First Month at Post

A month has almost gone by since I have come to this village and I am still in Cameroon so I guess life is going well. I try to wake up early to run in the cool air as the sun rises across the meadows. As many volunteers say, “the days are long, but the weeks go by fast”. I have to keep reminding myself that I have only been here a short time and I cannot expect myself to accomplish everything in only a few weeks. I find that I have way too much time to think here. (Another usual statement from volunteers) I still am not sure if I am smart enough to do this job, but I hope that in time I will find ways to make a difference here.

 

Hanging in my house (the kids come visit as soon as I open my door in the morning)

My house is finally the way I want it to be and now I am working on making the garden useable for when the rains come in March. There is not much food grown during this time. Maybe some tomatoes and bananas but that is it. It is a wonderful day when I see green beans and carrots sold in the market! With no rain to be speak of, it is difficult to expect people to carry water to water their fields. I will start growing some tree seedlings in polypots soon so that I can plant some live fencing around my garden once it starts raining. It is so different to see the random fires around town. Around this time of the year, people start cutting down the brush in their fields and burn the rest so that they can start churning the soil. At home in the U.S., it is so dangerous to start fires especially when it is so dry, but here it is normal. We burn our garbage too. I haven’t seen a fire get out of hand yet.

Cutting down all the brush in my garden

 

An intentional fire on the mountain, it is usual to see fires at night. People use burning to get their land ready for planting.

We finished up work with the soy project a couple weeks ago. The women picked the soy beans and cleaned them. They are a wonderful group of women and I am so excited to be working with them more as they try to form a cooperative so that they can keep growing soy and selling it together. The next step with the soy project is to take the new applications in January and decide who will be in the next group. We will choose the women and then we will start the process again of teaching them how to grow soy.

Cleaning the soy beans!

Many of the people that I work with in Ngaoundéré go on vacation in December so for most of this month I have been left to just meet people in my village and brainstorm ideas. I need to do a needs assessment for my village which combines using surveys, interviewing people, and meeting with groups to figure out what my village really needs. Yesterday Jasmine and I went from house to house with a Cameroonian friend asking questions about malaria and if people have mosquito nets over their beds. Most people know about malaria here and how they can get infected, but there are still many who do not take prevention techniques seriously. Part of my work here is to teach about how to prevent malaria. As much as I am focused on teaching about agribusiness, I find malaria prevention very close to my heart.

Painting the forage (wall surrounding water pump) outside the school for the Grassroots Soccer HIV/AIDS project with students

I think this picture speaks for itself. color doesn't matter, only hearts and the ability to paint your own life's picture

 

We painted our hands and put handprints on the wall!
 

I really appreciate all the support from home and I heard I might be receiving some Christmas packages which I am so excited about! We will be celebrating Christmas at the Peace Corps Case in Ngaoundéré with dinner and exchanging some presents. I already decorated the case with some Christmas decorations sent by a volunteer’s family. It is very strange to be seeing the holidays plastered on the facebook pages of my friends while I live under the hot sun in Cameroon, but I am content to have a cup of hot chocolate and watch “Elf” to soothe my homesickness.

Christmas at the Case!

Every day is a gift and I remind myself with my Father’s words of wisdom “You are a volunteer and are volunteering to be there, don’t get stressed out”. My first 3 months is supposed to be just getting to know my community and doing the needs assessment. And it has only been a month. But in that month, I have met so many kind people and Mamas that make sure I am not hungry. Also I have met a diverse group of people in Ngaoundéré, including a few German students, a particularly wonderful German doctor, a few other great people from different countries, and met a kindred spirit friend who is a Fulbright Scholar studying beekeeping.

View of Ngaoundere!

 

Ahmadou and I (He is an awesome kid from my village- the Peace Corps volunteers from my village have pretty much adopted him and he has been a true friend since volunteers started coming to Beka-Hossere)

 

Climbing Mt Ngaoundere with some awesome volunteers!

We climbed Mount Ngaoundéré the other day and seeing the villages surrounding the city puts a perspective in my mind that the world is a big place but if I can only put a smile on one person’s face, the task might not seem so daunting. As we climbed down the mountain, I saw some monkeys for the first time since being here. I am truly in Africa.

My reading spot in village

My view during my morning run (with Mt Ngaoundere in the distance)

May the holidays be wonderful for all my family and friends across the world. I feel we are all connected even across the ocean. As my candle flickers in the night (no electricity at that moment), "Silent Night" starts playing randomly on my computer and I feel closer to home than ever. Happy Holidays-love & peace