chick, chick, chick

The chicken saga continues…. We received our one day old baby chicks (100 of them) on the 6th of last month. We have experienced many trials and tribulations. First, we bought our chickens through a middle man (a vet, which we thought was a good thing) (we were later told to never buy thru a middle man….thanks) who provided us with weak little chicks “de dernière qualité” (poor quality) which means they were the ones that had already been sorted out as the weak ones not really fit for sale (to those in the know). The vet was able to sell them to us (he knew we were new and saw us coming) for the same price as the good ones, thereby making a bigger profit. So we started off with pitiful little sickly chicks and in the end, we lost 20 of them (dead) which is a very large number.  Then we struggled along with the rest through many ups and downs, but succeeded in fattening them up pretty well. He also sold us a bunch of unnecessary products (which we will eventually use) that really put us in the hole. We are in the process of selling them already (they are 37 days old now) and luckily they are selling like fat little hot cakes and (due to the time of year) for a good price. So we are climbing out of that hole, but will still take a loss for our first round. But!  We have learned our lessons and are much wiser for our second go round. We have already ordered 200 new chicks directly from the top breeder around which will be arriving on the 20th of this month. We have also found some good local advisors that have offered their help to us, so things are looking up.  Enough about the chickens already!

I spent Thanksgiving with friends (fellow volunteers) in Bamenda which is a city in the english speaking section of Cameroon. It was a warm and wonderful experience. We are so bonded that it was like spending time with family. We all cooked together and made various vegetable casseroles, stuffing, mashed potatoes and chicken (oh noooo).  I’m having a hard time eating chicken these days… Chirstmas is fast approaching, tho you would never know it….no trees, decorations, christmas music, shopping frenzy….

The weather has been very strange. It’s the dry season, yet it has been cold and rainy (really bizarre!) and the beans that are planted everywhere all over the west during the dry season are beginning to rot in the fields...The mamas are harvesting and saving what they can. I don’t know how big a crisis this is yet.

My new postmate is 21 and from Iowa. She is sweet, bright, capable and happy to be here. What more could I ask? We will work well together. So there are now 2 white faces around Batié (one a little worse for ware) and everyone is delighted. The Batians are really very welcoming. I realize that I am well integrated now and have many friends here. They have really accepted me despite my many faux pas. It is a joy to walk around the village and be greeted so warmly. They never grow tired of hearing the one or two phrases I know in their patois (local dialect) and laugh heartily (at me) when I speak them. Mama Paméla (also known as “Grand-mere” (yag!)) is very entertaining indeed.

The fence in my back yard is wearing thin and several holes and gaps have developed, so now I am greeted by various creatures from time to time when I go to the latrine….a dog, a few chickens, a dead rat ( I wonder what it died from), half a mouse….who knows what’s going on back there! 

Tomorrow (Sunday) is the Batie market. (It takes place every 8 days just to keep us on our toes.) This is not usually an exciting event except for the fact that my mamas will be there selling what is left of our chickens. It’s fun to watch them in action.

End of story. Stay tuned for “chickens of Batié”….round two…..exciting stuff!!!

Mama Paméla 

Chickens, Vitamin A and a Snake

The dry season has finally arrived.  It’s been windy and the dust is beginning to make it’s appearance. We have been working like crazy on our hen house …. new roof, wind breaks, all troughs (water and feed) bought, dragged home and put in place, a wood burning oven made from a large barrel to keep the little one day old chickies warm till they get their feathers. We disinfect everything on Sunday and then on the 6th we go to Bafoussam to pick up our baby chicks and bring them home via bush taxi (all in one piece hopefully).

They will take constant care. Every day, besides food and water and constant heat, they get vaccines, or vitamins, or dewormer, or anti stress or antibiotics….one or more of these every day for 21 days. They get their vaccines by dunking their little heads in water mixed with the vaccines so it gets either into their little beaks or enters thru their poor little chickie eyes. There are many threats that can end it all, so we have to be on constant watch, making sure to lead the weaker ones to water and food. Let the adventure begin….God help us...and them.

