“Here Comes The Sun”

October 27, 2014

             

                I can’t believe it has been only a week and a half since I wrote my last entry because it feels like it has been so much longer than that. We are well beyond the halfway point of training and that creates a variety of emotions. On the one hand, I’m going to miss my homestay family, especially my younger sister who helps me with all things Cameroonian and of course my fellow trainees with whom I’ve become quite close and are an amazing support system. Our greeters told us as we got on the buses to come to training that our stage would be our biggest support system. I don’t think I realized at the time just how true that would be and I imagine it will only become an even more powerful truth over the next two years.

On the other hand it is exhilarating to think about how my daily life will change. I’ll be living independently, able to cook for myself, and start integrating into my community. I am so excited about learning about my community and what projects I might be able to work on. My village has a refugee population of about 350 people from the Central African Republic that I could see myself working on some projects with them as a target population. There are many needs throughout my village and I hope it will help keep me busy and make the two years pass quickly.

                I must admit last week was an emotional week, probably the most difficult since I’ve arrived. Since having an episode in front of PCMO’s last week they are questioning if I will be able to be safe at post. I needed to have my parents submit all of my doctor’s office notes to the office in DC. I feel confident that I can be relatively safe (at the very least no less safe than I would be in the United States) and am obviously they will not decide to revoke my medical clearance. Hopefully by the time I post this on Saturday I will have a resolution from them. It was emotional to be told that they are questioning my safety even though I received my medical clearance and brought up some self-doubt. However a phone call from my parents helped put that in check.

                These final weeks of training are shaping up to be very busy. Tomorrow we go to the Mengong Health Center to do a presentation (animation) to the pregnant women and women with young children who show up for vaccinations on Tuesdays. Later in the week we are also doing malnutrition screenings at the primary school and another day we will be doing nutrition animations at the primary school. We also have 15-30 minute presentations to be done entirely in French coming up at the end of next week. I’m doing my presentation on cancer in Cameroon. So far I have some interesting info and have more coming including some interviews I’m planning on doing with my family and maybe some others. I would love to do a secondary project on something having to do with self-screenings for cancer and cancer prevention.

Our pagne (fabric) has been picked out for our swearing-in Ceremony and in 24 days we move to our posts. It is tradition for PC Cameroon to have clothing made all from the same fabric for our swearing-in ceremony. Each sector picked two people to pick our pagne and I think the rest of us will find out what it looks like on Saturday. You my friends, family, and internet friends will have to wait until I post photos to see what it looks like. (Speaking of which I apologize for not taking more photos and posting them. I will take photos and post them both on here and facebook, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.)

Rainy season should be coming to an end soon and I’m pretty excited for that (although I know it will make water more difficult to find). Walking to the center of Mengong today was an adventure trying to step lightly on mud that is quite thick and avoiding huge puddles while working around motos and cars who were also trying to avoid the puddles/potholes. About the time I arrive at post dry season will be starting and that means no mud! Those of you who know how much I am not a fan of rain and mud will understand just how excited I am to not be in rainy season anymore.

But now, I must sleep so I am well rested for my presentation tomorrow.

Three Thoughts:

1.       All future PCVs should get copies of “The Blue Day Book” and “The Meaning of Life” by Bradley Trevor Greive. They are great for those days that try to pull you down.

2.       Especially for HE volunteers (I don’t know about other sectors) bring many colors of sharpies for drawing posters for animations.

3.       I really hope my absentee ballot makes it home in time! 

And the placement hat says…

October 15, 2014

My stage has both health volunteers and agribusiness volunteers. We occasionally share trainings but for the most part our trainings are in separate sites on different topics. Our site announcements were also going to be separate. However the AG trainees decided to have a “posting hat” (like the sorting hat from Harry Potter) and we health volunteers just had to be involved. The different regions were even posted around the room so you could go there and join others from your region after your post was announced. Somebody even wrote up a fantastic sorting hat song.

I am pleased to announce (if you haven’t seen it already) that I will be posted in Nyambaka, Adamoua/Adamawa. This is the same site I visited, which is not typical. I’m pretty sure I am the only volunteer from my stage to be posted at the same site they visited. To say I am thrilled would be an understatement. I would have been happy with any region of Cameroon but I honestly feel my personality will work very well with the culture in Nyambaka plus I’m so excited to learn Fulfulde among many other things that I think will suit me well in the area. Knowing where I will be living and what my house will look like makes the next two years seem even more real and exciting. I also know that I have some super awesome people who will be living in my region, both from my stage and earlier stages.

