Hello again!

I have allowed two weeks and three days to pass by before posting again! and well, that is just plain irresponsible. I have much to share about life and work here in Njinikom, but once again, very little time.

After being trained at Pa Sala’s farm and meeting all the widow groups around Boyo Division during the first two weeks, we finally started working alongside the widows on their farm. I cannot believe how strong the women are here. Whether the hot sun or freezing rain is coming down, they are always working, never stopping and never seeming to tire. It is incredible. Not surprisingly, it puts me to shame, though I’m pretty sure the apathetic goats eating grass off to side could do that too. Just kidding. Sort of. Like Christina said, the work we’re doing isn’t complicated but it sure of heck is difficult! However, despite being spent at the end of each day I think it is also making me stronger. The other day, for example, I meant to lazily flick a bug off of me only to watch it shoot out of existence. I felt kind of bad but was pleasantly surprised by the power of my index finger and thumb.

Aside from working at the widows’ farm we’ve also continued another part of the project at Pa Sala’s farm on the other side of the hill.  (Interestingly, both farms are in valleys but on separate sides of the same mountain which we appear to be near the top of – it provides a funny sense of symmetry and a healthy amount of walking.) Other than his role as teacher, he is also in charge of growing the plantains that are to be distributed to all the widow groups throughout Boyo Division. This means Njinikom, Belo, Fundong, Mbingo, and Ashing – over 500 women in total. It is unfortunate that due to time constraints we will not be able to work on farms in these other locations but because we were able to build the propagator (Ben did most of that actually) and plant the koms (which are roots of plantains that will produce the seedlings to be distributed) we feel more secure about the success of the project after our departure.

Another thing we were able to do before our time is up was set up the business skills training for the women after we leave. To me, this may be the most important part of the project as it’s most important that the women are able to help themselves.  Even if we gave them no money, if we give them knowledge then we give them the power to help themselves and not have to rely on others. The main problem here is that due to the nature and structure of society here widows are forced to be reliant on others who have no desire to take on the responsibility of supporting them and therefore they are often the most neglected members of the community. So dependency then is the direct opposite of what we came here to achieve and getting this in place allows us to overcome that.  The person who will be heading the training often works with different NGOs and charities and he also mentioned that with this project we were really targeting one of the biggest and most prominent problems in Cameroon. So it felt really good to get that confirmed and in place.

Anyways, that was a lot in those three paragraphs.  I could keep writing pages and pages about our project but there are also lots of other things I’d like to talk about before I run out of time or the power goes off (this post wasn’t up on Thursday for that reason).

I mentioned before that on the weekends we get to travel around the region we’re in and it’s a really great way to get a larger sense of what Cameroon is really like. One of the most interesting things I’ve noticed is that even though we’re traveling to places that are all really close together, almost everywhere we go we encounter new cultures. On the surface things don’t seem all that different but after a bit you can start to get a sense for what makes this certain part where you are unique, just like the differences you might feel between Dripping Springs, Austin, and Dallas. I remember reading in my guide book that Cameroon was like a smaller version of Africa because it has so many different groups and tribes in it. Even though I haven’t left the Northwest Province I can definitely feel how that is true.

A really good example of that was when we went horseback riding just this past Sunday. We traveled to Fundong in a taxi and then trekked up into the country to where we’d be meeting our guides. Our guides were Fulani, a Muslim group of people in Cameroon that typically live high up in the mountains and herd cattle. I couldn’t believe how hospitable they were and just how much fun we had. Ben fell of the horse, I slammed my knee into a tree, Christina couldn’t get her horse to gallop, Stephanie didn’t have stirrups or a saddle, and of course we were all feeling rather chaf-tastic afterward but it was hands down one of the greatest experiences I’ve had here.

