Digital Story

As most of you know, I am going to graduate school as a Shriver Peaceworker Fellow.  The program is a part of the Coverdell Fellows program that offers scholarships to Returned Peace Corps Volunteers for their graduate studies.  As part of my summer practicum, we created digital stories based off of our Peace Corps service, and, we were asked to share these stories with our blog audience as part of Peace Corps’ Third Goal.

Here’s my digital story about one of my/our closest friends, Vivien.  And for anyone who tasted some of the Cameroonian coffee we brought back, Vivien and her family are the ones who roasted and produced the coffee.  Enjoy!

Mollie’s Digital Story: Peace Corps Cameroon

The Final Update

Well – it’s a little overdue, but here is our final update from our service in Cameroon.

We are planning on still using this blog to write about development, our lives as grad students, and whatever else may strike our fancy.

Thanks to all of our loyal readers out there!

Final Quarterly

2 Years in Cameroon.

Today marks two years in Cameroon; 730 days not setting foot outside of Cameroon’s borders.  It’s quite the mile-marker if you ask me.  The two year mark means we are rounding towards the finish line of our Peace Corps service, that we are almost done, and that we will be saying goodbye to this adventure and shortly be welcoming the next chapter in life.  While I wish I had some great insights on what it means to be in Cameroon or the Peace Corps for this long, lately, I have found myself reflecting more on what it means to be going home and to be American.

Many people say they are ‘proud to be an American’.  I disagree.  I don’t think proud is the right word, as I did nothing to earn the citizenship of America; it was the hand I was dealt in life.  After spending two years in Africa, I have gained a deeper understanding of what it means to be American, the liberties we are born into, and, how many more opportunities I have had, determined solely by where I was born.  But I didn’t earn it.  Generations past earned it for me.  From the civil war to the civil rights movement, I was born into a country where freedom runs deeper than we understand. As an American, I am able to travel, to get visas to other countries, to save up for the plane ticket, and to go and come back.  That is not true of many other nationalities.  I can vote.  And, for better or worse, the person I voted for can only run the country for 4 years before I can vote again.  I have access to health care. Period.  Yes, there is a whole health care debate raging, but spend some time in Africa and you will be thankful for America’s hospitals, first responders, urgent care centers, and family doctors, trust me.  I had an education; not even counting university, I learned, and explored, and discovered in a brightly-colored classroom in a school where teachers put in way more effort than was reflected in their salary.  And, most and best of all, in America, I can be myself; heterosexual, homosexual, republican, democrat, mom of many or none, professional or beach bum, political activist or apathetic, all without worry of prosecution, physical harm or retaliation against my family.  Freedom runs deep, and liberty takes on a new meaning.

I wish I could say the same for Cameroon.  Our friends work hard, often times harder than we have ever worked and for less reward.  They tend to their maladies with whatever means are available to them.  And they do their best to succeed, to prosper.  I say this not to paint an impoverished picture of Cameroon, as that is not at all the reality.  But the truth of the matter is that life in Cameroon is just harder.  The freedoms and liberties that we as Americans are privy to do not exist here.  There is prosecution, retaliation, aggression, there is opportunity for some, lots of laughter for all, lots and lots of soccer games, and beauty.  Saying goodbye to our friends here will not be easy; Cameroon’s future is unknown.  With a president who has been in power for 30+ years, massive conflicts in multiple border countries, and the latest declaration of war by Cameroon on Boko Haram, we cannot leave our country of service confident of what their future will hold.  But, that’s the difference, we get to leave.  We have a ticket out.  For our friends, that is not the same reality.

Here we are, grateful to be American and hopeful for our Cameroonian friends and ‘family’, ready to say goodbye, and ready to be welcomed home.  I am confident Cameroon is on their own path to liberty and freedom.  I know there is no gift I can leave behind, no souvenir or memento that will repay what we have experienced and learned in our two years.  I know I cannot change the future of the country, and I know I cannot bring all of my favorites home with me (we all know baby Enzo would make a great addition to the Bates/Willis family!).

So, as we get ready to say goodbye with memories that will last a lifetime, we linger in this moment of hope and gratitude.  Americans and Cameroonians alike, we will all keep on fighting the good fight, sharing in laughter and humanity, and walk away incredibly thankful for all that we have seen, learned, and discovered.  And in the next two days, two years, or two decades, Cameroon, we are together.

