The rest of the week is taken up with completing the report, tying up loose ends, saying goodbyes and packing!. On Wednesday I make another trip to Jakiri with Ibrahim, Hector and Shamsul to look at the possibility of creating a partnership there. Friday is International Volunteers' Day, and we attend before Ibrahim drives us back to Yaounde in the afternoon. Saturday we fly home overnight, and I am writing these last few paragraphs back home in Cardiff.
It's all too much at the moment to write final thoughts - so many different words and pictures are in my mind. Suffice it to say that it was both easier than I thought and more difficult than I thought - I was lucky in that I met some special people, both Cameroonians and in VSO - I worked hard and didn't get much time off; didn't get a chance to travel and see much of the country - didn't get to see any giraffes either!
I am happy to be back and looking forward to seeing everyone; but I have to answer the question that everyone has been asking me so far... was it worth it and would you do it again? - Well the answer is - like a shot!!
Monday 8 December 2008
Day 49: Monday 1st December 2008
Today we take a trip to visit Awing; the home village of both the Mayor of Santa and Vincent, Tom's friend, and the Mayor's driver, who has arranged to drive us there to visit the Fon (local traditional chief) in his palace, and also to visit Lake Awing, one of the larger of the volcanic lakes in the North-West Province.
The Fon has been called to the capital Yaounde, but we are shown around the palace, greeted with palm wine and introduced to some of the other residents. Lake Awing is spectacular, and the day is a pleasant break from report-writing and attending meetings!
The Fon has been called to the capital Yaounde, but we are shown around the palace, greeted with palm wine and introduced to some of the other residents. Lake Awing is spectacular, and the day is a pleasant break from report-writing and attending meetings!
Monday 24 November 2008
Sunday afternoon football .......and Monday morning distractions
Day 41: Sunday 23rd November 2008
Sunday afternoon Football
Sunday afternoon football – very serious...until the atmosphere lightens with a little playinng around!
Later “Roots” is on the TV (dubbed into French makes it even more realistic somehow) – and I am forced to think about something that I have been trying to avoid - that since I have been here, even more than in the Gambia, I often find myself turning in the street to look twice at people who look so like individuals I have known from the UK, that even the names of people that I knew many years ago come back to me, and I find myself wanting to call out to them; the reason for that is the horror of the shared history of the UK and Africa in the form of the slave trad.
Cameroon, like many other places with a coastline on the Atlantic coast of Africa, has a history intimately connected with slavery, and quite rightly it has not been forgotten here.
To know that it is not just my imagination that so many people here look like they are related to people in the UK – to know that in fact many of their common ancestors suffered the horror of abduction and enslavement, only a few generations ago; is shameful and shocking.
To know that the world has still not eradicated slavery and that many people, especially children and women are still being bought and sold, and made to work without pay, today in all parts of the world is equally shameful and shocking.
Day 42: Monday 24th November 2008
A little distraction.........
Okay - now I know it's Monday morning and I am supposed to be working, but I defy anyone to resist this young woman! She comes along, sits herself down and says "I can write 2 + 2 = 4 - let me write it" - well who could resist?? Not me - nor Tom when he arrived from Santa. This little girl, whose name is "Blessing", and who is not yet 4, jumped down from the table and ran along the path to grab his legs and hug him when she saw him coming (he seems to have a magnetic attraction for kids here - he claims that it is the opposite with kids in the UK!! -but it's not the first time I have seen this happen!)
Oh and by the way, she does normally go to school, but she has a sick brother, so her mother, who is a temporary gardener, can't pay the school fees as well as the medical bills.
Sunday afternoon Football
Sunday afternoon football – very serious...until the atmosphere lightens with a little playinng around!
Later “Roots” is on the TV (dubbed into French makes it even more realistic somehow) – and I am forced to think about something that I have been trying to avoid - that since I have been here, even more than in the Gambia, I often find myself turning in the street to look twice at people who look so like individuals I have known from the UK, that even the names of people that I knew many years ago come back to me, and I find myself wanting to call out to them; the reason for that is the horror of the shared history of the UK and Africa in the form of the slave trad.
Cameroon, like many other places with a coastline on the Atlantic coast of Africa, has a history intimately connected with slavery, and quite rightly it has not been forgotten here.
To know that it is not just my imagination that so many people here look like they are related to people in the UK – to know that in fact many of their common ancestors suffered the horror of abduction and enslavement, only a few generations ago; is shameful and shocking.
