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| Colleen and Alexis enjoying Christmas morning |
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| Adamaoua gang with our Christmas feast! |
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| Pax baking brownies |
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| Showing off my coffee cake |
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| Will and his beautiful quiche |
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Christmas in Ngaoundere
Settling into Danfili
I have officially survived my first month at post and made it back to Ngaoundere!
Danfili is exactly what I hoped for in my post. It is a rural village, but a relatively large one, with a population of four to five thousand. We are located on a main road, but it's dirt so it's a pretty bumpy ride to leave town. There are mountains that run along the north side of town. It is a beautiful view from my health center! Because it is a pretty small town, everyone is very friendly too and very calm. Compared even to the larger towns on either side of me, Danfili is much quieter and calmer. The only downside to being in a smaller town are the rural aspects. With the exception of market day once a week, it is pretty tough to find fresh fruits and vegetables. However, avocados are EVERYWHERE right now (and only cost 10 cents)! Then there is the lack of electricity of course. Although it sucks not to be able to use my computer at post, I am actually enjoying not having electricity. It's exactly what I was expecting when I left for Peace Corps and was a challenge I was really looking forward to. I spend a lot of time reading, which is not something I have been able to do for a long time. Apparently Danfili had electricity in the past, but several years ago it went out and was never repaired.
I had one slightly frightening incident after my first week at post, as well. I woke up at midnight one night to noises outside my house. This was especially weird because I have a gate that gets locked at night, so I knew someone had to have hopped the gate. After saying "Hello? Who is it? It's midnight.." several times, they were scared off. I talked to my community host about it the next day and she was very upset and went to talk to the chief. I had already made plans to go visit Pax, the volunteer in Ngaoundal, so I didn't get back until the next day. When I arrived back in Danfili, I found out that the chief was very unhappy that this had happened and had done an "investigation". As far as I know, this means going around town asking people who it might have been. They came to the conclusion that it was a "crazy" (sorry social workers, political correctness is not a concept in Cameroon). Nevertheless, everyone in town (the chief, the chief of the health center, my community host, the sous-prefet and the president of the community health committee) had also decided that I needed to live with a family. Although it was pretty clear the decision was not up to me, I was really happy with the idea as well. Within the next 24 hours, they had found a new house for me with a family. Although the incident kind of freaked me out, it was really comforting that my community was so concerned about me and did everything they needed to help me out.
I am a lot happier with the new house, mainly because I live with a family. The family I live with is just a grandmother and her granddaughter who are both very nice and easygoing. They were really welcoming and have been feeding me dinner every night too since my gas tank ran out. Although this means I have been eating a lot of couscous, it turns out it's not so bad with the right sauce! Because of the lack of food options that I eat in the states, I have found myself eating more and more Cameroonian food and actually liking it! The grandmother doesn't speak much French, so it has been a good motivation to learn Fulfulde and good opportunity to practice. We can usually communicate enough with my limited Fulfulde, her limited French, and lots of hand motions. Sometimes when I try to say things in Fulfulde that are clearly above my level of competency, she just starts laughing and walks away shaking her head. I have gathered that she has started calling me "my child" in Fulfulde, which I think is adorable. She told Peace Corps staff that she is my grandma in Cameroon. Her granddaughter, who is 16, has been really great too and helps translate more complex topics. The grandmother also has a pet chicken who tends to run away from the compound whenever he gets the chance. He has his feet tied together with pagne, but it doesn't seem to stop him. Every time she has to spend several hours looking all around town until she finds it.
As far as work goes, I have not done much so far. I know that's pretty normal in the first months, but it's easy to feel useless. I spend a lot of time sitting at my health center and watching the nurses actually practice medicine. I've been able to learn some information, though. Reading through some of the hospital records have been interesting and have given me a better idea about families. It's pretty clear that most of the births in town take place at home. There are only several each month in the records and an incredible amount of babies in town. One great thing about Cameroon is that when a baby is born, if you want to see it you just show up at the house. Between this and sitting at vaccination days, I've gotten to hold a ton of babies lately. I've also been able to do two simple formations (presentations) on family planning. They just consist of explaining the advantages and the methods, but a lot of it seems to be new information. From my conversations with health center staff and others in the community, it sounds like family planning education is something the community is really interested in. I'm sure I will figure out my work more specifically as time goes on. For now, I am concentrating on my community evaluation and just gathering information.
Things I've learned during my first month:
Danfili is exactly what I hoped for in my post. It is a rural village, but a relatively large one, with a population of four to five thousand. We are located on a main road, but it's dirt so it's a pretty bumpy ride to leave town. There are mountains that run along the north side of town. It is a beautiful view from my health center! Because it is a pretty small town, everyone is very friendly too and very calm. Compared even to the larger towns on either side of me, Danfili is much quieter and calmer. The only downside to being in a smaller town are the rural aspects. With the exception of market day once a week, it is pretty tough to find fresh fruits and vegetables. However, avocados are EVERYWHERE right now (and only cost 10 cents)! Then there is the lack of electricity of course. Although it sucks not to be able to use my computer at post, I am actually enjoying not having electricity. It's exactly what I was expecting when I left for Peace Corps and was a challenge I was really looking forward to. I spend a lot of time reading, which is not something I have been able to do for a long time. Apparently Danfili had electricity in the past, but several years ago it went out and was never repaired.
