I know it hasn’t been that long since my last post; however, I wanted to write about my last adventure to a little town called Kribi.
I have to admit, I have been looking forward to the trip to Kribi since I decided to come to Cameroon. Luckily, it did not disappoint!
Sunday morning we boarded our travel bus and made the 4.5 hour journey from Yaoundé to Kribi. Kribi is a beach town in the Southwest of Cameroon.
We arrived around 1 pm. Our hotel “Atlantic Hotel” was charming and we were all very excited because we had running water, wifi, and for the first time in two months, air conditioning! It’s the little things. We had some free time when we first got there so of course we all went out the back door of the hotel to the beach. Absolutely gorgeous! There were really fun waves to play in and the water was warm but refreshing.
At 4 pm we had a class on the Bagyeli, or the Pygmy group of the area. We went to NGO FAGAPE which works with the Baka and Bagyeli, two groups of Pygmies, in order to give them land rights. So, for those who don’t know, Pygmies are an ethnic group who are defined by their language, lifestyle and most known by foreigners for their small physical stature. By lifestyle, they are a historically nomadic, rainforest dwelling, hunting and gathering community.
There are many threats with which the Pygmies must cope. There is a lot of deforestation around them which essentially means that their home is being slowly taken away from them. Also, they are ostracized from the cities because of ethnic tensions. For example, we learned that one little girl from a Bagyeli community tried to go to school and was abused by her Bantou host family and the people at school so badly that she could no longer stay there; she came back to the village. However, the biggest problem, the problem FAGAPE is working to change, is acquiring land rights. Before, the Pygmies didn’t even realize that they needed papers to claim land, because as I said they were nomadic peoples. Today however, their land is being stolen from them by the Bantou and they have no legal way to fight the issue. FAGAPE works with elites from the Pygmy groups to get legal recognition of their territories.
After this class we went to dinner. Food in Kribi was excellent because I love seafood!
Monday morning we got to do our practical course-- go meet the Pygmies!
The first camp we went to was a Bagyeli camp in the rainforest. We hiked about a mile into the camp, led by one of the Bagyeli leaders. While we were walking in he would call out to the camp, and they would call back in response. This is a safety technique, so they know that whoever is coming close isn’t an intruder. We were able to ask questions openly with the 29 members of the community. What was very interesting was that each time a question was asked, all members would burst into a huge discussion. The community is very democratic and they have to discuss and hear everyone’s opinions before they give a response. What was even more interesting was that the women’s perspective was taken into account, valued, and often times has the last word. This is one of the only egalitarian societies in Cameroon. Out of the 29 people only one little girl had gone to school, the one I talked about earlier, not because they don’t value education, but because of the difficulties it presents. This community seemed very angry by the outsiders that were trying to come in and take away their traditions.
Unlike the rainforest community, the second community we saw did not really seem angry, they seemed hopeless. The reason for the hopelessness is because this community is in the outskirts of the city. Their environment has already been destroyed; they cannot hunt or gather, forced to farm on the very small amount of land that they have left. There are only 16 people in the community, two of which have severe disabilities and medical issues. On the site we saw a tomb, the tomb of the chief’s mother, which was no longer their property, the Bantou had just bought that portion of land... I am not good with numbers, but the amount of land on which they live is tiny. All 16 people sleep in the only house left that the Bantou haven’t bought, which is about the size of a one-car garage.
After seeing these communities we really understood why the efforts of FAGAPE are so crucial. At the same time though, we started asking ourselves if there is a point to their work. Eventually, won’t these communities be forced into modernization, and will they survive that? They don’t speak any official language; they have little practical skills outside of the rainforest; and they are not liked by other ethnic groups. It made us really sad. What is going to happen to these people? It’s a really unfortunate reality that they might all very soon become wiped out.
I have to mention too, because you never know, if you are reading this and planning on visiting a Pygmy camp one day: please do not give them money or alcohol. They have become very used to those gifts from visitors and it has created an intense alcoholism problem in the community. We were yelled at as we left both camps because we gave them food and clothes rather than money and alcohol.
After we finished with the Pygmies we had free time to explore Kribi town, go swimming and then we went to the Lobe waterfall. This was a beautiful place. We met volunteers from Europe and South America who were taking a vacation in Kribi as well and we watched the sunset.