Still no Ebola in Cameroon fyi. (Yes, that does mean there have been more cases of Ebola in the US than in Cameroon.) My personal health has been good overall. I am currently fighting a cold. As a result I did have an episode yesterday and one today. But I’m going to try and not make it three days in a row tomorrow. I bid you all good night!

Three thoughts:

1.       I know my post!!!!!

2.       Nyambaka!!!!!

3.       I would much rather sleep than do my homework. 

Half-way there!

October 14, 2014

I’m more or less at the half-way point in my training (only one month and 5 days until I officially become a PCV!). That means this past week I completed one of the milestones of PST, site visits. Site visits are when trainees visit current volunteers as we practice navigating public transportation and get to experience what daily life is like. I left with 10 other trainees Tuesday afternoon as we took a train from Yaounde to Ngaoundere, Adamawa. The train left Yaounde at 7:15 pm (scheduled to leave at 6:30) and was supposed to arrive in Ngaoundere late Wednesday morning. In reality we arrived almost 23 hours after leaving Yaounde because of mechanical issues with the train. The train provided us with bread, water, and sardines for lunch on Wednesday and it was a chance to spend time with the other trainees, watch movies, and nap.

My first moto ride (wearing the PC mandated helmet of course) was also an experience because the moto driver took myself and another PCT to the wrong hotel (the PC center is right next to a hotel so that is used as a landmark). He brought us to a similarly named hotel farther away. But one of the current volunteers retrieved us and our luggage and we finally made it to the right place. Although moto helmets are a pain to deal with, especially with glasses, I must admit they are kinda fun.

My site visit was in Nyambaka, a village about an hourish away from Ngaoundere. We did a malnutrition screen with our host by measuring children’s arms (not the most efficient way to do a screen but when you are in the field it is more practical than carrying a scale and measure large enough to gauge children’s heights). We also observed a presentation on malaria, although it was difficult to understand because it was in Fulfulde. Saturday morning we went to the market and stopped at a soy restaurant on the way back to Ngaoundere. It is run by women in the community and was facilitated by a current volunteer. The tofu and soy milk were both incredible! I absolutely loved my site visit and have started visualizing myself as a volunteer for the next two years.

The next time I post I will be telling you about what my site will be. We find out Wednesday afternoon. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to post that on Facebook before leaving the center but if not you will find out in my next blog post. For now though I need to sleep as I’m fighting a cold and had my first episode since Brussels airport.

Three thoughts:

1.       I am already wondering what I’m going to do being separated from my stagemates in a month and a half. I’m know I’m going to miss them like crazy!

2.       Internet detox is going well so far, although I absolutely shamelessly take advantage of it when I do have it.

3.       Emergen-C or Airborne are an absolute must! I took some last night and am pretty sure I wouldn’t have made it through today without it. 

Starting to feel real

September 28, 2014

Today (Sunday) was my first time leaving my homestay village and going somewhere other than the training center in Ebolowa. Eleven other PCTs and I decided to go to the market in Ebolowa. It is a much larger village than Mengong and feels like going to a big city. They have a boulangerie, gas stations, and a much larger market than ours here in Mengong. It was a good chance to work on navigating through public transportation in Cameroon which turned out to not be quite as intimidating as I was expecting (this time). I’m still nervous about navigating my way to my site visit next week and getting to post.

We spent several hours around the market then another PCT and I worked our way back to the depot where we picked up a taxi for the 30 minute ride back to Mengong. In this taxi there was only the other PCT, two women and a baby. Pretty decent compared to the trip going to Ebolowa. Going to Ebolowa there were 12 people in the 7 passenger van. Several other PCTs also had 12 people in their vehicle on their way to Ebolowa, though they were in a car instead of a van. Overall it was a fun day that included me buying my first piece of fabric. I may have paid too much, but it is so pretty I don’t mind. 

Peace Corps life means you realize that you kinda sorta need to go to the bathroom but it is POURING! I am fully convinced that my bladder knows when it is raining the hardest and chooses that time to need to go. (This observation might make a little more sense if I remind you that I use a latrine in a building separate from my house). I now embrace going when I have the chance and it is not raining because very soon it will be a deafening downpour.

I’m sitting here writing this blog on Sunday afternoon thought it won’t be posted until Wednesday or Thursday. I miss you all and have so much I want to tell you in personal conversations. Know that I think of you often. I don’t want to push the next two years any faster than they will already go, but I do look forward to the day when I get hugs from you all again.

