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….