Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Mail ME
So I have an address and instead of putting it out on my blog for everyone, email me and let me know if you want it kauleen@gmail.com. I would appreciate anything, letters, newspaper clippings, things I can give away to Cameroonians (which is like anything with Obama on it) or things I can eat or hang in my house. I miss all your faces so photos are always good too! Happy New Years to everyone, I will be celebrating here nine hours before all you California folks.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone! And a Happy New Year! So these last few days have been kinda up and down for me. I am in my village, but have yet to settle into my house. My landlord is being real slow about getting things done and even with my counterpart’s pressure and me bugging him every chance I get, he still is moving at a slow pace to get my walls painted and mosquito netting on my windows. Right now all my stuff is spread out in three places. I have been staying with the Catholic nuns in village and they have been amazing. They give me chocolate, which can seem like such a trivial thing, but when you’re out in the bush even a saltine cracker can seem like something special. I can’t wait to get into my house cause I have been getting furniture made and what an experience that has been. I have drawn some stuff out, but unless you explain to a T there is no guarantee on what things will look like in the end. And then there is the transport; trying to find someone to go out in the bush to deliver furniture is expensive and time consuming.
All last week I got to accompany my counterpart, who works in the lab at the health center in village, out into the surrounding smaller villages for a week long vaccination campaign. People say that I live in the Bush, but I don’t think people have seen some of my surrounding villages. For one, you can only reach some of them by moto or walking and at one point I had to get off the moto and walk up a hill cause it was too steep for two people to ride up. Most of these villages only have one well at best or they search for water in the dry river beds by digging holes. A lot of the children I noticed are mal-nourished and suffering from water related illnesses like stomach worms. I see a lot of potential projects in these small villages and can’t wait to start work. I am looking forward to collaborating with my post mate who is in agro forestry on some soy and moringa projects (check out this wonder plant that grows all over Cameroon!).
So Christmas here is interesting cause for the past three days there has been this overcast of fog or smoke I can’t really tell, but it blocks out the sun and actually makes it slightly chilly. In the morning I have had to wear a sweater and the moto rides are quiet brisk. It really felt like Christmas for me when I was on a moto and I had this real strong smell of food cooking and I thought that food is what makes my holiday, second to family of course. I’m not homesick at all and the volunteers that are here now are awesome to hang out with. We are making the best Christmas possible in a Cameroonian situation.
I hope all is well with you and yours and hopefully next time the internet won’t be so slow and I can upload some more pictures!
All last week I got to accompany my counterpart, who works in the lab at the health center in village, out into the surrounding smaller villages for a week long vaccination campaign. People say that I live in the Bush, but I don’t think people have seen some of my surrounding villages. For one, you can only reach some of them by moto or walking and at one point I had to get off the moto and walk up a hill cause it was too steep for two people to ride up. Most of these villages only have one well at best or they search for water in the dry river beds by digging holes. A lot of the children I noticed are mal-nourished and suffering from water related illnesses like stomach worms. I see a lot of potential projects in these small villages and can’t wait to start work. I am looking forward to collaborating with my post mate who is in agro forestry on some soy and moringa projects (check out this wonder plant that grows all over Cameroon!).
So Christmas here is interesting cause for the past three days there has been this overcast of fog or smoke I can’t really tell, but it blocks out the sun and actually makes it slightly chilly. In the morning I have had to wear a sweater and the moto rides are quiet brisk. It really felt like Christmas for me when I was on a moto and I had this real strong smell of food cooking and I thought that food is what makes my holiday, second to family of course. I’m not homesick at all and the volunteers that are here now are awesome to hang out with. We are making the best Christmas possible in a Cameroonian situation.
I hope all is well with you and yours and hopefully next time the internet won’t be so slow and I can upload some more pictures!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Finally done with Stage
Yes I am still alive! This last few weeks have been crazy for me as I have been finishing Stage (sounds like Sta-ag) and then swearing-in, going to post and now back in the big city for a day.
So the last week of Stage was really hectic as I didn’t pass my language exam and ended up doing 20 hours of language to catch up and take another test a day before I swore in. It happened, I passed and swore-in with my fellow, now I can say it, volunteers and I am officially on my own, kinda. So I left the day after I swore-in for my post with four other volunteers in a bush taxi with all of our stuff piled high on top. We were to make a big loop of the north province dropping everybody off with their stuff and I was to be second to last on that trip. The first few hours weren’t bad, dirt road, bumpy and scenic as much as the North can be scenic. We dropped off one and two and then the dirt just seemed to settle on everything, even my mood. The taxi broke down for a few minutes, trying to make it up a sand embankment after crossing a river and then decided to break down a few more times after that. I made it to my house in the afternoon, ran and got a key from my landlord’s son, kicked some random squatter out of my house, locked everything up got back in the taxi because my house has yet to be finished. I have been staying a few days with the Catholic nuns who hosted me during site visit and now I am in the big city to buy a bed so that at least I have something to sleep on. Village thus far isn’t bad. Everybody is glad to see that I came back and thought I abandoned the village, but translations can be deceiving.
I have my first official meeting with the health center staff next week to talk about my role in village. Right now I see two major challenges when it comes to that; 1) Everyone thinks I am a doctor or nurse of some sort (or possible a nun since I am around the mission a lot and got called sister yesterday), 2) People think I am there to bring money and answers to all their problems, when I am really just a facilitator/community development worker there to help them see the resources they already have or to help them locate resources outside the community. I have a lot of work ahead of me in terms of trying to furnish and empty cement block in the bush as well as opening up a new post and introducing the idea of Peace Corps to the village. Keep me in your thoughts, the next three months will be a challenge, but one that I am looking forward to facing.
So the last week of Stage was really hectic as I didn’t pass my language exam and ended up doing 20 hours of language to catch up and take another test a day before I swore in. It happened, I passed and swore-in with my fellow, now I can say it, volunteers and I am officially on my own, kinda. So I left the day after I swore-in for my post with four other volunteers in a bush taxi with all of our stuff piled high on top. We were to make a big loop of the north province dropping everybody off with their stuff and I was to be second to last on that trip. The first few hours weren’t bad, dirt road, bumpy and scenic as much as the North can be scenic. We dropped off one and two and then the dirt just seemed to settle on everything, even my mood. The taxi broke down for a few minutes, trying to make it up a sand embankment after crossing a river and then decided to break down a few more times after that. I made it to my house in the afternoon, ran and got a key from my landlord’s son, kicked some random squatter out of my house, locked everything up got back in the taxi because my house has yet to be finished. I have been staying a few days with the Catholic nuns who hosted me during site visit and now I am in the big city to buy a bed so that at least I have something to sleep on. Village thus far isn’t bad. Everybody is glad to see that I came back and thought I abandoned the village, but translations can be deceiving.
I have my first official meeting with the health center staff next week to talk about my role in village. Right now I see two major challenges when it comes to that; 1) Everyone thinks I am a doctor or nurse of some sort (or possible a nun since I am around the mission a lot and got called sister yesterday), 2) People think I am there to bring money and answers to all their problems, when I am really just a facilitator/community development worker there to help them see the resources they already have or to help them locate resources outside the community. I have a lot of work ahead of me in terms of trying to furnish and empty cement block in the bush as well as opening up a new post and introducing the idea of Peace Corps to the village. Keep me in your thoughts, the next three months will be a challenge, but one that I am looking forward to facing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
