Filed under: Cameroon, Holidays, Peace Corps, Post, Travel | Tags: Africa, Cameroon, Cameroun, Christmas, Family, Hanuka, Holidays, Peace Corps, Post, Travel, Volunteer, West Africa, World Travel, Xmas
As we are immersed in the holiday season, and people at home are bustling about and shopping and gathering to celebrate, family is in the forefront of most people’s minds. I can’t say that I’m bustling about as much as I am being tussled about by others’ bustling when I go out here in Cameroon, but I am thinking a lot about my family. And I think I can speak for most volunteers when I say that family is in the forefront of our minds.
“No matter what you’ve done for yourself or for humanity, if you can’t look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?”
—Elbert Hubbard
I want to take this opportunity to thank my wonderful family for all the support, encouragement, and understanding they have given me over the years. I may be far away at the moment, but you are always close to my heart and in my thoughts. Miss you all very much. Happy Holidays!
Your son, brother, nephew, cousin, grandson,
Gabriel
Filed under: Cameroon, Holidays, Peace Corps, Travel | Tags: Africa, Cameroon, Cameroun, Christmas, Hanuka, Holidays, New Year, Peace Corps, Post, Travel, Volunteer, West Africa, World Travel, Xmas
Happy Holidays from Cameroon
Here’s wishing everyone at home a happy holiday season from Cameroon. Things are very festive here in Bamenda, where I’ll be celebrating this year, with decorations and Christmas carols everywhere. Can’t say the same for the recently passed Hanuka though, but some of us volunteers celebrated together. May all your wishes come true and may the New Year start festively, productively, and with the utmost happiness!
Filed under: Cameroon, Peace Corps, Post | Tags: Africa, Cameroon, Cameroun, Culture, Peace Corps, Politics, Post, Travel, Volunteer, West Africa, World Travel
Paul Biya, President of Cameroon (image courtesy of cameroononline.org)
Last week, Paul Biya, President of the Republic of Cameroon, visited the English-speaking Northwest Region for the first time in 22 years. He stayed three days in Bamenda before returning to the capital of Yaoundé—and what an occasion to witness! Surreal, festive, scary; these are just some of the words that describe the event. The president’s visit came during the celebration of the 5oth anniversary of Cameroon’s armed forces. So the military presence was immense. Truck after overloaded truck came into Bamenda carrying military personnel and equipment. Helicopters and fighter jets circled the city in the weeks leading up to the visit. There was even a curfew in effect to reduce night gatherings. On the day the president came, crowds of festive onlookers lined the route the presidential caravan was to come through. No one was rowdy however—soldiers lined the road standing in front of the crowd every several meters keeping things conspicuously quiet. Though that did not stop certain groups, clad in festive traditional clothing, from dancing and making music. There were even Jujus (sacred palace guards) who came out to dance, dressed in traditional wear including carved wooden animal masks. When the presidential motorcade passed by, everyone cheered, sang and played drums and music.
John Fru Ndi, leader of SDF party (image courtesy of cameroun-online.com)
The presidential visit was surrounded by a lot of anticipation and some concern, seeing as Bamenda is the seat of the opposition party SDF (Social Democratic Front) and the hometown of John Fru Ndi, the party’s leader. Relations have often been tense between SDF and CPDM (Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement), Biya’s party, and elections throughout the years have always been disputed. But this time in Bamenda, a place where there have often been riots, things went very peacefully—as far as I know. Biya even stayed an extra day and had dinner with Fru Ndi. During Biya’s speech he made many promises including building a Bamenda University, pursuing hydro-electric and a new large hospital, and completing the Ring Road, a circular route that connects many towns in the Northwest north of Bamenda. The Ring Road has always been infamous for its terrible condition and has been a source of aggravation for Northwesterners who often feel abandoned by the current administration based in the French-speaking side of Cameroon. We’ll see what happens as the presidential elections approach. One can definitely feel the tension in the air, but I think people have some hope after this visit. On va voire…
Filed under: Cameroon, Peace Corps, Travel | Tags: Cameroon, Culture, Excursions, Hiking, Nature, Peace Corps, Travel, Trekking, Volunteer, World Travel
Trekking into the forest, NWR, Cameroon (Photo by De-Ann Abraham)
Recently, I took a walk in the woods with the lovely De-Ann Abraham (PCV science teacher among many other things) and some of her students. I had been asking her to climb this one mountain by her village for some time, so she organized a hike guided by some boys from the village. The hike was very tough at the end, seeing as we had to literally bushwhack our way up—I’m very grateful for her efforts in putting the trip together, and for climbing through mud and thorns and over slippery rock to reach the top! I owe her one for supporting my crazy ideas.
