Fin

I'm sorry for the delay. The last week I spent in Cameroon was filled with activities and emotional goodbyes, not to mention packing and gift buying for my support system back in the states. Then, once I got back to St. Louis safely it has taken time to adjust back to this lifestyle and of course there were the holidays, so between all that and trying to get some needed rest, I am just now finding the time to sum up my journey.
The last week that I was in Cameroon began with coming back from Ngaoundéré and being reunited with my family in Yaoundé. While leaving Ngaoundéré was really emotional and difficult to do, I was happy to see my Yaoundé family once more.
The first few days back in Yaoundé we didn't have any mandatory classes to attend so we were able to just explore the city and spend quality time with our families. I took lots of pictures with my host sisters and went running and hiking with my youngest host sister and host brother. It was really relaxing for maybe the first time all semester. I was also able to easily navigate the city, going from market to market buying presents I wanted to share with my family and friends back in America.
There was some work that needed to be completed with my project though. In the end my results justified my hypothesis. Not only does Amal see herself as an active voice in this social movement for the betterment of women through literature, but her work accurately displays the situation of women, children and men in Cameroonian, polygamous households. My favorite quote in all of my research was from the only woman who I interviewed who had actually read the book. She was a second wife and told me that Amal writes what we women in these circumstances would never dare to say aloud. She too believes that this type of writing will help their situation as people become more aware of a life that is hidden from the public.
I felt really great about my final product. After having printed off my final copies I was really proud. I am overjoyed that I did my own research for a research project, made real connections with my subjects, and produced a 50 page paper in my second language, French. At only 22 years old I felt extremely accomplished.
The work that I did in my last week was just preparing my 45 minute PowerPoint presentation for the class which I gave on Thursday the 12th. Everyone in the group had very different subjects for their presentations and it was really great listening to what each student was passionate enough about to devote their time to for four weeks. There were projects on the newly created Senate in Cameroon, AIDS/HIV prevalence in the East, alcohol consumption in Cameroon, family planning, exclusive breast feeding practices, girls education in the North, artisinal vs industrial fishing laws, maternal languages, classroom conditions in relation to test scores, and precolonial development techniques.
After all the presentations our coursework was finally complete. Friday we were supposed to all plan and prepare for our end of the semester party which was held that evening; however, 6/9 of us became very ill and were sick all day long. With rest and hydration we all managed to show up to a very beautiful restaurant that night with our families and enjoyed an evening of laughter, tears, fun, and appreciation for all that we did and all who we met. It was a great party despite feeling sick!
The last full day that we had in Cameroon was Saturday. We ended up having class and being at the office from 10 until about 5. It was a re-entry seminar and I applaud SIT for conducting this class. It was really helpful to be able to come together as a group with our director Christiane and sum up what the semester meant to each and every one of us. We talked about what we learned, what we will and will not share with others, and how to share our story when we got back to the states. There were tears and also laughter as there always is when saying farewell. That night I went home and as I was giving my host family their goodbye gifts, the power went out and didn't come back on until the next morning. I felt that that was an appropriate thing to happen on the last day being in Cameroon. I couldn't leave without just one more power cut!
Finally, the day came. I went to one last market where I got one last marriage proposal. This time I had the best excuse that was totally truthful, sorry I am going back to America TODAY! My host family was going to this lunch party at one of their friend's house and while I thought that maybe I shouldn't go because of timing, my father insisted! I was really happy to go. All the attendees were from Europe, and the homeowner lived in an extravagant house up high in the hills of Yaoundé! The conversation was great, everyone was happy and the food was divine! At 3pm we had to go. I said very teary goodbyes to my siblings and my host mother and my Papa drove me to the SIT office. In our last car ride we had our last philosophical talk about the human condition; I miss that man a lot. At the office we all gathered and said goodbye to our director Christiane who was like a mother to each of us and were whisked off to the airport.
Thirty hours and four flights later I met my family in the St. Louis airport. I was immediately given a big winter coat, as I was wearing clothes appropriate to the 90 degree weather I left, not the 30 degree weather I came home to!
Being back in the states has been good and bad. My health has fluctuated. Getting back into the routine of the holidays was exhausting and eating rich food took adjusting, but slowly I am feeling better. People seem interested in hearing about my experience but it is really hard to tell someone about 3 1/2 months of your life in the 2 minutes that they give you. Coming back to the holiday season has been a little overwhelming. It is not like I lived in extremely poor towns, but just seeing all that there is at the mall or seeing children not appreciating the iPhone that they have because they want the newer version takes a toll on you. Especially if you remember my host mom's reaction when I gifted her a very simple cell phone.
