First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their kind and generous support for this project. It truly amazes me how quickly word of this project has passed. The world can be a small one sometimes! Since we have reached half of our fund-raising goal, I thought I could add another post as to why I am pursuing this project. The reasons I chose this project are many, and although the main ones are included in the first post, there are many other reasons and events that have led me to pursuing this project.

So... Why a Library - Part 2.

Last summer I received a generous donation of English books from Darington Book Aid. They shipped us one, 20-lb box of new books for free as a donation to our library project. But because the books are in English, it isn't everyone who can read them. Some of my coworkers at the health center have read through all the chapter books since they studied enough English in prior years to understand the material. Some older kids from the village who are going to high school in the city (and therefore have more advanced English levels due to better education) would rotate through the different books and trade them among themselves. The donated books included a wide range from simple reads like the Giving Tree, classics like the Lion King to advanced books about how to build castles.

Because the idea of books are new to many members of my community, the knowledge of how to take care of them is also new. I found this out quickly after first giving a group of kids a stack of books to go through. Atleast I realized this before a book went missing, lost a cover or a few pages, or ended up with some kids name in it. I took the books back and started from the basics: how do we handle a book, how do we turn the pages, how do we mark our spot, why we can't write in them, why we should make sure our hands are clean first, etc. I'm not sure at what point in my early childhood life I learned these skills, but I've realized that they are skills that are infact learned.

Since that first day of book sharing, I have learned my lesson on teaching kids how to care for books before handing them over. Its a routine now really and is something we've planned to spend a lot of time on when we first open our library. I have found that book care has been a new concept for all of the kids in my village who have borrowed books to read. All except one.

One day when I was walking back to my house, I passed the water pump. My best friend from village was nearby washing her clothes. I stopped to greet her and she saw a book poking out of my purse and was immediately intrigued. We sat down and opened the book. She started reading the first story about Cinderella - the book was a collection of Disney Princess Stories - and I helped her with the pronuciation. This friend was someone I had spent quite a bit of time working on book care with after getting back a dictionary that was split in two and catching her ready with marker-in-hand to write her name across another.

While we were reading, one of my 9th grade students approached us. He is about the same age as me, lives on his own, and is one of my more difficult students to manage. He most often misses class and when he's there, he's either sleeping or chatting in the back of the class. He's known for his wannabe rapper attitude and moves, and even though he is quite the impressive dancer, he is also quite the handful.

The fact that he approached us even surprised me at first. I mean really, we were looking at a book on princesses! As soon as he walked up though, he washed off his hands with some of the water he had just pumped, dried them on a clean area of his clothes and quietly sat down next to my friend. At first he just stared at the pages, mouthing through the words as she read them outloud. When she finished the page, he so delicately turned it for her. He then began to trace over the pictures and the words as if they were gold.

I've never seen someone so gently handle a book before. Its not like he's had much experience with books - I don't think he owns any of the required school textbooks. He was, ironically, the first student I felt completely comfortable and confident handing a book over to. But what amazed me most is the change this pretty pink book brought about on such a hard-shelled guy. Is that all I had needed to capture his attention and desire to learn? A book?

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If you are interested in supporting this project, or know someone who might be, please visit the project proposal on the Peace Corps website https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=694-202

One day when I was teaching last year, my students were learning school-related vocabulary. I had pictures of the words and the words in English, and together we tried to match them. This one’s a student, this is a school building, here is a teacher, etc, etc. My students were pretty participative. There were about 100 of them, so usually someone was able to blurt out the correct response. The next picture I pointed to I believed to be quite obvious. No one responded. I explained, in French even, that it’s a place where we can read and take books. Still no response. I translated the vocabulary word into French, unebibliotheque, but still nothing. It took me a minute to register that it wasn’t the word, it was the concept. These students had no concept of a library. They had never seen one and they had never heard of one. Their only response was a question: what is a library, Madame Katie?

So what is a library? It is more than a place that has books. Being privileged as I am, I have grown-up surrounded by libraries my whole life. I remember when my parents took me to the Olympia Public Library to enroll in the summer reading club and I tried to collect as many stars as I could (by reading the books with mainly pictures). I remember in middle school and my teacher gave us an assignment to find an autobiography and I chose the one on Walt Disney.I remember using my university library to do research for a mid-term paper or getting lost (literally) in the section of public health journals. And most recently, I remember using the Peace Corps library here in Cameroon to find resources to improve prenatal consultations at the hospital. Regardless of where I have been, regardless of what information I needed, I have always had access to a library. I had free access to learn, research, and stroll through the titles that make my to-read list more of a dream list.

The point of this post is this. Since that day back in my 6th grade classroom, I realized that a library could be a benefit to the children and community of Nyambaka. Literacy levels are quite low and because my village is predominately Fulfulde-speaking, any extra exposure to the French language can really make the difference on whether children will or will not succeed in school. Take for example my 6th grade class of this year. Do you remember what your reading level was like in 6th grade? You probably could easily enjoy a Baby Sitter’s Club or Goosebumps book without much difficulty, right? Well nearly 20 of my 100 students this year can’t even read. They can write. They can copy the letters they see on the board into their notebooks. But they cannot read. One day I wrote a dialog up on the board between two people, Nono and Belinda, and asked my students to read the dialog in pairs. I walked over to two girls – two of the 15 girls in the class – and asked them who was Nono and who was Belinda. They looked down at their notebooks and said they were just going to sit there quietly, they can’t read.

