Day 11: Thursday 23rd October 2008
YOP: Youth Outreach Programme
This is the day that I managed to get on the Internet and upload most of the blog and pictures; I also manage an impromptu interview with Omer Songwe who runs the Youth Outreach Programme here. Two of the Peer Educators from the YOP, (Patience and Mary) are running a “Footsteps” empowerment course for young women in the Conference Room next door. “Footsteps” includes confidence-building, awareness raising, healthy eating, sexual health, assertiveness training, rights and responsibilities etc. The YOP seems to be unique in Cameroon; set up by Omer over 13 years ago, and run on a wing and a prayer since then; it has benefited hundreds of excluded and vulnerable young people. There are a lot of parallels with work being done in the UK; and certainly with Safer Wales’ ReStart and other young people’s projects. Chatting less formally I discover that Omer has spent a lot of time in the UK, most recently on a three month British High Commission Study Fellowship in Cardiff. We discuss possible links for when I return. Two more WAG short term volunteers are to be placed at the YOP; I think they will have productive and exciting placements working with Omer and the team.

Day 12: Friday 24th October 2008
Finally - some time to read background documents, plan and ponder....!

Day 13: Saturday October 25th 2008
I am up early, tempted by pawpaw and French bread, and I meet Kharsum for a shopping trip to town. Despite there being an apparent abundance of goods available in Bamenda, some of the everyday things we take for granted in the UK are more scarce and comparatively expensive; for example pens, paper and other basic stationery items. Many of the goods on sale are second-hand, (textbooks, European clothes, shoes).

We start off in the “Vatican” supermarket, where we buy “essentials” such as biscuits and chocolate (!) and then we meet Rebecca, a VSO Volunteer from Uganda and walk the length of Commercial Ave in search of a street map of Bamenda (unsuccessfully).

We visit the “Trade Fair” briefly, and then have omelette and salad in “Gracey’s”. It is later, when we meet up and chat with some of the other long term volunteers, that I begin to feel a little down for the first time. Everyone here seems to know that what they are doing is useful and necessary, but they are questioning how effective it actually is, and whether it will have any long term impact. I think that this is the one question we will all ask ourselves, and I am not sure if we will ever know the real answer, or even if there is one. Or perhaps it is just that some of the problems are overwhelming, and it feels like trying to empty a river with a teaspoon.......


Day 14: Sunday October 26th 2008
In Bamenda today it is so humid today that I can’t get my hair dry, even with a hairdryer. This Sunday we have both electricity and Internet access, so I make the most of it. Sitting in the peaceful and green Baptist Centre garden, as the humidity clears and the air cools later, I am aware that on the other side of the hedge, a man pastures his five goats on the slope by the edge of the road. He brings them daily, in the boot of a car, throwing them across the drainage ditch onto a four foot square slope of scrubby grass, and returns for them at the end of the day.
Cameroon is a country of contrasts like many in the developing world – some people here say that it is laziness that prevents the country from developing; on the contrary, what is striking to me is that every inch of this region is used for something; no piece of land remains fallow; and the innovation and creativity of people in making the most of the resources at their disposal is remarkable.

Day 15: Monday October 27th 2008
“Go fas’ now Pa, we already late!”
Catherine and I get a taxi to Santa; crushed in with 4 other people (plus the driver). (They took the goat out of the boot though). In Cameroon either you can hail a taxi by shouting your destination and hanging around at the junction where you need to go from, or they will hail you by beeping as they approach if you are walking. Our driver fusses over taking a lot of people and rearranging them – and the woman next to me, who is going to a college class up the hill, tells him to get a move on.

Tom is now staying in the spare room at the CEAC Centre, and VSO has helped with furnishings and equipment. Catherine wants to try out the new gas cooker, and she cooks rice and stew or “sauce” as it is often called here for us, Janet her volunteer helper, and Eric.

Back in Bamenda that evening, I order takeaway from “Uncle Sam’s” and Eric the waiter there calls me “Ma” when he takes my order, which is a respectful term for a Cameroonian woman, and this makes me feel less of a stranger. He brings the food in under 15 minutes, very quickly (is this the secret of how to get served fast in Cameroon – order takeaway???) and I share the huge plate of fried plantain he has brought me with another guest , as we watch Barack Obama’s closing address live on CNN. Many people here in Cameroon are keenly interested in local and international politics, and are following the US Presidential elections with alacrity.

Day 16: Tuesday 28th October 2008
“You people go home and we don’t know where you are, and we never see you again, and you have our photos, this is not a friendly thing to do”. Ma Aisatou, Santa

Today as a priority I go into Bamenda to make some prints of photographs I have taken of Tom’s neighbours in Santa. Ma Aisatou allowed me to take her photo on the strict condition that I give her a copy and bring one of myself. She instructed me that people in Cameroon think that it is “not friendly” of white people to just come along and take pictures of people, even with permission, without offering not only a copy back to the person of whom you having taken the picture, but also offering a picture of yourself. This makes perfect sense to me – she is saying you should only take pictures of people with whom you are friends.

