The longest overdue blog post there ever did be!

This blog post is so overdue, that is makes it difficult to know where to begin.

I suppose the best place to start, would be by saying thanks: thank you to everyone who followed along in my adventures; thank you to everyone who sent me messages (including some of you I hadn't talked to in years); and thank you to those of you who battled the phone and internet difficulties to connect with me. Honestly, you all have no idea how much it meant to me to have such a supportive network from a far - You are all amazing. Seriously.

Secondly, the publishing of this blog was prompted by an upcoming session I am presenting at my work on my time in Cameroon. In preparation for this, I have been doing a LOT of reflecting back on my time in the 'Roon.

I don't know that experienced much of a culture shock coming home (I allowed myself roughly a one day transition between arriving home and starting work). However, I have my moments when I am trying to remedy my current reality with my experience in Cameroon... For example, there was that time I was trying to explain to a colleague that I could not understand why anyone in our work unit would pay money to use the water cooler when we have such amazing tap water in BC, only to realize they were a member of the "water cooler club"... oops? #Howtonotmakefriendsatwork?

Since returning home, there have been a number of protests which have occurred (including one today at the legislature!). The largest such protest, was a series of coordinated rallies across Canada related to the proposed Enbridge pipeline. Pipelines and resource projects are not uncommon in Cameroon. There is an incredible Chinese presence in Cameroon (and, I am told, across the continent) that is busy paving roads for hydroelectric projects (one the best roads we drove whilst in the country) and displacing nomadic tribes to further development of a massive port project in the South. Once completed, this port project will dramatically and irreversibly change the coastline which of course, is important sea turtle and whale habitat. 

As frustrated as I know so many are about resource projects in BC, I think of how lucky we are to protest them freely, without fear of repercussion. And that we have a pretty comprehensive environmental assessment process in BC. And while we have Federal government which at times, seems intent on dismantling all of Canada's environmental protections, our prime minister has not been in power for 30+ years...  (note: Cameroon's president, Paul Biya, has been in power since 1982).

However, the intent of this blog is not to paint the picture that we here, in Canada, are so much more developed than our neighbours in the "global south". That is not my intent at all. There are multiple ways of doing things, and ours is not the "only" way to do so.  I guess I just want to point out that we, as Canadians or British Columbians, enjoy a number of freedoms not always common to other countries. Consider the following examples from Cameroon:

·         In Cameroon, polygamy is legal. But, only for men.... not so fast, ladies!

·         Homosexuality is illegal in Cameroon. In June, 2013, prominent gay rights activist, Eric Ohena Lembembe, was tortured and murdered in Yaounde. 

·         If the husband of a married woman dies, the property will belong to the husband's family. 

·         While amazing coffee is grown in Cameroon, all the good stuff is essentially exported. For Cameroonians, it's usually all Nescafe- "Hello, powdered caffeine!" 

Please note that I am not trying to sound like that person who goes abroad in a "developing" country (oh how, I loathe that term...) and comes back enlightened. Because, well, I think we've all heard that story before. My struggles while in Cameroon were a reality to many, but not for others... because there is a lower, upper, and middle class in Cameroon; there are businessmen and women; there are international organizations; there are fast food restaurants- essentially there is so much more than kids with swollen bellies that you might see in World Vision commercials. Most of all, there was an amazing resilience I encountered in so many of the Cameroonians I met. This diversity is what I think makes Cameroon so special, and perhaps so deserving of the nickname "Africa in miniature". 

So thanks again, folks, for following my adventures and rambling thoughts. You're the best. 

Enjoy some photos from my last few weeks in the 'Roon, including a few favourite memories below. 

Peace and love, 

- C

My brother used to joke that I was Cat-a-roon because of my love affair with felines. Top left: Fun fact- in Cameroon, cats eat coconut!; Top right: This little guy was at the restaurant Chez Fadil, which somehow messed up my order everytime. I used to go back just for the cat; and Centre:
Milo, my neighbour's cat who spent roughly 90% of his time in my apartment and T's lovely portrait of him. 