After a wonderful dinner again, we went to bed. The next morning we had time to do yoga on the beach, swim one last time, and then we were back on the bus. We are in Yaoundé for 1 1/2 days. Tomorrow we take an overnight train to Ngaoundéré in the Northern region of Cameroon. I will write about this adventure next time! Meanwhile, everyone have a Happy Halloween!
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Saturday, October 19, 2013
NGOs, Research, and a Sheep Party
These last two weeks have been very busy, stressful, and extremely interesting.
A quick update on the new furniture in my house... it is not wise to get white furniture when you have children under the age of 12 and a kitten in the house. As much as my parents have tried to preserve the white leather, it seems to have a new mark on it every other day. Other than that, there have been no issues in my home stay; I’m really happy to be back with them.
So after we came back from Bamenda we had to seriously start working on our IDI project. I haven’t mentioned this project yet, but it has been eating away much of my time as of late. Essentially the IDI is a miniature ISP (the four week research project we do at the end of the semester) which we complete in a group on a subject of our choice to prepare us for doing the ISP later. We chose our topics about five weeks ago and have had to meet certain deadlines along the way. I am in a group with my friends Margo (University of Oregon) and Jaclyn (Duke University). We chose to research the relationship between the Catholic church and traditional religious African customs. We are learning a lot. The Catholic church has realized over the years that they must open their arms to the African traditions because they are so engrained in the lives of Africans. Some traditions include praying to ancestors, sacrificing animals, or traditional healing. The church’s position we have found is not to say that all these traditions are bad and should be abolished (if they were to do this they wouldn’t have a congregation); their position is rather to preach that God is the only truth and you can continue your practices as long as they aren’t harmful nor take priority over the worshiping of the holy trinity. Anyway, we have to pass out surveys to members of the church, interview two NGOs or development groups and interview two people after they take the survey. Our biggest stress has been working on ‘Cameroonian time’. We find ourselves waiting for hours after the scheduled time of appointments. Thankfully though, people have been very willing to take our surveys and the Catholic church with which we are working has been extremely welcoming.
In French classes I have read two wonderful novels by Cameroonian female authors in the last two weeks. Je Vois le Soleil dans Tes Yeux by Nathalie Etoke and Walaande: l’art de partager un mari by Djaïli Amadou Amal (in case you’re interested in Cameroonian literature). Consequentaly, reading these books are really exciting for me because of what I will be researching for my ISP.
When we aren’t working on IDI or in class, we are all trying to develop our ISP topics. My topic is generally about the influence of Francophone Cameroonian female authors in Cameroon. The ‘in Cameroon’ part is crucial because these women tend to be more read and more appreciated out of country, since books are extremely expensive here and thus people don’t read much, and read female authors even less frequently. Christiane, our director, has been so helpful to every one of us. One day she took me to a bookstore and two different publishing companies in Yaoundé to find contacts for me. I was really lucky because I have the numbers now of about 15 different Cameroonian female authors and a few editors who I will interview in the coming weeks. Side note- when I said books here are expensive, I meant it. At the bookstore, I saw a book that we had to buy for the program. I think we paid maybe $10 for it on Amazon; here the price was 16,000 CFA or $32 which is more than half of a months earnings for a person working a minimum wage job in Cameroon... no wonder people aren’t rushing to the bookstores. Anyway, I was lucky because I was given the number of Djaïli Amadou Amal from a person at Harmattan publishing company. Christiane bought me Amal’s second book which I am currently reading, so I might end up focusing specifically on her writings.
When we aren’t working on IDI, French or ISP we have had NGO and development organization visits these last two weeks. The organizations we have seen are: LAGA (The Last Great Ape Organization), ANACLAC (Association Nationale de Comités de Langues Camerounaises), RENATA (Réseau National des Associations des Tantines), MUFFA (Mutuelle Financière des Femmes Africaines), Peace Corps Cameroon and the IMF (International Monetary Fund). I will explain some of those briefly. LAGA is trying to cut down on the illegal bushmeat trade and foster great ape habitats. They are a wonderful success story. They started from absolutely nothing and now are turning away donors. They really promote activism and hard work. ANACLAC works to preserve the education of maternal languages in Cameroon; they are struggling to find funding. RENATA works to educate teenage mothers to become teachers for the community about sexual education and safety. Their work has helped a lot of women and men. MUFFA is a micro-finance agency that works specifically with women. They have given so many women incredible opportunities to change their lives. I think Peace Corps and IMF are well known. These organizations have been so interesting. I have learned that having a specific goal for the organization and working with people who are passionate about the cause and not just about money are key aspects to fostering a successful NGO. Also, most of these organizations stressed the importance of letting local peoples run projects rather than outsiders. Often foreign aid is most wanted to come in and teach skills and then leave and let the locals reap all the benefits.