I realize that in a community like mine, just building a library isn’t the solution to our literacy issues. But it’s a start. I am lucky to have a motivated community that has already donated $1700 to the project – which is a lot of money here. I have a motivated group of teachers, students and community members who have started a library committee to assure the sustainability of our project and will work to promote literacy activities in the community (including a reading club!). We have received over 500 donated books and the school is going to donate around 150 as well. It’s a small start but it’s a start nonetheless. So the real reason for this post is that even though my community is motivated and invested in this project, it is a project that is too big for them to finance completely by themselves.

I have submitted a proposal to the Peace Corps Partnership Program that posts approved volunteer projects on the Peace Corps website that people back home can donate to and support. If you are interested in donating to help make our library project a library, or know someone that may be interested, please visit the link to my project below. One can donate directly on the website or mail a check. Because they recommend FedEx-ing checks, another option is to mail the check to my parents address as they have offered to collect checks and FedEx them all together. Please email/message me for their address if you would prefer this option: Meehan.kathleen@gmail.com

Thank you in advance, merci beaucoup, mi yeti mon jur!

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=694-202

12 reasons to date a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer:

This list was published by the National Peace Corps Association... and is so true, at least us Peace Corps Volunteers like to think so. Enjoy a little belated Valentine's Day laughter and I PROMISE to post my intended March update by the end of April. I'm on African time now, which includes my blog posts :).

1.We can woo you in multiple languages. Who else is going to whisper sweet nothings to you in everything from Albanian to Hausa to Quechua to Xhosa? That’s right. Only a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

2.We’re pretty good dancers. Yeah, we don’t like to brag, but after 27 months in Latin America or Africa we know how to move it.

3.We’ll eat anything. Seriously. No matter how bad your cooking, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers have had worse and will eat it with nary a blink. Sheep’s eyeball? Water buffalo gall bladder? Grasshoppers? Bush rat? Bring it.

4.We know all about safe sex, thanks to our very thorough Peace Corps health training. In fact, there’s a chance that we’ve stood unblushingly in front of hundreds of villagers and demonstrated good condom technique with a large wooden phallus.

5.We’ll kill spiders for you. Well, actually, we’ll nonchalantly scoop them up and put them out of sight. Same goes for mice, geckos, frogs, snakes. Critters don’t faze Returned Volunteers.

6.We have great date ideas: wandering a street market, checking out a foreign film, taking in a world music concert, volunteering…. Romantic getaway? Our passport is updated and our suitcase is packed. With us, life is always an adventure.

7.We like you for “you”… not your paycheck. Especially if we are freshly back from service, a local joint with “character” will win out over a pretentious eatery. Living in a group house? No problem. Does it have running hot water? What luxury!

8.You won’t get lost when you’re with a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Navigating local markets on four continents, we’ve honed an uncanny sense of direction. Or else we’ll ask for directions. We’re not afraid to talk to “strangers.”

9.Waiting for a late train or bus with us? Don’t worry. Been there, done that. We can share lots of funny stories about “the bus ride from hell” that will make the time go quickly and put it all into perspective.

10.Our low-maintenance fashion style. Returned Peace Corps Volunteer guys are secure in their manhood and don’t mind rocking a sarong. Women often prefer flip flops to high heels. We don’t spend hours in front of a mirror getting ready to go out.

11.Marry us, and you won’t just get one family — you’ll get two! When we refer to our “brother” or “mom,” you’ll want to be certain we’re talking about our American one or our Peace Corps one. You might even get two wedding ceremonies, one in the U.S. and one back in our Peace Corps country.

12.And last but not least, we aren’t afraid to get dirty.

I’m rocking in a rocking chair while sipping on a Berry Fulfilling smoothie while people watching at the Charlotte Airport. I’m on my way back to Cameroon after spending 2.5 weeks in the Northwest with friends and family for Christmas. The trip went well overall with only a few road-bumps that happened to fall on the trying to get here and trying to get home ends.

To arrive home for the holidays I traveled 51 hours. This may sound like a lot until I tell you how long it will take me to get back. The trip went something like this:

1) Saturday – 2.5 hour drove to Ngaoundere (my regional capital city where one takes the train to Yaounde)

2) Saturday afternoon – received news that the train hadn’t been running for a few days due to derailment and the only option to get to Yaoundé (the city one flies out of) is to take a bus

3) Sunday at 6AM – arrived at bus station. 7:30 AM the bus departed and drove past my village that I left the day before. We arrive at a city named Bertoua at 8 PM and stayed the night because it was too late to continue traveling. This bus ride was so dusty I looked like an Umpa Lumpa from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory afterwards! (P.S. I had a spaghetti omelet sandwich for dinner)

4) Arrived at bus station in Bertoua at 7:30 AM. Bus left around 9 AM for Yaoundé and arrived in Yaoundé at 2:30 PM on Monday.

During the bus ride I found out I had forgotten a few crucial steps to leaving the country for vacation: 1) To request for one’s entry/exit visas to be renewed and 2) To actually get signed approval for the vacation. (Ooops!). My flight was set to leave Tuesday night and it wasn’t until Tuesday afternoon that I found out I was actually going to be getting on a plane (thanks to some stellar PC Staff who helped me out last minute).