Life outside of the Chicken world continues also. A fellow PCV (Health) came in from her post in Bapi to help me with an all day HIV/Aids presentation for the edification of the community of Batie.  It was well attended despite the fact that the Mayor decided at the last minute that he needed the presentation room for political reasons and we had to cancel one day before the greatly publicized event.  I made a big scene in the middle of town which I am sure embarrassed him greatly….which was the idea. It was a selfish and unreasonable thing for him to do, so now everyone knows it. I’m not real popular with him right now….eh, c'est la vie. Anyway, my friend Kate (the health volunteer) was nice enough to return the following week to do the presentation and she kicked ass. We created a nice group of “Peer Educators” who can now go forth and educate their fellow students, friends and family. As you probably know, AIDS is a huge problem here and carries a heavy stigma. Men wield most of the power and are not inclined to use protection.  Luckily, there were several men and male high school students in the audience, so hopefully we impacted them.  

Last week was SASNIM which is an acronym (in french) which basically means the week of health and nutrituion for new mothers and their children. I went door to door in my neighborhood with a Mama volunteer and we gave polio drops (by mouth) and vitamin A (for rickets which is a real problem here) and vermifuge (dewormer) to all the kids up to age 5 and vitamines to the new mothers. It was quite an experience and I had the opportunity to meet some really incredible women and children.

On a sadder note, the latest stage (the class right before mine to arrive in country) is finishing service in about a week and is leaving the country which means I am losing some really great friends to whom I have become quite bonded….boo hoooooo. This makes my stage the oldest in country and the next to complete service…..but that won’t be for another 8 months. Of course, a new stage has arrived to fill their slots and that will be fun...but….

As if my life here isn’t exciting enough (sarcasm), there was a four day period very recently where many birds were pecking at my windows trying to get in and then it stopped just as suddenly as it began….don’t ask, no idea...but the day after it stopped a black snake was waiting for me at my front door and scared whatever poop was left in me right out. Luckily two mamas were visiting me at the time and after we all finished screaming they beat it to death (I resumed screaming) with a chicken feeding trough that just happened to be right there. (PHEW...what luck!)

A la prochaine alors….Pamela

                                           Polio drops….that's me under the hat.

                                               " Can you believe how cute this kid is?!"

                                         I finally found some "mamas" that were older than me.

                                         The one on the far right is 104.

Chickens and Elections

Bonjour. Well, it’s still rainy, but now we are having some sunny mornings before the rains invade again.  This means the seasons are slowly changing from rainy to dry.  It’ll be a while yet, but it is good to see the sun.  All that gloominess can get a California girl down. 

I haven’t been working out (power walks on beautiful hilly footpaths) much because my knees are still sore.  I am experiencing some soreness in many of my joints.  I have finally discovered that the soreness is due to the constant cold dampness inside and out.  There is no escaping it.  This house is like a damp cave and my clothes and bedding are all damp. I guess any arthritis that might be in my joints after all those years of working out is now showing itself. On those few sunny days we have had, my joints feel miraculously better!.  Who knew? Here’s to dry season!!! and  back to doing damage to my joints in those beautiful hills! I realize now how important exercise is to my mental health. Well, I guess I always knew it, but doing without has really brought it home.  

The grant money for my project arrived about a week ago!!! I’ve finished the business training with my mamas and they have decided who will do what (management, bookkeeping, inventory etc.). We have drawn up our action plan and work has begun on the hen house.  We are very excited. I have even found, with the help of my new counterpart, Joseph, a local, successful chicken raising farmer who is willing to guide us through our first round. According to the mamas, who are experts on how to handle men here, we must pretend not to know too much in order not to offend him. This way he will give us all of his knowledge rather than holding back.  Huh? OK.  Hey, we all have our fields of expertise, this is one of theirs. I’ll go along with it. (Besides, I get it…. …. Bah!)

This weekend there are the legislative and municipal elections. There have been many “election rallies” around town. The RPDC party seems to be very popular here (Monsieur le President, Paul Biya’s party). I have been invited to a few of these events and there is much…. folderol.  It has actually been a lot of fun and a good way to get to know more people. But this is a time to keep one’s mouth firmly shut….I have no opinions. We have to stay at post,  or wherever we are, during this election weekend.  All will probably go without any problems, but it’s smart to be on the safe side and stay out of the way.