Cameroon’s Neighbors

Cameroon’s neighbors leave a lot to be desired.  No one is stopping by for tea and cookies or lending sugar when someone else is in need, rather, the nations are trying to survive in the midst of massive atrocities that have become daily talking points for Peace Corps Volunteers.  Sandwiched between Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon struggles to stronghold their borders.

If you’re not up to date on the latest between the CAR and NIgeria, catch up.  The people of those nations, our neighbors, need all of the political support, and attention, they can get to end what is going on.

We all know of Darfur and Clooney’s ‘Save Darfur’ movement.  Quoted in this article about the hell on earth taking place in the near-genocide capital of the Central African Republic, the situation in the CAR is more grave than Darfur.  “Both men [Peacekeeping forces] served in Darfur and agreed it was a model of simplicity compared with the mayhem they’ve encountered in CAR since their arrival in January.”  If Darfur, who had masses of media attention and political intervention, was considered simple in comparison, more help needs to be sent to Cameroon’s eastern neighbor.

Now, if we shift to the northwestern neighbor of Nigeria, we are faced with a terrorist hot spot operating under the name Boko Haram, loosely translated to ‘Western Education is Forbidden’.  This is the organization that was responsible for Peace Corps having to remove all volunteers from the Extreme North region of Cameroon after they abducted a French family and their children within Cameroon’s borders.  Since they, they have organized and have carried out multiple attacks within Nigeria’s northern states and on the border.  Lately, they have been responsible for a large bombing in the capital of Nigeria, Abuja.  And, last but definitely not least, they kidnapped over 200 girls in mid-April as they prepared to take a school exam, threatening to ‘sell’ them into marriage on the market.  On Sunday, Boko Haram added to this number and kidnapped 8 more. You can read about this insanity here, and this madness has to stop.

While blogging about it doesn’t do much, nor does reading a few articles, it is one step in the right direction.  Read, become aware of what is going on, and you our fellow blog readers who live in nations that carry political clout – speak up and speak out.  We are left hoping for a day where Cameroon, and its neighbors, can truly live in peace.

Pigs in Poola!

If you’re a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Nkongsamba area, or pass through often, you know Justin Youmsi.  Justin is the counterpart of the Agribusiness Volunteer posted in Poola, a quarter of Nkongsamba.  Justin is great; he is the first person to make you laugh, works harder than most, and is dedicated to seeing his village improve and grow.  As a PCV, he is a fantastic counterpart to work with!

Last rainy season, I found myself quite board and without a ton of work lined up for our second year here.  I met with Justin to see if there was anything I could help his organization do.  He is the president of GROUPELMA, an association of farmers in the local area.  When we met, he was explaining his desire to see the youth in the area have a trade that they could do the support themselves and their future families.  The problem here is that while most of the youth in Poola receive their high school degree, there is not a job market to support them once they graduate.  Though educated, the youth tend to sit idle due to a lack of economic opportunities, and furthermore, because they went to high school, they have not gained the necessary farming skills to be able to grow and/or sell crops.  So, we began to discuss what we could do to assist the youth in Poola.

As it turned out, GROUPELMA had already created a project proposal to address the problem of idle youth in Poola, however, they did not have a funding source to begin the project.  The project proposal was to create a sustainable income generating project for the youth, while teaching them the necessary business and life skills to successfully manage their new enterprise.  The community agreed that a necessary, and profitable, skill that could be taught is pig raising.  Well, seeing as Shaun or I know nothing about raising livestock, thankfully we were partnering with Justin who does that for a living!  We could bring business classes and entrepreneurial management classes to the table, and with the local health volunteers in the area, we knew we could find someone to train on basic health education and HIV/AIDS prevention education.  Given that the youth are idle, sex is definitely one form of entertainment, which made HIV/AIDS prevention education a key component of the life skills taught through this project.  So, our project framework was set!  We would, together, teach pig raising, business classes, and HIV and health education.  Now we just needed money.  But, viola, the project was right in line with some of Peace Corps development objectives!  We completed a funding application, and we were on our way to our pig project!