The first flight went smooth. The second had a delayed arrival due heavy winds but I nonetheless made it. Somehow.

I was expecting a painless return yet here I am in a rocking chair at the Charlotte Airport when I was supposed to be traveling through Philadelphia. My first flight out of Seattle was cancelled yesterday due to a malfunctioning part on the airplane. We were on the runway ready to take-off when the pilot turned us around.

The method of re-booking was predominately phone-based which isn’t too easy for the one traveler that no longer has an American cell phone (and where did all the payphones go??). Anyway, some nice lady gave me her phone to use and after 45 minutes of trying to sort out my three tricky flights, I heard a page for what I thought was “Kathleen Meehan” over the income. I was so excited – thinking they must have re-booked me and were calling me to a gate on the other side of the airport so I could board the awaiting plane. I quickly ended the call, handed the nice lady back her phone, grabbed my bags and started running. I got to the gate and told them my name and the lady smiled. She reached down and held up a passport with a picture of a 50 year old-ish woman. “Lose something?” she asked. “That’s not me.” I replied. “Oh. Sorry, I said Kathleen DEEGAN,” she responded.

I was so overwhelmed; I had no idea what to do. I walked slowly back to the gate and stood as the last person in line to get their tickets re-booked. It took the airline representative and I another hour just to figure out how to get me back to Cameroon before the end of the month. But we eventually found a way and here I am, rocking away in Charlotte.

My trip home has made me reflect quite a lot on how my last 15 months in Africa has changed me. If there is anything that Peace Corps has taught me, it is patience. Yes, I am anxious to see my friends back in Cameroon and wish I were there instead of taking red-eyes and sitting in airport rockers. However, I am content in the moment as well. And, more than anything, I am grateful. I believe both that everything happens for a reason and that everything will work out in the end. I would take an extra 27 hours of rocking in airports and people watching than taking-off in a malfunctioning plane any day. Plus, you got a blog post out of me because I have that much time on my hands .

Hope ya’ll have a great start to the New Year!

Considering that my most recent posts have all been about food, I thought I would try something new and write about what I am actually doing (other than eating) here in Cameroon. I have neglected to write about work not because there isn’t much to write about but, rather, because there is too much to sum up. I guess that’s a good thing.

As mentioned in a previous post, I am using the school vacation time to pursue some of the other project ideas that I didn’t have time for during the school year. One of these projects was to start a girl’s club. My ultimate goal of the club is simple: to provide girls the opportunity and space to be simply girls. As you might imagine, girls have quite a lot of work they are responsible for between caring for younger siblings, cooking, cleaning and washing clothes. During the summer months, many of them also help with their families’ farms and, at least in my neighborhood, frequent Qu’ranic school. So now, at least once a week, they gather in my living room to learn about their inner and outer girl selves and the importance of valuing who they are.

Although I hope to incorporate activities pertaining to girl’s and women’s health in future club meetings, right now we are focusing on building self-confidence. Our first activity was a name-tag making activity. They were to draw things that helped define who they are and illustrated their qualities. Thinking of a way to creatively express who they are – or even describe who they are in words – was a challenge for them at first. They began by copying the example I made for myself which means that they are adventurous and love traveling the world, enjoy teaching English, and live for drinking coffee among other things. I was worried that the activity wouldn’t pass well but decided to wait and give it time. With time, I saw the wheels turning in their heads as they began to personalize their badges a bit more. One girl realized that she is a hard worker and drew a farm with the crops she helps her family cultivate. After that moment, the other girls began exploring the qualities that make them unique: some thought of the dishes they cook really well, others acknowledged that they are strong in school, and they all found that they valued their families.

With each meeting that passes, they get more and more comfortable in my living room. They come to giggle, draw, dance, and to talk about their crushes and their dreams. They continually impress me with their optimism in air of their hardships and I often think I am learning more from this club than they are. But I guess that’s a good thing

Have you ever eaten a spaghetti omelette sandwhich? If not, it is a must try. Cameroon has discovered that if you take last night's left over spaghetti, mix it with eggs, tomatoes, onions, peppers, a bit of piment (and a little bit of Maggi MSG Cube), cook it up into an omelette and fold it into some fresh baguette, you have yourself a masterpiece.

I'm not sure why I never thought of this before. I've eaten eggs with bread for years. I'd sometimes eat eggs with pasta even. But never did I think of mixing it all together. I like to imagine the first person in Cameroon who came up with this idea and what they were thinking as they bit into one of the finest sandwiches we can find in the world today. And no, that is not an overstatement.

Every time that I come to the big city of Ngaoundere to do my banking and big city shopping, I seek out the omelette man. He has an spaghetti omelette sandwich making cart that he rolls around the neigborhood - feeding hungry Cameroonians along the way. The problem is, he's kinda like the icecream truck. You never know where he is - you just have to hope that when you walk out of the Peace Corps house, looking for your morning meal, that you'll look both ways down the street and see his little cart rolling in your direction.

This trip to Ngaoundere, I had three morning meal opportunities to eat a spaghetti omelette sandwich. Every morning, I crossed my fingers as I headed out in search of the perfect breakfast. I looked both ways, I circled the neighborhood and I even considered jumping on a moto to speed up my search for the omelette man. But I was sadly defeated three times, and will return to village looking forward to my next chance at an omelette sandwich come July.

