of the stomach) and Njama Njama (fried vegetable greens). It’s an acquired taste but grows on you after a while. Here’s a photo from a great Eating Achu post on Life abroad: As Robert sees it:
Eating Achu: Photo courtesy of http://www.robrasa.com/hisblog
** Chop House—pretty self-explanatory; colloquial term for a small restaurant. Chop means to eat in Pidgin English. I guess you could say it’s Cameroon’s version of a diner. Always includes a jovial “mommy” serving the food and the menu is generally limited to a few specialty dishes.
Filed under: Cameroon, Holidays, Peace Corps, Travel | Tags: 3D Graphics, 4th of July, Africa, Associate Creative Director, Cameroon, Cameroun, Design, Fourth of July, Gabe Albin, Gabriel Albin, Holidays, ICT, Illustration, Independence Day, Information Technology, IT, Peace Corps, Peace Corps 50th Anniversary, Teacher Training, Travel, U.S. 235th Anniversary, US 235th Anniversary, US Ambassador to Cameroon, US Embassy, Volunteer, West Africa, World Travel
Yaounde, Cameroon
Hello! People from Cameroon would say the following after not hearing from me in a long time: “ça fait longtemps!” or “you have been missing!” (in both francophone and anglophone, respectively. And I do deserve it… it’s been a while. I’ve been preparing to come home, but also continuing to work here. So I’ve been quite busy. Sometimes the work feels like a lot, and I even feel discouraged from time to time. But when someone, a Cameroonian or American, thanks me for the volunteer work I’m doing it feels really good.
So I was overwhelmed with surprise and joy when a very important American–the U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon–thanked me personally during his remarks at an event in Yaoundé on Wednesday. The U.S. Embassy hosted a celebration in honor of Independence Day and Peace Corps’ 50th Anniversary. In order for us to be well represented, 50 Peace Corps volunteers including myself were invited to attend. The event was very nice and it was great to see my fellow volunteers from around country as well as various officials from the US and Cameroon. Standing alongside other PCVs felt really good as we were given praise. I’d like to thank Ambassador Jackson for his kind words in support of Peace Corps volunteers. You can check out the Ambassador’s Remarks to read what he said in full.
This trip to Yaoundé will be my second to last, seeing as the next time I’ll be here will be to COS or “Close of Service”–Peace Corps loves it’s acronyms.
Year 3 - Volunteering in Cameroon 