Next week, some trainees will be doing site visits, so I will have a couple of them for four days.  It’s fun. They are usually adorable. This will be their first venture into the real Cameroon to get a taste of what a post looks like and how we live.  (They live with host families during training and have very little freedom). They are all ears and big eyes.  Was I really that green? (I think not….I do have a few years on them….but….) Anyway, they will soon be my fellow volunteers and it will be fun getting to know them.

Update:  Spent yesterday helping a friend vaccinate his pigs. The pigs were not amused. We had a nice warm beer afterwards as a reward.

Things are looking up!

                                         Traditional dancers at election rally.

                                         Miss Posh was there!

 My sentiments exactly.

                                       Traditional Ethiopian food with Injira and Lamb Tibs

                                            Castles in Gondar, right across from our hotel

                                               Colobus monkeys in Simeon Mountains

                                         One of the (many) rock hewn churches in Lalibela

                                                    Blue Nile falls in Bahar Dar

                                                          Hippo at mouth of Nile

                        One of our charming locar hotels (this one across street from castles in Gondar)

                   Baboons in the Mist (fog rolled in in Simeon Mts which is probably why we got this close)

We’ve just returned from Ethiopia. I have a cold, sore throat, messy couph and very sore knees. BUT!  I had a fabulous time and saw a little bit of a country with a very rich history and culture, not to mention delicious food!  (Yes!  no foo-foo and various other forms of goo, dried fish and rat soaked in Palm Oil.) The main traditional meal there is made up of Injira (a type of very thin bread product, that you use to scoop up a variety of tasty vegetable based treats (more like sauces) and sometimes meats (tibs, bits of tasty lamb or beef)  when it is not fasting season which is not very often.  This is an ancient christian civilization with it’s very own form of christianity that includes the bible complete with hidden books not known in other civilizations. There are calls to prayer there much like you would find in a Muslim culture and much public prayer. St George is a huge figure there, a great hero known for slaying the dragon to whom the Romans were sacrificing the christians, but who also reappeared later to ward off the Italians in their (failed) attempt to colonize Ethiopia. (Oh those Italians). BUT, they (the Italians) did influence Ethiopia a great deal in that you can find wonderful pastas and pizzas most everywhere!!!  (Yes!!!!) and the Ehtiopians say “Ciao” a lot. 

Among many other things, we saw (12th century churches hand- carved out of or into the sides of mountains (Lalibela) high up in the mountains, castles of various Emperors in Gondar, monastaires built on the islands of Lake Tana (Bahir Dar) which is also the mouth of the Blue Nile River (one of the 2 major tributaries of the Nile River, the other being the White Nile) which leads into the spectatcular Blue Nile falls.  We were lucky enough to to come upon two Hippos (wow!) swimming along there (at the mouth).  Also in the Gondar area (where some Peace Corps volunteers live who took us to great restaurants), we hiked into the Simeon Mountains in search of the baboons that reside there.  Yes, we found them and got very close in fact...a great thrill.  We were also treated to a sighting of Colobus monkeys with their white faces staring back at us.

The people are friendly and elegant looking, small and fine-boned. The country is more developed than Cameroon with many paved roads, nice local restaurants, COLD drinks and even movie theatres and spas in Addis Ababa (the capital). We saw 3 movies (hey, it’s been over a year) in an actual theatre, and treated ourselves to messages and facials (oh, the joy) the day before departing back to Cameroon. One thing I will say in defense of Cameroon is that there are no street beggars.  Families take care of their own.  In Ethiopia, you can see abject poverty along with many, many street beggars (from the countryside, we were told), most of them women and children.  This in the mist of educated and well to do Ethiopians….a sad and strange site. 

Why the cold and sore knees you may ask?  Well, it was cold and rainy and muddy most of the time.  I couldn’t seem to get enough layers on to really stay warm, tho I did have a good rain jacket.  Also, I strained my knee just before departing and most of our adventures included hiking into and climbing up on slippery muddy rocks to see our fabulous sites.  This was not a good time to be gimpy, but luckily my travel buddies and our Ethiopian guides helped the old one (worthy of much respect) to manage. And so I returned with two swollen knees (the bad one put extra stress on the (once) good one...God I feel old!) and the cold and sore throat. 

This is just an overview of our two very eventful weeks in Ethiopia, but it will have to do for now. Enjoy the photos.  I can’t include all that I would like as my internet connection is much too slow, but you’ll get the gist. Now to recuperate and get back to work. My grant request was approved, so there is much work ahead as I become the chicken expert I was always meant to be….