Last weekend was the first completely activity-free weekend we have had. I took full advantage! I went running, hiking, went to the market, went to new restaurants, cooked for my host family, and went to a three hour long Catholic mass (it was for IDI research but it was still pretty interesting).
This past Tuesday however was probably the biggest activity of the last two weeks. It was “la fête du mouton” or the festival of the sheep which is essentially like Christmas in the Muslim community. My family is the only family in Yaoundé which is Muslim and we live in the Muslim neighborhood, so needless to say, it was a BIG deal. About a week before Tuesday my host mom’s cousin came over with two suitcases full of beautiful fabrics from the North (the Muslim region of Cameroon and where my parents are from). I was just in awe looking at the fabrics and then, out of nowhere, my Papa trows me a blue and white fabric and tells me it’s his gift to me and to take it to the tailor! If I wasn’t already feeling spoiled, he ended up buying me a purse and a bracelet that same night! That was when I realized how spectacular this fête would be. My host parents told me to invite all the exchange students, so everyone was looking forward to the day. We saw shepherds in the streets herding their sheep for days before the festival; I met the sheep that I ate Tuesday on Monday when my host dad came home with him in the trunk of the car... Monday and Tuesday were both public holidays, but SIT still had class. My dad wasn’t happy that I was going to school Tuesday, he really didn’t want me to miss out on the slaughtering of the sheep... I was happy to miss out. That night there was music, an abundance of food (I contributed a huge pot of fried rice to go with the meat), laughing and talking. It was just wonderful!
Next up on the agenda is Kribi, the coast of Cameroon where we will get to see the beach and learn about the social minority: the pygmies. After that we will be off to our third home stay, a week in Ngaoundéré, the North region. I am really looking forward to Kribi!
The weather is changing. We are moving into the dry season so during the day it is really sunny and extremely hot, but at night, around 6 or 7 pm the rain rolls in and it rains a lot. Apparently that means that the rainy season is moving out!
Until next time!
A quick update on the new furniture in my house... it is not wise to get white furniture when you have children under the age of 12 and a kitten in the house. As much as my parents have tried to preserve the white leather, it seems to have a new mark on it every other day. Other than that, there have been no issues in my home stay; I’m really happy to be back with them.
So after we came back from Bamenda we had to seriously start working on our IDI project. I haven’t mentioned this project yet, but it has been eating away much of my time as of late. Essentially the IDI is a miniature ISP (the four week research project we do at the end of the semester) which we complete in a group on a subject of our choice to prepare us for doing the ISP later. We chose our topics about five weeks ago and have had to meet certain deadlines along the way. I am in a group with my friends Margo (University of Oregon) and Jaclyn (Duke University). We chose to research the relationship between the Catholic church and traditional religious African customs. We are learning a lot. The Catholic church has realized over the years that they must open their arms to the African traditions because they are so engrained in the lives of Africans. Some traditions include praying to ancestors, sacrificing animals, or traditional healing. The church’s position we have found is not to say that all these traditions are bad and should be abolished (if they were to do this they wouldn’t have a congregation); their position is rather to preach that God is the only truth and you can continue your practices as long as they aren’t harmful nor take priority over the worshiping of the holy trinity. Anyway, we have to pass out surveys to members of the church, interview two NGOs or development groups and interview two people after they take the survey. Our biggest stress has been working on ‘Cameroonian time’. We find ourselves waiting for hours after the scheduled time of appointments. Thankfully though, people have been very willing to take our surveys and the Catholic church with which we are working has been extremely welcoming.
In French classes I have read two wonderful novels by Cameroonian female authors in the last two weeks. Je Vois le Soleil dans Tes Yeux by Nathalie Etoke and Walaande: l’art de partager un mari by Djaïli Amadou Amal (in case you’re interested in Cameroonian literature). Consequentaly, reading these books are really exciting for me because of what I will be researching for my ISP.
