Some news at last!

Hello y'all (influenced by the American's I find myself currently surrounded by!)

I'm writing this in a black out, no power or electricity. It has been pretty good since I got here so I have become pretty complacent but it was off most of yesterday, as it is on Sundays apparently, and was intermittent today, which is disruptive for those working on computers as you can imagine!!

This is the beginning of my third week in Cameroon!! I can't believe that I am already a ¼ of the way through my time here. It has flown by but at the same time the doubt over whether I would be allowed on the plane at all as I did not have the exact piece of paper that Air France wanted to see to prove I was a humanitarian seems like an age ago. I didn't know I was a professional 'humanitarian' but apparently I am much to Steve's amusement! Make way for the humanitarian!!

My Cameroon experience start landing in clammy, sticky Yaounde waiting nervously to see if my bag made the quick transfer across Paris, having my yellow fever certificate examined by a man in a white coat and confusing some bag handlers for VSO people!! Finally after identifying the bona fide VSO people and a tall Irish volunteer Gretan – someone else in the same boat! - we set off for central Yaounde. I couldn't stop smiling – well grinning really as the VSO 4x4 weaved in and out of on coming traffic – I think it was relief that I had finally made it and hadn't been left stranded at the airport – but also there was simply a party atmosphere... music playing, cars beeping their horn, people out and about, selling things on the side of the road drinking the streets were a buzz- the nearest thing I could compare it to was a city sized festival, complete with no real distinction between the road and any pavement, buildings and people all higgledy piggledy but happy.

My stay so far has been in three parts.

Part One

Purpose -Acclimatisation

Location - Hotel Diplomat Yaounde

Experience - The VSO bubble

I arrived at the same time as 10 other long term volunteers, all lovely people from around the world – France, Canada, Philippines, Lithuania... We spent a week acclimatising ourselves to:

The heat – which you don't get used to you simply get used to sweating, as another volunteer once said, the culture, and a programme of workshop inductions. The workshops were useful. The diplomat Hotel was luxury - equipped with air con and providing the most juicy pineapple I had every tasted for breakfast. VSO staff attentive and drove us around and bought us phones and sim cards and introduced us to what some Cameroonians call African time, others call just being late.

It was good to be in a very diverse group of volunteers. Many had travelled a lot and had a lot of experience to share. Some have become really good friends. However, it all kind of felt like it was a bit of a holiday, being taxied around, being told where we were going to eat, what time to meet, having the odd beer or two before bed, nothing too taxing and quite protected really. Myself and two other volunteers even visited a museum, this was our own little adventure away from the protective bubble. It was an interesting museum up on the hill above the smog and dust of the city. It is the height of the dry season here at the moment. On the way back down to the city we stumbled upon the largest rock I have ever seen, larger than a a four storey building. Within the rock was a window! Within which sat the Virgin Mary. I have no idea how they would have been able to create a window in such a rock. There were a few people praying to it. I think this was the first point I felt a real cultural differenc.

Part Two

Purpose – Travel to and settle in placement

Location – Bamenda

Journey to Bamenda

The journey to Bamenda had been built up to be this very difficult thing which we were going to have to endure – luckily Yuseuf very kindly took out luggage separately. We had to be at the bus station at 9, we were there but we didn't have our tickets which was a slight shame as our seats were allocated to others and we missed the first bus. So we had to wait two hours for the bus to fill up before we left, I didn't mind this, as those of you who know me well I am pretty good and actually enjoy doing nothing. However, the bus that left first did look rather superior to ours and it did mean that we arrived in Bamenda in the dark – travelling at night is not advisable. The journey took about 6 hours. The distance is not that far, it takes time not because of the condition of the road but because the bus stops frequently for people to sell passengers all kinds of wonderful (and interesting) food. This includes, nuts, coconut, pineapple,we declined the skewered rat but everything that we did have was delicious. The bus was cramped and sticky, we were rationing the water as we had been warned that there was only one toilet stop. However about a third of the way there we were over run with water as it started to rain (the first I had seen) and it rained hard and the bus leaked. From one extreme to the next. We finally arrived into dark Bamenda, there wasn't a power cut but you still needed a torch to walk along the road – no street lights. We fell into some very appreciated rice and stew ( a staple) and a comfy bed after rehydrating!

International Women's Day

Our first day in Bamenda was International Women's Day. Marcel (Volunteer and now friend from the Philippines) practically insisted that we go. We had equipped ourselves with traditional dresses for the day – the official ones made and designed especially for the occasion. I was expecting a party atmosphere with lots of song, dance and celebration. Not so, not at the official march anyway. It was a very colourful affair with hundreds of different women's groups from female vets to social groups marching either in the uniform of the day or beautiful ones they had had made especially. But it was a very formal affair in that the groups marched to a pavilion. There was no song, no dancing and not even any announcements. It was lovely to see it though, but I was happier when I saw more women celebrating in bars along the road and in more festive spirits outside the town. The theme was women and men working together against violence towards women and girls. Apparently in Cameroon it is a bit like mothers day in so far as women don't do all the chores they normally do, in that way they are 'spoiled'. The drinking celebrations I was told were due to the fact that they don't have such opportunities normally.

Bafut Fondonb

From Int Women's day we were taken our VSO guides to Bafut Palace. A Fondon. Where the Fon rules over a community. He has a number of wives, something like 14, each has their own role and we were very lucky to be shown around by one of the Queens. She was a fantastic guide and explained particular traditional stones and sticks where executions and trials used to take place. She was very down to earth and open to questions. The palace itself is like a small village, some brick houses some wooden. There was a big old colonial building that had been a guest house in which Gerald Durrell had stayed in while writing ….It was an interesting tour and probably for the second time I was really struck by the cultural differences (although of course this is a traditional way of life in Cameroon) and the juxtaposition of the very old and the new – ceremonial grinding of seeds and powders next to huge satellites and plastic bag and bottle rubbish felt strange. After we left the official museum the tour also felt a little intrusive as we were wondering around people's homes, not in them but kids played round us and washing dried. The Fons still have a lot of power and make significant decisions. We were very hot, tired and hungry by the end. We went to eat and an hour later had sustenance, it is quite common to wait an hour for food. An interesting discussion of the merits of women's day ensued, was it really making a difference? It a much bigger event here than in the UK but were the activities effective and reaching the women that needed them?

Part 3 – Working in Cameroon

More to come on this as it is changing every day

Mar 20, 2009

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