Peace Corps Goodbye - The Final Weeks

A former Peace Corps Volunteer told me to really appreciate the final moments living in my community as they are the sweetest moments of one's service.  He was right.

Many PCVs tend to only inform their closest friends that they are leaving as if word gets around that the American is moving, thefts can often occur at the last moment.  Though I understand this practice, it was important for me to make sure that all loose ends were closed and nobody felt surprised or disappointed that I didn't let them know. I spent these last few weeks running around not only wrapping up projects and logistics, but giving photos/presents/clothes (I had way too much stuff to take home!) and of course, saying goodbye.  People couldn't believe that two years had already passed; nor could I.

Alot happened this last week especially.  My replacement(s) came, my community host cried, my Tae Kwon Do instructor woke up from his coma. There were surprise goodbye parties and planned parties with gift given to me after gift.  I don't know how I will ever thank the community of Ngaoundere for opening its heart to me these last two years.

I will miss this.  See below for my final goodbyes - I still can't believe the amount of gifts that I received including a snake-skinned purse and an official "talking stick."

Peace Corps Project: The Grand Opening of the Mbideng Market!

After two years of serving in the US Peace Corps, it is only fitting that my capstone project came to a close (or rather opening!) today. For the past six months, community leaders, volunteers, and I worked to create an outdoor district market for the poverty-stricken neighborhood of Mbideng. Lying in the outskirts of the city of Ngaoundere, the 8,000 residents had to previously walk into town or pay for transportation to buy basic food and goods. Now the community has its own market providing such benefits as better nutrition and increased income

The past months included many tasks including building a coalition of leaders, holding multiple community meetings, negotiating with landlords and government officials, drafting contracts, performing word-of-mouth and radio publicity, and finding creative solutions amongst limited (i.e. zero) resources. Welcome to the Mbideng Market!

Traditional scarfs and prayer mats

The very first vendor!

Vegetable section

*By July 4, 2012, 136 vendors had come to sell their goods from all over the city. The mayor aided in publicity by securing announcements with public and private radio stations. Ninety percent of vendors surveyed stated that they have seen their daily incomes increase. One hundred percent of clients surveyed stated that they save time, money, or both by buying from the community market as opposed to going into town.

International African Festival of the Nyem Nyem People

The International Festival of the Nyem Nyem people annually takes place in the Adamawa region of Cameroon. Villagers and visitors climb into caves in the village of Galim while the Nyem Nyem people celebrate with war dancing. Though it’s deemed international and occurs yearly, it’s actually quite difficult to find concrete information about the festival. Being Cameroon, logistics take place at the very last minute and most publicity is done by word-of-mouth.

Thus, it was only through my Fulfulde (local language of Cameroon’s Grand North) instructor that I found out about the festival. He originally told me the dates were April 16-April 18^th, but the members of the Red Cross told me April 7-9^th. I did a final check with the Delegate of the Ministry of Tourism who stated April 6-8^th. Like I said, concrete information is hard to come by!

I was in Yaounde for my Peace Corps Close-of-Service conference until April 5^th, so when I arrived to Ngaoundere by the night train, I wasn’t sure what would really happen. And if someone had told me what would occur, I probably wouldn’t have believed them anyways.

At 11AM, Esther, a teacher and community volunteer, and I headed off to Narral bus agency. The only bus to Galim left earlier in the morning, but we could take a car to Tignere, which was only 55km away. The issue was that there was only a 1:30PM bus which was already full! We had to get there by nightfall as the war dancing would occur in the early morning.

Esther went to Alliance bus agency and called her friend at National bus agency to see if there were other cars – both fails. I called the Red Cross, but they had already left. The Delegate of Culture had already left as well. Renting a car would be too expensive on my Peace Corps salary. How would we get to this festival that was 145km away?

And that’s when a crazy idea hit me in the face. Why don’t we motorbike there? In the Ngaoundere area, you only motorbike 5km or so, no more. Otherwise, you always take a car. With no options left, I called a friendly motorbike-driving friend of mine, Obro. He and Esther said they would be in for a three-day adventure. Let’s go!