Half way point.

                                           Beans and beignet at our local market...delicious!!!

                                         Dried fish at our local market...not so delicious

  

Some of my best friends.

Rainy season is wearing on. It rains almost every day now. Some days one storm after another rolls in and I find myself chilled to the bone in this mud brick house. All my clothes are damp and smell musty. C’est la vie. It is now time to begin harvesting my corn and peanuts.  The mamas came over and helped me.  They built a little fire in the small shed behind my house and toasted up some corn…..it’s good!

I’ve been to Mid-Service in Yaounde which entails many (poop, pee, blood) tests and physical. I was given a clean bill of health and had my teeth cleaned….sorta. So now half way thru already. Spent 4th of July there with some fellow vols….much fun. Then came home to Batie to learn that my counterpart here (a really wonderful man) was killed the day before in a gruesome moto accident in which he was crushed by a huge beer truck. The whole village has been in a state of shock and depression. He was the chief of my little village and much loved by all, including me. It has been really heartbreaking. He has left behind two wives (one of whom I have grown close to) and many children...so sad.

I finally got my grant request in.  Yes, we are still doing the chicken business on the insistence of the mama’s who are convinced they can make it work.  We’ll learn how to cut back on costs as we go….that’s the plan anyway.  The good part is that by the time the grant goes through (I hope) and we fatten up the chicks, it will be the beginning of the high season for funerals and fetes which puts the chickens in greater demand and so a good time to make money for us….a running start as they say. Meanwhile, they (my mamas, not the chickens) come over every week for bookkeeping, marketing, action planning etc lessons. They are excellent students!

I’ll be leaving for a two week vacation in Ethiopia in just a couple of weeks. We will be flying into Addis Ababa for a couple of days, then on to Bahar Dar (Lake Tana Monastaries built in 14 and 15th centuries and Blue Nile falls in nearby little village of Tis Isat), Gondar ( midievil castles and lots of history here..also where PC friend lives), and Lalibela/Tigray (ancient churches carved into rock walls, mountainous area, lots of hiking up...both ways). It’s rainy season there too...soooo…..there’s that. I’ll try to get some good pix but I have a tendency to get caught up in the moment and forget the pictures part.

I’ve gotten quite chubby of late and am trying to lose weight before the vacay where I will surely put it all back on.  The food is said to be wonderful in Ethiopia! Yummy!

Well, that’s about it.  Life has not been all that exciting here….Ethiopia should spice it up a bit. Oh yes, I watched “Life of Pi” recently. (Got it off of a friend’s hard drive). I thought it was such a beautiful and touching movie, wonderful photography and beautiful music. It’s the only time I can say that I loved the movie more than the book. See it. Love.                                                      

Culture Shock

                                                                           Paris!!!

                                                                "Cinq Femmes"

                                                                  My Garden

Time has slipped by.  I have officially been in country for one year now.  

I have just returned from a week in France with old friends Mickey and Chris from CA who met me there.   It was rainy and cold almost every day, but it was still a wonderful getaway.  We laughed, ate, and drank our way thru Paris for 5 days. (Talk about culture shock...my body is still reeling!) It seemed like we ate non stop, always seeking out new restaurants and sampling new wines. I stayed in the Marais at the Hotel Georgette, a charming boutique hotel right near the Pompidou center. We managed to get some walking and exploration in, mostly to the next restaurant! My favorite (culinary) adventure was having brunch at the top of the Eiffel Tower...ridiculously expensive but so wonderful and delicious.  I lost count of the courses.  We were there for hours. Oh!  Did I ever get spoiled!!!!  And yes!! We still managed to squeeze in dinner that night!  Missing a meal was not on the program! We even squeezed in a day at the French Open (between meals) and got to see Rafael Nadal play! …. a very special treat for me.  After Paris, we spent 2 days at the truly fabulous Hostellerie de Levernois in Bourgogne with it’s gorgeous rooms, beautiful grounds and, of course, gastronomic restaurant. It was so hard to get on that plane to come “home”, especially since I knew that M and C would be boarding a plane for Provence later that day….ouch!….but I am back safe and sound…. and constipated) and realized that I had missed my new friends and family here (not the food tho!!).  I’m refreshed and ready to get back to work.