Anyways I’m out of time. This will probably be my last post before leaving Cameroon. Sunday there is no access to internet, we leave Njinikom and Boyo Division Monday morning, and once we’re on the road we probably won’t have time to stop anywhere. So I’m saying goodbye for now, though I hope you check back in for my one last follow up post. Perhaps for once in that post I will be able to tell you all that I have always promised to. Until then, Ahsha (I am with you).

Hey guys!

Sorry that it has been a while since I’ve updated my blog. A lot has happened and I’d like to share with you as much of my experiences these back two weeks.

So, week 3 was pretty chill and consisted mainly of visiting widow groups. We received yet another welcome last Thursday morning from a group in Belo. On Friday we were supposed to meet another group of widows in Belo but they weren’t able to meet us because most of them were at a funeral. Last week I definitely learned that funerals are a big deal here. Not that they aren’t back home, but when someone has passed here everything else seems to stop. Everyone seems to know everyone, so naturally it’s hard to organize an introduction with a group of widows when most of them are at a funeral. It was sad to hear that so many people I knew here were losing relatives. I knew of three different people who lost someone close to them that week. It just made me think of home and how I hope everyone was okay.

In week 3 we also continued to put the skills we’ve learned so far to action! We learned how to clear/hoe the land with shovels and even our bare hands. We ran into some crazy things along the way like huge ants, chameleons, and even a huge cockroach-looking cricket that one of the ladies who works on the land decided to take with her to eat as a snack later. Tasty! Ben and I also were able to use our great arm muscles to transport plantains by wheelbarrow from the farm to the roadside at Pa Salah’s. From there they would be transported to other farms so that each of the 18 groups of widows would benefit from the seedlings to eat from and sell. We also returned back to marcotting mango and avocado, or as they say ‘pear’, trees at the farm in Ashing. I wasn’t particularly happy about climbing up a tall tree to do this but it actually wasn’t that bad. I was afraid of falling and didn’t trust the ladder I used to climb up to the tree, so I decided I’d rather put all my weight on the tree than on the ladder. I expected it to be difficult to marcot that high up with limited working space, but I was pleasantly surprised with myself. I guess I’m getting better at this whole farming thing.

Last weekend our town of Njinikom held the first games of the football (I’m talking soccer, people) tournament. It was really exciting to see all the towns people come out to watch a nice game of football! I love the atmosphere and enjoy being around the locals shouting and even laughing at the players on the field. Even the players got a good laugh at themselves or their teammates when someone made a mistake on the field. We watched this match on Sunday afternoon and then some of us got together with football players and some of their friends for some beers. We discussed cultural differences on religion, homosexuality, and women. It was sort of awkward at first but as we really got to talk to some of the men, I became really interested to hear from them and I think they thought the same of us.

This week has been more work intensive and that explains why I wasn’t able to update my blog. With only 2 weeks (now only 10 days) left in Njinikom we wanted to get a lot more done this week. We visited another farm in Mbingo and brought some of the plantains that were from Pa Salah’s farm. We planted 50 of them and because of the teamwork from the women digging holes and the volunteers planting, the day was still new when we left. Like all the women we’ve met on the farms, these women were extremely kind and provided us with many ears of corn to thank us for coming. They were huge and Zita, our cook, would later roast us some good corn from them! It was my first time trying roasted corn and it was delicious. Ben was right, it does kind of taste like popcorn. Then I started to daydream about buttered popcorn from the movies with a big and juicy pickle! There has been quite a lot of daydreaming about American food between us volunteers lately. It often involves a bacon burger with fries. Emily and I have already made plans to try the newly-opened In N Out in Dallas when she visits for a few days in August! But more than anything, I crave a pickle and am currently going through pickle withdrawal. For those who know me, you know this is serious business.