The weather is wet and dreary today; following overnight thunderstorms which were loud enough to wake me, several times, followed by the screams of an animal at around 5 when the early taxis and minibuses are leaving, which I assume was a goat or pig being put in the boot of a car.....

Alex and Charmain (the new WAG volunteers for the YOP) arrive from Yaounde today with Ibrahim. There is some discussion about the house arranged for them, which is spacious and in a beautiful location, but has no running water, and has other downsides i.e. a plethora of unseemly occupants. (Large black cockroaches amongst other things). Charmain opts for a night in the Baptist Centre while things are sorted out, but Alex wants to get settled so remains there the night, hoping to get it to rights in the morning.


Day 17: Wednesday 29th October 2008
I go to the planning meeting at the YOP first thing, with Ibrahim, Omer, Charmain and Alex; which is useful, as their work will complement what Tom and I are doing.

Later, I brave the taxi to Santa alone for the first time, and succeed in getting the driver to take me up the hill to the CEAC office, instead of the main drop off point which is a good 200 yards away; initially when I request this he growls that he will do it for 1000 francs; I refuse, saying the normal fare is 500, and to my delight he turns the car, while still grumbling under his breath and heads up the hill. I have observed Catherine who is the expert at getting what she wants from people, what to expect and picked up some good strong pidgin phrases from her. She is delighted when she sees me arrive at the CEAC, and even more so when she hears I didn’t have to pay extra. I am sure there will be other days when it’s not so easy, but for today this is a small triumph!

There are still some issues with the accommodation for Charmain and Alex, and they both stay at the Baptist Centre today, but they are cheered by spotting a brightly coloured frog (anyone know what it is?) on the window in the Hillside Restaurant, along with a beer and some good food!

Day 18: Thursday 30th October 2008
Today is the CEAC’s 5th Anniversary Celebration, for which I wear my Santa Women’s “uniform”. We are seated with the most honoured guests – the Lord Mayor, the District Officer and local Fons. The former PM Pa Achu is on my right and he translates some of the more difficult pidgin in the performances for me. As at the Rural Women’s Day Celebration, I follow his example, and that of others in going forward to present small banknotes at the feet of the performers as a mark of appreciation. The temperature in Santa is much cooler than in Bamenda, and as we are sitting in the shade of the Santa Grandstand, we are all cold by the time the ceremonies are finished. Charmain is literally shivering in short sleeves, and Pa Achu gets his woollen scarf out.

We are invited to the VIP Reception in Pa Achu’s Santa compound, and there is much food, drink and hilarity. The younger VSOs are teased about their marital status, and the DO proposes to Charmain, saying he would like her to be his fifth wife (in reality he does only have one). The afternoon ends with the taking of many photographs, which are not on my camera, but I will get copies. It has been great fun, and I feel so privileged to be here.

Day 19: Friday 31st October 2008
“.....if we do something for the community, we also do it for ourselves.”
Clement Atanga, Lord Mayor, Santa Municipal Council, North-West Province, Cameroon.
The day of our workshop dawns at last, and Catherine and I plan to get to Santa early to help set up. This turns out to be a day when we can’t book a taxi to ourselves and so have to take the slower option of one which is carrying a full load (6 people + driver). It also turns out to be the day when we are stopped 4 times at different checkpoints on the road, and the driver has to pay a toll at one and produce his papers at others. At the 4th stop, the engine is overheating, and stream is pouring out of the radiator, so we have to wait while he puts water in – by now it is already 8:50 and we are due to start at 9:00.

It’s all hands on deck when we finally get there, and fortunately Eric, Omer, Alex and Charmain are there to help and we set up the Council Chamber in a semi circle of tables. People arrive relatively punctually and we are ready to start by 9:45 – and just await the Lord Mayor. Catherine opens the day with greetings and invites the group to sing the National Anthem, followed by a prayer.

Mayor Atanga has already warned me that he will only stay for the introductions, as he has a Ministerial meeting in Bamenda, but he asks if he can apologise to the group and address them before he goes. His address is powerful, articulate and engaging, and he sets the tone for the day far better than we could have hoped:

“You may think volunteering is about self-sacrifice, and for some people it may be. But it is also about doing something for the community, and since we are members of that community, we need to remember that if we do something for the community, we also do it for ourselves."

The workshop discussions are intense, and the forthcoming presentations are constructive, creative and compelling. I am relieved, as it is always nerve-wracking doing a workshop in a new setting, but I am also very impressed with the quality of the outcome, and Tom and I express our thanks to the group members for their hard work, and its quality.

Having witnessed some of the women in action last week, I am not surprised that some of the most powerful contributions come from them; - and the organisation of the workshop by Catherine is superb – the right people were there, we had aimed at 25, invited 40 and 28 participated on the day. We will be meeting some of the key stakeholders next week to revisit some of the conclusions from today.