Kribi - a perfect way to end our stay

The last few days provided the opportunity to go to Kribi, a quick trip to a tropical beach. The journey was an adventure. I have never been in such a tightly packed bus before; the rows should take four but with the additional fold up sit extended into the aisle made it five, plus children. Our luggage was tossed on top of the bus, later joined by a goat, that was passed up and tethered to the roof rack for the journey. Getting out en route was demonstrated by a young woman who went out via the window. Her goods, shoes, etc passed to her by fellow passengers.

Arriving in Kribi, Elvis, one of the

many taxi drivers who decended on

us when we arrived, came from Bamenda and spoke English.

He was most helpful and helped us locate an hotel, within our budget.

Le Jardin d'Eden was just right, simple, met our needs and the setting idyllic. We arrived early afternoon and the next day we went for a walk , watched the fishing net being pulled in, but sadly only a small catch.

The return journey was as interesting and a final shop at the local market when we got back to buy some Cameroon football shirts to take home .

I have been back a while and I suspect I am the slowest blogger ever but thank you for your best wishes and joining me on my journey. It is good to be home .

Would I go back, yes, I would love to, working in Cameroon was an experience not to be missed but anywhere in Africa would be fine.

See how it goes and what opportunities present in the future.

Wendy

Last week in Cameroon

Setting time aside for sightseeing. First a trip to Lake Alwen. We left early in the morning; it was cool, misty and had that early morning calm feeling as we drove up the hill to up station. Looking back on Bamenda I realized yet again how spread out the town is. The drive was lovely and even better as we went higher through the Eucalyptus forests that Penny had referred to when describing previous work she had done with the forestry department, planting these trees. As we were going uphill I noticed there has been some small mud slides, not surprising in the rainy season but thankfully they were not severe enough to close the roads.

Lake Alwen was lovely, so calm and peaceful. It is quite a big lake and the surrounding vegetations, trees so green. We could not gain access as the gates were locked. In the early morning mist it reminded me of the Lake District. We explored but could not go far. A notice gave instructions of what not to do so as to avoid forest fires, including smoking bees for honey. On the way back we passed some young boys driving cattle, who live a more nomadic life, settling for short periods with the cattle before moving on.








It was a good day and when we returned Valeret wanted us to be
part of group family photos,
for which he had hired a professional photographer.

Born House, a special occasion

Visiting a family to celebrate the birth

of their child, now 6 weeks old was a

very special occasion.

We went to NOWEFOR with a view to getting a taxi at 11.00 am. Although we did not arrive until just before 11.00 no-one else came for another half hour, and then the others about an hour or more later. Although it was nearly 3 hours before we left and were on our way I don’t think I would have wanted everyone arriving so early.

The mother worked at NOWEFOR and we were the first of a number of groups that would call. Some cooked rice was taken as a contribution and the Chairman took a supply of palm wine.

We were made to feel very welcome and part of a ‘family’. Banana cake was served soon after we arrived and

then ‘chop'. Top, was also provided as an alternative to palm wine.

The conversation and banter was most entertaining. After which there was also prayers for the family and a speech from the father, a farmer.

I loved the way they all tenderly handled the baby in an experienced way. Many photos and groups photos were taken

R&R shoppping and social occasions

Early July we had a completely free weekend other than meeting Sam, Veronica’s brother to go find some material and then to the market to find a dressmaker and wander around and get some fruit to make a fruit salad for the party. Going into the material shop was like sweet shop, so much choice and a kaleidoscope of colours. The materials are set up a folded sheath all the same size, the quality of cotton and finish determines the price. Eventually with Sam’s guidance I found something I liked that was bright enough but would not look like a table cloth.

We wandered around the market with its different products, smells and hustle and bustle. I took loads of photos but was careful to ask first, which I always do as the local people do not like their photo being taken or

ask for payment. At the end we bought

fruit and with Sam's help bartered .

Down loading the photos later I thought, yes to some degree I have caught the experience and range of products sold. They have many clothes, shoes and goods sent from Europe in bales, hich they buy and then sell in the market.

In the afternoon we had been invite to

Marcy and Cary’s ( VSO volunteers)

house to celebrate Canada Day, is 1st July but today is Saturday and why not hijack 4th July, their neighbour’s independence day. A number of volunteers had been invited and asked to bring food, hence buying the fruit for the fruit salad for desert. It was good to see them all and to see their house although they had not had water or electricity for the last day or so and therefore were using the pit toilet at the end of the garden.

Apparently in the dry season water is often not available and the outside loo comes in handy. They do have a flush toilet and shower in the house, along with a small kitchen, two bedrooms and a living room with cane furniture and a table. The house is set behind a secure wall and high solid metal gates with a large bolt that they shot back after letting guests in.

The food was good, mostly vegetarian and Ryan had got up at 6.30a.m. to make Maja blanca, a Filipino dish. It is a desert made with corn starch, powdered milk, sugar and pieces of corn. At first I thought it looked like blancmange but it tasted much better, delicate but really good. The photo show it in all its glory served on banana leaf.

Different ways of working

You may already know I am back home, well and now fully rested. It is time to think back and update the blog now that I have completed my report for VSO. So how have I got on with what was I asked to do in Cameroon? It was like starting any new job, it took to time get to know what I was here to do and to feel that I was making a contribution.

I took the opportunity to meet different people which enabled me to begin to understand and work out what I was to do and how. The situation improved once I started attending the Union meetings, contributing to the organisations

OD self assessment a well as the

Human Resources workshop and

the Gender and Health workshops.