Speaking of work, I have been working with my group of 5 mamas to try to get our chicken raising business off the ground.  We have been doing so much research. The mamas have been working so hard and doing everything I need them to do and doing it on time!!!!!  (what?  in Cameroon?).  I am having trouble getting it to pencil out...can’t seem to find the profit.  We keep coming at it from different angles trying to see where the profit is. It’s taking a lot longer and taking a lot more work than originally planned, but it is so important to get the business off on the right foot! At least, through this process they are learning how to draw up a budget and how to do feasability studies….so it is not lost time to be sure. There is so much cutting of corners and risk taking here to eek out a profit that I am not at all convinced it can be done otherwise.  We will see. I have written and re-written the grant proposal. I’ve been totally focused on this project for the past couple of months at the expense of everything else…..wheels spinning. One of the group said to me yesterday that she was becoming discouraged….ouch!….”Non!”, I said, “do not be discouraged, It is the planning phase when we determine what we must do to make it work.  This is the hardest part.  We have to discover what WILL work….that’s the point of all this work we are doing now.  Du courage!!! “ Luckily, the other mamas backed me up. We are going to make this work. The business is named “Cinq Femmes”.  Don’t let the picture above fool you.  They are full of energy but they were up all night at a “Deuil” (funeral party) the night before.

I don’t know if I mentioned it, but a couple of months ago, some friends (mamas, of course) came over and planted the hell out of my garden, so now, with the rains, I have my garden that you see above full of corn and peanut plants thriving. I’ll eat and share the peanuts and give the corn (mais) to the mamas to prepare or sell as they wish.  The mais is not sweet corn, but what we call feed corn in the States.  They crush it and make foo foo from it ….balls of mush wrapped in palm leaves….not my favorite thing to eat, not to mention lots of work to prepare. A storm has just rolled in as I type this with thunder, lightening, winds and rain. I love these storms, but as the rainy season progresses, they will become more constant and make it difficult to get out of the house.  It will become cold and damp and gloomy every day….full on rainy season. Then I will yearn for the dry season which will become hot and dry and dusty at which time I will yearn for the rainy season.  What ever became of spring, summer, winter and fall, I ask myself. But perhaps, when they have returned to me, I will say to myself…”Gee, i miss the rainy season and the dry season….what ever became of those? No, probably not...but I know I will miss my mamas whatever season it is. Yes, probably so…..

Yaounde, Bafoussam, Bamenda and Loose Ends

                                                 Business Class with Attestations

April 22, 2013

My business class has successfully drawn to a close and the “Attestations”  have been presented.  This is a big deal here.  The students planned a party and took up a collection for food and drink during which my Cameroonian counterpart and I presented the “Attestations” (like a diploma) to them.  We did it outside on a patio-like area at the main carrefour, so the general population who happened to be passing by would see it.  Many who did happen to see it were very impressed and expressed an interest in signing up for the next class.   We spent two of our 12 sessions on marketing, so this in itself was a teachable moment. The students were very proud and loved the attention and admiration they received. The students also became very bonded and sought out each other’s contact information in order to “network” in the future on possible businesses….another concept we tried to convey during the course.The whole process was a very rewarding experience for all of us. The next step for me is to follow up with each of them to see who, if any, are actually using what they learned to form a business or improve an existing one.  

So the downside to all this is that I am kind of in between projects in a sort of no man’s land where I am trying to pull together another project.  The idea is to pull together a small group of women who would be willing to work together to form a business with me as their facilitator.  If they show enough interest and commitment, we could apply together for a PC grant for start up costs. They have to come up with 25% of the amount (cash or in kind) that we can prove that we need (through a detailed budget of a feasible business idea) to show good faith. I have found a group who have shown interest in the idea and have actually chosen a business they want to start, but that is about as far as I have gotten.  Getting them together to develop the idea and begin work on the grant process is another question.  

It is the beginning of the rainy season and thus planting season, so all the mamas are busy working their butts off in their fields.  For myself, the Peace Corps has pulled me out of town for various training sessions (3 days in Yaounde, then a week in Bafoussam) and then I spent another 3 days in Bamenda with friends, so I myself have been unavailable. Suffice it to say that the momentum has been lost, and I am feeling at loose ends and unfocused. I am also feeling overwhelmed by the grant process. So, I have decided to sit down and write a blog rather than try to re-focus and face the problem.  But, perhaps this is part of the process and putting my scattered feelings into words will lead to renewed resolve. One can hope….

