Hello Again,
Sorry I fell off the grid for a while. Things got really busy with training, and then there were issues with electricity in Bafia, so I wasn’t able to use the internet for my last few weeks there. Here is what is new in my life:
I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer! (yay!) We had our swearing in ceremony on August 18th which was quite the occasion. There were quite a few officials there and we had a delicious lunch after that. Then I had to say good bye to my host family, which I didn’t think would be difficult, until my host mom started to cry. She is sad mostly because all of her children are grown, so over the summer she gets to have the grandkids, but for the past few weeks everyone has been leaving one by one. When I came into the house there were 6 people who lived there, and by the end of the summer it was down to me, Gabi, Yolande and my host mom. Gabi and Yolande left the day after me, so my host mom was understandably sad about having an empty nest. I plan on keeping in contact with my host family. They’ve already called me a few times. I know that they’re getting a new stagiare when the health/agro stage shows up in September, so that will be exciting for them.
After saying good bye to my host family I took my stuff to a hotel in town where my fellow stagemates and I celebrated becoming volunteers. The next morning at 7 am all of the Extreme North kids left for Yaounde. There are 8 of us posted in the Extreme North from my stage (which is a huge number). We left Yaounde around 6 pm and took the night train to Ngaoundere. Once we got to Ngaoundere, Amadou, who works for the Peace Corps, was there to help us with all of our stuff. Each person had a trunk, water filter, two suitcases, backpack, and a bike. It was a ridiculous amount of baggage. We decided it was easiest if we just rented out a coaster, which was really expensive, but it made the traveling so much easier that it was definitely worth it.
The 9 hour bus trip was incredibly pleasant because we had enough space and our drivers were really friendly. At one point in the trip, we all had to go to the bathroom which is tricky on the side of the road, mostly because it is really interesting for the village kids to watch white people pee and the countryside lacks trees. That whole situation was pretty hilarious. We got one flat tire on the way, but it didn’t take too long to fix and we made friends with the people who lived in the hut by the side of the road. And by “made friends with” I mean we waved and smiled a lot and we gave the kids some candy. They didn’t speak any French or Fulfulde, but they were really friendly.
Eventually we made it to Maroua where we hung out for a few days until we had purchased all of our supplies. Here in Cameroon everyone uses a gas stove which consists of a little plaque a gaz connected to a gas bottle, but there is a national shortage of gas bottles. It was impossible to find any in Maroua. I thought I was inheriting one from the volunteer who lived in my house before me, but that did not turn out to be the case. Luckily for me, I was able to find a gas bottle in Mokolo so I can cook. (It cost me 50,000CFA which is about $100.) I got really lucky that I found one. Those who didn’t have to do all of their cooking over a fire, and let’s be honest, I just don’t have that kind of skill.
Sunday, Claire Kihn, Zach and I rented a car from Maroua to Mokolo. After the car dropped Zach and I off in Mokolo, they took Claire to Hina. Let me just say, I am SOOOOOOO lucky to be in Mokolo. My neighbors are incredibly kind. I have two that I’ve talked to quite a bit and they are named Domaya and Antoinette. Antoinette has a 3 year old named Samedi who is without a doubt the most adorable child I have ever seen. Domaya has a 4 month old and a 9 year old girl. They both came over and helped me clean up my house, and Domaya’s brother replaced the screens in my windows.
It is a little weird stepping into the place of a previous volunteer. Thea was the health volunteer who lived in my house before me. She early terminated her service so she could go back for grad school. I’m really lucky that she did, because it means that I got to move into her fully furnished home instead of having to set up a house all by myself. Thea was really tight with all of the neighborhood kids, so they knock on my compound door no less than 25 times a day. We have decided that Sunday will be our day to color together, and other than that they shouldn’t knock on my door. I think that was a good decision. The day after I arrived in Mokolo, some of the neighborhood kids came over with Winston, who was Thea’s dog. Winston promptly bit me and freaked out about me not being Thea. Not exactly sure what to do about this situation. The book Thea left me said that Winston was living with one of the neighbors, but that neighbor is currently in Yaounde. Not really sure how this situation is going to work out. Winston is constantly barking at my compound door or following me around, or barking/snapping at/biting me because I’m not Thea. That is really the only bad part about Mokolo right now.
But there are lots of good parts: for instance, I have running water, electricity, and I managed to find the only gas bottle in pretty much the entire country. Claire Kihn (in Hina) has none of those things. But, that girl is a total badass so she is handling her difficult situation with incredible grace. If you want to imagine someone having a real African village experience, imagine Claire. I’m having a pretty posh peace corps experience to be honest. I also have a post mate which is nice to have another American in my city. Zach is a great post mate. He helped me catch the rat in my house and we’ve been cooking dinner together pretty regularly. There is still a cholera outbreak in Mokolo so my neighbors told me not to eat at any restaurants, and Zach’s boss told him to “bleach everything! Even the water you wash your laundry in!!” I’m 100% healthy and have not had any issues.
The food situation in Mokolo is pretty fantastic right now because it is rainy season. We can find all sorts of vegetables and Mokolo has tofu everywhere! It is great. There are little kids walking around with trays on their heads full of tofu. I’m pretty happy about that. There will always be a lot of beef here, even in dry season, so I’m trying not to burn myself out on that now.
Yesterday, Zach and I went around to meet some of the authorities with Jacques (who is Zach’s counterpart). The chief of police ended up taking us all out for a drink and a heaping plate full of beef, which was pretty hilarious because Zach was raised vegetarian. But, he was polite, and we plowed through it eventually. Jacques is a really well connected guy in Mokolo. He works for the sous-prefait (which is a government official) and he is one of the founders of OPICAS. I don’t remember exactly what OPICASE stands for, but it is the dormitories for students from the villages who go to school here in Mokolo. Moklo is a pretty big city with 4 lycees, all of which are pretty big. (Mine has 2,800 students). Right now the buildings are starting to fall apart and the Case for the girls is way too small. I’m really excited to get involved with OPICASE though, because essentially they are scholarship halls. And if anyone understands how important cheap housing is to female education it is this lady. I will most definitely keep everyone posted on how the dormitory renovations/management goes.
I went to the lycee and talked to the vice principal. (The principal, who is also my counterpart, is out of town right now. He is a cofounder of the OPICASE dormitories with Jacques). He seems very nice and said that he should have the time table of when I’m working figured out by this Monday. So Monday morning I’m going to go find out what classes I’m teaching and when. I’m really excited for that.
Other than that, life is going well. I’m in a great city that has a lot of wonderful projects going on. My neighbors are fantastic, my house is ridiculously nice. I am comfortable, a little cold (it is rainy season right now, and I did not pack enough sweaters…) but well fed. I’m really looking forward to starting to teach and figuring out how things work here in Mokolo.
Now that I am mostly settled I should be keeping in better contact. The electricity here is much more consistent than in Bafia. Seriously, I’m really lucky to have my post.
Love,
Emily