This week we have also started to work at the Njinikom farm, Mugehuf. This will be the farm we work at from now on. This will allow us volunteers to be able to work around the same group of women, get to know them better, in addition to seeing all the skills we’ve learned so far in one place. That way we can really see all of the progress we make at one farm. Just as was expected, the women are very nice. We started to prepare the farm from scratch. So we cleared the leaves and branches from the trees that were chopped down. That took up most of day 1. Day 2 at the farm we cleared (mainly by hand) the leftover leaves and debris, then we began hoeing the land. This is no easy task! It requires a lot of arm strength and breaks between. The women are fierce! I was especially surprised by the oldest women, Helmina. She’s actually is the president of the group of widows on that plot of land. She takes breaks like everyone else but she can go on for the whole work day never seeming to get tired. She’s the only one who doesn’t switch off tasks. I like to hoe the ground more than picking up debris to clear, but at the same time, it’s much less strenuous. On the first day of hoeing the women were really impressed with my hoeing and even made comments about me now being a Kom woman and keeping me in Cameroon. I was happy to hear them pleased and just wanted to do my best for them. That’s why I am here after all!

The work takes a lot of endurance but it’s not difficult work. Once you get the hang of it, you’re set. I’ve learned a lot about farming and I hope I can apply that somewhere one day. I’ve always wanted to have a garden and I’m definitely thinking it will happen for sure when I get my own place.

We only have 10 more days in Njinikom before we depart to the south for a few days in Yaounde, the capital, and Limbe, where we can find black sand beaches. I’ve knocked a few things off my personal to-do list in the past days. One, I got to carry a baby goat! Okay, I kind of cheated because I got my friend Emmanuel to catch it for me, but I’m still counting it. They’re not easy to catch! Second, I’ve began watching a Nigerian movie. Emily, Ben, and I are 30 minutes into it so far. Let’s just say I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s quality and the acting are horrible but it’s quite the entertainment! It’s called, “By Fire By Thunder.” Look it up! Something else we all want to do while we’re here is learn how to ride a motorbike. Hopefully we’ll be able to fix the one in our garage. In the meantime, I’ll just continue to enjoy my nights with my fellow volunteers playing games of Crazy 8′s under the candlelight because the electricity is often off at night. It just rains like crazy here. Afternoon, night. You name it.

Off to see a big waterfall, visit a palace, and ride horses this weekend! Until next time, my friends.

With two weeks left in Njinikom I figured it was time for another post. Time seems to have nearly stopped here but life is good. Last week we were without power for most of the week after a beer truck took out the power transformer in Belo,  I suspect the driver was enjoying a bit of the cargo. Our nights have been filled with candle lit dinners, card games, and more crossword puzzles than can possibly be healthy but somehow we have all managed to keep ourselves entertained and semi-sane.

Last weekend was the start of our soccer tournament which had a few hundred spectators and was definitely a highlight so far. The tournament was meant to spread the message of why we are here and give us a chance to talk with some of the younger people in the village. After 2 matches on Sunday we met with the captains of the teams playing in the tournament to have an informal talk about cross cultural differences. A case of beer went fast and the conversations really were helpful to shed light on how people perceive westerners in their country. Its hard to overcome centuries of exploitation by westerners and it seems people were weary of our presence here.  We did our best to explain religion, political division, sexual orientation and whatever else people had questions about including why exactly we had come to Njinikom. It got heated at points and eventually deteriorated into how to date American girls but its all good, I think we at least have opened peoples eyes a bit and they may accept that we are not here as missionaries, oil workers, or government agents.

Getting people to open up here takes time and there are a few people that have truly welcomed us into their world. As part of our stay here we hired a wonderful lady to cook for us named Zita. She has an 80 year old husband who cant work and 4 kids to support yet she is one of the most positive and hopeful people I have ever met.  Zita is about 30 and is staunchly baptist and loves to sing hymns or read passages to us as we eat. Its not preachy and talking to her has given me great perspective on the role religion plays in a part of the world where life is by no means easy.