Bamenda is known as the most westernized city in Cameroon and is in the Anglophone North West region.  It was very strange crossing into that region and suddenly seeing all signs in english and people actually speaking english (or at least understanding it)….most speak Pidgin among themselves which is like a foreign language to my ears, but is really just the local patois version of english. The thing that makes it more “westernized” is that there are a few restaurants here and there that serve burgers, pizza and salads. ( Naturally I partook of them.) This is because there are more westerners living or traveling to Bamenda, so these restaurants sprang up to cater to them.  Otherwise, Bamenda is like any other city in what is called the Grand West of Cameroon….dirt roads, garbage piles, market place shacks, a few “white man”s stores, over stuffed taxis, motos, terrible pollution, lots of poverty. The friends I and another volunteer visited there are 2 of my favorites….a married couple both on the brink of turning 30, The four of us are planning a trip to Ethiopia in August….a place I’ve wanted to visit since reading “Cutting for Stone”. 

I also have a week in Paris coming up on the near horizon with 2 of my favorite people from the home front!!!!!! You know who you are.  Hmmmmm, I’m strating to get a better sense of why I am having trouble focusing on the next project…… not feeling so bad for me now, are you…..

Stay tuned.

Some pics

                                                      walking to business class

                                                Dancing with mamas on Women's Day

                                                    Distribution of reading glasses

All is well. Staying busy. Just wanted to replace the rats. Diarrhea all gone on it's own.  Hope works.

Rats and Diarrhea

                                       Rats for sale at Batie carrefour.  It's what's for dinner!

That’s the rat part…..no there are none in my house, alive or dead! And they don’t have diarrhea...that’s me...tho the spider wars continue…. I feel like a wimp complaining about spiders when many of my fellow vols do (or did) have rats in their houses.  Most got cats and that has more or less resolved their situations.  I have my geckos for my own personal war….and RAID!….tho I hate to use it.  Many of the larger spiders stagger around the house for a while wildly before dying...and other actually survive it...tough buggers….scary!  I had these huge ants for a while that refused to die….some tough ass ants that I had to chase down and smoosh several times….God!!!!  I finally found their entry point and plugged it with duct tape.  Wouldn’t want to meet one of them in a dark alley.  Things learn to survive under harsh conditions here and that makes them TOUGH!…me included.  Bring it on!!!!!

Well, maybe not so tough.  I seem to have developed a mild diahrea problem.  It’s not too bad yet….but each time I eat, it follows.  I’m thinking I have gotten some kinda (un-american) parasite in the deep dark recesses of my guts.  But!...God bless Pepto Bismol (I never thought I’d hear myself say that). It’s a miracle drug and seems to resolve the sitch for a day or two...but then….May have to go to the local hospital (and I use the term loosely) for some meds.  We’ll see. It’s not too serious compared to what some of my fellow vols have been thru so I am hoping it will resolve itself….ahhhhh “hope”.  But, on the brighter side, it’s a way to lose weight!  (now that’s American!)

It’s Weds. eve and I am sitting here writing to you and drinking an icy cold huge beer.  Yes, icy cold…..whaaaaat???  I got a little fridge!!!  It makes little ice cubes and makes things cold….YEAAssssssss!!!  Now I can have cokes with ICE in them and COLD horrible beers. I’m in heaven! (with spiders). 

I am knee deep itno my business classes now and am starting to learn how to teach...tho being in a foreign culture makes teaching more difficult.  It’s not the language (tho that doesn’t help), it’s the culture….for example, the idea of organizing things (like your day or week or business) doesn’t exist here. It’s an alien idea that takes a long time to teach. I actually realize that I enjoy teaching tho...who knew???  It’s fun and rewarding….especially because my 19 students are charming and really want to learn about business...or more specifically...how to make money.  This is especially challenging in a village where nobody has any money to spend!

