Goodbye Cameroon, Hello Ethiopia!

To my few and loyal readers,

Sorry I completely ditched my blog during my last six months in Cameroon. After a year in a half of living in Cameroon, I felt so at home and fell into such a routine that it never really crossed my mind to send out updates about my life. I realize now that if I was a blogger with more drive and motivation, I could have come up with world of topics to write about, but again, laziness got the best of me. I'm not the best at putting emotions, thoughts, feelings into words so I won't try to sum up the Peace Corps chapter of my life. I will, however, try to send out regular updates about my upcoming travels for the next few months.

Today is my first day in Ethiopia! I don't have much to say since we have only been here for 12 hours, most of those spent sleeping. What I can say so far is that every single person we have met has been extremely nice and helpful, and with absolutely no Amharic we have successfully had a cup of morning coffee, ordered a plate of local food, and took a crosstown bus like we actually know what we're doing.

By the way.... I have not gone crazy, nor have I decided to start referring to myself using the royal "we"... I am traveling with a fellow RPCV (as we are now Returned Peace Corps Volunteer), Yaya. We are equally confident, confused, and really, really excited.


From Addis,

Dori

Mount Cameroon

"Students, keep your arms and legs in the vehicle!"

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               Up until recently, it didn’t occur to me that organizing and chaperoning a high school field trip could be one of the most significant and exciting highlights of my service, but as it turns out, taking a group of 15 high school students into Faro National Park (FNP) for the day was an accomplishment for everyone involved. Although most of the students in the high school are from the area, most barely have a vague idea as to how the Park functions and to some extent, serves them, and even less have ever actually set foot in the Park, even though the base camp is less than 40km from their school. The current Conservationist of FNP has been working in Voko for more than ten years (non-consecutively), but this was the first time in his career that a group of students from the local village are coming to see and learn about the Park. This group of students is coming from the community most directly affected by the neighboring protected area, whether it is through illegal acts such as poaching and gold mining or through the benefits they should be receiving—monetary and otherwise—from the protected hunting zone their community cooperatively manages.

                The day started with fifteen students—dressed and ready for the wilderness—showing up at my house (and alternatively the Park Conservation Office in Voko) at 6am, to get picked up by the Conservationist’s driver. The kids came ready, equipped with camera phones, notebooks, questions for the Park staff, and most out of the ordinary—girls, in jeans and baseball caps, who normally wear strictly pagne wrap skirts and headscarves. Along with the biology teacher (who runs the club with me) and the school vice principal, we all loaded into the pick-up and headed into the park. As if riding in the back of a pick-up wasn’t enough, the kids got even more amped up once they saw a few animals (baboons and antelopes) on the way into the park.

                Upon arrival, we were greeted by the Conservationist and his staff, and after a few minutes of exploring the base camp a bit, the students all took a seat for a session with the Conservationist where he went over FNP’s history and creation, rules and regulations, protected and endangered species, and fielded several questions posed by the students. I was really proud of the students for coming prepared both with the background knowledge we provided them with, as well as several questions that kept the discussion moving.

After the session we loaded back into the car for and outing farther into the park to get a look at some animals. The first stop was the “hippo pond,” one of the many populous hippopotamus habitats along the Faro River.  As the eco-guards explained about the animals and they’re habits, we waded into the river for a closer look at the massive creatures. After an extensive photo session where basically every student solicited me for a photo in front of the hippos or with their friends wading through the water, we headed back to the car and drove a little farther into the park. Because it was nearing midday and fairly hot, there weren’t too many animals roaming about, but we still got to see a decent about of antelopes and a couple monkeys and baboons. We headed back to the park base for a wrap up session and a lunch graciously provided by the park staff, then piled back into the car, with the kids in high from the trip, singing and shouting the whole way home (I know… it sounds totally cheesy, but it’s actually how it happened). Our hope is that now that this initial trip and “conservation education series” can serve as an example for other students and clubs, peak an interest in conservation and forestry, and continue to make the Park more accessible to the community.

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Switching gears a bit… I’m still doing soy formations every once in a while, the latest being with a women’s community group who planted soy I provided them with during the rainy season and now would like to learn a few different ways to prepare and take advantage of it.The formation went really well—the women were really into it and picked up on the process really quickly. They’d like to practice making tofu and soymilk some more, with hopes of selling it around the village or just consuming it at home, and then planting it again during the upcoming rainy season.

