The Good and the Bad

The Bad--6 weeks have passed since coming to Tourningal and all but one of them have been pleasant. This past week was definitely the exception. Getting sick anywhere is not fun. Getting sick when; no one in the town speaks English, when one lives alone, there is no electricity, you have to use a pit latrine that is covered in flies (and your leg muscles are not used to squatting so much), all you want to do is sleep and there are incessant knocks on the door, you vomit in front of a bunch of kids that, unlike in America (even when you are laying helpless on the dirt )they do not get someone to help, the only thing to eat is fufu (corn flour with water), no network in your house, and the only way you can call people is during the night when its cold….etc, etc, makes being sick a little bit more interesting.

I came down with my first bout of dysentery at approximately 3 am 6 days ago and I hope, hope I will not have it again. It was just a stressful week full of a lot of ORS, oral dehydration salt mixes and little movement. I did probably loss about half of the weight I gained since coming to Cameroon. However, having a malady made me realize the luxury of exercise…in order to exercise well one needs to have enough Energy to move, good food to eat, be hydrated etc. I have not exercised for a while. I have now learned my lesson and will eat less, not eat anything that is given to me and definitely not drink as much fresh milk even if it has been boiled. Since I couldn’t necessarily translate all my not-so-good feelings this week into fufulde, it was quite comical the responses I got from villagers when I told them my symptoms. Most everyone thought it was Malaria. About 80% of the health patients have malaria, so even a simple headache people will label as malaria.

The Good-- I am generally quite happy in my village and up until the sickness was doing great. I still feel very blessed that I have found a family here that has pretty much taken me up as their own. The mom came to my house countless times when I was sick providing me with a plethora of food; most of which I did not eat, (who really feels like eating oily soaked squash and large chunks of fatty meat when one is about to explode) and coffee (they didn’t really understand that laxatives aren’t the greatest…) There is always something going on in their compound, since she is the first of three wives, thus a heap of children wandering about and food to eat. Getting close to a Polygamous family has provided me insight on the nature of male-female relations here. Needless to say sometimes, dreamingly, I wish I could just push a button and start voicing my western- egalitarian opinions fluently in Fufulde knowing that their would be no repercussions from the males and they would, magically understand how to treat their wives, etc, etc…but that is not the case.

Work……Unfortunately, one of the repercussions of polygamy in this Male dominated, traditional society is HIV/AIDS. I have only been here for a month and a half, but have already met many people that have had to deal with the consequences of this epidemic. Especially in polygamous marriages, the wives are often victims to the males that leave the compound whenever they please. Last week learned of a case where one of the co-wives died of AIDS and the other Co-wives do not know they have it. The husband has not told anyone, anything….My province has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in Cameroun at about 17%. Two towns over the rate for sero-positive pregnant women is about 35%. In sum, this is an issue that I want to further explore.

Besides this, on a slightly more upbeat note, I have started working in the middle school in my town. I teach English and Health classes. Currently there is only one class of 55 kids, 10 of which are female. School here is more like a free-for-all, for the age range in my class is about 12-22. Their ability levels are quite eye-opening. There are students in the class that can barely write or read, at the 7^th grade American level. Having no French books, magazines or documents of any kind contributes to this problem. In addition, kids here are encouraged to study and learn the Qu’ran, not their French schooling. They often will spend their free time memorizing and reciting the Qu’ran written in Arabic and learning it in Fufulde. Furthering the education problem in my town is the fact that currently 2 of the 4 Primary School Teachers haven’t come back from Vacation yet. I don’t necessarily blame them, for they were affected to teach thousands of kilometers away from their families in the brousse, and are not receiving salaries; however, now about 120 kids have no teachers. The remaining two classes have about 90 kids to them each….not exactly conducive to learning.

I hope this finds everyone health and happy! Happy End of January. Allah hokku damma. Useko jur.

Until next time, hopefully my stomach will remain tranquil. Sey yesso kaddi.

One of my sisters in the village with sheep, much of which I probably ate.

Kids at my house during Tabaski.