In the future, I hope to start working with the women’s group in my neighborhood who are desperately poor and work like dogs every day of every week with very little to show for it, how to work as a group (another alien idea) to create a business and build on it to get ahead each year.  They have chosen elevage des poulets (raising of chickens to sell for meat) as a possible idea.  Now all I have to do is teach them to work as a group, and then find a place to do it and do a feasability study and write a business plan and apply for a grant to get started, and get someone to come in and train them on how to do it...and...and…..this should keep me busy for a while.  But, don’t be surprised when you get a message on how to contribute to the grant for my Peace Corps Elevage project in many months….possibly.  I ran into a woman today who told me I would never be able to convince Cameroonian women to work as a group…..oh boy….may have to rethink this. But, it’s a learning experience...for all of us. 

Okay, now it’s time to watch “Modern Family” episodes on my computer for the evening’s entertainment….or maybe “True Blood”…..or maybe “the L Word”….the list is endless….thanks to my fellow vols.  It’s how we survive.  A bientot. Love.

Yesterday, there were 13 beautiful Mama’s at my house for a compost formation….my first formation in Batie.  The picture above was taken in my back yard, after the practical demo part of my presentation.  They really got it! which is thrilling for me. They are very eager to start in their own fields.  Because of the harsh weather, I decided to teach them to dig a hole (meter squared) (rather than just make a pile) and to keep it covered with grass mat and palm fronds….etc. etc.  Anyway, I suggested they have their men dig the holes (sandy ground is like cement) and they laughed.  They will do it, each one helping the other…...my mama’s!!!!!  They wanted to hang out and eat and drink after, but I hadn’t prepared anything…...ooops (I’m still learning how things are done here)...but they laughed and said they would come over soon to help me plant a garden and I promised cookies and cake and jus (pop) for that event, although the mama’s can put away the beer, so I will probably stock up on that too.

Over the weekend, some fellow vols were here.  We ate and laughed and played cards, etc. They are so bright it blows my mind. The Peace corps really gets the best and the brightest and the most socially adept of the American youth. It is such an honor to be surrounded by them! I know I keep raving about them, but the more I meet, the more they keep knocking me out!

That’s it for now.  It has been such an exciting week for me, I just had to share.  More to come….

A big box of reading glasses (236 pairs) just arrived from “Eyes on Africa”, a California non-profit organization. I probably mentioned it, but Batie has a large population of aging village people who have lived here their whole lives. Of course, there are those of all ages here (place is crawling with kids, for example, most of whom found me terrifying at first and now find me irresistable….la blanche avec les bon bons). People around town have spoken to me often of the need (probably because they see my glasses hanging around my neck all the time) so finding glasses for them was high priority for me. The village Chief is coming over this morning to discuss with me the best way of distributing them. (I hope!  The Cameroonian people have a habit of not showing up when they say they will.) This is not a “sustainable” project like the other ones I will be doing, but I’m happy about it none the less.  

I was invited over to a lovely woman’s house (about my age) for lunch and she prepared  taro with sauce jaune.  This resembles a big plate of mashed potatoes (in appearance) but stickier with the sauce jaune placed in the middle like gravy...then you eat it with your hands which is very messy and lots of fun.  I actually enjoyed it, the sauce jaune (yellow) is very tasty. It is extremely heavy and she served me a huge plate of it, but try tho I did, I could only get thru about half of it.  An elderly lady (late 80’s?) stopped by and joined us.  She ate a huge plate of it and then finished mine off!  She was so beautiful, stooped from years of work in the fields) but so strong (beautiful strong hands) and full of life.  She had just come in from the fields (they are starting to plant corn now) and returned to her field after lunch.  These women here are AWESOME!!!! and so warm and wonderful. They are the glue that holds Africa together.

Last night I discovered an itchy rash (or so I thought) I on my inner wrist and went to bed wondering what it was. (I’m never been prone to rashes at all).  This morning I got up and discovered a huge web of tiny spiders (hundreds of them) right next to the chair where I use my computer and realized that they had tried to eat me.  One of my resident spiders had birthed a shitload.  Talk about the heeby jeebies!!!!  I went on a killing spree but many of them escaped (they are so tiny, for the moment) so I am on major spider watch!  No more catch and release…..they all must die!!!!  I have a lttle gecko (a baby) that I have seen around the house lately (at night) who is helping me get them! I am going to try to find some insecticide next time I’m in Bafoussam as there are too many of them to battle in hand to hand combat. (Of course I will remove the Gecko to the out side before applying…)

On Thursday, I will be going to Bafoussam to help 2 other volunteers teach English to a “Women in Leadership” group organized by a wonderful “Non Governmental Organization”  called RIDEV.  That should be interesting and I’m betting the women are pretty spectacular.  (Thursday….D-day for the little flesh eaters if I am lucky enough to find “RAID!!!!”.)

