Filed under: Cameroon
October 13, 2008
I had an interesting interaction the other day. I went to the Carrefour to catch a bush taxi to Garoua and there was a man standing there waiting along the side of the road for a taxi to Garoua as well. He was holding an AK-47 but looked nice and of no harm. Since I was going to be standing there for a bit and might be in the same car as him I decided to ask him how he was and what he was up to. In order to facilitate this discussion I offered a friendly gesture of a beignet. We tried to communicate for awhile and I got that he escorted people somewhere up near the border between Chad and Cameroon. I offered him a beignet but he politely declined. In Garoua I spent an hour looking for a cyber café that worked, which ended in failure. Eventually I went to the peace corps office and used the internet there. I ate an omelet on a piece of the ubiquitous white baguette-ish bread here for “lunch”, after not eating much else during the day besides beignets.
After coming home and relaxing for a bit laying on the mat in our courtyard chatting with the fam I headed over to the local primary school where I knew that the young people who make up the community group that myself and three other PCVs are working with were going to be playing soccer. I SCORED A GOAL!!! Definitely not because I was anywhere near as good as anyone else there, probably just because they felt bad for me, but it was fun anyways J. On the walk back I was chatting with another young guy who came to watch soccer but said he wasn’t playing because he was sick and, lo and behold, I see the same guy walking towards me that I had met that morning. I shook his hand again and tried once again to find more information about him and his mission. He said he was looking for a car back to the Cameroonian/Chad border where I found out that he escorts people who want to go to the market or want to move or come to Cameroon for example. He does this during the day and also through the night if people need to travel at night. I guess he is sort of a “bodyguard for hire”… unless he is provided by the government or something? Anyways, it was an interesting experience.
As for our community groups, Peace Corps wants us to start “animations” next week, which is basically just when you give a presentation on a certain subject, potentially using nonformal education techniques for those who might be illiterate or not understand French…etc. However, it is just odd because the group we are working with is simply a group of young men and women who graduated from highschool but have no jobs because there are not jobs to be had. They all knew eachother and decided to form this group to try to have some sort of income generating activities and influence in the community. They grow tomatoes, onions, plant trees, and do other smaller income generating activities, while also having a pool of money that they use to help eachother out if anyone needs to be hospitalized or for some reason needs a large amount of money. Basically they are like a second family. Tomorrow we have our second meeting with this group and we will try to find out if there is anything that they would like us to give an animation about. Yet, who are we to come here and say “we are here and would love it if you would tell us what we can educate you about”. So far this experience has been nothing but humbling in my knowledge of the world, of life, and of exactly what is best for Cameroonians. I sure as heck don’t know what is best for their group, for their life, for them to generate income. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth how PC is requiring us to start these animations with these groups that most likely are the best experts in their own problems. Who are we to come here completely naïve, not even very proficient at speaking French, and say… hey!… we are here to help you! Let us, the “knowledgeable Nassaras” help you. Let us bring you out from the dark into the light. Really?
No… let’s not even hide the fact that this is still training and really we are working with these groups simply to show us naïve trainees what it is really like to work with Cameroonians.
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October 15, 2008
We had our second meeting with the youth community group today and it was AWESWOME! We started out by making a seasonal calendar of the seasons, their planting activities, other things they do to make money, and finally ended with health issues that affect their group during particular times of the year. It was interesting seeing what they do during the year, yet the coolest thing happened when we started talking about the health issues. They listed Palu (Malaria), along with meningitis, diarrhea, and dysentery at first. We then asked them if they would be at all interested in learning more about Palu, since it was (and is) clearly a huge issue in Pitoa. They said of course and that they would love to get information on TONS of health issues, and then we had them list all of them and it was awesome. They listed Palu, typhoid, meningitis, rheumatism, varicella, polio, cholera, jaundice, diarrhea, dysentery, SIDA (HIV/AIDS) maternal health…etc. All of which they wanted to learn more about and were interested in having a session on. It was just sweet because they are so interested and engaged and fun and just excited to learn. It will be awesome to do the session next week on Palu, in French, with many diagrams. Tomorrow is Thursday which means trainee soccer/ultimate!
W0000T!