We have opened our ears and in turn Zita was nice enough to invite us to her home for some roasted corn.  I can understand why many of the people here have respiratory problems, cooking basically involves sitting in a smoker for an hour.  Kids flocked in from next door to see the white people and we got a chance to ask how school was going for everybody. The hard part for many of the kids here is that most of the homes do not have lights and thus studying is nearly impossible. Combine this with school fees and the need to work to support the family and its easy to see why most kids don’t last long in school. One of the biggest needs here is a way to ensure that school fees are paid for students trying to succeed in school.

As far as work I spent yesterday constructing a propagator box while the girls went to the farm in Njinikom. The propagator will house 800-900 plantain seedlings and is a big part of our efforts here. For my work Pa Salah invited me to his home for some fufu, njama njama, and mystery meat which I’m pretty sure was guinea pig. I have really enjoyed learning from Pa and I will always remember him calling me a woman for eating 2 lbs of fufu. Men here are judged by their appetite and Pa put down about three times as much fufu as I could, gotta work on that I suppose.

We don’t have a lot of times left here and next week will be a race to get as much done as possible. Life here is challenging, work is exhausting, problems are everywhere, but people somehow remain hopeful that things are getting better. The Kom people are remarkably similar to us when you get to know them and its easy to feel at home talking to people here. Optimism is alive and well in West Africa and I feel incredibly fortunate to learn from my friends here. I’m hoping I can figure out a way to repay those who have welcomed me and taught me lessons that can only be learned from this type of experience

Hello again!

My fellow volunteers have been much better about posting than I have, but they’ve done a pretty good job and describing what we’ve done here so far. It is like nothing I have ever been apart of before and though it’s not all mangoes and tea (‘peaches and cream’ Cameroon-style), this is honestly amazing.

I shall start by saying, yes, believe it or not I am doing physical labor on a farm, and yes, I am not messing it up. In fact when we have to marcot trees, I love climbing up to the higher branches. We do many other things than marcotting as well that are not quite as exciting (detailed in previous posts) though at the end of the day it feels good to have worked so hard no matter what. When we first got here our guide said he believes it is good to be tired and hungry, and I must say I agree.

I would like to describe to you more the scenery and landscape we’re surrounded by but I really feel there is no way to do it justice. We’re in mountainous terrain but it’s covered by lush green plants that look like they’d grow in the rain forest, and almost just as thick. Njinikom center and where we live is up at the top of one of the mountains so anytime you go anywhere you are either trekking up a hill or down it and you can see beautiful views any way you turn. It rains almost everyday here in the afternoon but that keeps it nice and cool for the most part. In fact sometimes at night it can get very cold – my guidebook also warns against hypothermia – but that may be partially because of cold showers. The way to handle that is something I like to call the Hokey-Pokey method: one body part at a time with a lot of dancing involved.

Despite everything being very different you get into the swing of things quickly. For example, the erratic driving of taxis is no longer alarming (going into oncoming traffic is no big deal here) and your body is no longer uncomfortable with fitting 8 people into a car that is smaller than most any you would see back home. Additionally, you generally become okay with seeing bugs around. Aside from perhaps the occasional tarantula (good morning to you too!  hope you don’t mind if I duct taped over all the holes in the walls because you crawled into one!), normally you just go, ‘oh hey,’ and continue on.

Something that was a little harder to adjust to were the gender roles they hold here. Though they recognize that you are a foreigner and therefore probably hold different ideas than themselves, they still evaluate you the same way and in order to work well with the community it’s a good idea to respect their way of doing things. Another thing I don’t think I’ll ever get too comfortable with are all the police and military checkpoints. I’ve gotten better at handling them but nonetheless it’s not too pleasant to recognize that you are in the hands of someone who is apart of the corrupt system of government here.