To know that the world has still not eradicated slavery and that many people, especially children and women are still being bought and sold, and made to work without pay, today in all parts of the world is equally shameful and shocking.
Day 42: Monday 24th November 2008
A little distraction.........
Okay - now I know it's Monday morning and I am supposed to be working, but I defy anyone to resist this young woman! She comes along, sits herself down and says "I can write 2 + 2 = 4 - let me write it" - well who could resist?? Not me - nor Tom when he arrived from Santa. This little girl, whose name is "Blessing", and who is not yet 4, jumped down from the table and ran along the path to grab his legs and hug him when she saw him coming (he seems to have a magnetic attraction for kids here - he claims that it is the opposite with kids in the UK!! -but it's not the first time I have seen this happen!)
Oh and by the way, she does normally go to school, but she has a sick brother, so her mother, who is a temporary gardener, can't pay the school fees as well as the medical bills.
Thursday 20 November 2008
Cows feet, politics and a bottle of warm water.....
Day 37: Tuesday 18th November 2008
Catherine hosts our “send-off” party – she has prepared Yoruba style outfits for us, and special food, in particular "footcow" (which is apparently good for the joints!.) There is food, drink and speech-making, and we thank everyone for their hospitality, hard work and cooperation, without which our projects could not have taken place. In particular, Catherine's organisational, motivational and language skills have been invaluable.
Day 38: Wednesday 19th November 2008
“Not far now..... really .....”
Today I take a day off from report-writing, as Kharsum has invited me to visit Bambili lake with one of the Tubah Councillors. We set off early to avoid the heat of the day, and have been promised a short walk, but it turns out to be a long one and much later than planned.
The Cameroon countryside is volcanic and stunning, with still lakes hidden away in craters up in the hills; even high up, a lot of the area is cultivated; and the rest is grazing for cows, goats and sheep.
On the way we meet people that the Councillor knows; constituents, relatives, neighbours, friends and Pastor Martin, who is all four of the above. He is standing in the road with a pickaxe, working at breaking down boulders to make the road flatter, and is waiting for a group of volunteers he has co-opted to help with this. The time to manage the unpaved roads is in the dry season, which has now started; and in default of state support for road maintenance, individuals and groups are beginning to divide up stretches of unpaved road between them and take responsibility for their maintenance. It is back-breaking work at the hottest time of the year; but as Pastor Martin explains, the livelihood of the small farmers depends on access to market.
Pastor Martin lives locally, and is happy to escort us on to the lake. He takes the opportunity to harangue the Councillor on a number of contentious topics as we walk, but also runs to his farm to return with a freshly pulled bunch of carrots for us to take home.
"I never heard of anyone visiting a farm and coming home with no food" he laughs. We drop him back at the roadside, by which time the team of roadmending volunteers have arrived - they are a group of fairly elderly men; the heat is now intense, and we have nothing to offer them except a partly drunk bottle of warmish water, while they offer us enthusiastic greetings.
Catherine hosts our “send-off” party – she has prepared Yoruba style outfits for us, and special food, in particular "footcow" (which is apparently good for the joints!.) There is food, drink and speech-making, and we thank everyone for their hospitality, hard work and cooperation, without which our projects could not have taken place. In particular, Catherine's organisational, motivational and language skills have been invaluable.
Day 38: Wednesday 19th November 2008
“Not far now..... really .....”
Today I take a day off from report-writing, as Kharsum has invited me to visit Bambili lake with one of the Tubah Councillors. We set off early to avoid the heat of the day, and have been promised a short walk, but it turns out to be a long one and much later than planned.
The Cameroon countryside is volcanic and stunning, with still lakes hidden away in craters up in the hills; even high up, a lot of the area is cultivated; and the rest is grazing for cows, goats and sheep.
On the way we meet people that the Councillor knows; constituents, relatives, neighbours, friends and Pastor Martin, who is all four of the above. He is standing in the road with a pickaxe, working at breaking down boulders to make the road flatter, and is waiting for a group of volunteers he has co-opted to help with this. The time to manage the unpaved roads is in the dry season, which has now started; and in default of state support for road maintenance, individuals and groups are beginning to divide up stretches of unpaved road between them and take responsibility for their maintenance. It is back-breaking work at the hottest time of the year; but as Pastor Martin explains, the livelihood of the small farmers depends on access to market.