About three hours into the journey

So we were mistaken and it wasn’t 145km, but rather a 200km drive with the three of us piled on Obro’s motorbike. It was uncomfortable, but manageable…until I saw the rain clouds. “Ca va aller. Il n’y a pas un problem! (It’s good. There’s no problem!),” Obro said. It started to sprinkle and I held my breath. It stopped. Phew. It started to sprinkle again. Then no more. On the third sprinkle, it was a downpour!

Unfortunately, we were in the middle-of-nowhere with neither nothing nor no one in sight, so the only option we had was to keep on driving! Of course, the rains stopped once we reached a small village where Obro stopped to pray and we ate lunch. As we arrived to Tignere, we decided to continue on to Galim. Obro made a call as he said this would be the last place we’d have cell phone service. “Obro, do your relatives know we’re staying with them when we get to Galim?” I asked. He said no and as I proceeded to question him, it turned out that he’d never met these long-lost relatives. “Ca va aller. Il n’ y a pas un problem!” he says.

Still not there, but rather the middle-of-nowhere

He was happy to see an American

So there I was squeezed between a taximan and a teacher headed off to the tiny Cameroonian village of Galim, no clue where I will spend the night nor would I have cell phone service. Did I mention five hours had already passed by on this muddy motorbike? Sometimes I hate my crazy ideas.

Another hour passed and voila! We reached Galim safely and there was already dancing at the Lamido’s (traditional chief’s) palace. As I sorely jumped off the moto, I realized Obro didn’t have a suitcase. “Ca va aller. Il n’y a pas un problem!” he says.

The Lamido’s son, Aboubakar, saw little foreigner me and offered us a place for the night. Obro went off to find his long-lost relatives with whom he’d stay and Aboubakar led us inside the palace to a lavish meal of plantains, pasta, fruits, vegetables, and meat. Back at his house, I “bucket bathed” outside underneath the stars as I questioned whether this was actually reality.

The veranda to the house where we stayed for the weekend

Our host, Aboubakar, the son of the traditional chief

In the morning, Aboubakar had a motorman take us back to the Lamido Palace where we ate breakfast before running into the Red Cross volunteers and a few other people I knew from Ngaoundere. After breakfast and the arrival of the traditional chiefs of the nearby villages, we headed off to climb the caves on Mont Djim! Apparently, there’s a magic water spring that you can drink from that will cure all ailments, but I was more interested in the war dancing (and I didn’t believe it would cure my ailments but rather give me some sort of disease).

Let the music and horse fantasia begin!

On Mont Djim, fortune tellers predicted the future while it was one massive tailgate with food and yes, Cameroonian beer! We also hiked to the Execution Zone, where enemies would be thrown off the mountain after becoming beheaded. Why I decided to climb caves and hike in a dress and flip flops, please don’t ask!

Cave climbing in Mont Djim

Waiting for the war dancing

Hiking to the Execution Zone on Mont Djim

Back at the Lamido Palace, no one was really sure what was occurring until finally, the Nyem Nyem war dancers appeared! I’ve spent the past two years in Africa, but this performance was the liveliest dance I’ve seen with men, women, and children actively participating. I spent the next hour in awe as the men threw the children on their shoulders while dancing to the beat of the drums.

The Nyem Nyem war dancers - glorious!

The next morning, we jumped back on Obro’s motorbike to head home to Ngaoundere. Everyone knew us that weekend as we were the crazy ones that rode a motorbike the 200km to the festival (and well, I was the only American/foreigner in the sea of Cameroonians!). As we drove, Obro took a detour to Doualua, another small village. It turns out that his brother’s wife left him after he took on a second wife (polygamy is legal in Cameroon). Thus, Obro was on a mission to talk to her to get her to come back home to his brother after twelve years of marriage. As he tried to clear up the love triangle mess, I took a nap after finishing up my read “P.S. I Love You.” I guess it all worked out as she promised to come back if her husband would be nice to her.

I believed it was due to weight, but a part of the motorbike soon fell off. “Ca va aller! Il n’y a pas un problem!” Obro stated as he tied the piece back with some rubber. Note: Always travel with duct tape! A couple hours later, we survived another downpour which later turned out to be a blessing as the motor overheated and the mud water was able to cool it down.