First off, my sincere apologies for taking a four month hiatus on blog writing! These last four months have passed so quickly, I had no idea it had been so long. Summing up the last four months is going to be quite the challenge, but I'll try an give you at least an idea of what life is like at the moment.

Most importantly, it is MANGO SEASON! Nyambaka is known for its Mangos - we really are, I'm not just saying that. We have the longest mango season in the area - our trees start producing fruit earlier and end later than other tress in the region. And, our mangoes are apparently sweeter too.

I eat probably five mangoes a day right now. You get to a point where you think you can't eat any more mangoes, but then someone gives you another and you bite into it and you decide yes, in fact, you can eat another one. I think my daily record is eight, which is also ironically how many mangoes I had probably eaten in my entire life before moving to Africa.

My counterpart at the health center and I are going to start making mango jam, juice, bread, cookies and maybe try drying the fruit too. We are going to do jam demonstrations at the health center and with some women's groups in some surrounding villages in the upcoming month and I'm really excited! Now all I have to do is learn how to make mango jam and I'll be set. :)

I have now been a Peace Corps Volunteer for about two months now and the time has been passing fast. I started teaching English at the beginning of January and am loving it. There are supposed to be 75 kids in my class whose language levels range as much as their ages (10-17 years). On a usual day, however, there are about 50-60 kids who show up. Only a few kids have textbooks which makes teaching even more challenging, but their enthusiasm for learning trumps the challenges.

Currently all of the teachers are untrained community members who stepped up to try and prevent the children from falling behind while hoping that the state would evenutally send teachers. This week, under the amazing leadership of a new director who was just affected to Nyambaka this year, the state has approved his proposal and has sent Nyambaka 9 new (state-paid and trained) teachers!!! It is amazing to witness such positive community development that truly came from the community itself. The new director has served as the catalyst without a doubt and is helping the school evolve in many other ways as well: electricity, a volleyball court, school clubs and of course the new teaching staff. Currently a student can't finish their high school education in Nyambaka (they must move to a larger, nearby city for the last 3 years of high school), so the director is working hard to expand the grades offered for the upcoming school year.

Along with teaching English, I'll be helping with the Health Club and working on a project with the director to start a library. Just this last week, one of the new vocabulary words my class learned was "library." Heartbreakingly, I had to not only teach the meaning of the word "library" but also the concept as the majority of my students have never seen or heard of one. It is things like this that make me truly value the education I received.

There is so much more to write, but I will leave it at this for now. My posts are going to be less frequent as I will only have internet access every 2-4 weeks, but I will continue to post when I can.

My favorite thing one of my students have said? I am a banana.

Last Sunday I moved into my new place in Nyambaka! I absolutely love it. My neighbors are incredibly generous (they keep bringing me meals and have been helping me set up my place), the community is so welcoming and exctied to have us, and my co-workers at the hospital are so kind. The weather is warm during the day and refreshingly cool at night, and I get to watch the most amazing sunset everynight over the rolling savannah lined with banana trees. As one would say in French, j'ai le chance.

I spent the last four days helping with my hospital's vaccination campaign. We went from door-to-door in both Nyambaka and all of the smaller surrounding villages vaccinating kids against Polio, providing Vitamin A supplements and passing out deworming pills. It was a great way to get to know the area and meet the communities I'll be working with for the next two years. (And I felt like I was in a scene from Mountains Beyond Mountains which was pretty awesome).

Right now they are prepping the road infront of my village to be paved which means that it is both a really exciting and dusty time! I'm really impressed by how quickly they are working even though it means that I have to sweep my house two times a day, wash my floors daily, and only get one wear out of my clothes.

That's all the updating I have time for now. Even though there is so much more to say, I think that "I absolutely love Nyambaka" sums it up as well as anything could. Hopefully by the next time I write, there will be a lovely paved road where the pills of dust currently are and I'll be a little more conversational in Fulfulde. And if not sooner, have a Merry Christmas!

On Wednesday, December 1st, I officially swore in as a Peace Corps Volunteer! Training is over and I have said goodbye to my lastest home of 3 months and am on my way to post. The ceremony was very nice - all of us volunteers got matching clothes made (will post pics when I get the chance!). The Peace Corps hosted a nice lunch reception to follow to give thanks to our homestay families and the community.

December 1st was also World AIDS Day so we included a tribute to those affected by HIV/AIDS in the ceremony as well. Conservative statistics show that 1 in 20 Cameroonians are infected with HIV/AIDS. Although HIV/AIDS tests, treatment and preventative methods are readily available, it is stigma and gender inequality that contribute most heavily to the epidemic.

Last Saturday, my Bafia host Mom took me on an afternoon adventure to the village she grew up in. We shared a motorcycle taxi (from this day forward referred to as a moto) to the l’agence. The l’agence or agency is a parking lot filled with motos, cars, vans & mini-buses that are going every which direction once they fill up with twice as many people as they can reasonably accommodate.

We bought our seats in a car (small sedan) that was headed in the direction of Boquito and some bread as a gift for my host Mom’s mother. There were 9 total adults and a toddler in the car. This is a pretty elementary car ride from what I’ve heard; one volunteer got up to 17 in a single trip! No worries, at those high of numbers at least a handful of people are riding in the trunk and maybe a few on the windshield. (Don’t worry Mom, as a Peace Corps Volunteer I’m forbidden to ride on windshields).