Before I left Kribi, we went for one more night on the town. We began the night at Balafone, which is best described as xylophone goodness, and was a five minute walk from home. Everytime I went I was singled out, called "Celine Dion", and asked to dance for everyone. I finally gave in.. (Above left). Above right: These fine folks are not only fabulous dancers, but are also amazing friends! 

              

Prior to leaving Cameroon, T and I partook in some tourist activities at Mefou National Park. Monkeys of all species can be seen in the photos above (including homo sapiens!). 

Reflections on the 'Roon

With Facebook promoting a 'look back' on our timelines as part of them celebrating their tenth anniversary, then why can't I reflect on my time in Cameroon from my timeline? Enjoy some of my select thoughts, rants and raves below.

Note: this post will be redundant for those of you who are friends with me on Facebook. 
 

Recent adventures and misadventures

Firstly, I want to thank everyone for their lovely and thoughtful comments on my last post- I am so grateful for the support I continue to receive despite being so far from all of you! Yous' all the bestest!

Secondly, I had been trying to add this post last week, but since I had promised pictures, this required better internets than I have had access to for some time. Fingers crossed this upload works!!

I spent this past week in another B-ADAPT workshop, this time for Moringa and Allan Blackia (non-timber forest products). At one point during the workshop, my friend Claudine had me convinced it would be a good idea to get my hair braided. So when my tailor later asked to braid my hair, I figured why not? That same evening, I was sitting while a 12 year old braided my hair (the tailor was just the middleman.... clearly), the entire village sat watching, and at least 3 people were touching my hair at all times. A couple marriage proposals (including one for my brother) and 2.5 hours later, I survived to tell the tale! Here are a few other stories from my past couple weeks:

Private flights and med-evacs

A couple weeks back, a fellow volunteer and I headed to the big city, Yaounde, for some retail therapy. More specifically, we took a trip to the capital just to buy pange material (local fabric that comes in 6m bundles) to later have clothes made with. Six panges and too many francs spent later, our trip was a success.

However, while we were in the capital, I found out another volunteer and friend of mine was sick and had been in and out of the hospital.  Many doctors visits, tests, phone calls, and massive email chains later, it was decided she needed to be medically evacuated. I immediately decided to extend my time in Yaoundé to stay with her until she flew out.

Fast forward to the morning of the planned evacuation- We arrive at the Yaounde International airport at the arranged time, and head to the transit information desk to determine how to proceed. The woman at transit information tells us there are no private flights today with the exception of one for an oil company. As the evacuation was planned for Nairobi, we then check the Kenyan Airways desk, and office- No go. Meanwhile the medical team is calling every 10 minutes or so to see if we have started the immigration process. The next time they phoned, we managed to obtain a flight number which we head back to the transit information desk with. It is a new woman working at the transit information desk which means we have to recount the whole saga. She flags down the first woman we talked to who is luckily able to confirm the flight arrival, and then proceeds to point vaguely in the direction of a police officer for us to commence immigration.

Following the police officer, we end up back at the Kenyan Airways office….. It appears the officer is confused that the flight is Nairobi bound but not a commercial flight. The medical team calls again to say they have arrived and to ask where the heck where are. When we return to the transit information desk, the women is flustered to see us and has some choice words about the police officer who apparently had no idea what to do with us. She then proceeds to walk us through immigration.

Given that I left my passport back in Kribi, I was never planning to head to Nairobi, but decide to see how far I can make it through immigration. I passed through two security checks, passport control and made it as far as the baggage scan before they kicked me out… not bad. The best news though, was that after over an hour at the airport later, my friend was safely on her private flight enroute to getting the medical treatment she needed.

 
Whale watching/that time we almost died

During our adventures in Yaoundé, we had breakfast with a local marine biologist/researcher who invited us to come whale watching with him the next weekend in Kribi. With visions of a lovely day at sea complete with picnic, real boat and flipper sightings, we eagerly accepted. As it turned out, expectations and realities are two very different things.

