First week - In Country Training

In Country Training (ICT) in Yaounde and now in Bamenda has been an experience. Difficult to describe Cameroon. It makes the opportunity of working here and the contribution NGOs and volunteers can make very real. I have found the people are very welcoming, open and direct. The time is passing fast but ICT has been a strange mix of working to Cameroon time but at the same time fitting in a lot .

We have covered a wide range of topics being introduced to government structures, culture, health, security and learning Pidgin. The first four days in Yaounde we spent with other VSO volunteers, a group of eight, most being long term vounteeers who will be here for one or two years. We stayed at the Diplomat Hotel, about 5 minutes or so walk to the VSO office. Four of the group are Canadians and they went to the far north, which is French speaking and two are from the Phillipines and are with us in Bamenda. However they will also be moving on leaving us the two WAG short term volunteers here in Bamenda.

We have a lot of support from VSO and the introduction to the ways here although initially daunting are helpful. We travelled up to Bamenda by local transport , a bus journey that took about six hours with one short stop. It was a good journey , we only had to wait an hour for the bus to be full before starting. Some of the roads were very rough, with the added extra of speed bumps but the bumps are not unusual to us. The addition of one passenger demonstrating and selling a cleaning product and the accomnpanying banter from the local women added to the experience. Also passing a lorry that had lost its cargo down the side of the valley, bottled drinks, and the local people taking advantage of the 'gift from the skies' led to great interest and cheers from those on the bus!

Sunday afternoon we went to the Fons palace in Bafut and were shown around the museum and the compound by the Fon's third wife. He has five wives and she has nine children. The culture and ways were described and the visit concluded with a traditonal womens dance. The queen has a great sense of dignity and her role within the Fons community. By ' day' she is a nursery school teacher and her eldest son , who has just finished college, studied maths and physics. Her yugest daughter, one of the dancers had great style and composure; for someone so young she was very special.

Tomorrow I meet my employer and then later we will discuss the detailed work plan for the next seven weeks with Ibrahaim, the Programme Officer. More to follow...