"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.