Each candidate received 4 piglets that they will raise until they are large enough to sell at the market.  With the revenue they will earn from selling the pigs, they will reimburse GROUPELMA the initial investment (cost of piglets, food, etc), so that the organization can continue the program with a second set of participants.  They will also, then, have enough funds remaining to purchase another set of piglets for themselves, and are now able to raise them, manage their business, and sell them to make a profit to support themselves and their families.  Ideally, the cycle will continue successfully and enable more of the youth in Poola to gain a trade that will be profitable for them.  The project officially started in January, when we launched the first round of five youth participants.  Since January, we have been meeting every two weeks for a couple of hours.  Beth, the other Agribusiness volunteer in the area, trade off teaching the business portion of the course, with Justin teaching the technical pig raising portion, and partnering with the health PCV in the area to teach the health and HIV prevention classes.

Since January, the project has gone really well!  I keep waiting for the big hiccup that will derail it all, we do live in Cameroon after all!  But, to my surprise, all is moving smoothly. Last week we held a ceremony, in a way it is was an official opening ceremony for the project and the partnership of the project between Peace Corps and GROUPELMA.  The purpose of the ceremony was also to explain, more formally, the goals of the project to the community and to drum up more interest for future participants, now that we almost finished with the first round.  To make the ceremony more ‘official’ the sous-prefet was invited, as well as the Peace Corps Agribusiness director (mine and Beth’s boss).  We purchased little cakes from the bakery in town, rented chairs, arranged to have a sound system that never showed up, and prayed that the drizzle of rain didn’t turn into a downpour.  Even though there were a few hiccups on timing, African time is always an issue, the ceremony was a big success.  The whole executive board of GROUPELMA was present, the sous-prefet showered the project with support, and our director explained the goals of Peace Corps and our reasons for being here.  And, because a certificate is worth gold in this country, all of the participants received their official certificate of completion for the pig project.

So, to give credit where credit is due, here’s a huge shout out to all that made this project a huge success.  Thanks to Beth for being willing to jump in right after arriving at post and help get the project started.  A huge shout out to Gillian and Martine for teaching on HIV/AIDS prevention education, we both know I could have never done it without you both.  And, to Justin.  Thanks for letting me crash Poola and get behind a project I believe in and can get motivated to do.  I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have worked with him, I was in a work ‘slump’ before the project started, and the work in Poola kept me going, kept me focused, and, leaves me wrapping up my Peace Corps service feeling appreciated, believing in the change that the community can accomplish, and realizing how much I am going to miss the relationships with the whole Poola crew.

 

Last Call for Mail!

As we all know by now, mail can take a long time to get to us.  We’ve gotten letters in record time of 10 days or 6 weeks!  With about 7 weeks left in Nkongsamba (and our last week in Yaounde), this is the last week to send us mail.  We’ve loved all of the packages, letters and post cards we have received, and we would hate for one to arrive after we have already left.  So, this is your chance!  Last call for mail!

Graduate School Decision!

If you ask anyone, Shaun and I have been talking about grad school nonstop for the last few weeks.  After finishing our applications in October (we had lots of free time!) we were quite anxious to hear where we received acceptance offers.  At the end of the day, we did quite well – thank you, Peace Corps!  We had lots of offers on the table, became quite terrified after looking at graduate school loans and their interest rates, and have finally made a decision.

(Drum roll, please!)

 

Shaun received a full tuition scholarship to study International Health Policy and Management at Brandeis University!  The one year program boasts great faculty and high job placement rates.  With the majority of students being international students, it will be a great experience living and building a network in Boston.  I, Mollie, received an offer to become a Shriver Peaceworker Fellow through the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.  The fellowship covers all tuition expenses and an internship.  I’ll be earning my Masters in Public Policy from UMBC and interning with the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

We are so excited to both be attending graduate school without having to make a tuition payment!  While we understand it is somewhat unconventional of a choice to split up for 9 months, we couldn’t justify turning down the offers.  If you know us, you know our savings account is always on the smaller side, so having someone offer to pay for our graduate degree was an amazing thing.  And, not only will we save money on the tuition, but also the interest that we would have had to pay back if we had needed loans to pay for tuition!  We are feeling quite grateful.