When we aren’t working on IDI or in class, we are all trying to develop our ISP topics. My topic is generally about the influence of Francophone Cameroonian female authors in Cameroon. The ‘in Cameroon’ part is crucial because these women tend to be more read and more appreciated out of country, since books are extremely expensive here and thus people don’t read much, and read female authors even less frequently. Christiane, our director, has been so helpful to every one of us. One day she took me to a bookstore and two different publishing companies in Yaoundé to find contacts for me. I was really lucky because I have the numbers now of about 15 different Cameroonian female authors and a few editors who I will interview in the coming weeks. Side note- when I said books here are expensive, I meant it. At the bookstore, I saw a book that we had to buy for the program. I think we paid maybe $10 for it on Amazon; here the price was 16,000 CFA or $32 which is more than half of a months earnings for a person working a minimum wage job in Cameroon... no wonder people aren’t rushing to the bookstores. Anyway, I was lucky because I was given the number of Djaïli Amadou Amal from a person at Harmattan publishing company. Christiane bought me Amal’s second book which I am currently reading, so I might end up focusing specifically on her writings.
When we aren’t working on IDI, French or ISP we have had NGO and development organization visits these last two weeks. The organizations we have seen are: LAGA (The Last Great Ape Organization), ANACLAC (Association Nationale de Comités de Langues Camerounaises), RENATA (Réseau National des Associations des Tantines), MUFFA (Mutuelle Financière des Femmes Africaines), Peace Corps Cameroon and the IMF (International Monetary Fund). I will explain some of those briefly. LAGA is trying to cut down on the illegal bushmeat trade and foster great ape habitats. They are a wonderful success story. They started from absolutely nothing and now are turning away donors. They really promote activism and hard work. ANACLAC works to preserve the education of maternal languages in Cameroon; they are struggling to find funding. RENATA works to educate teenage mothers to become teachers for the community about sexual education and safety. Their work has helped a lot of women and men. MUFFA is a micro-finance agency that works specifically with women. They have given so many women incredible opportunities to change their lives. I think Peace Corps and IMF are well known. These organizations have been so interesting. I have learned that having a specific goal for the organization and working with people who are passionate about the cause and not just about money are key aspects to fostering a successful NGO. Also, most of these organizations stressed the importance of letting local peoples run projects rather than outsiders. Often foreign aid is most wanted to come in and teach skills and then leave and let the locals reap all the benefits.
Last weekend was the first completely activity-free weekend we have had. I took full advantage! I went running, hiking, went to the market, went to new restaurants, cooked for my host family, and went to a three hour long Catholic mass (it was for IDI research but it was still pretty interesting).
This past Tuesday however was probably the biggest activity of the last two weeks. It was “la fête du mouton” or the festival of the sheep which is essentially like Christmas in the Muslim community. My family is the only family in Yaoundé which is Muslim and we live in the Muslim neighborhood, so needless to say, it was a BIG deal. About a week before Tuesday my host mom’s cousin came over with two suitcases full of beautiful fabrics from the North (the Muslim region of Cameroon and where my parents are from). I was just in awe looking at the fabrics and then, out of nowhere, my Papa trows me a blue and white fabric and tells me it’s his gift to me and to take it to the tailor! If I wasn’t already feeling spoiled, he ended up buying me a purse and a bracelet that same night! That was when I realized how spectacular this fête would be. My host parents told me to invite all the exchange students, so everyone was looking forward to the day. We saw shepherds in the streets herding their sheep for days before the festival; I met the sheep that I ate Tuesday on Monday when my host dad came home with him in the trunk of the car... Monday and Tuesday were both public holidays, but SIT still had class. My dad wasn’t happy that I was going to school Tuesday, he really didn’t want me to miss out on the slaughtering of the sheep... I was happy to miss out. That night there was music, an abundance of food (I contributed a huge pot of fried rice to go with the meat), laughing and talking. It was just wonderful!
Next up on the agenda is Kribi, the coast of Cameroon where we will get to see the beach and learn about the social minority: the pygmies. After that we will be off to our third home stay, a week in Ngaoundéré, the North region. I am really looking forward to Kribi!
The weather is changing. We are moving into the dry season so during the day it is really sunny and extremely hot, but at night, around 6 or 7 pm the rain rolls in and it rains a lot. Apparently that means that the rainy season is moving out!
Until next time!
Monday, October 7, 2013
The End of Dschang and Bamenda
Time seems to be flying by. I cannot believe that I have been in Cameroon for over a month! We are really busy with school work and traveling right now so there is always something new to see and look forward to which makes the time go by quickly.