I had one slightly frightening incident after my first week at post, as well. I woke up at midnight one night to noises outside my house. This was especially weird because I have a gate that gets locked at night, so I knew someone had to have hopped the gate. After saying "Hello? Who is it? It's midnight.." several times, they were scared off. I talked to my community host about it the next day and she was very upset and went to talk to the chief. I had already made plans to go visit Pax, the volunteer in Ngaoundal, so I didn't get back until the next day. When I arrived back in Danfili, I found out that the chief was very unhappy that this had happened and had done an "investigation". As far as I know, this means going around town asking people who it might have been. They came to the conclusion that it was a "crazy" (sorry social workers, political correctness is not a concept in Cameroon). Nevertheless, everyone in town (the chief, the chief of the health center, my community host, the sous-prefet and the president of the community health committee) had also decided that I needed to live with a family. Although it was pretty clear the decision was not up to me, I was really happy with the idea as well. Within the next 24 hours, they had found a new house for me with a family. Although the incident kind of freaked me out, it was really comforting that my community was so concerned about me and did everything they needed to help me out.
I am a lot happier with the new house, mainly because I live with a family. The family I live with is just a grandmother and her granddaughter who are both very nice and easygoing. They were really welcoming and have been feeding me dinner every night too since my gas tank ran out. Although this means I have been eating a lot of couscous, it turns out it's not so bad with the right sauce! Because of the lack of food options that I eat in the states, I have found myself eating more and more Cameroonian food and actually liking it! The grandmother doesn't speak much French, so it has been a good motivation to learn Fulfulde and good opportunity to practice. We can usually communicate enough with my limited Fulfulde, her limited French, and lots of hand motions. Sometimes when I try to say things in Fulfulde that are clearly above my level of competency, she just starts laughing and walks away shaking her head. I have gathered that she has started calling me "my child" in Fulfulde, which I think is adorable. She told Peace Corps staff that she is my grandma in Cameroon. Her granddaughter, who is 16, has been really great too and helps translate more complex topics. The grandmother also has a pet chicken who tends to run away from the compound whenever he gets the chance. He has his feet tied together with pagne, but it doesn't seem to stop him. Every time she has to spend several hours looking all around town until she finds it.
As far as work goes, I have not done much so far. I know that's pretty normal in the first months, but it's easy to feel useless. I spend a lot of time sitting at my health center and watching the nurses actually practice medicine. I've been able to learn some information, though. Reading through some of the hospital records have been interesting and have given me a better idea about families. It's pretty clear that most of the births in town take place at home. There are only several each month in the records and an incredible amount of babies in town. One great thing about Cameroon is that when a baby is born, if you want to see it you just show up at the house. Between this and sitting at vaccination days, I've gotten to hold a ton of babies lately. I've also been able to do two simple formations (presentations) on family planning. They just consist of explaining the advantages and the methods, but a lot of it seems to be new information. From my conversations with health center staff and others in the community, it sounds like family planning education is something the community is really interested in. I'm sure I will figure out my work more specifically as time goes on. For now, I am concentrating on my community evaluation and just gathering information.
Things I've learned during my first month:
- You can fit 13 people into a small Toyota. I'll admit, 3 were children, but I think the point still stands.
- Bucket showering is much better outside. I've been showering behind my house on a rock pile, in the sun and they have been my best showers in country to date.
- Ask what type of meat before you eat it. My community host gave me some meat she was cooking. After my confirmation that yes, the meat does taste good, she exclaimed, "It is bush meat!" and giggled.
- Apparently I have inherited a love of bird watching from my dad and grandpa. I have become obsessed with identifying the different birds in my yard, which has resulted in me running for my camera in my bath towel.
- It is perfectly acceptable to use Nivea Men's cologne as air freshener in a health center. Unfortunately it results in the whole place smelling like a boy's dorm room.
- When asked if you "know about" a food, regardless of your answer, the conversation will result in you eating said food.
- How to say "I don't understand." in Fulfulde.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
First month at post
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| My new kitten, Lily |
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| Seefah (henna) |
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| The view from Mount Ngaoundere |
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| Christmas Eve morning mountain climbing! |
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| It needs some work, but this is my new house! |
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| One of my many bird photos (I won't bore you with the rest) |
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| Crazy wild "tomato" that kids keep giving me |
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| One of my friend's children with her tomato gift |
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| The chicken that lives in our compound who likes to escape despite his makeshift handcuffs |
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