That being said, I am very happy to be home. Being with my family and friends has been a wonderful blessing. I am enjoying telling my story and slowly educating people about things that they may never otherwise know about. For instance, one woman asked me "so how has it been being back in civilization?" ... I quickly assured her that I never left civilization and was able to tell her about some of the highlights of my experience. I hope that I will constantly be a voice for Cameroonians because I know that many Americans have very skewed ideas or maybe no idea at all about Cameroon specifically, and Africa in general. I take sharing my story as a huge responsibility.
Finally, I would like to share with you all a very exciting last part of my journey. After finishing my research paper I sent it to Amal, the author. She enjoyed the paper immensely and thanked me for my work. She even said that she would be delighted if I would translate the novel into English for her!!! I don't know if I could have ever imagined being graced with such an honor. I have applied to graduate schools where I would work for a PhD in French and African studies, but should that not work out, next year I would really like to start working on a translation.
I feel as though because of this experience I have grown up more and changed my thoughts about the world and development and my future. I thank the University of Arkansas, the School for International Training, my family, my friends, Cameroon and America for supporting me in this journey. As this journey comes to a close I am starting to see the doors of opportunity for other journeys open and I am thrilled to embark on my next adventure!
Thank you for following me along this voyage-- au revoir!

Printed and Packing

I feel as though I am in a time warp. I look at my watch everyday and now it says that it is December, but I just cannot believe it. It’s hard to think it’s a day past August in this weather. Wearing sandals, skirts, and short sleeves makes it feel like summer and without the holiday music and decorations I feel like my watch is lying to me. I am however appreciating my last days in this warm weather because I have heard that back in the states winter has arrived!
Since my last post my life has been devoted to writing, editing, and reading my ISP. I’m really happy to say that yesterday I went to the printing shop and printed a 48 page research paper, in French. It represents perhaps my greatest academic accomplishment to date.
The conclusion was that in fact Djaïli Amadou Amal does write the truth in order to liberate African women who are closed off from the world, unable to tell their stories. I will translate one of my favorite quotes from my research for you. It is from the only woman I interviewed who had already read the novel; she is a second wife in a marriage with an abundance of jealousy. She said that Amal writes what we, the victims of the polygamous lifestyle don’t dare to say out loud and through this novel people are going to change their attitudes as they see the consequences of this way of living.
I am really pleased with the way that my final paper turned out. There were many ups and downs throughout the whole process, but that is just what a process is. This next week I will have to make a powerpoint presentation about my last four weeks and present my findings to the program staff and the other students.
In other news, this past Thursday my friend Margo and I wanted to do something special for Thanksgiving. We went to the market to buy food which is always quite the experience. I love the bustling feeling of being at an open-air food market. You never know what you will find. Like a man walking past you with dead rats to show the effectiveness of the mouse traps he is trying to sell. I told Margo to buy one (if you remember she has mice friends) but she wasn’t too keen on talking to a man holding dead rodents. I can’t blame her.
Anyway, we attempted to make my family veggie-filled omelets and potato pancakes. The fact that no pans here are non-stick made our omelets more like scrambled eggs and our potato pancakes more like mashed potatoes. No matter, the family loved the meal. My 3 year old host brother was dancing around he was so thrilled.
A few days ago we went to Margo’s house to cook for her family. We had another eventful time at the market. One a man tried to over charge me for tomatoes and then when I caught him he ended up giving me 5 tomatoes for free and taking a picture with us! We cooked a huge pot of chili and fried plantains for her family. Her family loved the dish as well and somehow in the end, it actually tasted like real chili!
Today, the 6th, Margo and I will take the train back to Yaoundé. It is there that we will spend our last week in Cameroon.