This past week we were studying Bamiléké women in Cameroon. Bamiléké is an ethnic entity (I explained their history in the previous post). The role of women in African countries is generally marginalized in comparison with the male’s role. Women are still seen as the traditional mother, maid, cook figure while men are meant to “bring home the bacon” and be catered to. I, as well as the other students, have a hard time accepting this cultural difference because those roles have changed drastically in America. When we told Patrick, one of the Cameroonian students on our program, that there are even households in America where the man stays home all day with the children while the wife goes out and works he was shocked. He said that that doesn’t, and never will happen in Cameroon.
The role of the woman has changed some though. These days there are many more girls going to school, working, and some have even said that in the future they expect their husbands to help in raising the children and in the house. We had a lecture one day where a university girl and a university boy came to discuss the role of the modern woman. Charline is in medical school, and Gabriel engineering. All they had to say was all fascinating, but I will highlight some points.
Charline said that her schooling is really important to her and she feels that Cameroon devalues what positions a woman is capable of handling. However, she still feels like her life would not be complete and she would feel that she did not do her duty as a woman if she did not get married nor have children. She said also that she would like her husband to help around the house, especially on the weekend; however, she would feel ashamed if he helped more than twice a month and only if she really was not able to complete all her “feminine duties”. Even as a very modern young woman she was attached to traditional values.
Gabriel was even more of a traditionalist. He would expect for a woman to take care of the house entirely. That is the women’s natural role, a place where a man just does not belong. When asked, he said that he will probably have mistresses on the side of his marriage (a practice that is very common in Cameroon) and his wife does not have the right to question his fidelity.
In thinking about this discussion later, it made sense to me. For the female to gain power in Cameroonian society it means that the man has to give up some of his dominion. This is a pretty drastic change, and one that, in my opinion, is taking a very long time to change. Traditional values are still so powerful in African societies though, so I doubt that we will ever see complete equality between the sexes.
After our “women” lectures we said goodbye to our home stay families in Dschang. I was sad to say goodbye to my host brothers. They have both been so warm and welcoming and since I have grown up in America with a brother it was really comforting to have boys around my age in the house. On Friday we boarded the bus and headed three hours away to Bamenda.
Bamenda is in the Northwest region of Cameroon and is an anglophone town, colonized by the British. The town is gorgeous. It is situated in a valley so when we drove down into the town we saw a beautiful view. There are waterfalls on the cliffs that surround the town and everyone was extremely friendly. We moved into our guest house which was lovely. The best part was that they had running, HOT water! I think we all took as many showers as we could in the three days that we were there, just to soak up the amenity that we have missed dearly!
Friday night we had a lecture from a leader of the SCNC (Southern Cameroonians National Council). This is a liberation party in Cameroon that is trying to succeed from La Republique of Cameroon to become a state of it’s own. The reason it is “Southern Cameroonians” rather than “Southern Cameroonian” is because there was a Northern Cameroonians territory that became a part of Nigeria in the 1960s. This party is very controversial because they believe that they should’ve become their own state in the 1960s as well and that they are being unfairly ruled by La Republique, which is true, there is a lot of tension between the Francophone and Anglophone parts of Cameroon. He was a very passionate speaker.
Saturday was such a treat. We went to John Fru Ndi’s home for a meeting with him and his children. He is the chairman of the SDF (Social Democratic Front) which is the leading opposition party in Cameroon. The CPDM (Cameroonian People’s Democratic Movement) is the leading party in Cameroon and has help political power for decades. In fact, the current president of Cameroon has been in power since 1982... which is one reason why the SDF is so frustrated because they blame the economic and social paralysis on the never changing rule from the CPDM. The whole meeting and question and answering session was such an enriching experience! It is the equivalent of meeting the head of the Democratic party or the GOP in the states, so I think we were really lucky!
Both mornings in Bamenda I went on sunrise runs with my friend Margo. They were so lovely. I think most of us would love to go back and study more in Bamenda if only it was a French speaking area. Speaking that much in English was really messing with everyone’s head!
On Sunday we boarded the bus for the 9 hour ride back to Yaoundé. I was so happy to come home and pleased to see that my family had really missed me. They completely redecorated the house. All new modern furniture, a new refrigerator and even a new toilet!
This week and next week we are visiting a lot of different NGOs and developmental organizations. I am really looking forward to learning about these organizations and possibly making some connections for future international work!