Anyways, I shared the front passenger seat with a Maman (older Cameroonian woman), the toddler, our huge sack of bread and my host Mom’s right leg. My host Mom’s left leg shared the driver’s seat with our Chauffeur and then five adults shared the back seat. Luckily our drive was only 45 minutes long.

We arrived in Boquito where it was reaffirmed to me that Cameroonians are the most generous people I have ever met. We first stopped by her Mom’s place where we were warmly greeted (well, three kids shrieked at the sight of me and almost cried when their Dad made them greet me and shake my hand...) with two huge branches of bananas and a large sack of oranges. After visiting a while, we proceeded to take a tour of the village with each quick visit adding to the “this feels like Christmas!” feeling. Along with the original 30ish pounds of fruit we acquired, we were generously gifted plantains, potatoes, macabo, casamangas, beer, lunch, and palm wine.

After sharing some palm wine and conversation with my host Mom’s family, we and all of our presents climbed on the back of a moto to the center of the village where we found another sedan to take us back to Bafia. This ride was a bit more comfortable as there were just four of us to share the back seat. And, best yet, one of the fellow passengers played some Celion Dion for us to “rock out” to. I can’t say that

I was ever the hugest Celion Dion fan back in the States, but I’ll admit that there is something comforting about hearing her music here – I guess it makes home not feel so far away.

P.S. Mom, I promise not to ride in any trunks either. :)

My apologies for the lack of blog posts in the past weeks! We have only one week left of training and my time here has been packed full. Since I feel it would be nearly impossible to sum up the last few weeks in a single post, I thought I’d tell you about my possibly favorite topic: Food.

Fruit: The fruit here is unreal – sweeter, fresher and fuller of juice than anything I’ve ever eaten. It is hard to even bite into or cut an orange because there is so much juice! Pineapple and avocado seasons recently started which is splendid, but my favorite so far is the casamanga (has the flavor of a mango mixed with a nectarine but is smaller). Oh, and fresh coconut is also to die for.

Veggies: Used sparingly in cooking and usually cooked to death with oil and salt. However, one can find onions, green beans and carrots galore and pretty much everything grows here so I plan on having my own garden at post so I can enjoy some fresh greens again.

Starches: Cameroonians love their starches. Basically, starch = meal. Which starch is the question… you can have: potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, manioc (boiled, in baton form or in fu-fu/couscous form), couscous de maiz (think polenta), cassava, plantains (fried or boiled), macabo (potato like), patas (sweet potato like), ngames (also potato like) and probably something else I’m forgetting.

Meat: A real meal must have meat. Where I am living for training, fish (both fresh and smoked) is really popular and delicious (the fresh fish at least). Where I will be living the next two years, beef is the meat of choice. In general, pork is hard to find.

Dairy: Dairy most commonly comes in powdered form; EXCEPT for the region I’ll be moving to where one can find fresh yoghurt, some cheese, milk and soft serve ice cream.

Condiments: Palm oil, salt, piment (hot sauce) and Maggi cubes (MSG cubes) are added to literally everything.

Favorite dishes: Peanut sauce, fish with tomato sauce

Weirdest foods I’ve eaten: Lizard (komodo dragon size) and cane rat

For any of you who have been to Africa, you may have heard the lovely and oh-so-true expression: This is Africa. My most recent TIA moment occured on my way to site visit earlier this morning.

Site visit is intended for us to get an idea of what our post will be like, to meet our community host, get acquainted with our community, set up a bank account and so on. My village, Nyambaka, is located a few hours outside of the regional capital, N'Goundere. To get go N'Goundere one must take a train from Yaounde (a two drive from where I have been living in Bafia). The train ride - that would take 3 hours to cover the same distance in France - normally takes 12-14 hours here in Cameroon. Many of the train signs, such as slow down, are written in German which leads me to believe that the train system itself has not been updated since the Germans occupied Cameroon a long, long time ago.

During the train ride, which in the end took 21 hours, the engine part of the train detached itself from the passenger cars TWO times. The first time took 3 hours for the engine car to back its way back to the passenger cars and the second time the engine car took one passenger car - the car with all of our community hosts - with it. All in all, 21 hours later, we all ended up in N'Goundere attached to some train in some form another.

So, as I briefly mentioned in my previous post, I am learning Fulfulde as well as French now. You may wonder why I am learning Fulfulde so let me rewind a bit.

About a week and a half ago, we received our post announcements (post is the place I will be living & serving for two years!). I will be living in a village called Nyambaka which is located in the Eastern part of the Adamawa region. According to my brother, you find Nyambaka on google maps! I will be working with a health center that has staff of 6 and serves an estimated population of 10,000. One of the villages served is Nyambaka in which about 4000 people live. The main health issues are malaria, parasites and water-borne illnesses.

Although the Adamawa region is Francophone, Fulfulde is actually the lingua franca (French will be language I translate through as needed and speak with the health center staff). Here's a quick Fulfulde lesson...

Jamna! (Hello)

Jam! (Response to Hello)

Jam bandu na? (Is your body healthy/are you well?)

Jam coo du mae. (I'm well)

Oseko (Thank you)

And my favorite, "Kenya" means yesterday!