When I first decided that I would do my ISP in Ngaoundéré I was slightly disappointed. I have such a great connection with my family in Yaoundé and being in the same room where I fought a fever for 5 days for a whole month didn’t seem too appealing. It’s amazing how your feelings change. I am going to be sad to leave this home, this family, this town. Everything here has become so familiar. For example, earlier this week Margo and I were at the train station reserving our tickets and the man in front of us turned around and said “oh you’re the girls who run. I see you every morning!” My host mom has been telling me that her friends see me in the mornings as well. It’s really nice to know that there are people who recognize you; it makes you feel at home. Even at Bar Laitier, the equivalent of a coffee shop, where Margo and I did ISP work daily, the ladies there knew our lunch order without us asking! My peanut and plantain ladies will also be missed. I loved finally feeling like I fit in and was a part of the community, but alas, change is inevitable.
Finally, as it is almost Christmas time, I have a holiday story. I wanted to get my family gifts to say goodbye because they have been so generous in feeding and housing me while they have financial struggles bearing down on them currently. I gave all the children colored pencils, modeling clay, notebooks and pencil sharpeners-- they were dancing around, so excited. I had also noticed that my host sister who is 12 had asked to use the calculator on my cell phone to do her math homework a few nights, so I bought her a $2 scientific calculator... she was overjoyed. She showed it off to her friends all night. My host mom told me later that she had been asking her older brothers for a calculator for years. Finally, my host mother has to ask permission from my father if she wishes to leave the house, very typical dynamic here. One day we were trying to take the infant to the hospital for her vaccinations, but Papa was not home. We really needed to go so finally I had the idea that she could call him using my phone. I have also seen her send notes in Arabic to her neighbors with the help of neighborhood children because that’s her only means of communication. A few times she’d mentioned wanting a cell phone, so I bought her a phone for a mere $26. When I gave her my gift she just started bawling and thanking me. I’d never seen someone so happy to get a present in my life and I just knew how much it meant to her. It was a beautiful moment I will never forget.
So back to Yaoundé today! I need to go finish packing! I’ll be back in the states in 10 days!

Research and Culture

Since I last blogged I have completed all my field research for my project, analyzed all my data, and have begun writing the paper.
    Last Tuesday was probably my favorite day of field research and also, as usual, an incredibly interesting cultural experience. I met up with Loppa, my translator, at 8:30 and quickly learned that all of our planned rendez-vous were cancelled. I was worried. We still had quite a few surveys and interviews to be completed and no one to see! Loppa reassured me that she had an idea. She said that she can feel people’s vibes really well and we were just going to walk around the streets close to my house a look for people who she felt would either be polygamous, know polygamous families, or in some way be open to help us. I was skeptical, but nevertheless, the first man we spoke to pointed us in the direction of a polygamous family about a block away! Okay, I thought, that was lucky, but how do we get in to talk to these people? We aren’t very well just going to walk into a family we do not know’s compound, right? Wrong. We do. Loppa calls out a greeting in Fulfulde and a few children greet us first. In what very little Fulfulde I know, I understand that she asks them to take us to their mother, which they do. We bend down to talk to the women (a sign of respect when talking to elders) and Loppa explains what we are doing. I’m lost with the Fulfulde and am begging for a French translation, but it isn’t needed. I understand that we are more than welcome when we go into the first wive’s house and she feeds us rice, beans and tea. Loppa tells me to get out my notebook. I was shocked at the hospitality! I just kept thinking, this would never happen in America! We ended up talking to two wives, four children and the husband all in one visit.
    Not knowing where to go next, the family pointed us to another family just down the road. One of the sons, in his 30s, walked us there. He also chose that moment to ask me and Loppa to become his second and third wives. When we laughed, he said, in all seriousness, what, you two get along well already, there will be no problems. We thanked him for the offer and quickly went in to the next home-- again, unannounced and guided to our subject by small children.
    For the last two days of my research, this was our routine. I couldn’t help but laugh every time we barged into a new home. Thank goodness for Cameroonian hospitality I told myself.
    Because Loppa had to take a few days off during the week (she was defending her Master’s thesis proposal) I had time to transcribe the final interviews and organize my work. Friday was my last day her, we finished around noon with a total of 43 surveys and 9 interviews completed. Since then I have been working on analyzing, coding, and organizing information. At this moment I have 13 of the 35-45 page page completed, all in French. I hope to have a first draft for Professor Taguem by Saturday.
    Besides working I have been able to run every morning which pleases me. Often I go with Margo, and if we miss a day, when I’m in town later, shop owners ask me why I didn’t “faire du sport” that morning. As you can imagine, there aren’t many 5 foot white girls with braids down to their waist running in Ngaoundéré.