We’re looking forward to exploring the east coast, watching the Boston marathon, hosting visitors now that the east coast is far more accessible than Cameroon, and studying in a program that we are passionate about.  In the meantime, we’ll be making lots of to-do lists of what we need to get done to adjust back into ‘real’ life again!

International Women’s Day

Last Saturday was International Women’s Day.  Each year, on March 8, women get a chance to celebrate who they are and the greatness in being female.  In Cameroon, that means the women get to party!  While most PCVs in the country feel like the women deserve far more than one day of recognition, it is still fun to go out and fête with them.

To celebrate this year, we invited some of our friends, both Cameroonian and American, over for waffles.  Having a waffle iron in the Peace Corps is a pretty great party trick!  In the afternoon, we were invited over to one of our work partner’s house for dinner.  Justin lives in a smaller neighborhood of Nkongsamba called Poola, and he raises animals such as pigs, ducks, rats, and cane rats for a living.  We were all invited over for a dinner of cane rat, a local specialty.  I wouldn’t say the cane rat tastes like chicken necessarily, but it was served in a great tomato-based sauce, on the bone, with good tasting meat.  There were plenty of sides to go around…bread, baton de manioc, grilled fish, and other traditional dishes.  We finished off dinner with chocolate and vanilla cupcakes that Shaun and I had made during the day.  It was a really fun night with some great friends.

After dinner, we all went to the club, of course!  Here, for a party or big day such as women’s day, it is a great excuse to go out.  We met up with a few more of our friends and neighbors and headed to their night club of choice.  While I am not sure we will be looking for another reason to stay out dancing till 3am in the sweatiest, hottest, club I have ever been in, it was fun celebrating with our friends.  Rest assured, we all slept in until midday the following Sunday and ‘recovered’ with a classic spaghetti omelet!

Cameroon, and many other countries, around the world have a long way to go for women’s rights, equality, and recognition for the role of the female.  We wait for a day when our friends and neighbors here have the same rights as their male counterparts, but in the meantime, we will support, encourage, and of course, go out and celebrate with the women we love.

Hanging out with one of our favorite sandwich vendors in Poola; he runs the
‘Subway’ of Nkongsamba!

The crew at dinner.

Us with our hosts, Justin & Florence.

Peace Corps Cameroon

Last week was Peace Corps Week and a friend of ours made a video of Peace Corps Cameroon that I wanted to share with all of you. Hope you enjoy!  (Thanks, Patrick!)

Race of Hope 2014

February 15th 2014 marked the re-emergence of Guinness as the official promoter of the Race of Hope in Buea, Cameroon. Guinness was the original creator of the race back in 1973 and managed the contest for many years before being forced to relinquish the rights to the government of Cameroon. It was a very welcomed homecoming for Guinness to be returning to the event they founded.

Most participants agreed that this year the race was better than ever and we had 10 Peace Corps volunteers who chose to participate. While the American runners did not match our Cameroonian counterparts in our speed up the mountain, we still had fun all the same. It is indeed a grueling endurance completion, but we had 3 PCVs who were able to summit before the time limit and complete the full course. While sadly I was not among them as I was turned around at 8,000 feet due to a leg injury. Our best finisher overall placed 12th in the female category and set a record time for a Peace Corps volunteer. Meanwhile, I slowly proceeded back to the stadium having spent almost 7 hours to cover only 18 of the 26 mile course.

While the racers were battling up the mountain, Mollie and other volunteers were busy at the stadium below managing the Peace Corps booth which was providing free HIV testing and promoting awareness among the spectators who had gathered to watch the finish. Almost 40 volunteers turned out to help spread the word, which was very good as the crowd was estimated to be well over 20,000 people who had come out to watch the race this year. The last volunteer arrived back at the stadium safely just before 6pm almost 11 hours after we had started the race. In spite of the struggles we endured it was an experience we all relished and one none of us will soon forget. As is customary at the end of the race once all of the participants have arrived back down the mountain in one piece, we all went out for beers to celebrate. Only this year, instead of the usual pilsner, we were drinking Guinness.

I may still be a little tired from the run, but I have already began training again for my next adventure. While I don’t expect I will ever run Mt. Cameroon again, I do hope to participate in one last race here before we leave. More details on that to come…

Running to Upper Farms; where the pavement meets the trail head.

At the finish with fellow athletes and friends from Nkongsamba.