Home Stay in Dschang

About a week ago we all moved to the city of Dschang. Dschang is in the Western region of Cameroon, about six hours west of Yaoundé. Yaoundé is the capital of Cameroon and thus a very urban city while Dschang is a smaller, more rural, college town.
Sunday we moved into our new families. My family consists of my father who is a mechanic, mother who is a secretary for the Dean of the University of Dschang, my eldest sister Nadine who is about 23 and studying accounting and her 20 month old daughter Devine who is adorable, and my two little brothers Kevin who is 19 and Freddie who is 17. The house is very different from my house in Yaoundé, a lot less modern, but comfortable. There is no running water in the home and electricity cuts occur regularly so I’m glad I have a flashlight! The floors and walls are made of a concrete/mud mixture, everywhere besides the kitchen and bathroom which are tiled, and the roof is tin. This area is cooler and rainier (very loud on a tin roof) because we are living in the mountains, but I can’t complain because the scenery is out of this world!
We have our classes (which are now completely in French) in a room at the university which is about a 30 minute walk from our house. This area is home to an ethnic group called Bamiléké so our first week has focused on their history, traditions, and culture. The Bamiléké have a rich history because they are very attached to their traditions even when they move away from this region which because of a lack of space they have had to do throughout the years. However, this makes them not very liked by other Cameroonians because they don’t integrate well into other areas. Coffee is very important to the Bamiléké because this was their main crop that they fought against the French colonizers to take control of themselves. I don’t like coffee, but in our classroom a woman comes and sells coffee every morning, and all the other students say it’s great!
For every lecture we have now we have a field visit that corresponds. It really helps being able to see and experience what we are learning about and I like getting out of the classroom and exploring. One day we went to the local history museum. I love museums and this one was really well done. Each area of Cameroon had a room that was decorated to correspond with the geography of the area (orange walls and a sandy floor for the desert, green walls and bamboo on the ceiling for the rain forest). Another day we went to the Chefferie of Batoufam. The village of Batoufam is about two hours away, but still Bamiléké. A Chefferie is like a traditional kingdom. We met with the chief or chef of the Chefferie and were allowed to ask him any questions we wanted to. Some interesting responses were to questions like: how many wives and children do you have? He would not tell because saying a number would put a cap on the amount he will have and he doesn’t want to name a specific number in case there are more to come; however, I met 13 of his wives and was told that that was not all of them... Another interesting question was about how he became chief. He was “arrested” or taken by surprise when he was visiting Batoufam for his father’s funeral and taken away for 9 weeks for initiation. After that time he is given at least 4 wives off the bat and given 9 months to prove himself or in other words, father a child of both sexes. During this time the village is not allowed to have celebrations or cultivate crops (they borrow from neighboring villages) because the king-to-be is supposed to have pressure on him that if he doesn’t father a boy and girl his whole village will starve. After he has done this he was presented to the village as the chief. After talking to the chief we took a tour of the kingdom and had a gourmet lunch made by his wives of course.
This weekend we were supposed to go to a waterfall but because of the rain they said that the roads would be too rough to get there. Instead, we visited the museum of Bamoun which was really interesting. Then we went to a monastery. The monks have 300 hectars of coffee trees which they sell all over Cameroon and export of France; they also have bees, avocado trees, mangos, chickens, cows etc. It was a really interesting tour.
Yesterday I got to go to the open-air market in Dschang. It was VERY overwhelming and crowded, but I really liked it. Everyone was out doing their shopping because today (Monday) is election day and everything is closed, no school, and we are not allowed to go outside because the police don’t want anyone out besides if you are going to or from your voting location. There is a lot of corruption within the voting system in Cameroon so they are trying to take serious measures to become more honorable. My host mom is working the polls so I’m excited to hear about her day! I spent the day doing laundry (by hand!) and working on homework.
This next week we are studying women in Cameroon and this coming weekend we will travel to Bamenda, an English speaking region.
I’m excited to go to Bamenda and then go back to Yaoundé. I like Dschang, but I miss my Yaoundé host family. They are more interested in my life I think. All the students have felt that way because since the program was originally based in Dschang most of these families have hosted 15 plus students! It is nice because it is easy to come into a family that knows all about exchange students, but at the same time, they don’t find you quite as interesting. I really appreciate these families though. They take you in as their own which is wonderful. Cameroonian people are so warm and such good hosts. I can’t say I expected such a warm welcome and to feel accepted, but I am happily surprised!
Everyone in the group is starting to get their first bout of sickness. One girl got a stomach parasite from eating a guava before washing it. We just have to be careful about fresh foods and filtered water. Other than that everything else is going well. I feel more and more comfortable in Cameroon every single day!