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October 16, 2008
Had an interesting medical session today on Malaria where we talked about how 50ish percent of PCVs get malaria during their service even though we are all on mephloquine as an anti-malarial drug during our entire service. Also, another interesting fact was that with all of these anti-malarials the drug companies recommend that no one takes them for more than 3 months at a time. Hrm… we are all taking them for 2 years. Doh. At the end of the session we all made two malarial slides just for fun since if we even think we have malaria we are supposed to go to the hospital to get a slide made. Yet, if we are REALLY “en brousse” (in the bush) there might not even be a veritable hospital near by capable of reading a malarial slide, or if the hospital is closed they want us to make our own malarial slide by drawing our own blood and then begin taking the malarial treatment artemisin that they give all of us in our medical kit. Then we send the slides down to Yaoundé to be checked. Hehe…
A couple other funny facts are that they give us Tamiflu which is an emergency anti-bird-flu medication as well. Also, at the end of our service after we are tested for every possible disease or infection that we could’ve gotten during 2 years in the bush they give us 4 weeks of terminal malarial prophylaxis because all of us will have a small amount of malarial parasites in our blood stream and if we just stopped taking them cold-turkey it could lead to an infection. Finally, we get 2 weeks of another drug that eliminates all parasites from the liver and the spleen. So, in theory, we will be clean of all malarial parasites, which also means I should be capable of giving blood in the future, even if the Red Cross disagrees.
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October 20, 2008
Had my first sickness bout this weekend consisting of a fever of around 102-103 and some intense intestinal distress, but I am coming out of it now and feel good, minus some cramping (to the women out there, I feel your pain…). There has also been some sadness in my host family this week. My mom’s brother apparently had his leg amputated after developing gangrene in his foot. Agh. That sucks and should’ve been easily preventable, right? Also, another uncle of the family died yesterday after being sick for awhile after not treating a cut on his finger well, apparently it swelled and swelled too, probably developing into gangrene too and he died from it. Well… lesson learned… treat wounds seriously anywhere in the world, even small cuts. So, my mom went down to Ngaoundere to visit her brother and my brother Altine left late last night to visit the other uncle. He left alone late at night to travel more than 10 hours and didn’t bring any food or water. Traveling at night is a bad idea in Cameroon, and I am anxious to see that he comes back safely.
Training is going fast. Classes are a little more interesting, or maybe we are just accustomed to the slow pace of things. One thing is for sure, I am developing wonderful patience skills, which is definitely important to have in Africa. Nothing moves fast, even training…J. On the 30th I figure out where I am posted for the next 2 years. This is big because… well… I should not even really have to say it but the cities all differ much and I just hope I find a good niche wherever I am posted. I have constantly told the people of Peace Corps that I have no big desires or preferences since I feel that having a STRONG desire to be somewhere or not be somewhere is naïve, especially since I know absolutely no information about the villages/cities which are potential posts. You may end up strongly advocating for somewhere where you do not like at all…
I also have had some more time to bond with my host family. I joke and talk with Vivianne, the younger brother a lot. Altine and I talked politics, philosophy, religion, and women last night and really bonded. It provided a stark contrast to watching him walk out of the compound only 1 hour after we had stared at the stars together contemplating life. However, that is pretty much what we arrived at. C’est la vie. And another phrase in French, “On va faire comment” (What can one do?).
I took my first warm bucket bath the other night and MAN was it wonderful. It gets a little bit cool here at night… ok probably around 80 degrees still but it is cool to use cold water at night. Mmmm after a month of cold water it was nice to have a bit of warmth. It is also suprising how clean you can feel after a bucket bath… and also how short that feeling really lasts J.
Today in class out back behind the training house under the thatched roof where we have most of our classes a gecko fell straight on Aubrey’s head, then onto her skirt, and then she tossed it onto the ground where it seized for around 10 seconds and then stopped moving. Then, again, after 10 seconds it got up, looked around, and then fell to the ground in a tragic fashion, breathing its last breath. Needless to say, it was quite hilarious.
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October 30, 2008
We all found out our posts today! I am in Hina which is a small town of probably around 7k in the extreme north. It is right next to an amazing mountain range that lonely planet says is one of the most beautiful places on earth when you engage in an excursion around/up the mountains. I don’t have electricity or cell-phone signal, but that will definitely not hinder my ability to have an amazing experience. I will have electricity for the rest of my life, I will truly be living like a Cameroonian. I don’t know much more about my post right now other than it is sandwiched between Guidere, Mokolo, and Maroua, all larger cities where I can go to use the internet and buy groceries if need be. I do know that traveling by moto is my main way of transport to and from my town. I am replacing an Agroforestry volunteer, there have been 2 cycles of Agro volunteers, yet this is the first time a health volunteer will be at this post… so I get to be a trail blazer, which is awesome. Apparently there is a lot of work to be done with women’s and girl’s groups, which is awesome and I am very excited about. We are traveling to post this Sunday and spend all next week visiting the post… so I will have a TON more information in a week!
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