Okay it has been a while since I’ve posted anything.
So there have been some changes in
Kumba first we got a new volunteer Jamexis that will be replacing Julius, so
they are both Agro forestry volunteers.
We found Jamexis a house pretty close to mine, about a minute walk, in
downtown Kumba. About a week or two
later Julius left after completing his two years in Cameroon.
Christian
is posted in Tombel which is about an hour moto ride from Kumba and was also a
CED in the same stage as me, meaning he was in the same program, came to
country at the same time, and we got trained together. He was traveling back from a neighboring
village where he was doing business classes when PC admin caught him not
wearing his moto helmet. This means that
that he was immediately administratively separated and not allowed to finish
his service. So I traveled to Tombel
with Erica who is posted in Buea an hour from me in the other direction to see
Christian and his post before he left.
Then we all traveled to Yaounde the capital together. Erica and I were on our way to our three
month in service training (IST) in Kribi but since Christian was leaving we
spent an extra day in the capital to see him off. The South West and Peace Corps will miss him.
Kribi
is in the southern region of Cameroon and is the biggest tourist destination
even among Cameroonians. It’s right on
the water and has beautiful white sand beaches and amazing seafood. IST was very productive, our counter parts
came with us and we created action plans for the coming year, defined our roles
in each plan, attended behavioral change workshops, sustainability, monitoring
and evaluation, grant writing, etc. the
counterparts left a day early and the final day was medical sessions one of
which included getting the flu shot since I am an American government employee,
even though in Africa the flu isn’t a problem.
After IST I returned to Kumba where I had every intention to be
extremely productive and work on things before the holidays but then I came
back with a cold and was only about half as productive as I wanted, but it was
okay since many of the Cameroonians that I wanted to meet with already had left
for their Christmas break.
For
Christmas I went to the North West region with Veronica and Sean. After some
delayed travel in the capital we made it to Mbengwi on Christmas Eve. On Christmas day we hiked down to a waterfall
then we went to some people that Isidro (Chilo) who is posted in that village
knew for food. On Christmas it is
tradition to go to church all morning and then either at the same time or after
drink. Drinking is done by going from
one persons house to the next and then to the next and visiting lots of
people. Often they will also give
food. But many times drinking also can
be done at the bar or nightclub. Since
we weren’t too interested in drinking that heavily and after eating and
drinking at two houses we decided to return relax and make our own smaller
dinner later. The day after Christmas we
all traveled to Kumbo where we stayed with Bridget. On the night that we arrived we went to a
little party with other volunteers in that village and several Cameroonians
that they know and work with. The next
day we went around town did a little shopping, I bought two paintings, and then
we went to the cultural festival. The
cultural festival has the chief sitting at one end and different groups in the
community come up to him do their dance and then the next group comes on and on. At the same time there are Juju’s which are
men dressed up in costumes with their face covered that usually don’t
talk. They go around and when they pass
you, you have to crouch down or run away and if you don’t they will hit you
with sticks and they will keep hitting you until you pay them. These are supposed to be men that no one
knows their identity and I think that they were created for entertainment. There was also some baby Juju’s that if you
looked at them they would start to dance for you then throw themselves at you
feet and kiss them until you paid them. The
Kumbo festivals are the only festivals in all of Cameroon that are strictly Cameroonian
and cannot be found in other countries.
From
Kumbo I traveled back to the capital where I spent New Year Eve. Jessica another volunteer from Kumba was also
heading back to America. She was in
Mamfe for two years then extended to Kumba.
For New Years we tried to go out to eat but the restaurant that we wanted
to go to was closed so we made a nice little meal, had a few drinks, and played
some games. We spent a few days with
Jessica after that and got to go to her closing and exiting services. Before Ryan who met us in Yaounde and I went
back to Kumba we met with ACMS a health organization in Cameroon who I might
potentially get to work with. Then back
home.
In
other good news, I applied for HIV committee at IST and got accepted. So even though I just got back to Kumba
Friday I had to travel on Thursday back to Yaounde but will return Saturday.
When I left Kumba before Christmas the
weather was still hot but not as bad as before IST. When I reached Bamenda I thought I was in New
England again. I was so cold! I had to go to the market the next day and
buy a few long sleeve shirts, scarves, and sweaters. It was so bad I would wear my t-shirt, a long
sleeve shirt, a sweater, my jacket and a scarf just to feel okay. Coming back to Kumba I was not prepared for
the heat again. I don’t even think it is
any hotter than it was before but now I’m less use to it.
