Growth and Change in Cameroon

It has been a crazy busy couple of months as the countdown continues for when I will return to the US in November. Last week I had to say “À la prochaine” (French) or “sey yeeso” (Fulfuldé) or just see you later to some Peace Corps volunteers that have made a great impact on my life in Cameroon. During our Peace Corps service we make many friends where we live and try to integrate into our community but when the going gets tough and we are literary crying ourselves to sleep, it is the other Peace Corps volunteers that become our best friends and support us; because they are going through the same thing.

Not only did I learn so much from the other volunteers and created so many memories, but I certainly found out what it is like to have a brother. Carl was my postmate for over 1 ½ years. He didn’t have to be my friend, I mean we are pretty different, but we appreciated our differences and became life-long friends. He supported me throughout my service and was always there for me when I needed a hug or a very honest response. I can’t wait to see him back in the United States where we will probably be a little bit cleaner, eating better and able to talk about our crazy time in Cameroon.

Carl, me, Alex and Joyce enjoying Hilton happy hour in Yaounde before they all left me! missing you guys already!!

We recently celebrated the end of Ramadan and the end of a month of fasting for Muslims. Fasting for Ramadan means that people can only eat when the sun is down. That means that from 2am-4am the call to prayer wakes up the women (and me-ugh) so they can start cooking and then the families eat before the sun rises. Children and pregnant women technically do not have to fast all day but some pregnant Muslim women will still fast. One of our friends recently had a baby and named him after Carl (Carl’s village name is Thomas). We joked that the baby probably was not happy about his mother fasting so he decided to be born.

Fantasia at the Lamido Palace for Ramadan

My neighbors kept asking me if I was going to fast for at least a day but I had to tell them that honestly, I would not get any work done if I was "hangry" and I could easily picture how difficult it is to fast or even go hungry…I do not need to actually do it. After about a month of our favorite restaurant being closed every day and people being a little bit more relaxed (if you didn’t eat until 6:30pm then maybe you wouldn’t want to do much either) and "hangry", everything finally went back to normal; after a few days of celebrating of course. The day after Ramadan ended, we ate meals at three different houses (kind of like Thanksgiving). I could not complain about being hungry that day. The next day was the fantasia at the Lamido Palace. The celebration is pretty much the same as the Fete du Mouton which occurs about 60 days after the end of Ramadan (I explained the Fete du Mouton in another post last year). The Fantasia was wonderful to watch with the horses all decorated and racing towards the Lamido to recreate the battles of the tribes when Islam was brought to Cameroon. Also it was great to see many people from my village celebrating and dancing around our Chief on his horse.

Me and my village Chief at Fantasia

Cameroon has many emotional impacts on Peace Corps volunteers. You can see this effect when volunteers are finishing their service and preparing to leave. They are tired: tired of trying to engage their communities in positive change or even just creative/critical thinking while battling the white/nassara stereotypes that we all are rich and have easy lives back in the US. Then there are the views on women and how we are supposed to be married/have children. Some Peace Corps volunteers will give all they can to get to know their village but then so many volunteers’ homes are broken into or they are robbed on the street of a nearby city. Even our Peace Corps administration can give us headaches. How to volunteers deal with all of this negativity? How do I deal with it? I am still trying to figure that out. When Cameroon slaps me in the face, sometimes I think it is my fault, just like many other volunteers. But then I try to think about the few Cameroonians whom I have met that are kind, hardworking, and open-minded. I didn’t come here to be wanted or to be needed, I came here to share and learn. And I am reminded of Anne of Green Gables: “tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it. Well, there are no mistakes in it yet”. So even when I go to sleep thinking about the women on the train who did not believe me when I told them that I was not rich and came to Cameroon to work for practically no money, or the possibility that I lost some money to a person who does not care that I am trying to help my community, or the termites in my ceiling….then I try to turn off my thoughts because tomorrow is a new day and it could be a better day if I get some sleep.

And there is always the guys transporting sheep by moto-taxi to give me a good laugh

And tomorrow was better! Visiting the ASEED house for orphaned and abandoned children, I was reminded that there are good people in Cameroon. Sister Carine now has 7 babies to look after, all left abandoned in Ngaoundéré. One baby was found in a bag stashed away under a tree at 8pm while the rain poured down. People believe that she had been there for over 2 days. Now she is happy, still shivering slightly, but thankfully in the care of Sister Carine. There are many wonderful people in this beautiful country and all around world. Even with what has been happening recently, we can’t forget that there are good people and good intentions. We may be in different countries, but the view from space shows a brilliant planet with only the stars as borders.

My work partner and I visiting a project participant's field of soy

And guess what?! The soy is growing and thankfully most of the farmers in the soy project have successful fields of soy!! The best part about being here is seeing crops grow across the horizon, knowing that the farmers we work with are growing in mind & spirit, and feeling myself grow in knowledge & understanding.