Above: Super efficient boat launching is as follows: People sit on one side of the boat to weigh it down, while the other side is pushed forwards. And repeat. Many many times.

Many hours of waiting due to rough waves and winds (which made our 7am departure seem highly unnecessary), we headed out to sea in a pirogue, which is basically just a large canoe with a motor. Within the first five minutes of boating, we had almost tipped on several occasions, were completely soaked from head to toe, and had half of the passengers bailing water from the boat. Each passing wave made my stomach feel like I were on a roller coaster, and after ten minutes I had decided it was inevitable that we would end up in the water. And because I am a terrible person (slash my camera was expensive!), I just remember thinking: “Well at least I can swim, but my camera sure can’t”…..

Mmm.. turtle eggs and throat glands.

Fortunately, we did eventually turn around as the driver finally deemed the weather too risky. Needless to say, we did not see any whales. We did however get to visit the sea turtle eco-centre while in Ebodje, so the day was still a success despite the lack of whales.

 

Mappin’ moringa

The bulk of my work in Cameroon had focused on doing a value chain analysis on the agricultural product, plantain, for the Campo Ma’an Model Forest region. Following this, I was asked vaguely to “map the value chain” for all B-ADAPT products (there are many) through using a gps enabled camera to collect data to spatially display. Given that there are a ridiculous amount of production sites in the region, let alone sites related to the rest of the value chain, I decided I would map sites of Moringa nurseries in and around Kribi (which narrows it to roughly 7 sites).

So this past Saturday, I hired a moto and spent the day zipping along red dirt roads visiting villages to collect data. Even though it rained and I was running on very little sleep, it was easily one of my favourite days in Cameroon to date. Sergi, my moto-driver, was absolutely fantastic and knowledgeable about everything from the locations of the nurseries (since they are often located in backyards and not roadside), the various flora and fauna on the route, and even how to fix problems you encounter on your moto (we may or may not have used this knowledge during the trip).

While the data analysis and spatial mapping is still a work in progess, enjoy these photos in the meantime!

Ze Simon and Sergi admiring the nursery to the left, and newly planted field on the right.

 

À la prochain!

- C

Relationships and Privilege: The Jenny Story

A heads up that this blog post is a bit “heavier” than some of my others, so how about a fun fact to lighten the mood first?
Did you know: In Cameroon, oranges are actually green!!! How’s that for a misnomer??

--

During my first month in Kribi, I was waiting on the road in attempts to catch a moto-taxi. Since where I live is a bit out of town, my attempts were proving unsuccessful as every passing moto seemed to already have a passenger or cargo (you should see the things people carry on motos! Mattresses, animals, you name it….). As there was another woman next to me, I struck up a conversation. Within five minutes my new friend, Jenny, had called her boyfriend (Phillippe), and I found myself on the back of his moto, heading into town with the two of them. While this was mighty convenient and I should have been stoked to finally have hitched a ride, in all honesty, I was mostly worried.

 

The thing is, every time I meet people I am never genuinely sure if they want to be friends with me because they genuinely like me, or if they see me as a ‘cash cow’ of sorts. This is hard, because even though I don’t make much money as a volunteer, I am still better off than so many Cameroonians. And I am not just privileged money-wise, but also education-wise and even language-wise since as an Anglophone, I speak arguably the most universally dominant language these days. Therefore, the whole time I was on the moto with Jenny and Phillippe, I was thinking “Crap- this is going to cost me a fortune”.

 

After visiting their friend’s stall at the market, taking a small tour of town, and stopping at the bakery for some beignets (obviously), we returned home. Upon hopping off the moto I asked “Combien coûte?”, to which Jenny replied “nothing”. After expressing my intense gratitude, I invited Jenny and Phillippe to join me for a drink later in thanks. I was elated to have my faith restored in humanity, scolding myself for having thought the worst in people, and relieved I had at least bought them beignets when at the bakery.