We had left that morning at 8AM and I finally arrived to my house at 6PM. Over 13 hours on a motorbike. In the pouring rain. To climb caves 30 meters below the Earth. For war dancing with the Nyem Nyem people. In the tiny West African village of Galim. Did I mention that this was also my birthday weekend? Ca va aller!

International Women's Day Soccer Match

So you're an American living in Africa. Crazy enough for most people. When you walk down the street, people will randomly yell "white person" at you (yes, even if you are not Caucasian). People I've never met will know where I live because out of a city of 400,000, I'm the only one that looks like me. As such, it's typical for a Peace Corps Volunteer to try to avoid situations that will attract even more attention as we constantly live in a "fishbowl."

So when the high school teachers of Lycee Mardoch invited me to play in their 1st Annual Teachers vs. Students International Women's Day Soccer Match, what else could I say? Yes!

Let's note that I used to be pretty good at soccer. Eight years of playtime including club tournaments and Varsity games make for a pretty solid foundation. However, the last time I played competitively was exactly eight years ago. Plus, this is Cameroon, the land of Samuel Eto'o and diehard fans. During the 2010 World Cup, shops would close as Cameroonians would huddle by the dozens around one television. Our Peace Corps training sessions would end early so the Cameroonian trainers could watch home games (albeit we worked through the USA games!). Soccer is life here, so to avoid complete embarrassment, I had to practice to step up my game!

My training consisted of two hours of passing with my postmate, Cyrus Suleman. I got too busy to really practice and March is the beginning of hot season. Eh.

Today was the big day. International Women's Day is tomorrow, so this week is chalk-full of activities. Throwing on my soccer socks, double-knotting my shoes, and applying sunscreen brought back elementary school butterflies before important matches. This time would be a little more intense as my teammates would be almost twice my age and the opposing team members would be almost half my age! And yes, I'd be the only American in sea of Cameroonians.

Warming up in my XXXL jersey

After never having met 7/8 of the teachers, they put me as starting right halfback. The whistle blew and it turns out that most of the women had never really played before, so the competition wasn't too tough! I kicked the ball no more than a total of five times that first half, so I just ran around getting a good workout. The students scored a goal by the time halftime was called.

But the second half I tell you! I was really confused on the new formation, so by the time we started, I wasn't really sure what my position was (or if I had one at all). So wherever the ball went, I went! While in the goal box, a student got fouled for a handball which led to the teachers scoring the penalty kick!

A minute after kickoff, the teachers brought it together for a passing play and a great cross to where I was standing. With a terrible whack at the ball with my right foot, it was a GOOOOOOOOOOOAL!

The winning goal! I promise my form used to be better.

The next school day was spent with everyone talking about the American's "magnificent winning goal!" As this was the first annual match, the Vice President told me that my legend would live on each year after. Going from fish in fishbowl to soccer celebrity? Cheers to that!

Winning team photo. Cameroonians don't tend to smile for pictures, but don't be fooled. Everyone was happy!

Valentine's Day in Ngaoundere, Cameroon

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yes, Valentine's Day even makes its way to the smallest parts of West Africa. L'hotel Adamaoua, located next to Touristique Agency, opened up in December 2011 and easily takes the "Best Hotel in Ngaoundere" Award in this local's eyes! With European-imported furniture, the hotel goes for a trendy and posh modern look and unlike most West African hotels, there are clean tiles everywhere!

Luckily by word from the organizer of the Miss Youth Day Ngaoundere competition, I headed out for the February 14th celebration on the hotel's rooftop with a couple other PCVs and my Lebonese friend. While waiting for our meal, I realized that I hadn't been on a rooftop in almost two years. The celebration was perfectly organized as there were comedians, breakdancers, salsa and waltz dancers from Fecadansa, and models from the University of Ngaoundere's Modeling Club strutting their stuff on the runway. It was nice to have a little getaway that night!

This garland is made from pink toilet paper!

The desserts were pretty and delicious

Salsa dancers from the Fecadansa dance group in the center of town

Four happy kids

Miss Ngaoundere Youth Day Beauty Competition

Welcome to Youth Day! And most importantly, welcome to the Miss Ngaoundere Youth Day Beauty Competition*!