Anyways, I am very excited about my post! I will have a post mate in the same village and there are many other volunteers within a few hours away. I also have electricity and cell reception (aka RESO). I am just 60 miles outside of the regional capital, Ngoundere, which I'll be able to visit at least once a month to do my banking. 60 miles sounds like it would be an hour of transport, but it is realistically between 3-4 hours because the road isn't paved. They are however in the process of paving it and expect to finish in a year and a half, which means when I go to leave Cameroon at the end of my service, transportation will be easier :D.

This Friday we leave for our site visit and we'll be spending a whole week just getting to know our community host, other Peace Corps volunteers around the area and will have time to set up things to make moving in December an easier transition (like setting up a bank account and ordering a bed). I am reopening this post after it has been closed for 10 years, so I will have a lot to do!

A la prochaine !

My Monday – Friday life looks a bit like this…

- I wake up at 5:30 am (yes, 5:30 AM!) to my alarm clock because the

roosters are unreliable (they get really thrown off on overcast days).

- Take my bucket bath with cold water. I can get myself clean on 2

gallons of water! I bathe in my latrine which is located outside and

has one hole in the ground for both the toilet and bath water. It is

walled in and has a roof, but the roof is raised a bit to allow fresh

air to flow through. I use a small cup to scoop up the water in my

bucket and I bathe in the company of many cockroaches that call my

latrine “home.”

- Get dressed after bathing and leave my bucket outside if there’s a

chance of rain to save me a trip to the well or forage (water pump)

- Sanitize my hands and let dry before putting in my contacts

- Apply bug spray

- Hang towel on dental floss clothes line in my room. I can’t hang it

outside because mango flies burrow their eggs into damp clothes. One

must let their clothes dry (rest) for three days and/or iron them

before wearing them to kill the larvae. Out of all things one could

“catch” here, Mango Flies aren’t that bad. But they do burrow into

your skin and that’s just nasty

- Have breakfast which is usually deep fried omelet with a side of

extra palm oil, bread (sometimes with ants, sometimes with chocolate

spread), or buie de maiz (a thick, porridge like drink?

- Pack my bag and head to school/training. If we are in the village, I

leave at 7AM to walk. If we are in the city and it is nice, I leave at

6:15AM to ride my bike. If we are in the city and its raining, I leave

at 6:30AM to catch the PC shuttle that leaves from the Chef’s house in

the neighboring village.

- On my walk or bike to school, I walk/bike on rust colored, clay like

roads lined with dense vegetation. Cameroonians are usually out

starting their morning activities which means I am saying “bonjour”

about every 3 seconds. Greetings are really important here. Also

walking with me are the many free-range chickens (real free range) and

the kids you are starting their two hour trek to school. I also pass

the occasional pig or goat or exotic bird. On a side note, there are

plenty of cats and dogs here, but people do not walk their dogs. Some

do, however, walk their goats!

- An example school/training day looks like this:

o 7:30 – 9:30 AM Fulfulde (the other new language I’m learning… more

on this in a future post)

o 9:30 – 9:45 AM Coffee Break!!!! (only when we’re in the city and

only when there’s electricity… so I probably get a cup of coffee about

two times per week)

o 9:45 – noon Technical Health Session on a topic like Malaria,

HIV/AIDS. Peer-education techniques, etc

o Noon – 2 PM lunch break/siesta. I usually eat rice, beans,

plantains, fish, cooked veggies and fresh tropical fruit

o 2:00 – 3:30 PM Group session on Food Security & cross collaboration

between Health and Agriculture volunteers

o 3:40 – 4:30 PM French

- I then come home which takes anywhere from 30 mins to an hour

depending on where I’m coming from

- I help cook or do dishes if they aren’t done already but most of the

time, they are. My host mom cooks over the fire.

- I eat dinner. Couscous de maiz is the regional dish here so we eat

it often. It isn’t anything like couscous though, it more like polenta

and is served with a variety of different sauces that range from

delicious to not so delicious.

- Re-apply bug spray

- Do homework, hang out with family. If there is electricity we

usually watch the French-dubbed Spanish soap opera of the season…

currently El Diablo

- Start getting ready for bed around 8PM (it is dark by 7PM)

- Brush teeth under the most vibrant stars I’ve ever seen

- Fill water bottle for upcoming day (from my water filter)

- Lock everything up in my metal trunk that my mice friends might like

to munch on (this includes dirty clothes, shoes and my wallet for some

reason)

- Crawl under my mosquito net & tuck the net into the mattress around

me. Many people don’t tuck in their mosquito nets… you must tuck it in

or the mosquitoes can still fly in.

- And voila, I’m asleep by 9 PM.

Saturdays are similar but I have the afternoon free. I usually use

this time to run errands (by motorcycle taxi) and catch up on lugging

my drinking water from the forage/water pump. The forage is a water

pump and is about a 15 min walk away. The well is closer (just a short

walk through the banana fields) but the forage water is safer so I

walk longer to fetch my drinking water (still goes through the filter

though). I visit the forage every couple of days.

On Sundays, I visit the well to get water to wash my clothes. The well

is quite the experience – it is almost like the secret hang out spot

for the women and children of the village. Everyone helps each other

lift the heavy buckets of water up to their heads for the journey

back. I carry my (small) bucket on my head too, but I can’t balance it

yet so I also hold onto its sides with my hands. It really is the most

efficient way to carry a bucket of water.

I then soak my clothes with detergent for about 30 mins before washing

them. Washing them is hard but wringing them out is grueling. My

process is: soak – wash – ring – rinse – ring – shake – dry – hang on

line – fold & let rest for 3 days.