Last week….boring!  This week…..interesting! (and creepy!).  C’est la vie en Afrique. Hey!  The Chief just arrived!!!!  Yes!

Love!

Hey!

It's Sunday. It is full blown dry season and the dust has become almost unbearable.  There is a red coating everywhere in my house. Can't keep it out, but can only limit it by keeping my front door closed to keep out most of the dust that is kicked up by passing cars and moto's.  Walking into town is horrible because any vehicle that passes creates a dust storm that covers and chokes me. By the time I get to town, I am downright red....skin and clothes.  When I blow my nose, red dust comes out. When I take my bucket bath, the water turns red.  I can't get all the red out of my clothes no matter how much I scrub. Today is windy which makes everything worse. I don't go out on windy days at all. The weather is actually quite beautiful for the most part.....cool mornings and evenings and warm days.....but the infernal dust!!!......What I wouldn't give for a good rain!

Okay. Enough of that. So I am sitting here writing to you on an early Sunday afternoon, listening to music thru my Ipod connected to a tiny little speaker (fox-l) that makes it sound like I have a wonderful stereo system.....at least it feels like that right now. Music makes everything better! Sinatra...

             "Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away......"

I've finally managed to pull a good compost formation together.  Couldn't find the expert I thought I would, so did it myself.  Going to teach two methods that ought to work here...both done in a hole in the ground so it can be covered with palm fronds or a grass mat to protect against the conditions here which are either really dry or really wet.....no in between.  I will present to my first group next Sunday.  Also, am managing to pull a series of business classes together.  Just nailed down the room and my Cameroonian helper and will start putting out flyers and drumming up interested parties and preparing presentations. It will be a six week course, 2 classes a week.....in french. (Actually that is the only part I'm confidant about). They are scheduled to start on February 19. Do I know what I'm doing?  No! but when the time comes, somehow I'll be ready, plus these people are very forgiving and easy to laugh.....Thank God!       Cole Porter is playing......

            "The night is young, the skies are clear, and if you wanna go walkin dear
              It's delightful
              It's delicious
              It's de-lovely...."

I confess I am a bit homesick. It happens.  Being in the Peaee Corps is an emotional roller coaster. It's hard not to feel isolated sometimes....especially in a small village like Batie, but then I can always reach out to friends here and visit them or they come over and are really wonderful and supportive.  My fellow vols are so intelligent and funny.....I am always so impressed!  And they really lean on one another for support.....it's a beautiful thing. It's a tight group!

           "......that's why the lady is a tramp!"

Ooops.  the music. I miss playing the drums.  Haven't learned the drum beats I thought I would here, but maybe when I travel a little around Africa, that will change.

Had a big argument with a moto driver here yesterday who tried to cheat me. Men are drunk with power here, but then so am I.......toe to toe.  But that's another story.

That's it for now.  I miss everyone!....a lot!

Happy New Year my precious friends and family!  Yesterday(New Years Eve) I showed a young woman how to cook a cake from scratch in a stove top oven (of sorts) and then cooked another one for myself and friends and then cooked a huge amount of Chocolate Chip Cookies to share with everyone today. I have forgotten that I don't know how to do this stuff!  Just kinda makin it up as I go along. I even enjoyed it.  (whaaaat?).  Last night was a huge party at the Carrefour. I only showed up briefly while it was still light outside and then went home, watched a movie and went to bed early because the Mayor informed me that it would get very wild and it could be dangerous for "La Blanche" to be out after dark. So I took his advice, which is a good thing because I got a call at 6 this morning.....a Mama inviting me over for breakfast.....   6AM on New Year's Day!!??!!  But, as it turns out, I was fresh as a daisy.  People will stop by to visit today (custom) and I will share treats with them and then I will go visiting a little later to get treats (lots of food) and then to the Carrefour for more eats....I'm getting to like this. So that's it.  My first New Years celebration in Cameroon!  Next year I plan to invite friends over so I can stay out after dark! Love you all!  P