 

I continued to hang out with Jenny and Phillippe throughout the month of August: sunshiney days at the hotel Jenny works at; beach combing for shells the size of your hand; soccer in the sand; meals chez-moi etc. After my couple weeks away in the field workshoppin’, I invited Jenny over for breakfast.  After a lovely “brunch” (punctuality is an underrated trait here), Jenny turned to me and asked me to borrow money for moto fare. Up until this point, Jenny had never asked me for money, and in all fairness moto fare is peanuts, around maybe 50 cents Canadian. I asked where she was headed (since we are neighbours, the moto-fare was not necessary for getting home), and gave the appropriate amount for the fare. Jenny then replied she needed more for a return fare as well. Following this awkward exchange, she then hitched a free ride with my neighbour who lives next door and offered her a ride.

 

For days following this exchange, I felt really uncomfortable. I generally have always preferred to give gifts over money, and wasn’t sure if this meant Jenny viewed our friendship differently than I did.  After some discussions with other volunteers I was told that this event actually meant Jenny was comfortable around me and was equivalent for someone back home asking you to go for coffee. While I was contemplating this, Phillippe dropped by my place to give me a jacket belonging to Jenny she wanted to give me.  I tried to accept the jacket as graciously as possible (since it is rude to turn down gifts) while feeling like the worst person ever as I know Jenny could use and likely needs the jacket far more than I do.

 

All of this is to demonstrate some of the struggles I have had meeting people in Kribi. To give another example, today while walking, a man yelled at me “La blanche…. Hello… I love you!!”. This person was obviously not in love with me, but was more interested in me because of my colour of my skin. Not my winning personality or sense of humour (clearly his loss!). But my skin colour is not always an advantage- during my stint without water in August, I paid my neighbor for use of his well. He blatantly charged me double what my Cameroonian colleague paid and had no qualms doing so.

 

SO my question is- how do you build lasting friendships when there is such an imbalance in money, privilege and/or power?  And while still thinking the best in people but not getting taken advantage of? After three months in Cameroon, this is still a work in progress for me….

 

Thoughts???

 

A la prochain! I promise my next blog post will be mostly pictures to make up for the lack in this one.

 

Much love!

- C

Un jour dans la vie / A day in the life

Alright folks, I finally have a working computer again, and therefore no excuses for neglecting my blog or emails! Huzzah! J

 

Currently, I happen to be less than a week from the halfway point of my internship… crazy, right?  As such, I think I have become quite adjusted to life here in Cameroon, and thought I would dedicate this blog post to sharing some of my “new normals” with you (and yes, with the usual bullet list to follow since I get lazy about writing in proper paragraphs- sorry!):

 

Bargaining: Unless things have a set price, expect to bargain for everything from your fruits and veggies to your moto-taxi fare to your bed sheets. I happy to be pretty okay at it and snagged the haul of veggies pictured below for under 3 bucks…. Not bad, right?

 

Hoarding water: There’s nothing worse than when the water stops and you can’t shower, do the dishes, let alone flush the toilet… SO I have become a pack-rat water-wise, and have probably over 30L stored. 

Mmmm, mould?: Hey, fun fact! Did you know in humid places, it’s super easy for clothes, papers and even backpacks to go mouldy!? Cool, right!? Another fun fact- vinegar helps to kill mould bacteria. Guess who smells suspiciously like vinegar sometimes……

Moto-taxis: Gone are the days of the share taxis in Yaoundé… Kribi is all about the moto-taxi! These are motocycles you hop on the back of and bargain for your trip. Moto's in Kribi range between 25 cents and 2 dollars, depending on the destination. I attached a video below I took of my moto-ride to the office in the morning (ignore the awkward ending haha).