Bustling Life in Yaoundé

I know it’s been a little while since I have blogged; however, life here has been quite busy. I think it’s funny that we are constantly reminded that we are on Cameroonian time and yet I feel like I am busier than I am in America. On the one hand, we are learning so much in class; on the other hand, we are balancing taking advantage of cultural experiences with getting all our work finished on time.
We have had classes about development and history in Cameroon. Two professor have come to give multiple day lectures about these topics. Dr Willibroad Dze-Ngwa came to talk to us about history and development. He is a professor and researcher in political history and international relations at the University of Yaoundé I. He gave wonderful presentations that taught us a lot about colonial influences in Cameroon. This country is so interesting because it was first colonized by Germans, then taken over by the French and the British so we have learned about these effects and tensions. Then we had Dr David Tiomajou who is the training director for PEACE Corps Cameroon come talk to us about development, globalization, and the interaction between the Western and developing world.
These lectures were so interesting. I have learned how complicated globalization is. We may think that globalization is the way to unite the entire world, but the actual process is much more complicated. We have debated the Western influence in the developing world and whether or not foreign influence is a good thing or a bad thing for Cameroon. So often big companies come in and take over and work with the corrupt government which give temporary employment to the locals, but for a very low amount of profit for the country. In terms of how much the Westerners are getting out of the “exchange”, the Africans are getting nothing. Africa, with all it’s incredible natural resources, only contributes 1% to the global market... The Western world is set on the idea that their way (be in education or business wise) is the right way that it doesn’t value the contribution of developing countries because it is focused on making them developed, or really, Westernized. We need to re-evaluation our global influence and start working for an equal system of globalization. Education is key to this process. The old saying is, “catch a man a fish he eats for a day, teach a man to fish he eats for a lifetime”. This is the only way, in my opinion, that developing countries are going to take back control. They need to teach their people what is necessary to their country, this does not mean a Western way of teaching always. Why are so many Cameroonians being encouraged to get PhDs in law, when what they really need and what would be profitable, are good plumbers or TV repair men. The Western influence has created Western culture to be the only way and the right way, when Cameroon and other developing countries need to return to their cultural roots in order to take development into their own hands and finally make sizable advances.
Anyway, that is some of what we have been learning about. It really makes me question my future career. How involved should I be in developing countries? Should I focus to more local work in the states because I believe the developing countries need to help themselves? Or should I work to educate them on valuable skills? All these questions and more are why I am so appreciative of this opportunity. It is a life learning experience.
I would also like to add that we have had a few different African dance and drumming classes in these last few weeks. They have been very fun and also difficult. I feel like I am integrating and becoming more and more comfortable with my surroundings. I run alone and take taxis alone now because I know where I’m going and have discovered what is safe and not. I have learned to deal with power cuts, water cuts, muddy sidewalks, and wild driving in addition to all the lessons from class.
We are on the way to Dschang as I am writing this (no internet, just drafting in word processing obviously). We will stay in Dschang, which is the Western region and our most rural home stay experience, for two weeks. Then we will travel to Bamenda, an English speaking region, for a weekend before we return to Yaoundé. In Dschang we will have our classes in the University so I am looking forward to meeting local students who are my age.
I hope to have enough internet access and time to write about my experiences in Dschang, but if not I’ll write again in a few weeks!

Home Stay in Yaoundé

Today marks one week with my new family! 

Last week I moved into my first of three home stays. My family consists of a Mama and a Papa who are delightful. My Papa is the manager or CEO of a small store and my Mama is a cashier at the story. I am not too sure of specific details of what they do for a living because in Cameroon it is rude to ask too many questions when you first meet people. I have three little host siblings. Soufaya is 12 and has a hearing impairment so she wears a cochlear implant most of the time. Her speech is fairly good because she went to France for schooling for years while she was younger and has a tutor here in Yaoundé. In fact, my Papa said that he likes hosting exchange students (this is their 4th time hosting) because he feels like the French took such good care of his daughter and he wants to give back in the same way. Then there is my little, energetic, and very helpful brother, Lathif who is 9. He calls himself my protector and loves to show me around and help me whenever possible. Finally, there is Farida who is almost 7 and a darling, happy, playful and curious little girl! We also have cats to keep the mice away!

My family lives the furthest away from the SIT school where we have class everyday. We live in the Muslim section of town, called Tsinga. I have to only family of the group of nine students who is Muslim and I think this has given me a different experience. I wake up every morning to the call to prayer (the Athan) coming from the local mosque. In the beginning I found that this was annoying, but now I actually find it helpful to wake up a little at 5 am so I’m not so sleepy when I wake up at 6:30. 