View from the summit
Before reaching the summit, we visited a small village on the way up. To rest, we sat under the shade of a tree and were given palm wine to drink (fermented Raffia Palm sap) called Fuchou in the local language. We were joined by some of the villagers who were really nice and who offered us some jungle fruit, as well as Aföfou, which is a strong drink made of distilled palm wine. There is no electricity in this particular village, so it is very quiet, and people can just sit around talking. We had a great time sitting around and gave out bitter kola nuts as well as bought roasted Groundnuts (peanuts) for everyone.
Before moving on, I was asked for my phone number. Since no one could find any paper or a pencil, I just carved the number into the earth with a cutlass (machete). As a parting gift, the father of the house at which we were gathering gave us a bush rat. Later that evening the boys made a yummy peppé soup with it, which was great after a long day of trekking.
Some other highlights from the trip were numerous log bridges lashed and tied for those trekking to make it over the rivers that cut through the jungle. These were fun to cross, if not a little scary too, especially when raging whitewater was rushing by several meters below!
Crossing a log bridge while trekking in the forest
Village woman giving fruit (Photo by De-Ann Abraham)
Carving number in the dirt (Photo by De-Ann Abraham)
Filed under: Cameroon, Peace Corps, Post | Tags: ACMS, AIDS, Cameroon, HEDECS, HIV, Peace Corps, Post, Prescraft, SNV, Volunteer, World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day Question & Answer Booth and Testing in Bamenda
On December 1st, communities around the globe are encouraged to hold events and activities to promote the awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS. Living here in the Northwest Region of Cameroon, which has the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the country at 8.7%, it is really important to promote awareness of the situation. This year I teamed up with some volunteers and other organizations here in Bamenda on December 2nd to have a question & answer booth set up in the center of town that would include a Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) taking place simultaneously. The project was conceived by Kelly (a really cool Health volunteer here in the NW) and I, and then we had a lot of help from other organizations and Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs).
The goal was to help educate and sensitize citizens of Bamenda on issues relating to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS—this was achieved through an informal Q&A process between volunteers and the people, condom demonstrations, and the handing out of fliers which included places, phone numbers and websites where further information could be acquired, as well as the locations of HIV treatment centers in Bamenda. Overall, the project went really well. We had over 160 people tested, and there were a lot of people with questions sparking conversations about the subject of HIV/AIDS. We wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of several organizations including Prescafe who hosted the event, RTG (Regional Technical Group) who did the VCT, ACMS, HEDECS, and SNV who contributed promotional materials, demonstrations and transport respectively. And of course thanks to the other PCVs who stood out in the sun all day promoting and answering questions!
To prepare for the event, we had to get the permission of local officials including the Governor, the District Office, and every local police precinct and gendarmerie! Including coordinating all of the different organizations, it was a lot of legwork. But it paid off. Maybe we’ll get to have another event like it sometime soon…
Filed under: Cameroon, Peace Corps, Travel | Tags: Cameroon, Peace Corps, Travel, Volunteer, World Travel
The ancient volcano cores of Rhumsiki, Extreme North Region of Cameroon
At the beginning of this year, I had the opportunity to travel the Extreme North Region, where I celebrated the holidays with some other volunteers and took in the sites. It was an amazing trip and I will never forget it as a part of my time here in Cameroon. In the Extreme North, the environment is so much different from areas in the South; an arid, flat, sub-Saharan realm with some very interesting and unique geological features. I won’t write anymore about what it looked like—I think the photos say it all.
