Well it seems like it has been about 8 months since I’ve
written anything so to catch you up.
March
Foot still a problem (I am pretty sure I tore something), but
I get down to one crutch. On the way
home from a month in the capital at some point we take a little pit stop at the
Bangem Crater Lakes and the waterfall in Mkongsamba which are so
beautiful! Some pictures coming of me
hiking on crutches. Discovered that
Kumba has a pool and spent Easter there for the first time.
April
A bunch of volunteers visited Kumba right around Jamexis’
and my birthdays so we went back to the pool. Picked up work again after that
month stuck in the PC case (transit house). Sometime later that month I moved houses so
now I’m right by Ryan in more of a suburban area. It’s about half the size of my old house but
now I don’t need to buy furniture anymore.
After that thanks to James Beigle we had a week long training in
Baffussam, which of course had to be followed by a vacation for a couple day in
limbe. The Kumba non PC volunteers met
us there along with some other pcvs from the conference to make another great
trip. Jessica and Max leave. L
May
Sam came to visit!!! <3
After that I was in the capital for two weeks working on TOT/TDW (Training of Trainers/ Training Design Workshop) getting ready for the new Education/Community Economic Development group of PCV that were coming to Cameroon.
After that I was in the capital for two weeks working on TOT/TDW (Training of Trainers/ Training Design Workshop) getting ready for the new Education/Community Economic Development group of PCV that were coming to Cameroon.
June/ July
I was in Kumba for a few weeks until I went to Bafia to
train the new group for about a week.
Then right back to the capital for my medical mid service check up. The Micro Finance that I’m working with
opened its new location, the vocational school I work with held a fashion show
for its tailoring students, than back to the capital for some big meeting with
the Delegate of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises which was all in French,
lucky for me, but I got to have a nice 4th July with some PCVs in
the capital. Later we held Income
Generating Activities (IGAs) for a neighboring village for teen moms. We taught them how to make tofu, paper beads,
moringa, a little bit about how to sell these items, and basic HIV/AIDS. Then
back to Bafia for my last training. At some
point got a cat scan and MRI for my foot.
Walking on it now but with a limp.
August
Pack and fly out to Turkey where I met up with Dad and
William for an amazing week and a half of everything you should get out of a
vacation. Oh and I should mention how
amazing the food was! Then we met up
with mom and all headed to Cambam for two weeks. So good to see them and have the fam see how
I’m living here. House felt empty and
quiet when they left.
September
Seemed like I was pretty busy in Kumba. Had a bunch of pcvs visit.
October
Still busy in Kumba but this month was more college
style. Work all week long and party just
a little bit all weekend. So I started
my business classes again. Weekend one went
to Wil’s birthday party or the farewell to the South. Next weekend we had our South West Regional
meeting then Ryan’s going away party. Weekend
three we had Cameroon Football Development Program (CFDP) launch of the school
year program and HIV testing. Off to
Buea for a little comedy show before going back to Limbe with a bunch of the
volunteers that are about to head back to America. Then the Divisional Handicraft Expo that I
helped organize and was a judge at; 15 co-operative won monetary prizes and are
moving on to the regional competition. Finally Halloween or really dinner and a
movie.
November
Finished my business classes which went very well. Then I went to the capital to say goodbye to
the group that is done with their service including some awesome South West
volunteer. Sometime after that I hiked
Mt. Cameroon for three days with Charlotte, Giorgia, and Alex who all work for
GCI in Kumba. I recovered at the pool for a day then back out to Campo in the
South with Wil to go on an ecotourism hike to see some wildlife. Mt. Cameroon was beautiful and it cleared
up enough that we could see all the way to Douala and to Limbe. Campo was ok.
So we left early and went to the beach in Kribi for two days and had a
great relaxing time. Foot held up
fine. Got back just in time to welcome
the new Kumba volunteer Adrian who is replacing Ryan and Layne who is posted in
Ekombe. Next day we had another IGA but
this time in Kumba and had great turnout.
The girls seemed really engaged and motivated.