    Actually being known in the town as the runner-girl has its advantages. I have gotten hollered at a lot less. It is really common here for men to yell out “la blanche” or in Fulfulde “Nassarra” both of which mean, white girl, and make extremely loud kissing noises. Children here also yell Nassarra incessantly until you wave. Most frequently we ignore the cat-calls. I try to tune them out. Occasionally I’ll give a slight smile or wave, but I really try not to encourage their behavior. I know they really mean no harm, they are just curious and also boys here are raised to be persistent with women, it is however extremely tiring. Some of the male Peace Corps volunteers tell us that they just yell back “le noir” and the Cameroonian laughs; I don’t try it.
    Also, I don’t think I have yet, and I’d love to paint a picture of how taking a taxi works in Cameroon. Like I’ve maybe mentioned, people in Ngaoundéré take motos much more frequently, but in Yaoundé taxis are the primary source of transportation. So, imagine a line of people waiting on the curb, all with one arm pointing out (the equivalent of a thumb up in the air). A taxi slows down to a crawl as he passes the line of people. As he passes you, you yell out where you want to go and how much you’ll pay. You don’t however have to yell out a price if it’s a normal distance (we’ve never known exactly what this distance is, but within at 10 or 15 drive) because it is assumed that you’ll pay 200 CFA or 40 cents. If you’re traveling a short distance you might yell “100 francs” or if you prefer the driver take you and stop for no one else you say “depot” and pay 1,500 CFA, $3. Anyway, if the driver is heading in the same direction as you shout from the street he beeps his horn, stops and you jump in. The system works out really well, except you can be stuck on that curb for quite awhile if your destination isn’t a popular one.
    Anyway- that’s some of the daily life here. In other news, the mosquitoes have come out with a vengeance recently. I’m covered in bug bites just from sitting in my room or the family room working or reading at night despite wearing spray and promethium soaked shirts. I always sleep in my mosquito tent, but I can’t very well live there. My host mother showed me her technique for getting of the mosquitoes in the living room; she violently whips her head-covering clothe around in the air for a few minutes each night. While I think I’ll stick to my technique, hers was highly entertaining for the whole family to watch. Tonight there were even tons of itsy bitsy spiders that were all over the couch I was sitting on in the living room; I still feel them crawling on me even though I showered. I rather have bugs though; my friend Margo’s room has become home to many mice friends.
    On the bright side- along with my plantain lady, I have made friends with the woman who sell peanuts for 10 cents. I hardly eat any meat here so I have made them my protein source. She’ll give me an extra handful of peanuts once in a while too! So with my peanut lady and my plantain lady combined I can get a pretty sizable snack for 30 cents each day!
    I’m wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving! There are so many things that I realize each day I am so very thankful for.

So many wives, so little time!

    Well it is true what they told us, the independent study portion of the semester is tiring, difficult, rewarding, and an in-depth cultural experience.
    Last Sunday I arrived in Douala a little before noon. I called Djaïli Amadou Amal and she told me that she and her husband were in town running errand and were not too far from where I was staying. They drove up in their big white truck 15 minutes later. Amal got out and was waddling to the lobby of our guest house where we sat for our interview. I say waddling because she is nine months pregnant. In fact, while we had planned to space out our interview over the course of a few days, we decided it would be better to complete all the questions that afternoon because she thought she might go into labor very soon! It was a very long, but very rich interview! I was so thankful that she took the time to talk to me.
    Amal grew up in the Extreme North of Cameroon. She was fortunate enough to go to school because her father was a teacher and her mother was Egyptian so it was not a question for her whether or not her daughters would attend school. That being said, she was married off into a polygamous marriage at the age of 16. She fought to continue school, but once she got to the age of University she was forced to stop as there is no University in the Extreme North. She said she was a writer since she was in elementary school, but she began writing seriously after she left her first husband. Yes, she was so unhappy that she chose to leave the polygamous relationship. She moved to Douala and married her current husband, also a writer and editor, and published Walaande: l’art de partager un mari in 2010. She explained that this book was a culmination of events that she saw happen and that happened within her marriage. She thinks that before the situation of the current Cameroonian woman can change, people must learn about the problem and that is what writing is capable of. She thinks that the more people are aware of the realities in the homes of these families, the more people will fight for the rights of oppressed women and children and the less people will ignore what is truly going on. She gave the responses that for the most part I had expected and which prompted my research question: is what she writes about accurately portraying the realities of these women? Because if she is not displaying their realities, then people are not being informed of the true situation and thus, the situation of the African women will not be changed. However, when I asked if her writing is a rebellion against tradition and of course polygamy, she answered poignantly: I would say a reform rather than a revolt. She emphasized that she values her culture, but there are things that need to change desperately in order for women to live happier lives.