Baobab Tree, Rhumsiki, Extreme North Region of Cameroon
Huts at Rhumsiki, Extreme North Region of Cameroon
Stalking Giraffe, Waza National Park, Cameroon
When I traveled there it was during the cool season, when temperatures range between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures can get much hotter, reaching up to 120 degrees. The remote location and environmental conditions limit the amount of goods that can be transported there. So life is tough for both the local people and the volunteers living in the Extreme North. But it is culturally diverse, and unique from the rest of Cameroon, with languages spoken ranging from Fulfulde and French to the less-spoken Arabic and Pidgin. The life is simple, so one can subsist without too many amenities. There’s no denying however that the Grand North (consisting of the Extreme North, North and The Adamaoua regions), is somewhat disconnected from the rest of Cameroon.
I’d have to say that the experiences available in the Extreme North are worth the grueling, seemingly endless train ride up there—at least from a visitor’s point of view. When I took the train, there was a 6-hour delay before we departed, and then the train ride took about twenty hours! It was soon forgotten though, replaced by better experiences including Waza National Park, where we had the chance to hang around giraffe, among other wild life. Fortunately, the train ride back to the south was accompanied by many fond memories and beautiful images of the time spent in the Extreme North.
For more info, check out the Wikipedia article Far North Region of Cameroon
Filed under: Cameroon, Peace Corps, Post, Teacher Training | Tags: Cameroon, Cameroun, Education, ICT, Information Technology, IT, Peace Corps, Post, Volunteer, World Travel
View of Bamenda from Upstation
When I joined the Peace Corps, I could not have imagined that I would be doing my work over a larger geographic area than a small town or village. But sitting here in Bamenda planning ICT workshops for teachers and teacher trainees in a large area of the North West region, I’m finding that it is in fact possible, and even rewarding. It was only shortly after I finished the 2008-09 school year, having taught ICT in secondary school, that I was given the opportunity to move to Bamenda from the West, and open a new teacher training post in ICT. It took some time to set the initial building blocks to start the work here during the first year and there were many challenges—I’ve even extended my service! But with time and patience the work really took off.
The job here is no doubt drastically different from the one at my former post in the West Region. Especially since I moved from a French-speaking region to an English-speaking one! I’ve gone from the constraints of a rigid timetable and consistent class structure at a high school to a very independent workload that requires a lot of self-discipline and working at multiple sites. However, I still feel that sense of gratification after teaching a class, perhaps even more so than before since teacher trainees are so much more eager to learn! I’ve found it very interesting working at a higher level in the Cameroonian educational system. There are both pros and cons, but overall I feel I have more influence than before—which one could argue is better for development.
I maintain office hours at the Delegation of Basic Education and work closely with the regional delegate, inspectors and ministry officials on the direction of the ICT program at the primary school level in the NW, and the design of trainings and workshops in the greater Bamenda area. This also includes the design of ICT training booklets and the supervision of computer lab installations—one of which I have recently completed at the delegation. I also give workshops at Government Teacher Training Colleges (GTTCs) in the area, trying to deliver as much practical instruction as possible. Other activities I am doing include training active teachers in the use of ICT for their work, and there is also plenty of general training, computer maintenance and consultation work to do in the smaller towns in the surrounding area.
It is sometimes not hard to become overwhelmed with the amount of work to be done in what is now appearing to be a very short time, even though I have extended my Close of Service (COS). But with diligence, I think I can make an initial impact, and pave the way for volunteers who will be working on the same project in the future.
Filed under: Peace Corps | Tags: Cameroon, Cameroun, Education, ICT, Information Technology, IT, Peace Corps, Post, Travel, Volunteer, World Travel
Hello, and welcome to Year 3! I hope to write a bit about what’s going on here in Cameroon as I trek through my third year of Peace Corps service. Where am I in Cameroon? What am I doing exactly? Any exciting experiences? I’ll be answering these questions and many more, so stay tuned!
After a whirlwind trip to the States in August, and a non-stop workload after returning to Cameroon, things are finally settling down—or I should say, finding a rhythm at least. I am now three months in to my third year of service. Feels like I’ve only been here one month though. I thought time only moved really fast in places like the States, but I’m finding that it can move like that anywhere. What I’m trying to hold onto is that sense of the moment. Once we become invested in our calendars and what’s happening tomorrow, today ceases to exist. Well I never want to lose site of today.
Speaking of today, Happy Thanksgiving! My warmest wishes to everyone Stateside. Bon appetit!
Year 3 - Volunteering in Cameroon 