Anyways, I am still having a great time here. We’ve gotten very creative at learning how to entertain ourselves at night as the power is often out and we must be back in the house before dark. On the weekends when we’re not working we also often go to sights around the Boyo Division. This last Saturday we went to the Ndawara Tea Estate way up in the mountains and it was amazing. It was strange how quickly the terrain changed in just an hour. I commented to Ben about how I imagined this is what Italy looked like and he confirmed! except said it also looked cleaner. Basically it was beautiful. The place smelled wonderful and relaxing and we learned later that that’s the tea we drink every morning. I plan on bringing a tin back. This was also the first time we got to try the motorcycles that are everywhere in Cameroon. Generally when we’re traveling we do so as a group so we take taxis but since the road was so steep we had to take the motorcycles. I for one was very excited. It was incredibly fun though somewhat painful as it takes a surprising amount of muscles to hold on.

In the past week I’ve also been to Bamenda twice, and I enjoyed that. The cities are also exciting though somewhat hectic here. I went once on Saturday with Christina and again on Monday to sort through some business however the second time it was just me and our volunteer coordinator so we were able to walk all through the market sector and actually get to talk to more people and what it was like there. Additionally we drove through Up-Station where a lot of governmental buildings are (you can’t take pictures because they are very strict about that here) and saw the whole view of Bamenda. It was one of the experiences you hope to have when traveling around in a foreign country.

I think I’ve written enough for now though there’s always more to add. If you want any more information on a particular aspect write it in the comments and I would love to talk more about it! Until next time, I wish you the best and hope you may feel something like this Jungle Fever. Ahsha.

Hello again world,

Sorry that it’s been so long since my last post. It looks like I’ll be able to only update you guys once a week. So be patient as my posts won’t exactly be short. Glad you’re back again! It’s so difficult to tell you everything I’d like to tell you guys but I’ll try my best to cover well what comes to mind. It’s your job to ask me questions when I get back if you’d like to learn more! OR you could ask me here.

I’ve learned very quickly that there is a lot of walking here. I’m not that big of a fan of any form of exercise that doesn’t involve me kicking or throwing around a ball so it’s been quite the experience for me. I do feel good about myself at the end of each day so I guess that’s a plus. Despite the fact that I don’t enjoy walking, at least the walks are almost always worth it. We’ve had so many hikes to beautiful places, whether it be to a waterfall or just through forests surrounding the community. The other volunteers and I also have to take a pretty long walk each day to the farm we’re working on. It’s about a 20ish minute long walk, and I’m not that fond of it, but at least the view is beautiful.

I haven’t told you much about the work we’ve started doing here, which is the whole reason I’m here! I apologize since the work didn’t start until after my last post.

Upon arriving at the farm for the first time, we met a very nice old man named Pa Salah. Stephanie calls him Bobe which I find very fitting. He’s the cutest old man ever and we all decided that he reminds us of Yoda from Star Wars. Pa runs the farm we work on and he’s the man teaching us all the skills we are going to take with us to the other plantations we’ll be working on. We have yet to visit other plantations but I hope that I’ll be able to transfer my skills over to the best of my ability. So far Pa has taught us how to marcot, which is wounding a branch of a tree that must point up and wrapping it up with saw dust kept together with plastic to prepare for new roots to grow. This is a much faster method of growing certain fruits and it cuts down the years significantly! Fruits take a long time to grow in comparison to vegetables. So we’ve marcotted a few mango trees already.

On Tuesday of last week we learned to machete down weed plants. But we had to be careful to not cut down any other plants. Basically, don’t cut down anything that’s huge and looks important. Women here don’t use the machete though, something I didn’t like to hear, so I took that opportunity to chop down as much grass as possible. It was fun but I don’t know if using the machete will be something we do much here in the weeks to come. I guess we’ll see.