I also do dishes & sweep on Sundays but, as a rule, Sundays tend to be

lazy days.

And there you have it – a lengthy but still incomplete snapshot of my

life here. Every day is different and is about to change on Saturday

when we switch home stays with the city-living agriculture volunteers

for the last 5 weeks of training!

I have so much more to write & my endless apologies for not being able

to post more often – I really do try every chance I get but the

internet rarely works here. More to come!

Here's a very quick update on my time thus far in Cameroon! I've been gone for about a month now and time is really starting to pick up. We have just started our 4th week of training - my French is coming along a bit and I'm learning a lot about the health issues I'll be potentially working with while I'm here: Malaria, HIV/AIDS, Filaria, Cholera, TB, Menginitis and plently of other bacteria causing, virus spreading or parasitic infectioning illnesses! (Just to name a few).

This Thursday we'll be finding our post announements so I'll be able to let you all know where I'll be living the next few years!

I made it to Cameroon 2 weeks ago after quite the adventure! Our flight leaving from JFK was delayed so much that we missed our connecting flight in Brussels thus keeping us a night in Belgium. The earliest flight they could fit all 50 of us on a plane left the next morning but to a different city, Douala, in Cameroon!

We arrived in Douala on Saturday the 18th and stayed over there before heading to Yaounde, the capital city, on Sunday. The bus ride between the two cities took about 3 hours and was SO beautiful! I will post pictures at some point in the probably not-near-future, but thinks of lots and lots of green, rain-foresty landscape!

We had one day of orientation in Yaounde before boarding the bus for another 2 hours to move into our homestays. I am currently living with a wonderful family in a rural village called Nyamsong where I will be for 5 weeks to get the rural Cameroon experience before switching with another volunteer who is staying in the semi-urban setting of Bafia.

I am really enjoying my time here so far & training! I hope to update more soon with some pictures when I get the chance!!

I am currently at the JFK Airport about to board my flight to Cameroon via Brussels!

To rewind a little bit...

On Tuesday the 14th, I flew to Philadelphia for my staging (orientation) event. I, and the other west coast area trainees, had to come in a night early because day of flights wouldn't have arrived in time. I had a great night out with some fellow early arrivers including a DELICIOUS Philly Cheesesteak sandwhich (as can only be expected).

Our staging began on Wednesday where we all became official trainees, learned more about what to expect and also what is expected of us as volunteers. But most importantly, we (all 50 of us) had the chance to meet each other. Yes, I said 50 of us! Our training group is made up of about half health trainees - like myself - and half agriculture/forestry trainees.

This morning we checked out of our hotel at 6:30 AM and went to go get yellow fever vaccines. After the vaccines, we boarded a bus that took us to the JFK airport. We arrived nice & early because having such a large group (and a lot of luggage) takes some time to get checked-in & through security.

Now I am anxiously waiting to board my flight! I have definitely transitioned back in to being overwhelming inspired & excited after all of the hard goodbyes. I have also started reading Three Cups of Tea (thanks Mom!) which has completely reaffirmed why I am joining the Peace Corps in the first place.

So what is next?

We'll arrive in Yaounde, Cameroon at precisely 4:35 PM tomorrow. Peace Corps Cameroon staff will meet us at the airport and take us back to a hotel in the Yaounde that we will be staying at for 4-5 nights while we finish up orientation, receive more vaccinations, and take our initial French language assessment. Early next week we will head to Bafia - a city a couple hours North of Yaounde - for our 11-week, intensive Pre-Service Training. It is here that we'll live with separate host families and meet at the Peace Corps training site for language, culture & technical training.

I'm not sure when I will have a chance to post next, but more will come when I am able!

Simply put, the worst. I know this nauseous, pit-in-my-stomach feeling will soon pass, but for at least awhile, a bit of sadness has overtaken my feelings of excitement. It is times like this that I wish I could be content with never leaving home, because each time I leave, it seems to get harder. It ends up being that the same people that I travel great lengths to meet or see in the first place, are the same people that it pains me to say goodbye to. However, I know these feelings are not only a required part of my departure for the Peace Corps, but a healthy reflection of how much my friends and family mean to me. For those of you worried that I will never return – be assured that I will. I will be gone for quite awhile, there is no denying that, but I know that this experience will enrich my life in ways unimaginable. It is all of your support that gave me the courage to not only join the Peace Corps, but will help me through the challenges I am bound to encounter.

Yesterday, my parents hosted a goodbye party for my in Olympia. It was a beautiful day and I was able to spend a little time with my family before I leave for Cameroon. We made Cameroonian style food to give everyone a little taste of what I'll be eating and experiencing over the next two years which included:

- Fu-fu (of course!): The staple dish of West Africa. I made fu-fu from plantains but you can also use cassava, corn, couscous and other starches/root veggies. I was a bit worried at first because it has the weirdest texture... kind of like gooey mashed potatoes in a dough-like ball, but I actually quite liked it!

- Beef stew which was to accompany the fu-fu

- Chicken skewers with spicy peanut sauce

- Corn on the cob

- Sweet potato biscuits: my Aunt found a DELICIOUS recipe for these dessert-like biscuits that are also eaten elsewhere in Africa - except Cameroon's version is unique as it includes lime zest & coconut.