 

Eco-conscience erased?: Back home in Victoria, I compost, ride my bike, drink tap water and recycle. While I do still drink tap water (albeit, boiled then filtered tap water), I have (hopefully only temporarily) become the worst person environmentally. Bleach is my go to cleaning product and I use it to clean and disinfect everything (including my vegetables). I also throw my garbage directly in the bushes, where it will later be burnt (I don’t even want to get into the air quality repercussions of this)… And then there is the fact that I use insecticide like its air freshener… which when cockroaches are close to 10 centimetres long, I feel is justified. Plus, I lose my mind sitting on buses or cars that will idle their engine continuously for upwards of 10 minutes… eep! Hopefully you all won't judge too harshly.

Apologies for the lack of photos this blog post, but hopefully the video makes up for it.

A la prochain!

x C

Workshoppin'

Apologies that I have clearly failed on my goal of weekly blog posts… BUT, it hasn’t been entirely my fault. Firstly, the computer I was given to use after my computer broke, has stopped working on me twice now. Apparently, computers in Cameroon hate me. True story.

Secondly, I spent the past couple weeks out in the field workshoppin’! Hollar! (cue Macklemore – Thrift shop music).

The journey began with a trip to Campo, a community south of Kribi located just a stone’s throw across the river from Equatorial Guinea (and that’s not an exaggeration, see photo below for evidence).

Above: Equatorial Guinea on the left, Cameroon on the right (view from the boat). 

Above: The main drag in Akom2...
Happening place!

In the usual fashion, we set the start time for 9am, and actually managed to have enough participants to start the workshop by 11:30. Us volunteers for the CAMAMF team (the Campo Ma’an Model Forest) completed our “ligne de temps” exercises on our various agricultural products to map out the value chain from production to commercialization (e.g. from farm to fork!). We then repeated this process twice more in the communities of Akom2, and Mann. 

Some of the highlights from the trip included: 

•  Border Boatin’: In Campo, we were lucky enough to take ride down the river separating Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. The river borders two national parks, which can be problematic as the river offers an access point for poachers in the park. While we weren’t lucky enough to glimpse any animals, we were more than content to see the beautiful mangrove forests. Also, how cool are mangrove trees? They are basically trees on stilts!! Awesome.
• Spaghetti Omelettes: My vegetarian diet was more of a challenge than usual in the rural communities of Cameroon, so my choices were generally as follows: rice with meat/meaty sauce, manioc baton, fulong (a spinach dish), pasta with tomato sauce (which I brought and paid people to cook for me haha), or spaghetti omelettes. Spaghetti omelettes are exactly as they sound… an omelette with spaghetti in it (yep- just plain ol’ noodles). But, there are one of the classic Cameroonian cuisine choices that is vegetarian friendly…. So I ate a whoooole lot ‘em! Possibly in the double digits. 
• Electrically challenged: lmagine you have to pick between having electricity, running water, phone network, or internet. What would you choose? For our trip, our luck was ever changing. For example, Campo had electricity and phone network, but no running water and internet. In Akom2 we had incredibly slow internet, but nothing else, while in Mann, we just had electricity. So after a few weeks in the field, I was SUPER excited for a shower back in Kribi. Unfortunately for me, there was no running water or electricity upon my return. However, after a couple hours the water returned, while weirdly enough, electricity came back on for all my neighbours, but not for me (rude!!/je ne comprend pas??). Three days and one visit from the electrician later… I was a happy camper again.  
• French facilitation: At the beginning of the trip, I was co-facilitating my timeline exercise to help the fact that I speak often grammatically incorrect French with my Anglophone accent. So, it was a HUGE accomplishment for me when I led was able to lead the exercise in the community of Mann, all by myself! I will admit that I had help on how to spell some of the words I was trying to write… but, minor details…  

Anyway, time for some photos!:

  

               Left: Our noble steed, the faithful pirogue; Center: Happy boaters!; Right: Super, wicked,awesome mangrove trees! 

 

Above: All the participants of the workshop in Akom2. This was the workshop I was in charge of the budget for.

Above: All smiles after succesfully leading the ligne de temps exercise on my own! :)

Next up for me… Synthesis and report writing! Which actually works out okay given that rainy season has commenced and I am hiding out inside anyway….
Hope you are all staying dry in Canada, folks!

À la prochain! Much love!

- C