International Women's Day? More like, best day ever.

Voko's best and brightest.

            As we slowly creep towards April, the peak of the dry season, it has been getting steadily hotter every day. We’ve reached the point in the dry season where a cool breeze is basically non-existent and when the (hot) wind does blow, it brings along a fistful of dust. At any rate, the high school biology teacher and I have been pushing forward with our Health and Environment Club, completing four presentations for the students, and looking forward to a trip into Faro National Park this weekend. The presentations were setup as an introduction to the Park, as well as an introduction to conservation, to give the students some background information about their roles in, and relationship to, environmental protection.

             The first presentation covered the history and creation of Faro Reserve (the reserve surrounding the Park), the hunting zones within it, and gave the students some basic facts and statistics about the Park and protected areas in Cameroon. The second presentation focused on the Voko/Bantadje Communal Hunting Zone, which is a hunting zone in the reserve, which was turned over to the respective development committees of the two villages of Voko and Bantadje, to manage collectively. As a result of this, the two villages should be reaping the benefits of the money made by the hunting guide running the zone, but unfortunately the owed money and benefits are not reaching the community. Our hope is that armed with more information, the students, their families, and the community as a whole can hold the people currently running the two development committees more accountable. The third presentation was a lighter topic where we talked about the importance of biodiversity, and noted a few interesting or popular animals found in our area. The last presentation focused on problems faced by the park (wildfires, poaching, illegal trespassing and grazing, and deforestation to name a few) and what we can do to resolve these issues. There has been a steady attendance of about twenty students who are eager to learn and get involved. Hopefully we’ll be able to keep this momentum up after our trip this weekend.

              As February came to an end, all any woman or man in village could talk about was “la problème de 08 Mars” or “the Women’s Day problem”—every year women are expected to buy annual Women’s Day fabric, or more commonly, have it purchased for them by a husband or boyfriend, so they can march wearing their new outfit, during the International Women’s Day parade on March 08. 

The winning team of the Women's Day soccer match.

Although I opted out of both the much sought-out fabric and marching in the parade, I did join the women the night before the holiday, in a kind of talent show where they mostly danced and lip-synched to music. The day of the “fête” I helped prepare a copious amount of food for the evening, to be served at the “Women’s Day Soirée” (mostly a dance party) and then in the afternoon, the height of my day, I held my own on the field during the soccer match. Although participation wasn’t outstanding, the group of women who planned, organized, and animated the holiday in Voko did a great job and those of us involved had a great time.

Keeping up the pace

Sometime in late November one evening I took a moto out about 13km from Voko, ran behind a hut on the side of the road, walked out a few more feet towards a non-descript stone, held my phone up to get a couple of bars of service and heard Dana tell me "January 3rd, I'm flying to Cameroon." That's right people, little Dana came all the way to Africa and we "fair-ed le tour" of Cameroon. It's a large country to cover in such a short amount of time, and although we didn't reach every region and point of intrigue, we did cover a lot of ground. 

Making travel plans in
Bamenda, Northwest Region

Already in Yaoundé Dana was pointing out odd interesting things that have grown into my normal day to day, such as the lack of a connection between the number of seats in a bus or taxi, and the number of passengers that can physically squeeze into the vehicle. Smushed between Cameroon's finest, we took a bus to the green and hilly Northwest region where we attempted to speak Pidgin English, met some great people, and hiked around a beautiful lake. As we pushed ourselves to cover ground, we made our way up the Grand North, crossing through various markets on the way, and 

Looking over Lake Oku, Northwest Region.

eventually making it to my village. In getting to Poli and then continuing to Voko, Dana got to see firsthand what it takes to get all the way out to my village, and the various modes of transportation that entails.I didn't give her enough credit for being able to support such an exhausting ride, and then on top of that, to start moving house to house to meet my friends in village. The first family we visited set the tone for Voko. As we walked into the compound the women, some of my good friends in village, ran towards us to welcome us, as the kids crowded announcing "Dori waarrti be Dori feeree! Dori feeree waarri!" meaning, "Dori has come back with a different Dori," in Fulfulde. 

With friends in Voko.

We rode out to the park base and were graciously hosted by the staff and the Park Conservationist (my supervisor), who took us on a ride into the park. As we rode "en brousse" in the back of the park pick-up, as soon as someone spotted an animal, we would stop the car, hop off, and try and get some good pictures. 