    After the interview I was even more excited to go discover the lives of these polygamous families in the North. I went back to Yaoundé and first went to a bookstore where I asked about some statistics of Amal’s book and Cameroonian women’s novels in general. They were only able to tell me that while Amal’s book had been well received, novels in general just don’t sell in Cameroon. This is important because Amal’s writing might be able to change the women’s situation, but only if people read... On top of that, Walaande sells for 5,000 CFA or $10, but the minimum wage in Cameroon is 28,000 CFA/mo. Why would anyone spend almost 20% of their monthly earnings on a book? It is a problem that Amal acknowledged.
    I had a free day in Yaoundé where I took 7 painful hours to transcribe the interview with Amal (transcriptions are probably the most time-consuming and difficult part of this project). I wrote up the surveys for my informants. I am giving out 20 surveys to wives of polygamous families, 10 surveys to the husbands, and 10 to the children over the age of 18. I decided to make three different surveys because I am asking about different themes from the novel that concern each group in a different way.
    The themes that I am focusing on are: jealousy between the wives, domestic violence, the choice (or lack thereof) for women and children to make decisions for their marriages and their education, and finally, the changing in ideas about polygamy in the young generation.
    So, I left Yaoundé Wednesday afternoon. This time the train ride to Ngaoundéré was much more pleasant because I had a bed on the train! It was also the safest way to travel, seeing as I was going overnight alone. I arrived in Ngaoundéré Thursday morning and it was nice to see my family again. I met up with Margo who is the other girl from my program doing her project up here; she is studying girls education. Then I had a meeting with my adviser for my project, Dr. Fah Taguem. He has taught seminars and classes all over the states and in Germany. We had a great meeting and then when I was walking home I saw my host father drive by on a moto. He asked if I was ready to go to my first family and I was shocked but of course said yes. It happened to be a neighbor who has three wives. They were very open. I ended up getting four surveys and conducting three interviews all in the first day!
    Friday I was introduced to Loppa, my translator. She has been very helpful because the majority of people who have not been educated do not speak French, just Fulfuldé. She also has a lot of connections to the area so she, along with my host father, have been wonderful in setting me up to meet families.
    Saturday we had a very busy day. It started at 8:30 when we walked an hour to see our first family. I regretted having gone on a run that morning. Ngaoundéré is hot. And the dry season is truly upon us. I felt like we were walking through the desert, and I honestly wasn’t too far off. You must understand that here people take motos (mopeds or motorcycles) everywhere! There aren’t taxis really like in Yaoundé. Due to safety precautions we are not allowed to take a moto. In fact, if you are seen on a moto you have one strike, three strikes your going home. While none of our staff members are here, we are assured that they have spies everywhere. Honestly, I wouldn’t want to get on a moto because the driving here is frightening and I have seen people get in back wrecks. That being said, throughout my research it is proving to be a big inconvenience. Good thing I am active and like to walk!
    Anyway, we got to our first house and this woman was extremely passionate. She said countless times, I condemn polygamy. I condemn it! It’s just a way to cheat women and make them suffer! When asked when then is she in a polygamous marriage she responded that she fell in love with a man who already had two wives, what was she to do? This shockingly has been a very common sentiment. Almost every woman that I have talked to strongly does not want her children to be in polygamous relationships because they feel it causes too many problems and just makes the wives and the children suffer. It is just amazing to me that these women are willing to live a lifestyle that they despise just because they love or feel financially secure with the man. Not as many women as I would’ve expected were forced into the marriage, although there are cases of such. Saturday I spoke to women and men and children from about 5 different families. Hearing every story was interesting to me. There were girls who are younger than I am with 4 children already and there were widows in their 50s who just didn’t want to be alone anymore and married a polygamous man because he was the first one to propose. The theme of jealousy that Amal presents in her books is the one theme that I am most confident that she is presenting the reality. Each time I ask the women if there is jealousy between the wives she laughs, some are quite hesitant to respond but almost all respond yes. Amal explained that women are supposed to hide those feelings, so that is why I think they all laugh nervously. They all know there is that feeling, but because of their lifestyle it is taboo to express this emotion. It is an emotion that Amal’s literature is able to express for these women because they cannot.