This past week we were studying Bamiléké women in Cameroon. Bamiléké is an ethnic entity (I explained their history in the previous post). The role of women in African countries is generally marginalized in comparison with the male’s role. Women are still seen as the traditional mother, maid, cook figure while men are meant to “bring home the bacon” and be catered to. I, as well as the other students, have a hard time accepting this cultural difference because those roles have changed drastically in America. When we told Patrick, one of the Cameroonian students on our program, that there are even households in America where the man stays home all day with the children while the wife goes out and works he was shocked. He said that that doesn’t, and never will happen in Cameroon.
The role of the woman has changed some though. These days there are many more girls going to school, working, and some have even said that in the future they expect their husbands to help in raising the children and in the house. We had a lecture one day where a university girl and a university boy came to discuss the role of the modern woman. Charline is in medical school, and Gabriel engineering. All they had to say was all fascinating, but I will highlight some points.
Charline said that her schooling is really important to her and she feels that Cameroon devalues what positions a woman is capable of handling. However, she still feels like her life would not be complete and she would feel that she did not do her duty as a woman if she did not get married nor have children. She said also that she would like her husband to help around the house, especially on the weekend; however, she would feel ashamed if he helped more than twice a month and only if she really was not able to complete all her “feminine duties”. Even as a very modern young woman she was attached to traditional values.
Gabriel was even more of a traditionalist. He would expect for a woman to take care of the house entirely. That is the women’s natural role, a place where a man just does not belong. When asked, he said that he will probably have mistresses on the side of his marriage (a practice that is very common in Cameroon) and his wife does not have the right to question his fidelity.
In thinking about this discussion later, it made sense to me. For the female to gain power in Cameroonian society it means that the man has to give up some of his dominion. This is a pretty drastic change, and one that, in my opinion, is taking a very long time to change. Traditional values are still so powerful in African societies though, so I doubt that we will ever see complete equality between the sexes.
After our “women” lectures we said goodbye to our home stay families in Dschang. I was sad to say goodbye to my host brothers. They have both been so warm and welcoming and since I have grown up in America with a brother it was really comforting to have boys around my age in the house. On Friday we boarded the bus and headed three hours away to Bamenda.
Bamenda is in the Northwest region of Cameroon and is an anglophone town, colonized by the British. The town is gorgeous. It is situated in a valley so when we drove down into the town we saw a beautiful view. There are waterfalls on the cliffs that surround the town and everyone was extremely friendly. We moved into our guest house which was lovely. The best part was that they had running, HOT water! I think we all took as many showers as we could in the three days that we were there, just to soak up the amenity that we have missed dearly!
Friday night we had a lecture from a leader of the SCNC (Southern Cameroonians National Council). This is a liberation party in Cameroon that is trying to succeed from La Republique of Cameroon to become a state of it’s own. The reason it is “Southern Cameroonians” rather than “Southern Cameroonian” is because there was a Northern Cameroonians territory that became a part of Nigeria in the 1960s. This party is very controversial because they believe that they should’ve become their own state in the 1960s as well and that they are being unfairly ruled by La Republique, which is true, there is a lot of tension between the Francophone and Anglophone parts of Cameroon. He was a very passionate speaker.
Saturday was such a treat. We went to John Fru Ndi’s home for a meeting with him and his children. He is the chairman of the SDF (Social Democratic Front) which is the leading opposition party in Cameroon. The CPDM (Cameroonian People’s Democratic Movement) is the leading party in Cameroon and has help political power for decades. In fact, the current president of Cameroon has been in power since 1982... which is one reason why the SDF is so frustrated because they blame the economic and social paralysis on the never changing rule from the CPDM. The whole meeting and question and answering session was such an enriching experience! It is the equivalent of meeting the head of the Democratic party or the GOP in the states, so I think we were really lucky!
Both mornings in Bamenda I went on sunrise runs with my friend Margo. They were so lovely. I think most of us would love to go back and study more in Bamenda if only it was a French speaking area. Speaking that much in English was really messing with everyone’s head!
On Sunday we boarded the bus for the 9 hour ride back to Yaoundé. I was so happy to come home and pleased to see that my family had really missed me. They completely redecorated the house. All new modern furniture, a new refrigerator and even a new toilet!
This week and next week we are visiting a lot of different NGOs and developmental organizations. I am really looking forward to learning about these organizations and possibly making some connections for future international work!
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