Pastor Martin lives locally, and is happy to escort us on to the lake. He takes the opportunity to harangue the Councillor on a number of contentious topics as we walk, but also runs to his farm to return with a freshly pulled bunch of carrots for us to take home.
"I never heard of anyone visiting a farm and coming home with no food" he laughs. We drop him back at the roadside, by which time the team of roadmending volunteers have arrived - they are a group of fairly elderly men; the heat is now intense, and we have nothing to offer them except a partly drunk bottle of warmish water, while they offer us enthusiastic greetings.
Sunday 16 November 2008
Volunteering, Pepe Soup and Risque Stories..
Day 32: Thursday 13th November 2008
Management Committee meeting at 9 - we leave at 7 to prepare 9. By 10:30 about 15 people have arrived; and our agenda item on the National Volunteering Proposal generates a lot of debate.
The proposal is adopted – Santa will host a pilot national volunteering scheme for Cameroon; Tom and I are delighted that we will hopefully leave something a little more concrete than a report, and it seems so are all the involved partner agencies.
Lunch to celebrate, is at Nicoline’s chop house, with pepe soup and boiled plantain. The pepe soup is a rich spicy goat meat soup, and is one of my favourites. Later we go to the Head of Services meeting which also involves good food and drink and a lot of good natured banter.
Management Committee meeting at 9 - we leave at 7 to prepare 9. By 10:30 about 15 people have arrived; and our agenda item on the National Volunteering Proposal generates a lot of debate.
The proposal is adopted – Santa will host a pilot national volunteering scheme for Cameroon; Tom and I are delighted that we will hopefully leave something a little more concrete than a report, and it seems so are all the involved partner agencies.
Lunch to celebrate, is at Nicoline’s chop house, with pepe soup and boiled plantain. The pepe soup is a rich spicy goat meat soup, and is one of my favourites. Later we go to the Head of Services meeting which also involves good food and drink and a lot of good natured banter.
Wednesday 12 November 2008
Millions of Africans choose Greatness!
Day 29: Monday 10th November 2008
After lunch we are back in the CEAC office, and Steve arrives on his daily visit, to check on Tom. Unlike many children here who are nervous of the “White Man” – Steve has taken a strong liking to Tom, and whenever he goes missing from his home, his elder siblings know exactly where to find him..!
Day 31: Wednesday 12th November 2008
Busy morning with 5 more interviews before 11:30 at the CEAC Provincial Meeting - back by lunchtime, can’t wait for news of how the “Building Our Futures 2008” Conference in the Wales Millenium Centre, Cardiff, has gone.........!
Later!
I hear it has been a fabulous success again! Well done to all concerned and especially to the young people who have delivered it!!
After lunch we are back in the CEAC office, and Steve arrives on his daily visit, to check on Tom. Unlike many children here who are nervous of the “White Man” – Steve has taken a strong liking to Tom, and whenever he goes missing from his home, his elder siblings know exactly where to find him..!
Day 31: Wednesday 12th November 2008
Busy morning with 5 more interviews before 11:30 at the CEAC Provincial Meeting - back by lunchtime, can’t wait for news of how the “Building Our Futures 2008” Conference in the Wales Millenium Centre, Cardiff, has gone.........!
Later!
I hear it has been a fabulous success again! Well done to all concerned and especially to the young people who have delivered it!!
Monday 10 November 2008
Pre-vocational courses and unexpectedly meeting an Icon..
Day 25: Thursday 6th November 2008
Thursday sees us in Bali (no, not that Bali – although I know one VSO volunteer who is there – I reckon that’s more of a holiday than a VSO placement personally!)
The Bali CEAC Director is Victor, who meets us on a motorbike, which, along with a very small office, seems to be the only resource he has. He takes us to a community hall, where we hold another workshop – this time fewer people know what the CEAC is, so we have to again change our theme questions; but it seems to go fairly well, and we are able to conduct some interviews whilst it is going on as well. Today many Cameroonians are celebrating the 26th anniversary of the accession of the President Paul Biya; so our courtesy visit to the Mayor is a short one.