    That night I came home exhausted from the day, but I heard music out in the courtyard. There was a four man band with drums and a microphone and dancing. I was confused but my host mother explained that a girl in the neighborhood was getting married the next day and they were getting her ready. I saw women washing the bride’s feet and dancing with her. Her head was covered with a scarf to hide her. It was a really cool cultural experience. I loved that everyone, old and young, from the neighborhood came out to dance and wish her well!
    Sunday, or yesterday rather, was another early day. I went to my first family at 7:30 (people get moving pretty early here, even on weekends, because as I mentioned the heat is unreal). I first spoke with the father of the family. I could tell immediately that he is very strict and traditional with the way he treats his wives. He said that they have no say at all in the decision making and that if they go against his words he will divorce them. He has had 11 wives; he has four right now, two have died, and he has divorced five. I spoke with the women too. None of them have been educated or are allowed to work out of the house (only one out of the 14 women I’ve interviewed works out of the household). This family is extremely well-off. Their compound was expansive and luxurious! It was really interesting because the second family I spoke with is really struggling financially. I spoke to the father and three children and all the children said that they would not have polygamous families because in this day and age it is too much of a financial burden. The father of this family said he was willing to discuss decisions with his wives and valued what they had to think. In talking to Loppa I realized that the financial situations of these families really play an important role in how the family runs. A man can be a lot more domineering when he has money because the wife cannot complain, she has all her needs and then some met. However, if the man is struggling to provide then the women has more of a right to stand up and say what she wants and needs and how she thinks the family should run for the betterment of all. I relate this to the book because the first wife talks about how before the husband had money everything was happy, but after Alhadji became rich the wives lives actually deteriorated.
    I have a great start on my research. In fact, by the end of this next week I will probably finish with my field work and devote my time entirely to transcribing and analyzing data. The week after that I will be writing my final paper. I will keep you all informed on further research!
    Also, there is a woman on the street a couple blocks from my house who sells the best fried plantains I have ever eaten! She knows me now, and I’m already getting an extra plantain thrown in every time I stop by. For 20 cents I can’t very well pass up the opportunity for an afternoon plantain snack!

Ready, Set, ISP!

    I will start this blog with a health report: I am very healthy now and luckily I have a higher immunity so the rest of the students are jealous!
    This week has been full of work. What is really exceptional about an SIT study abroad program is that we are constantly learning. From our home stays to our essays we are broadening our perspectives on the world, advancing academically and in our personal lives as well. Also, we do not do any “busy work”, by this I mean that every assignment or activity has a purpose. So this week we gave our IDI presentations, wrote our biggest essay yet about the possibility of national unity in Cameroon taking in consideration that it is a country extremely diverse, and we wrote and gave presentations about our independent study project proposals.   
    Our IDI presentation went well. We concluded that the Catholic church is starting to accept and even incorporate traditional practices into their practices; however, the church still sees their practices as superior and there are no doubt traditional beliefs that must be eliminated in order for Cameroonians to be accepted into the church.
    Our ISP proposals had to include every aspect of the project: hypotheses, research questions, outlines for interview and survey questions, contacts, a timeline etc. The most nerve wrecking part of writing up this proposal was certainly the timeline. The ISP (Independent Study Project) is a four week long research project and those four weeks are barely enough! The expectation for the final paper is high and that is why we have to do so much prep-work to make sure that we will be able to have a good final product in such a short time period. I believe that I have mentioned that I was going to focus my work on French-speaking Cameroonian female authors. I have narrowed down my project to be a thematic analysis of Djaïli Amadou Amal’s first novel, Walaande: l’art de partager un mari (Walaande: the art of sharing a husband). French speaking African women writers have been described as “the voice for the voiceless” or in other words, they write the stories of women who otherwise would have no means of telling their story. For my project I will interview Amal in order to understand if she is writing as an advocate for women from the North is polygamous relationships and then I will go back to the North, to Ngaoundéré, and live and study polygamous families to see if the themes Amal presents are the reality with which these women live. I hypothesize that if Amal is a voice for the voiceless then her themes will be present in the families I observe, survey and interview. Otherwise, why is Amal writing? What is the importance of her writing? Is she creating a false voice, a false rebellion for the women of her region of origin? As of now that is what I will be dedicating the next four weeks of my life to figuring out.
