The title of
this blog post is in Pidgin, and is representative of my realization this week
that I am really, really starting to care a lot about Cameroon – the people,
the health issues, the way I as a PCV can fit into my community, etc. This
realization has been a gradual process, and not at all unexpected, but really
struck me when I, with the rest of the stagiares, went to the local maternal
school (like primary school in the U.S.) to conduct a nutritional screening
with the children there. We divided into groups of two or three and each took a
station in the following sequence: asking the children their names, ages (if
they knew them), how many family members they have, if they had eaten
breakfast, if they were planning on eating lunch or dinner, and if they had
diarrhea; taking their weight and converting it to kilograms; taking their
height; taking their upper arm circumference; checking for edema (swelling) in
their feet, and if necessary, hands/wrists; checking for conjunctivitis in
their lower eyelids (if it’s pale pink or white, it’s a sign of anemia); and
repeating the earlier questions to hopefully get some degree of accuracy. When
I was sitting there on the rough-hewn school benches waiting for the next child
to come through, I was struck with an overwhelming sense of rightness and
comfort – the feeling of contentment to just be, and the fact that less than 10 weeks ago, I would have been
analyzing and comparing the situation to what I’d previously experienced, but
now I was content to just be – be in the moment, be with the children and my
fellow volunteers, be comfortable in a situation that previously would’ve been
far outside my comfort zone. It was a great feeling and realization, especially
given the fact that one of my best friends here, Kimmi, decided to ET (early
terminate) on Monday and by Wednesday, was on a flight back to the U.S. Although
her and I talked extensively on our weekly Monday evening “Yaoundé roommate reconnect” chats over a beer,
waking up early on Tuesday to see her off still shook me up and put me close to
crying for the first time here. Thus, my realization and feelings of rightness
on Wednesday were even more so special to me.
Later
that day, Layne, Spencer, Liz and I went to the English Club at the secondary
school to chat with some of the same students that I had seen before when doing
my presentation over a month ago. Layne and I took the younger grades, and
after our introductions and feeling out the group dynamics, content with our
Franglais (English-French combination), we answered question after question
from the students. Some of the memorable ones were: why do Americans use so
much lotion on their bodies (not sure if this was translated correctly, since
from what I’ve seen, African women use just as much lotion); why do Americans
like fruit so much when they come here (some fruits taste way better here than
in the U.S. – case in point, my love for pamplemousse rouge (ruby red
grapefruit) when I hated it in the States); can American women do karate/play
any sport that a man can; why do American women have such long hair; why are we
in Cameroon – what are we getting out of the deal; how do we like Cameroon so
far; and can we tell them our national anthem. To the last question, Layne and
I decided to sing it in front of the whole 30+ group of students. At the end of
our out-of-tune and rushed rendition, we were greeted with thunderous applause
from the students. We then asked them to sing their own national anthem. The
whole experience turned out to be a neat cross-cultural exchange opportunity
for both the students and us.
On
Thursday, we each had to give a 20+ minute presentation in French on a relevant
cultural topic for a panel of our language instructors and a group of other
stagiares. My presentation on family planning methods and subsequent Jeopardy
game was a huge hit (due in no small part to the fact that I had practiced for
my host family the night before, which was great for correction of my
pronunciation). I got a 97.5% on the presentation, and am officially done with
my French requirements for the rest of PST - ideally meaning I only have Pidgin
language class for the next week. I was also really proud of constructing a
20-minute presentation in French (with question and answer period, also in French)
with no internet access, and barely any other resources – a great feeling of
accomplishment. I also think the lack of internet access in Bokito has really
made the bonds between us health volunteers stronger - we all get along well,
go out to the bar for drinks or do other things to all hang out pretty much
every other night, even after spending all day together, and are a generally
tight-knit group of people. This type of dynamic doesn’t exist on a large
scale/to the same degree among Bafia volunteers, and I’m grateful to have it
with my fellow health trainees.
Some
other highlights of the week include: a tofu making demonstration; interacting
with my host family (most host mother said she would cry when I left, because
I’m so funny and interesting – a real compliment, given that it’s been hard to
discern her emotions in the past); completing my final TDA assignment
(interviewing my family about nutritional practices within the community); the
realization that I’m no longer terrified of going home and struggling to
communicate in French; watching French movies in French class (from Amelié to a Cameroonian video on actual cases
of rape and incest – quite the spectrum); and hearing that we’ll be staying in
a posh home stay setting the night before swearing in (we’re all staying with
American ex-pats, current Embassy workers, or Cameroonians who work at Peace
Corps); doing yoga several times in the training center with others, and
hanging out with Bafia and Bokito PCTs in Bokito on Saturday.
On
Sunday, we had a Diversity Day with the rest of the trainees and
language/cross-cultural formateurs (teachers) in Bafia – super fun! I wasn’t
entirely sure what to expect, but both the PCTs and the formateurs really
pulled it out – there was tons of food from all the different regions, homemade
peanut butter and papaya jelly, mac and cheese, homemade onion rings, and lots
of entertainment – from solo step dancing, to agfo line dancing, and several
formateur-led events. We also did our first performance of our main
entertainment for our swearing in ceremony: singing and dancing to Cat Stevens’
“Peace Train.” I also led the health stagiares in a flash mob performance of
the Macarena – sweet success! After, we all had a dance party before heading
back to Bokito. In short, a fabulous rest of the week, although it absolutely
flew by!
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