Day 26: Friday 7th November 2008
We leave at 6 to drive to Jakiri, the road to which is not tarred all the way. It is a beautiful, if tiring journey, through striking peaks and valleys. We are lucky that we are here at the end of the rainy season, when the trees are still green and everything is fertile; the roads are dry enough to travel on, without being too dusty. The rich red earth of Cameroon is in wonderful contrast to the greens all around; and the countryside is full of crops, fruit and palm trees and some cattle grazing.
Cameroon has learned to its cost, as have other African countries, that eucalyptus planting has destroyed some of its water catchments, and is attempting to redress this with projects to plant other trees and reclaim some of the areas.
When we arrive at Jakiri, we go to greet the Mayor and find he has gone on ahead and is in fact waiting to greet us at the CEAC of Upper Dzekwa or Sop. We are treated like royalty when we arrive, there is a group of young people with a welcome song, and a formal programme of events.
This CEAC focuses on unemployed young people, and is running vocational training courses, in carpentry, tailoring, hairdressing, shoemaking and repairing, literacy and numeracy, amongst other things. Resources are limited and have been begged and borrowed from various sources. There are two aging computers, a few sewing machines, some carpentry tools and one ancient hairdryer. They would consider having a printer a great luxury.
It reminds me of when I taught pre-vocational courses for young people of this age in Manchester, and I can empathise with the passion which drives the Director and his teachers here, and also the Mayor, who is here to take part in the workshop, and communicates his own vision of empowering individuals and communities.
We are invited back to Mayor Laurence Ashang’s house to meet his mother Olive, who is a well known community development and women's advocate and journalist here, and to have lunch there. She is warm and welcoming and keen to hear about what we are all doing. It is a privilege to meet her.
The following link gives some information about her and her husband’s work.
http://www.shemkafoundation.org/history.shtml
Day 27: Saturday 8th November 2008
Today I go with Rose to a wedding. It is a simple service, followed by a blessing and a LOT (!)of singing and dancing, and is a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
Thursday sees us in Bali (no, not that Bali – although I know one VSO volunteer who is there – I reckon that’s more of a holiday than a VSO placement personally!)
The Bali CEAC Director is Victor, who meets us on a motorbike, which, along with a very small office, seems to be the only resource he has. He takes us to a community hall, where we hold another workshop – this time fewer people know what the CEAC is, so we have to again change our theme questions; but it seems to go fairly well, and we are able to conduct some interviews whilst it is going on as well. Today many Cameroonians are celebrating the 26th anniversary of the accession of the President Paul Biya; so our courtesy visit to the Mayor is a short one.
Day 26: Friday 7th November 2008
We leave at 6 to drive to Jakiri, the road to which is not tarred all the way. It is a beautiful, if tiring journey, through striking peaks and valleys. We are lucky that we are here at the end of the rainy season, when the trees are still green and everything is fertile; the roads are dry enough to travel on, without being too dusty. The rich red earth of Cameroon is in wonderful contrast to the greens all around; and the countryside is full of crops, fruit and palm trees and some cattle grazing.
Cameroon has learned to its cost, as have other African countries, that eucalyptus planting has destroyed some of its water catchments, and is attempting to redress this with projects to plant other trees and reclaim some of the areas.
When we arrive at Jakiri, we go to greet the Mayor and find he has gone on ahead and is in fact waiting to greet us at the CEAC of Upper Dzekwa or Sop. We are treated like royalty when we arrive, there is a group of young people with a welcome song, and a formal programme of events.
This CEAC focuses on unemployed young people, and is running vocational training courses, in carpentry, tailoring, hairdressing, shoemaking and repairing, literacy and numeracy, amongst other things. Resources are limited and have been begged and borrowed from various sources. There are two aging computers, a few sewing machines, some carpentry tools and one ancient hairdryer. They would consider having a printer a great luxury.
It reminds me of when I taught pre-vocational courses for young people of this age in Manchester, and I can empathise with the passion which drives the Director and his teachers here, and also the Mayor, who is here to take part in the workshop, and communicates his own vision of empowering individuals and communities.
We are invited back to Mayor Laurence Ashang’s house to meet his mother Olive, who is a well known community development and women's advocate and journalist here, and to have lunch there. She is warm and welcoming and keen to hear about what we are all doing. It is a privilege to meet her.
The following link gives some information about her and her husband’s work.
http://www.shemkafoundation.org/history.shtml
Day 27: Saturday 8th November 2008
Today I go with Rose to a wedding. It is a simple service, followed by a blessing and a LOT (!)of singing and dancing, and is a very pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
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