The next day was when we really got down to business. It was our first real hard day of work. We planted banana plants into the ground. The thing is, this wasn’t just any ordinary flat ground you imagine when you think of our version of plantations. Because we live in the mountains up north, there are a lot of slopes and they aren’t pleasant to work on. The mud here is extremely slippery, but maybe that’s just because it doesn’t fail to rain each and every day. A matter of fact, it’s raining now! But the mud just complicates our trek up and down the slopes. We each planted 6 banana plants and it was quite difficult. I was using a pitchfork, not the best tool for digging, to make holes in the ground. I learned very quickly that my hands would be of better use so I clawed most of the dirt out myself. It was quite a morning but I felt very productive and in the end was glad to help in any way. After our break, Emily and I continued with something much less difficult. We potted soil to prepare for papaya seeds. After a long morning, I appreciated being able to work while sitting under the shade.We all got back home and immediately jumped into the showers! Although the water was freezing cold, I don’t think any of us cared. We were just grateful to get all that dirt off!

Later that afternoon, Anna, one of the women who coordinates the widow groups, escorted Emily and me kindly to the community center where the kids were having Book Club day. We just wanted to observe how their after school programs worked. We met the teacher and asked her how she would like us to help in the future. She recommended that we think of some cool and creative activities that we could bring to the classes. We told her we would do that for the next day but unfortunately we were unable to make it because of the rain. We assumed that it would be canceled but later found out that it still went on. Hopefully we’ll have the chance to stop by this week! I’d specifically like to stop by Thursday’s Music and Art Club.

The next day, Thursday, we were introduced to the community of widows. The women were mainly elderly. The introduction meeting was held outside the community center, the same one where the book club took place. Walking up to the women, all I could see were colorful robes and matching hair ties. I loved to see them in their traditional outfits since many of the younger ones didn’t wear them. Anna greeted me and all of the women welcomed me too with their kind eyes and smiles. Some even waved or nodded their heads. I felt very welcomed in their presence. So the other three volunteers and I sat there as Anna and Godwin spoke to the women. Occasionally they would transition to English so we would know what they were saying. Most of the women there didn’t attend school and their level of English is minimal or non-existent. We were introduced by Godwin and he told the women what we were there for. He then allowed each of us to stand up and say a little something. He translated for each of us but his translation was much shorter than my actual spiel. haha Then unexpectedly the ladies all stood up and started to sing and dance. Godwin told us they were welcoming us. I got it on video! I was really glad to capture that moment because it was a very special one since our time here. Then the women lined up to grab some food – fufu and greens. We lined up against the wall near them and many of them would reach out and shake our hands. They were some of the nicest women I’ve met. We left soon after, but not before we got a little fufu stuffed in ourselves, and waved goodbye to the women. They all smiled and waved, too. I’m looking forward to working with them in the weeks to come.

On Friday we returned to work. We were expecting another hard day at the farm but we only ended up potting some more soil and putting down some plum seeds. That was that and we left around noon! So we still had a lot of the day ahead of us. Friday was an odd day and we had unexpected visitor stop by that night while the lights were out and it was pouring. Pretty creepy. I won’t get into details now but feel free to ask me about it. Let me just say, it was like a scene out of 28 Days Later. haha On Saturday we visited a tea estate in Ndawara. We had to take motorbikes up there. So Ben and I squeezed ourselves behind our driver. From the very beginning I didn’t think this would be a good idea. We’re the biggest of the four nevertheless Godwin paired us up. I was a little frightened to know that we’d be going up steep roads without helmets and I didn’t think the task would be humanly possible for our driver. He did struggle but he was able to manage. I was placed in the middle and it wasn’t very comfortable at all. Ben however had the worst spot in the very back. Our legs were “splayed,” as Ben nicely put it but at least we were getting a good stretch. I had a good time laughing the whole way up every time we hit a bump or when I thought of how horrible it must be for the driver. I apologized to him for us being so heavy and he just chuckled. We finally arrived, in first place too! We checked out the tea factory and tea nursery. The aroma of the tea at the factory was pleasing and we had a nice guide show us around. The nursery was cool too but it was just too far of a walk! At least there were horses and cows a long the way to entertain me and my photo-taking. Later that day Emily and I joined Godwin to Bamenda. I got some much needed cash out and we bought some groceries at the market and on the streets for our Sunday dinner. Bamenda, let’s just say it’s different from Njinikom and the village life.