- Shrimp!! (Cameroon is the land of shrimp after all)

- Lots of salads & fresh fruit

- German beer & South African wine

And most importantly, GREAT company. Thank you everyone for coming - I will miss you all and can't wait to share my adventures with you as they unfold!

Where do I go two weeks before I am heading to Cameroon and should be frantically packing? San Francisco. Devin had to apply for a visa at the French Consulate to be a language assistant in France this upcoming year, so I decided to take the opportunity to see another part of the U.S. before I leave for 2 years.

I was pretty blown away by the city and maybe the best thing that we stumbled upon was San Francisco's (and the United State's) first AIDS Memorial Park. It was both very moving and inspiring to walk through the garden's that were built by many volunteers to pay tribute to and remember those affected by HIV/AIDS.

About .60% of our population is infected with HIV/AIDS compared to 5.10% of the population in Cameroon (CIA World Factbook, 2007). Although Cameroon's HIV/AIDS prevalence rates are on the lower end compared to other Sub-Saharan African nations such as South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe & Zambia (whose prevalence rates all exceed 15% of their respective populations), I know that HIV/AIDS prevention work will most likely be incorporated into my work as a health volunteer.

http://www.aidsmemorial.org/getting-to-the-grove

In almost exactly three weeks, I will be signing in at my Peace Corps staging event in Philadelphia! I have begun the packing process and have stocked up on enough toiletries to at least last me the first six months to a year. Of course with my limited packing space, I am having to prioritize what makes the cut and what I can do without. So what is it that I want to bring enough of more than anything? Dove soap. Dove soap makes me feel at home because I grew up using it, and that feeling of home might turn out to be really nice while I'm very possibly taking bucket baths.

I'm at the Burlington, VT airport and am heading home after a great vacation on the East Coast with Devin. Last Sunday was Nadya's wedding (my best friend from childhood) and it was absolutely wonderful. I was able to both enjoy Vermont (we stayed in a beautiful cabin in the woods) as well as all of the wedding festivities leading up to the big day. Devin's favorite part (and very possibly mine as well) was the pig roast for the rehearsal dinner!

After the wedding, Devin and I headed up to Quebec. We stayed two nights in Quebec City at a charming little B&B and one night in Montreal. Both cities were much fun and we both enjoyed sprucing up on our French before we head off to the French-speaking world (he is going to France around the same time I am heading to Cameroon).

On the Peace Corps front, I received my flight!!! I will be leaving on September 14th at 8:30 AM for Philadelphia where my group's 2-day staging will occur (think orientation + a lot of shots). Both receiving my flight details as well as suffering quite the tears after saying goodbye to my best friend has made me realize how near my departure really is.

This week has been quite eventful:

1) On Sunday night I picked Devin up from the airport (he just returned from a 6-week trip to Kenya)

2) I had my last day of work on Wednesday - I am now officially unemployed

3) I packed up my life in Bellingham and said goodbye to the city that has been home for the last 6 years

As excited as I am for my upcoming adventure, closing this chapter of my life in preparation was harder than I had originally thought. And as often as I move around, I tend to also get attached to the places and people I meet along the way, thus making it harder to leave. The goodbyes never tend to get easier, but they always end up being worth it once I get to my next destination.

I'm back in Olympia - my other home - and will be heading to Vermont on Monday for Nadya's wedding. I'm excited for some quality time with family and friends before I board the plane to Cameroon in less than 6 weeks!

Here's a story about Micro Loans from a farewell card I received.

Sherida began selling tomatoes in 1995, starting her small business with only $10 in working capital. Although her produce sold well, she could never really afford to improve or expand her business; her profits went immediately to fulfilling her family's basic needs. In 1998, Sherida heard from a friend that an organization called FINCA was offering loans to women in the area. Shreida used her first FINCA loan to purchase spare bicycle parts for transporting the tomatoes. She also cultivated her own tomato garden, and was able to afford seeds and insecticides. But perhaps most important, she was able to set aside savings, even after paying school and uniform fees for her children.

Only 4 more days of work left - I'm getting excited!

I am just under two months from boarding that plane to Cameroon and have been chipping away at my lengthy to-do list before I go. Excitedly, I have nearly finished my Bellingham bucket list and only have one non-checked item: Pizza & beer at the North Fork Brewery.

This evening marked my last Oral Health Coalition event. Thank you to everyone who turned out for our social and to wish me adieu - you all will be greatly missed. I have so looked forward to every moment & meeting I have been able to spend with all of you OHC members if not only to be further astonished by work that you do. You have made so passionate about oral health and a believer in what a concerned community can accomplish. And for that, and everything else, I am forever grateful.

Good luck collecting dimes :).

I woke up early this morning, grabbed some bagels and coffee for breakfast and went to my friend's house to watch the game. I had prepared myself well with plenty of background information on Cameroon's Soccer/Football team Les Lions Indomptables. I was certain - as many of the World Cup Fans were - that Cameroon would take the game. End result: 1-0, Japan. Next game: Cameroon vs. Denmark, June 19th.

Yesterday, I received my invitation to serve as a Public Health Coordinator volunteer in Cameroon! I will be leaving for staging around September 15th and couldn't be more excited! I will update this blog as I learn more about my placement.

To leave you with a fun fact about Cameroon... there are over 200 (!) languages spoken in this small - about the size of California - country!