Held at Alliance Francais, this year was the first Miss Ngaoundere Youth Day competition. They asked me to help out, but unfortunately I was meeting with the Governor when the pre-competition training occurred. It looked like the contestants didn't need help though as they were all-stars!

Beyond the typical sportswear, evening gown, bathing suit, and Q&A portions, there was also a "traditional outfit" portion where the girls wore clothing from their respective villages. Have a look!

Contestants showing off their village outfits

Congratulations Miss Youth Day of the Adamawa!

*Note: As a former beauty queen, I can say that we much prefer the term beauty competition in lieu of beauty pageant!

Why Bring Goods to Market When You Can Bring the Market to the Goods? Peace Corps PACA Project Time!

In the outskirts of Ngaoundere, Cameroon lies the highly impoverished neighborhood of Mbideng, population 8,000 (estimation by community members). If anyone wants to buy goods, he or she has to motobike into town or to neighboring markets. However, what is paid for in transportation could buy a dozen tomatoes or a kilogram of rice each day!

Community members have wanted a market for 20 years and no one really knows why there hasn't been one. Thus, the traditional neighborhood chief, his wife, and I gathered with local leaders and organized a 10-person project management committee to lead the process of creating a community market.

In a previous meeting, I explained Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA), a community mobilization tool that has been utilized around the world. The PACA tools allow communities to target specific problems based on their qualifying needs. Thus, during a planning meeting, we created the Agenda for a large community meeting with PACA tools. As the meeting would be spoken mostly in Fulfulde, it was necessary that I spoke as little as possible! Without my knowledge, the committee members actually held another meeting to “practice” public speaking in front of everyone.

With the management committee for the Mbideng Market

Today was the awaited town hall meeting. At 7:30AM, I showed up and only 30 men were in the school room (this was after they told everyone to show up at 6:30AM/7AM and don’t be late!). Thank goodness, it was only "African time" and by 8:15AM, we were ready to go with over 150 attendees.

The schoolhouse was completely packed for the town hall

After the normal prayer and introductions, the project leader asked, "Why Are You Here?" to begin a dialogue. Community members agreed on the same reasons: waste of money to take transportation, tired of treking so far for basic foods, want of making their community great like the other communities, etc.

The first activity was Community Mapping in which the community members would draw a map of their neighborhood. Groups were split into Men, Women, and two groups of Young People (ones who worked and ones that went to school). The individual groups first drew a map with important landmarks such as schools, water sources, empty spaces, etc. before choosing the three best places for the market. After we reunited, each group explained their map and why they chose what they did.

The "Young People" group mapping out the community

Mariamou Souley, one of the projects secretary, taking attendance

The groups were separated again for the Daily Calender activity. Each group reflected and wrote down their activities throughout the day including prayer, school, work, market shopping, etc. Then they had to pick one day for the market (the market would be every day, but there is always one traditional large day). When we came back together, the women and two groups of young people had picked Wednesday, while the men had picked Monday. When asked what day would be best for the community, each group tried explaining again why they picked the day that they did. I finally stood up and said, "Let's try this again!" as everyone seemed to miss the obvious.

Me: What day does this group want (pointing at men's map)?

Community: Monday!

Me: And this group?

Community: Wednesday!

Me: And this group?

Community: Wednesday!

Me: And this group?

Community: Wednesday!

Me: So what's the best day for the market?

Community: Wednesday (laughter)!

Traditionally, men usually make all the decisions, but the men couldn’t say much after they were the only ones that wanted market day to be Monday and the other three groups chose Wednesday! The activities worked well as the community saw that women and youth were the ones most likely to go to the market, so they needed to have priority in choosing the location and day(s) for the market. There was also much debate, but at last, we were able to choose the top four spaces for the community with the women having priority in picking the space.

The community of Mbideng

A board member has already offered up his own land for a smaller market until the larger official space is acquired. Thus, there is currently a "petit marche" with women selling vegetables while the project committee is negotiating with landlords for the market spaces. Really great to see the community working together!