A typical day right now starts with breakfast (gluten free cereal they found for me with hot milk from powder) with my brother and sisters. Then my father drives all the kids to school and drops me off at their school, so I walk about 15 minutes. At school we have French classes, Cameroon history classes where we concentrate on Cameroonian development, and/or research methods and ethics classes to prepare us for our future research projects. The staff has been so helpful with all the classwork and they are getting us ready for our big research project at the end of the semester. 

After class we go get fresh lunches from local markets or sometimes out to little cafés. We then return to the SIT center and work on homework or research for future projects or go on runs; we are allowed to stay at the office until 4:30 at which point I start my 40 minute walk home. I am greeted by the smiling faces of my host siblings. We often play, they braid my hair, and twice a week I give them an English lesson. Around 6:30 we sit down to dinner as a family which is often a meat, lots of veggies in a tomato based sauce and some type of starch. All the food is very fresh! Even the herbs like peppercorns and garlic are ground between a flat and round rock!

After dinner Mama and Papa help the kids with homework for awhile and they go to bed at 8. I work on homework until 9 at the latest, but by then I’m really tired and go straight to bed. 

You might be wondering about these future projects and research that I have talked about. We are doing an IDI project now that is a mini research project with small groups on anything that we are interested in. I am in a group with my friends Jacky and Margo and we have decide to research traditional medicine doctors in Yaoundé. This project will be finished in the next 9 weeks. After that, we have our 4 week big research project where we can choose our subject and location in Cameroon. I will be researching Francophone Cameroonian women authors and the truth in the themes that they present in their novels. I want to know if the movement from the traditional mother figure to the more modern daughter, a theme that is present in many novels, is a true representation of Cameroonian families or an idealized situation. 

There are many differences here in Cameroon compared to back home, but I think the biggest difference is the water. The tap water you cannot drink and must be very careful with around fresh fruits and veggies. Also, there are water cuts all the time. We probably only have running water two days per week. We bathe using buckets and even flush the toilet by pouring in water. Thus, I really appreciate the availability of fresh, clean water that I have back in the states. We really do not know how privileged we are in America. At the same time, I really like learning about how much I do not need to be happy. I’m not even in a rural area, so in the future I am sure I will be made aware even more of what I have in the states.

Orientation

I AM FINALLY HERE!

This adventure is off to a fantastic start! 

The group arrived (after 23 hours of travel) and we were greeted by Serge. He is one of our advisors, a really nice man. We loaded into three different cars and headed to a Monastery on Mount Fébé where we lived Monday through Wednesday. The view from the monastery was BEAUTIFUL! (I will post pictures as soon as I can).

This "we" that I keep mentioning includes 9 American students from different universities. Everyone is one year younger than me. The group has spent a lot of time bonding and getting to know each other which is so great. We all get along very well.

The orientation was Tuesday and Wednesday. We woke up and had breakfast at 7:30, usually bread and jam (difficult for a gluten free diet) with Ovaltine, coffee or tea options. Class started around 8, but as we have been reminded multiple times, we are working on Cameroonian time. We are told to expect people to be at least 30 minutes late to everything! This is perfect for me! 

Continuing... We have class until about 10 and then have a 30 minute break. During this time we have been learning about life in Cameroon, safety, culture, and have been setting goals for the program. We have a hot lunch at about 12:30. The food is SO good. Often chicken or fish in a sauce, mostly tomato based, rice, bean, and for now avocado and tomato and corn and fruits but we were told they are doing this because they know we Americans like it, uncooked veggies and fruits won't be common in our home stays. 

We go back to class after an hour and a half lunch and learn some more helpful tips. We finished at 3:30 Tuesday and went on a long walk as a group. This area is very hilly and luckily for me, very active! There are people running ALL the time! I'm really happy to know that!

On Wednesday instead of afternoon class we did a "drop off". It was exactly what it sounds like. We were in groups (thank goodness) of three and drivers took us from the monastery and dropped us somewhere in the center of the town to complete 10 different tasks and find our way home. We were given money too! Some of the tasks were to go to an internet café, to go to the US Embassy, to buy a gift for a friend etc. We were out and about for about 4 hours! Such an overwhelming experience, but really exciting. My group got yelled at by a taxi driver for not having small enough bills to pay him, but no worries, I hopped out of the car and three people came over quickly asking what change we needed! Every problem that we had was easily resolved with really friendly Cameroonian locals! For those interested in the specifics... a normal taxi fare is 200 CFA per person which is less than 50 cents. The exercise was so useful! I am not yet comfortable to be alone in the city, but I feel more comfortable having had some practice. We also got to go out to dinner last night!

Today we moved out of the monastery and are now in the SIT head quarters where classes will be held. We are doing some debriefing from yesterday and then at 3:30 today we meet and go home with our Cameroonian families! We were told that they will have an average of 3 children per family so I'm really excited! I promise to write more and post pictures in the next week!