  As checked "safari" off her Africa To-Do List, we made our way back to Voko for some more time to get to know my village. Although we had to adhere to our tight schedule and keep moving north to Garoua, Dana still somehow found time to get her whole head braided by one of my neighbors-- a feat that impressed many women in my village considering the length of her hair.

Enduring the pain of hair-braiding.

 

Henna at the tailor's house in Garoua.

In Garoua we rolled out the grand list of things to accomplish, and within 72 hours we had bartered for gifts in the artisanal market, sampled the vast amount of street food offered, purchased fabrics and ordered clothes, and were ready to go return south with the mark of the North, henna, painted onto us. In Yaoundé we were able to relax and get in last minute shopping while covering some ground in the capital city. It all went by so fast, but each time a small child in village asks "where did Dana go?" I realize, yeah, she definitely left her mark.

 

  

  

The first session of our park-related
education series with the clu

                After an extended amount of time away from post, by the end of January I was already back in Voko, ready to get started on all that I had planned for this year. I've been devoting most of my time to working with the high school in two different areas, teaching English and working with the Health and Environmental Club. Teaching is a whole new domain for me, but so far, during my three hours a week and class of up to twenty-five students, I've been having a good time. It's taking a lot of work for the students to get used to my style and accent, while I'm getting used to the nuances of the Cameroonian education system. The Health and Environmental Club consists of about 30 students, ranging from 7th grade to 10th grade (our high school only goes to 10th, to continue they must leave Voko for a larger establishment), and is headed by myself and the school's biology teacher. 

Voko primary school students during
the National Youth Day parade.

Working off the action plan the kids wrote out at the beginning of the school year, we're currently working on two different projects: reforesting the school's campus and undertaking a short park-specific formation series before taking a Club trip into Faro National Park. February also gave the students and opportunity to shine a good light on their club and their talents, as they presented a few different comedy sketches dealing with health and environmental issues (cholera, smoking, poaching, and the importance of trees) during the celebrations for National Bilingualism Day (03 February) and National Youth Day.

Games for the primary school students
During National Youth Day.

The kids all did a great job with the sketches, showcasing their knowledge and stressing important issues for the community, all the while making us laugh. So far my work with the school has been really fulfilling and I am looking forward to accomplishing all that we've set out for this next month (and the rest of the year).

Promises, Promises

I've had a lot of exciting things happen in the past few months that I would really like to write about, but time is short and internet is far, so i promise to work on a few posts while I am in village. Expect some stories and pictures at the end of the month!

Hello, year two.

After the excitement of the “fete” in early November, I just bout a month to wind down any work I had going on but at the same times, plan out what I would like to do this upcoming year. I met with a couple of my women’s groups (GICs) a few times to see how their harvest was going, and to plan out any work and formations we would like to do once they are done. I have continued meeting with the village high school's (somewhat functioning) Health and Environmental Club. I sat in on their discussions on personal hygiene, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and would like to use my role in their group to promote more environmental education. I helped a few students with a presentation on tree nurseries, hoping that this new knowledge will better prepare them when planting all the young trees we just received from MINFOF. On my own time, I finished harvesting my soy and corn, storing everything neatly in my house to await my return from the U.S.

Waaaaaaaait a second. USA? As in the land of supermarkets, hot water, pavement, customer service, and all those other great things that make a PCV warm and happy inside? As much as I thought all this (and more) would turn my world upside-down, it was actually just a really nice visit home, and a great chance to see friends and family that I've missed so much this past year (and eat pizza, duh). As "normal" as it was to be back in the States, it did give me a pretty interesting opportunity to reflect on my life here in Cameroon. So many things that at first I considered crazy, alarming, exciting, and different are mostly regularly expected these days. I've allowed myself to become pretty jaded, both cynical about my work and perhaps oblivious to problems that I noticed earlier. After almost a year and a half in Cameroon, and over year living as a bone fide PCV, it hasn’t been easy—actually at times it has been pretty damn hard, but it has been enjoyable.

I'm going back to post today—pushing through my second year— with a fresh outlook and some refreshed motivation. I learned a lot this past year and I’m hoping to use that to make a better experience for myself in Cameroon, strengthen my work with my community, and of course bring it all back here, to all tell about it.