On Sunday Stephanie and Anita joined us for a nice evening dinner. We had delicious spaghetti and bread. I had two plates of it! It reminded me of home so it was nice. Although white on the outside, the oranges tasted pretty normal. The night was almost over when we were visited yet again by another random visitor. Again, ask me about this if you’re interested. I just don’t know how to explain it really. You had to be there. haha Okay, I’ve wrote waayyy too much. I hope you didn’t get bored. I’ll try to keep them more short and sweet in the future! Thanks again for joining me on my adventure!

Best,

Christina

Its week two and to be honest the days are starting to run together in the best kind of way,

We have been hard at work at the community garden fighting against the stomach devil, as goes the motto here. This week has been a crash course in all aspects of cultivation here. It’s hard work and since its the rainy season in Cameroon the humidity is right around 100%. Combine this with sunshine at the equator and 80 degree weather and  it makes for a tough day.  It rains  torrentially like clockwork every afternoon at 3, and the clay street become nearly impossible to traverse. Our street has been closed to cars for the last few days and the weather shows little sign of changing, it definitely reminds me of rainy summers in Florida.

As far as the actual work, I made the decision to purchase a cutlass aka machete in bamenda last week. Needless to say, putting it between my legs in the cab on the way back with 10 people in the tercel (2 in the trunk) was dumb. Luckily our car was so slow from the added weight we never really made it above 40 mph even on hills. I love my cutlass and it has made clearing land and unwanted visitors to the house non-factors. Im getting regular comparisons to Frodo wearing the ring but its just too fun to put down. Walking down the street on the way to the farm I’m finding new found respect from people, partly because of the farm tool and partly because I’m covered in dirt and sweat from working everyday. Its not uncommon for people to walk around with their cutlass so though it may sound odd its nothing new here. People here appreciate the work we are doing and are quite surprised that westerners are able to actually do intensive farm labor.

So far we have planted bananas and avacados, marketted plums and mangoes, and cleared a decent swath of hilly terrain. Jumping around and swinging the machete gives me a good opportunity to make pirate noises and probably scare some of our fellow workers. Pa Salah has been very complementary about my new purchase and it seems that I am more entertaining than scary, but don’t mess with me. It feels really good to be working hard and accomplishing something that will provide food and income for the people here. Its simple but extremely rewarding work.

After work I have been working with Anna, the manager of one of the widows groups we are helping on computer literacy. It seems the older generation here is largely unaware of how to use computers and I hope to have her emailing by the time I leave. She has been tremendously kind and helpful while we have been here and this I feel is a small way to repay her.

More seriously meetings concerning the upcoming elections are now taking place and its hard not to notice the increased police presence in Njinikom and nearby Belo. Roadblocks have necessitated carrying a passport and a few thousand francs at all times. Nothing negative has happened but as UN democracy trucks roll into town for the meetings, people seem to be a little more on edge. The motto here is Paix travail patrie, peace work fatherland and the people seem keen to ensure that it remains peaceful. They are extremely proud that conflict has not plagued Cameroon and it will be interesting to see how the elections in October go with 78 year old Biya in office. Things for now are very stable and I expect no problems while we are here.

For now we are keeping a low profile, working hard, and getting to know the people we are trying to help. The widows welcomed us with a song that Christina has a great video of, hopefully we can upload it sometime soon. The intro to about 100 widows now means that most people in town now know why we are here and what we are doing. It feels really good to walk down the street and here someone say Benjamin. I’m also known as Ben, Uncle Ben, and oi ban cutlass, meaning white man with the cutlass.

Our biggest concern right now is just keeping the house locked and finding something to do at night inside (the power is out 50% of the time). Last night was our first indoor soccer match in which I snaked a deadly left footer off a chair past Christina. 1-0 me! Can’t wait to play in the match with the local guys at the end of the month. Its been fun so far, I love it here, and I am feeling really great about the decision to come to Cameroon- Ben