    Other than school work this week has been fairly calm. I have been able to start running again which is great, although we are entering the dry season in Cameroon and it is really hot! Last night, Friday night, was the first time that a group of us went out at night. We went out with some Cameroonian friends to some of their favorite places; it was really fun. Everyone we met had a connection to the states-- a brother was studying in California, they had worked for the MLB, they were going there for the first time in the near future. It is really fun to talk to others about America. I feel as though I am more patriotic when I am abroad than I ever have been in the states.
    Today I went to the tailor and picked up all the clothes that I have had made. It is really incredible that you can have a tailor-made skirt for just 6 USD. I am really happy because due to packing limitations I didn’t bring many clothes here and so I feel like I have worn the same outfits millions of times. Plus, Cameroonians really like seeing foreigners dressed in their traditions fabrics and designs. You really are greeted with an even warmer welcome! Then we had our last class about how to write an ISP and some tips and guidelines. It was sad leaving the office today and knowing I won’t be back there for four weeks. It was also sad saying goodbye to the rest of my friends in the program. I know I will see them again in a month, but I am used to seeing them daily. One other girl, Margo, has also chosen to do her work in Ngaoundéré, so at least I will have one close friend there with me.
    Tomorrow morning I am taking a bus to Douala, a city on the West coast, with one of our staff, Nathalie. The trip will take about 4 hours. I will stay there with Nathalie until Tuesday and in that time I will conduct three interviews with the author, Djaïli Amadou Amal. I am really excited! For me it is like meeting a celebrity! Good thing I have new clothes to wear!
    I will keep you updated on the ISP process! Wish me luck!

Now I've Had the Real African Experience

This week I got through my biggest fear in coming to Africa. Getting sick.
Last Thursday we took an overnight train to Ngaoundéré, the capital of the Northern region of Cameroon. The “first class” seats were similar to second class train cars on European rail lines, which I rode a lot during my year in Belgium. Needless to say, we did not sleep very much during our overnight trip.
We arrived in Ngaoundéré on Friday morning. We stayed in dorms at a boarding high school. We all played cards, relaxed, went to dinner, and went to bed early. The food in Ngaoundéré is quite different from where we have been. Mainly, they don’t really eat vegetables or fruits very frequently. Most meals are rice, pasta, couscous (not the same couscous we eat in the states, more like big sticky balls made from corn or rice base), or potatoes with an oily sauce. The sauces are very oily and made with tomatoes most frequently. There is very little meat or plantains or manioc or fish eaten here, unlike what we have seen more in the other regions we have been living. Also, many people in the group were happy because milk is huge here! It is either cow or goat milk and often the consistency of yogurt, served with sugar. The Peuls, the ethnic group of the region, are herders, originally nomadic, and so there is more access to cows or goats to milk. Milk otherwise has been powdered and added to hot water, so cold milk was a great change.
Saturday morning we had a class about Islam and Fulbe. The Fulbe (same group as Peul) speak Fulfulde which we had three crash courses in during our time in the North. The language courses turned out to be more helpful than we could have imagined because our host families spoke Fulfulde exclusively in the home. Most of the time the students sat quietly until addressed in French. We also learned about Islam because this Northern region is the vast majority Muslim. All of our host families were Mulslim. I was used to this because my Yaoundé family is Muslim as well, but this family was more conservative.
I’m getting ahead of myself though... so we were in class on Saturday and I began to feel like I had a fever. The director of the program, Christiane, knows all of us very well and noticed that I wasn’t doing well. She suggested I go to one of the guest houses to sleep. I slept all day and all day my fever rose to 102.5. By that evening, my teachers thought it would be best to go to the hospital. There are a lot of differences between American hospitals and the Cameroonian hospital where I went. It was about 6pm when we got to the hospital. You first have to buy a notebook for $1.20 in which the doctor writes your health status, test results, treatments etc. In between every place you go you walk outside. We walked to the Emergency room, which said it was closed until 7pm. My teacher I was with, Nathalie, thought this was ridiculous for an Emergency room to close and we went inside. I will be completely honest. As a white American girl, I was given priority treatment multiple times. This was nice at the time, but also embarrassing and made me feel very uncomfortable. That night they took a blood sample, told me to take Tylenol to break my fever, and come back the next day for the results. I went to my host family for the first time that night. I felt bad walking in sick as a dog and hardly my social self, but they were understanding.