Barkadesella Himbe Pat! Happy Holidays Everyone! I hope the Holidays are going well. I definitely reminisced about being home in WI more than usual this past week. (Perhaps it was the 90 degree weather, how barely anyone celebrated Christmas or how I didn’t eat any sort of Christmas cookie…oh well)

It’s now week 3 at post and things are going well. Everyone has been incredibly nice. I cannot count the times that people have helped me with my house (getting rid of spiders, cleaning, fetching me water) helped me cook (usually squash…I think its squash?) or given me presents (eggs, melon, milk, etc). With the very little that people have here its remarkable how giving people are.

I feel already quite at home and am getting acclimated to the customs here, notably; when you greet someone have to do about a minute salutation back and forth, when someone comes to your house, immediately invite them to sit inside your house and have them admire your dishes (dishes are a sign of wealth), never decline food….(not too big of an issue for me), the very distinct gender roles, i.e. women rarely leave their houses during the daytime, men never cook, they have separate houses, eat separately, etc. etc. Even just after week 3 I feel incredibly privileged to have all the opportunities as a woman in the states.

Cows--Another reason why I probably feel at home here is the large amount of cows. My region is known for their cows who supply ample amounts of milk and beef. I have had to renounce my semi-vegetarianism that I upheld in the states, for beef is the only amount of protein that I can receive. People eat beef here twice a day. Cows are everywhere…walking in the streets, grazing in the fields, blocking the roads, etc. Due to the cows I get to drink milk nearly everyday. So far the fresh milk, which I boil, has not caused too many gastrointestinal issues, but I’m beginning to wonder when it’ll kick in.

Tabaski—Tabaski, or the fete de Moutons, is a big deal here, as it is in any Muslim Area. During the fete de Mouton, After all the men went into a sacred field to pray, every family slaughtered a sheep and then began sharing parts of the sheep and passing them around to neighbors, families, friends etc. During the first day of the fete I was served at least 10 plates of sheep. The second day of the fete was nearly the same. Now I fully realize why it’s called the fete of Mouton. It’s a bit like Thankgsiving, sans the variety of food.

Christmas- With less than 10% of the community Christian it was not too big of a holiday here. In fact, most people thought I was referring to Tabaski several days ago when I would mention Xmas. I went to a 2 hr church service on Xmas; highlights include, watching older women walk around with long sticks and tapping those in the crowd that were goofing off or falling asleep, and watching adorable children goofing off while the women were not looking. The majority of my Xmas was spent passing out food that I made the day before to those that gave me food for Tabaski....

Well, once again Happy Holidays Everyone! Sey Sidda, Bahowuje.

Going to Post

After waiting for 45 minutes, here is a picture of la grande fete pour mon anniversaire a few days ago; including, PC volunteers and many neighborhood children.

Jam Na! Jam bandu na? Hello Everyone! I hope all is going well. Happy, Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! It is about 85 degrees here and extremely humid, so it doesn’t quite feel like “winter” is approaching. I will probably be spending my Christmas in my Muslim village….thus, not much will be going on. Will probably spend New Years in Ngaoundere about 2 hours away. There are some other Americans a few hours away from me so we will probably meet up to Celebrate…but who knows.
Stage just ended so more liberty is on its way. My host family hosted a large party for my birthday. They prepared loads of food; rice and beef, fried chicken, salad, bread, cakes etc, and I had a large neighborhood fiesta, filled with cute children, dancing and good eating. The actual night of my birthday was spent in Yaounde. It also involved much eating. I’m sort of glad to have left Bangangte and am ready to go to my post. Granted its saddening knowing that I won’t be with my fellow stage mates for another 3 months ; however, hopefully I will find friends and be very busy in village…..
Currently I’m in Yaounde with about 40 new people. There are roughly 140 PC volunteers in Cameroon in total, so I have had the opportunity these last few days to meet a lot of new people, which is great. Besides the upcoming large adjustment that I am experiencing tomorrow, after the long, long train ride, by moving into village, not too much is going on. I will probably spend the next few months doing preliminary assessment of the village, learning Fufulde, meeting community members, attending meetings, doing protocol, and furnishing my house….I’m a far, far cry from any sort of interior designer; thus, it probably will not be too stylish nor any of the furniture matching.
Any way, once again happy holidays!!!!!