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.