The next morning, Sunday, my fever still refused to go down. We went back to the hospital and was originally told that I had Typhoid and prescribed medicine. I went back home and slept all day, but by 7pm I had such a high fever that I was under three blankets and still shivering. The staff of the program all came over to my house, and my host dad called his American nurse friend, Jackie over to the house to check out my condition. It was a blessing that he was friends with this lady because I could finally explain my condition in English. Jackie is a paid nurse at the hospital through the Lutheran church. She told me that I have the symptoms of Typhoid, but because I had the vaccine I will always test positive for the illness. She thought I had Malaria, the mosquito born disease, instead. Jackie sent out one of the staff members to put me on new medicine and told me to go to the hospital the next day.
The next day I still had a fever over 101. We went to the hospital and they said the final diagnosis would be Malaria and an Amoeba parasite. I felt really sick. The whole day I slept and tried to battle with my fever. By Tuesday I still had a fever between 99 and 100 all day, but my appetite was slowly coming back and I was starting to feel a little stronger. Wednesday was the first day without a fever! I knew the meds were helping now. By Friday and Saturday I was walking around town, exploring for the first time, and unfortunately I wasn’t left with a whole lot of time to explore.
So I may have had Typhoid, but definitely survived Malaria and an Amoeba. It is true that these are very serious diseases, but only if not treated. I am on preventative medication for Malaria, I sleep in a mosquito tent and I was given primary medical treatment quickly... imagine those who aren’t as fortunate as I. I am really blessed by my fortunate situation. Now, I am still very fatigued, a feeling that is supposed to last up to a week, but I am doing exponentially better! I survived Malaria! Now, as most of the Cameroonians have told me, I’ve had the true African experience!
My host family, like I said, was a Muslim family. This family was not as modern. My host father who owns his own tailoring shop, had his own sleeping and living quarters separate from the family and was brought his meals by his wife when he commanded them. My host mom married my host father when she was 16; I was told that he was much older, but I don’t know the age, I’d estimate 25 years her senior. I had six siblings, but grasping names was very difficult, especially because I wasn’t able to socialize much due to my sickness. My eldest brother was 19, the next 16, my sister was 12 and acted like a second mother, the next boy was 9, the next boy 3 and adorable but because he wasn’t in school yet he spoke no French and I spoke no Fulfulde so we had a sign language relationship. The last child was a baby girl who celebrated her 40 day birthday the day I arrived. On top of the 8 permanent dwellers in the house plus me, there were people coming in and out all the time. The neighborhood was kind of a big compound of friendly neighbors. Everyone left their main doors open and there was a lot of exchanging all throughout the day and night. I liked this. It made for a warm atmosphere.
My family had probably the lowest economic status that I have yet to live with. Thursday night my host mom told me that she didn’t have money to make the sauce for dinner, so we just ate plain white rice. All the portions were always small. I was fine with this because I didn’t have much of an appetite anyway, but I still wish I could’ve helped more. SIT gives each family a stipend to host us, but with a newborn and 5 other children that stipend could have been used up quickly. They were very generous to host me, especially because I wasn’t much fun. I was very appreciative of their hospitality.
Ngaoundéré was an interesting week. I unfortunately did not get to see a whole lot of the city, but the markets that I went to Saturday morning before we took the train back to Yaoundé were beautiful. Scarfs and beautiful silks and fabrics are sold everywhere. Besides that, my impression of the area consisted mostly of their hospitals and the inside of my bedroom. We did, however, get advised on our ISP (the Independent Study Project for the final month of the semester). I got in contact with one author who I would really like to research with. She seemed very willing to talk to me so I will see where that goes. I have decided to stay in Yaoundé for the four week project because most female authors are based here, the publishing companies are here, and there is a lot of information at the University here. I think the whole group is nervous and excited for this project!
Today we took the train back to Yaoundé. Accustomed to the process now, we all slept better than on the way to Ngaoundéré. We met Peace Corps volunteers on the way back. They are always really fun to talk to! This week we will be presenting our IDI findings (the project about the Church and traditional practices) and presenting our final ISP proposals. The program requires a very in depth final proposal which may be difficult, but in a week I’m sure we will appreciate the preparation!

KRIBI

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!