Three thoughts:

1.       I miss cheese and definitely should have brought some mac n cheese with me. I can’t wait for my Hannaford white cheddar mac n cheese to arrive in my care package.

2.       2.5 gallon ziplock bags are one of the greatest inventions

3.       I can’t imagine being anywhere else in the world at this very moment (although I do really miss indoor plumbing.)

Two Weeks in and then some

September 26, 2014

Tomorrow will mark the end of week two of training. Coming in I didn’t know exactly what to expect so two weeks in feels like a pretty significant accomplishment. Training takes place six days a week. 8 am – 4:30 M-F and 8-12 on Saturdays. We spend a lot of time studying language both in formal small group sessions with instructors, independent study time, and of course at home with our families. I find myself thinking more and more in French. Not everybody’s host family speaks exclusively French to them but my family does and I am appreciate that.

In a couple of weeks after our second language proficiency interview, we will have the opportunity to start on a second language, Pidgin (a type of English) or Fulfulde. As I’m hoping to be placed in the Adamawa region, I hope my French is high enough to place into a Fulfulde class. For those who are unaware, Cameroon is divided into 10 regions. Peace Corps is currently placing volunteers in 8 of those 10 regions. The other two, the most northern ones, are prohibited for travel for Americans at the moment because of Boko Haram activity. Adamawa is as far north as we are able to go.

Other sessions include information on wellness, security, and go into more depth about Peace Corps’ expectations. A diversity panel last week talked about how to express our identities and embrace our personal beliefs while still integrating into our communities. There is a significant emphasis placed on integration and how to do that both successfully and safely.

In case you were wondering I would be thrilled to eat a hamburger or some cheese pizza right now. How American of me, right? The southern region of Cameroon where I am for the moment has a lot of fish. I try, I really do, but I just cannot make myself be excited or even content with fish. Don’t get me wrong. There are lots of good foods here (beignets anybody?), it just requires fussy eaters such as myself to find the grownup deep inside who can eat anything. The diet here is quite high in starch (cassava, plantains, rice, and potatoes).

In my final weeks at home, many of you asked me about Ebola. Just a quick update: To date there has been no Ebola found in Cameroon. We had a session last week with somebody from the CDC who believes there is less than a 50% chance of it coming to Cameroon. If it does make its way here, she was quite confident that it would be a few isolated cases and would be easily kept under control by Cameroonian health officials. So, nothing to worry about here!

Until next time.

Three thoughts:

1. A hard glasses case is an absolute must. After you are under your mosquito net, you will not want to get back out to set your glasses in a safe place.

2. Enough wash clothes to wash both yourself and the filter Peace Corps provides us with. I highly suggest a microfiber washcloth/towel.

3. A book and a few magazines. I brought my Nook which decided to stop working as I sat in JFK. Once I’m back in the states with a strong wi-fi connection, it will work again but until then, life won’t be nearly as interesting. 

Getting to know all about Mengong

September 23, 2014

I can’t believe two weeks ago I was arriving at the hotel in Philly for staging. On the one hand it feels like just yesterday. On the other hand it feels like I’ve lived in Mengong forever. I would describe it as a good two weeks so far with a lot of stuff happening. Before I elaborate a bit, first I’ll address that I know many of you were concerned about my episodes. I had one at staging and one in the Brussels airport. That means I am at almost two weeks episode free. So rest easy my friends and family, I haven’t kissed the ground yet. ;-)

Mengong is in the south region of Cameroon about 15 km outside of Ebolowa (pronounced Eb – o – low – va) where the agribusiness volunteers are training. It is a very green, lush area, with dirt roads that are made extremely red by the iron in them. The area is mostly Christian. Many homes are part of mini-compounds. My host father is a cocoa trader and my host mom is a farmer. I live literally right next to the PC training center but some people live as much as 45 minutes walking. It is currently the rainy season. As I write this post there is an absolute downpour. I’m glad I made it back from the center of town before the rain hit.

This is a decent sized village but small compared to Ebolowa. The market is relatively small and many people say that to get better fabric/a better tailor you need to go to Ebolowa. Fruits are generally not available in Mengong and there is a limited supply of veggies (mostly peppers, green beans, and potatos). Pasta is quite popular for all meals of the day and rice is a standard. However peanuts and mambo (Cameroonian chocolate) are abundant!