They added to my understanding of what were community organisations,

as well as providing me with the information I sought to review CBOD both as a concept but practically too.

I have learnt so much that I can take back through observing various styles of facilitation, work shop activities, different ways to encourage participation and also had the chance to try out new ways of doing things. For example neutral probing questions to have a better understanding of the participants' responses, being part of and enjoying the workshops, even when the discussions became circular and

we got stuck.

New approaches included demonstrating

appraisals through role play and for the CBOD review designing a short questionnaire for volunteers, facilitating small focus groups and using memory stick (flash) and lapptops for them to record the discussion points.

French, English and Pidgin are the common languages used in Cameroon and how to communicate well with people for whom English is a second or third language is important. There are said to be 256 dialects in Cameroon so

I had to learn to follow Pidgin, a language

commonly used by the farmers here in

the North West region. I was mindful that

I have a very English accent, a quiet voice so I had to make sure that I could be understood. This meant getting to know the local culture and what was important to them.

On our last day Keri and I dressed in our African dresses did a joint presentation in the morning to provide NOWEFOR feedback , what we have learnt and also some recommendations. It was a good session although sad to say good bye.

That afternoon we settled our affairs at the Baptist centre, packed etc as we were leaving for Yaounde early the next day and then the plan was to have a short holiday in Kribi. So next posting will be more about R&R

Our last contact with health care, albeit informal on 11th July was with CODEF ( Community Development and Epilepsy Foundation), which is a member or partner of NWADO, North West Association of Development Organizations. CODEF is a small community based organization that works with people with epilepsy. The organization seeks to advocate and lobby on behalf of people with epilepsy, do home visits to counsel them re treatment, only Phenobarbitone 100 mg daily prescribed with minimal if any follow up, noting that traditional medicine is purchased so guidance given regarding possibility of effects of traditional medicine mixing with English medicine. Kenneth also asks and encourages children to go to school and go to church so that they do not become isolated. He has also established a lay volunteers group who visit the people on his case load. There seems to be a high number, 200 in a small village and again a considerable number in another. I wondered and asked to what degree this was related to birth difficulties, lack of antenatal (prenatal) care. K added also it may be linked to the tradition of bandaging to apply pressure to shape the baby’s head after birth. One of the main problems encountered is the person with epilepsy sustaining burns as cooking takes place on open fires hence increasing the risk of seizure occurring when near the fire. There are a lot of myths surrounding epilepsy and they are a marginalized group within their own community.



Home visiting meant trecking along roads between the houses along paths though the ‘ bush’ I really enjoyed home visits as it reminded me of how I like nursing in people’s homes. The relationship is different to working in acute hospitals. The focus of the visits was to support the families as well as the person with epilepsy. Looking at Kenneth’s statistics at a later date I noted how many were teenagers, young adults with only very few were 30 – 42 years old age range. The first family the children were home but the family were working on the farm. Likewise the second family but the grandmother was around. Kenneth was excellent in ensuring by listening and taking it at a slow pace that the young girl spoke for herself. He elicited through discussion with the older woman that traditional medicine, herbs, was also being used as well as the phenobarbitone. I was struck by how tactfully but clearly he addressed this when we met the father on the road as he who was coming back to the house for the meeting. Payment is required for ‘ English medicine’ as well as traditional medicine but Kenneth raised the possibility that the medicines might clash therefore to keep this in mind.



Another visit was to a young woman who had sustained severe burns and scarring over a period of time, the worst noted by Bill in his blog. They had healed the wounds using boiled water with some salt to clean the burns. Pastor Gorge said a prayer for the young woman and her family before we left. Within their compound they had a traditional built house which they let me photograph.









Our last visit before the meeting with some families and volunteers was to see a young mother who had baby twins. Kenneth was concerned as previously he had noticed that they were not being fed well. Unfortunately they were not at home.



We then went to the meeting, held in a house in Bafut, the room donated to CODEF by the Fon and met the deputy mayor, a woman who supported CODDEF work, carers and peole with epilepsy and some volunteers. After the meeting we were waiting for the taxi when Kenneth saw the young woman with twins across the road at another house, but she had only one small child, the other sadly had died.

CODEF has limited capacity and resources but works with local volunteers and hopes to extend their work in another village where the incidence of epilepsy is high.

Traditional dental care

Before going to work we left early to observe Veronica's encounter with a traditional dental hygienist. I know no other way of describing it. We had breakfast early and then caught a taxi to old town Bamenda, to where Veronica grew up. Bali, mentioned earlier, is her father's village. Apparently it is a tough area of town and she is certainly not one to be messed about.

Veronica is best described as a wonderful combination of an assertive, intelligent, compassionate Cameroon woman, who does not suffer fools gladly. How much of that has been added to by the experience of living in the USA, I don’t know but she has a lot of drive.

But let's get back to the traditional dental care. We arrived and he put a pot, hole in top and bottom, on top of three balls of some mixture, which was heated on a spade. Veronica took the smoke into her mouth, which she ensures us she did not inhale. This was done three times and the pot lifted.

The photos show it all! Three tiny maggots were located coming away from the melted mixture, apparently these came from Veronica’s mouth. She last did it about ten days or more

ago and 14 maggots came out.

Now what does one make of that?

I think after all these extra curricular activities it is time I wrote about what I am doing here and something about every day life.

Back soon....