Collaboration, Sharing, Friends, Burgers, and the Beach

After three weeks away from my village, I am finally back in Beka-Hosséré! It was a fun trip visiting Bemenda, Limbé, and Yaoundé. We had our IST Conference (it is always after we have lived 3 months at our post) at a nice hotel in Bemenda with hot showers and cooler temperatures. It was awesome to see my stagemates and share/hear stories about our adventures. Our counterparts from our villages also came to the conference for a few days so we could learn and collaborate together. Everyone shared projects that they had started or were going to start which made us realize that many of us are hitting the same barriers and the best we can do for each other is to share our ideas. Everybody’s post is different. For example those volunteers in Bemenda, they speak English and Pidgin which is difficult but they are not confronting the same problems as some of us who work in French speaking regions. Some people work in cities where they have so much area to cover and others work in small villages where there isn’t even cellphone reception. We all have issues but thank goodness it sounds like a majority of us like our villages and plan to stay the two years.

Stagemates!!

 

Stagemates reunited!

The conference was interesting especially working with my counterpart and discussing our soy project. I had a moment of frustration since I have found that I am torn between working in my village and focusing on projects that are in a variety of villages. I have a unique situation since I am so close to Ngaoundéré so I have more opportunities to work in the city and help the neighboring villages, including mine. I found out that I will be the last agricultural volunteer in my village so I need to use these two years to finish up projects and not start anything too big that won’t be able to sustain itself after I leave. I realized during IST how much my work means to me and my work is the reason I am here. Sure I have met amazing people and seen wonderful new places but my main reason for being here is my work. I think that is the same for many volunteers. We can party and go on adventures, but when we are alone in our villages, it is the work that gets us through the day.

IST Sessions

During IST, we visited a working fish farm and a mushroom training center. It is inspirational to see successful businesses and organizations that improve their community. We also learned about behavioral change and how to help our communities accept new ideas. Even though I was feeling a bit lost about what work I can actually do here, I am grateful for the information given to us during IST.

Fish Farms

 

Mushroom Training Center

 

Packing bags for growing mushrooms

Other than attending sessions, my friends and I danced our way around Bemenda and made up for the time we had been away from each other. I don’t think I could ever forget my stagemates; they are the people I spent my first few months in Cameroon with and the people who I confided in when I was missing home.

Agribusiness & Health Stage at IST

We went to Limbé Beach after the conference and it was my first time experiencing a warm water ocean! Thankfully the hotel rooms had air conditioning and the ocean was close because it was humid! The place very beautiful with the picturesque jungle next to the black sand of the ocean beach. I haven’t felt that clean in 6 months. When we were not in the water, we visited the city of Limbé with eating amazing fish by the water (oil rigs in the distance) and also visiting the local animal conservatory which also has a restaurant with hamburgers. Oh my gosh, how I miss good hamburgers. The animal conservatory saves primates when their parents are killed by hunters. There were gorillas, chimpanzees, drills, and many primates I had never seen before. Some of them were even out past the fences and stealing cracker wrappers off the ground. Hamburgers, beer, gorillas, friends, air conditioning, and the beach equal good vacation.

Fish! (and oil station in background)

 

Limbe Beach

 

Hamburgers!

 

Limbe Creww

 

too cute

 

Animal Conservatory

After leaving Limbé, we made our way back to Yaoundé to catch the train to Ngaoundéré. I spend a few days in the capital city and enjoyed some pizza with friends including going to the local Hilton Hotel for happy hour and some awesome drinks. Looking out onto the city lights from the top floor of the hotel, it felt more like I was in a city in America than in Cameroon. As much as this trip was amazing and fun, I was ready to go back to village when I got on the train. Of course the train broke down early in the morning and we had to sit for a few hours until another engine could be brought to us but hey, it’s Cameroon.

On the top floor of Hilton Hotel with Yaoundé city behind us

 

My view from the train as we came into the Adamawa region

As soon as I got back, we had our St. Addy’s Day party (St. Patrick’s Day party in the Adamawa). Each region is famous for a holiday party and ours just happens to be my favorite (Green!). It was great to meet some new people from other regions and celebrate, but I was definitely partied out after weeks of socializing.

Playing pool just before St Addys day. The Cameroonians were impressed that I beat the Americans :)

Now back to work with the soy project. I am finding out how difficult it is to understand the culture here especially when I don’t realize the differences until after the fact. We have our orientation for the new soy project participants next week and I am realizing how much paperwork I am expected to prepare. Money is always a problem so we are writing another grant proposal for the project. The problem is that the people in charge of this project already have jobs and a lot of work to do. There are a few that are motivated but they need their travel expenses paid and this project takes a lot of time outside of their regular jobs. I just keep thinking about the 32 Board of Directors at my hometown fair in New York that do not get paid to organize the fair. Gosh, after working Cameroon, working in the U.S. will be a breeze.

A few guys came up to me in my village and asked about business classes and agricultural sessions. One of my friends that sells food in the market asked me for money so she could buy tomatoes and then sell them in Beka-Hosséré. Definitely need to teach some business classes. The students are also talking about where they want their garden at the school to be so that is still a possible project. Every day is an adventure and I never know what to expect.

Yesterday, my postmate’s dog went running with me and we passed two dogs fighting over a very large, very dead snake. Today I woke up to my neighbors yelling “goat” in Fulfulde and banging on my door. A goat had gotten into my chicken house, the door had shut behind him and he was proceeding to break the roof while trying to get out. By the way, my chickens are now laying eggs and my cat, Annie, is not scared of me anymore but has learned how to beg for food. Plus I received two amazing packages, one with homemade honey from my friend, Russ and the other with seeds and homemade jam from my friend Serena!

Life isn’t a breeze here, but these are the moments that make me laugh. And then there are moments that make me cry, like when I got a ride back to my village by the Director of Peace Corps Cameroon and as I got out of the car, my neighbor’s kids knocked me over with hugs and kisses, so excited to have me home. Normalcy is now watching movies with them; Hercules in French this week. I had some sadness when I found out my 19 year old cat in the U.S. had died, but I have these other moments of love & acceptance to keep me sane. One day at a time and in the words of my postmate as we rode a mototaxi down a very bumpy, unsafe road: “I think I can, I think I can”.