My toilet is a latrine and that is also where I take bucket showers each day. Our kitchen is separate from the house and food is cooked over a fire in a brick room with only one window. Unfortunately that is as dangerous as it sounds as smoke fills the room quite quickly. I can only imagine the amount of carcinogens that people inhale cooking in kitchens like that every day of their lives. I often feel lazy in my home as others are already awake when I wake up at either 5:30 or 6:00 and are still awake when I go to bed by 9. I would stay up later and wake up earlier but I know my body needs its rest.

Monday morning – Saturday noon is spent with the other 21 health PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees)* at either the Mengong or Ebolowa training site. We study French, have tech trainings (learning about the health system in Cameroon), receiving more vaccinations (Hep B, typhoid, and rabies), and safety/security sessions about how to keep ourselves safe while serving. It more or less feels like school

 Today we visited the Health Center where pregnant women/new mothers and their children were receiving vaccinations and encouraged to breast feed. Maternal/Child nutrition is one of the three pillars of PC Health Volunteers in Cameroon, the others being malaria prevention and HIV/AIDS. I’m starting to feel much more confident about the type of work I will have the opportunity to do and how I might help my community establish sustainable health practices. Health care in the US is very different than here and that will merit a post of its own at a later date. But the differences are vast both in the system itself and facilities.

Good things to bring for your PC experience:

1.       Hand sanitizer and lots of it! (Anybody wanting to send me a care package, please consider including some hand sanitizer.)

2.       Your vaccination records

3.       A journal

Thanks so much for reading. I love and miss you all and look forward to hearing from you one way or another. <3

*I will be a PCT until I swear in on November 19 at which point I will officially be a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer). Prior to staging I was a PC Invitee and prior to that I was a PC nominee. 

Smile when you flush your toilet.

September 16, 2014

I hope you smile the next time you flush your toilet, drink a bottle of water, or drop your clothes in the washing machine. I don’t want this to sound preachy because in the US we so often hear how lucky we are but it certainly is worth repeating. Water in my host village of Mengong is obtained from the river or wells and a thing that resembles a very short, three walled reservoir (both of which I’m sure are supplied by water from the river). This water is used for cooking, for bathing, for washing clothes (by hand), washing hands, doing food prep, and washing dishes.

Peace Corps provides us with water filters so volunteers are able to use safe water. Our families do not have even this luxury. I finally got my filter put together (I’ve been working off of bottled water up to this point.) and went with my sister Nelly to get water for the first time. It was about a 10 or 15 minute walk through jungle* that included a very very steep incline to reach the reservoir (easily 45 degrees, probably more). When she saw my reaction to the steep incline, Nelly took the mini-bucket she had given me and brought it down along with her larger bucket. She wouldn’t let me carry the bucket again until we were on very solid footing. We made it home successfully, which I’m sure wouldn’t have been the case if I had carried the bucket the whole time. So, when I make it home and use plumbing to flush a toilet or wash dishes, I will absolutely smile.

                *Yes I did confirm that there are monkeys in aforementioned jungle. I also confirmed that some people eat monkeys. I also confirmed that my family does not. In a word, yay!

I had forgotten how exhausting it is to be immersed 24/7. Good exhausting but still exhausting. As my mind races before bed, I’m discovering that I’m thinking in French and even imagining conversations I might have with you at home, but the conversation is in French. Today we had 5 or 6 hours of French instruction with small groups decided based on our level. I placed as intermediate but feel like I still have so much to cover, especially if I want a Francophone post. If you’ve never had the chance to be immersed in a country that doesn’t speak English, I highly recommend it. After only a few days I can feel my brain working harder than it has in a long time.

After fetching water Nelly (I’ll most often refer to her as my sister but I actually have 16 siblings. I don’t think I’ve met them all yet. My father has two wives, which accounts for the large number.) told me she wanted me to come into the kitchen area to help make something,, the name of which I’ve already forgotten. With eggs, lots of sugar, even more flour, yeast, a little bit of salt, and a little bit of water, we basically made donuts that were then fried to deliciousness.

Tomorrow we spend the day in Ebolowa where the agribusiness volunteers do all of their training and live/where we have internet. We are leaving at 7 for sessions to start at 8. When I first heard that I thought, not too bad. I can wake up at 6. Hah! Nelly told me that tomorrow morning I will wake up at 5 to start learning how to cook Cameroonian food. My first lesson will be making a peanut sauce to be put over rice. I’m thinking it’s the same thing we ate in Senegal that I wasn’t overly fond of. Do any of my CIEE friends remember what it was called? I’ll keep you updated. Goodnight my friends and family. I love and miss you.

                *Update, I woke up at 5 as promised and my sister had already made the peanut sauce. Oh well.