On to the next one......

After over three years the time finally came to leave Cameroon. It was not easy to pack up everything that I had accumulated, say goodbye to the friends I had made and head back to the United States…. I thought about staying longer and looking for jobs but that got really complicated and I knew it was time to leave- I hope I can make it back someday to visit. I became really sad and knew that I was going to miss all the personality that Cameroon had to offer- the crazy interactions you have on a day to day basis that would never happen in the United States. During the last week or so, I knew it was time to go and I was ready for the next step.

London

I got nervous of the idea of moving back to the United States- I haven’t lived in the United States since I left in May 2010- close to five years ago. So…. I did what most people would do…. Start looking for more international opportunities. I ended up going on a whim and applying for a Peace Corps Response position in Vanuatu as a back up while I was also applying for jobs in the U.S.

Cleveland with the whole family

I left Cameroon and began visiting everyone that I could on my way back and used up a good chunk of my savings and all of my frequent flyer miles and got to see London, Cleveland, New York, San Francisco, Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Miami, and Detroit- it was really incredible to reconnect with everyone. Seeing all these places and people just confused me more about what I want to do and where I want to live….Then I got offered the position in Vanuatu at a point where I was starting to feel comfortable with the lifestyle and pace of the U.S. and the thought of leaving again to a country literally in the middle of nowhere sounded intense. And a bit overwhelming. At this point, I want some stability in my life….. but it will just have be put on hold for the next year.

Key West with my Dad

Niagara Falls 

Ann Arbor 

Sunset at the Big C in Berkeley

My next position is serving as a Documentation Planner working with the Vanuatu Cultural Center, The Office of  Government Chief Information Office and the University of the South Pacific in Vanuatu as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer.  Peace Corps Response is an extension of Peace Corps where after serving a full term, you have the option to apply for position that you get to pick the job and location which last for 6, 9 and 12 months. This time I will be living in the capital, Port Vila for the next 12 months, so life will be a lot different from my time in the jungle in Messamena. I will be based in the capital, Port Vila, of roughly 40,000 people.

Vanuatu looks crazy. I am excited to get to know this new island nation- it seems like it will fit my personality well. I always like to dedicate myself to what I get involved with so I worry about never coming back.

Vanuatu is a country in the South Pacific right on the Pacific Ring of Fire and is comprised of 83 islands, 65 of which are inhabited. If all the islands were combined it would be the size of Connecticut and with them spread the way they are, they span the size of California. There are 9 active volcanoes- 2 are still underwater, there are regular earthquakes (A 6.8 just 2 weeks ago) and they are currently in Cyclone season. There are 123 languages (aside from English, French and Bismala, a creole tongue, which are the official languages. With a population of about 240,000 people, there is a different language on average for every 2,200 people. How do so many languages survive and exist in such a small place? Some say Cannibalism played a big part to this as it was a wide practiced ritual up until 1969- people knew not to stray too far off into the jungle. This place sounds intense. But at the same time it is paradise.

I fly out in about week and it will take 4 planes and over 20 hours of actual flight time not counting the layovers to arrive. My flight was originally scheduled to leave March 15^th but due to cyclones passing through it has been delayed until the weather clears up.  The longest leg of the flight will be 11 and a half hours from Los Angeles to Nadi, Fiji… 11 and a half hours over the open ocean the entire way. I will spend 2 days getting oriented with the city then me and another Peace Corps Response Volunteer and I will spend a week in Bismala language training on Moso, an island just north of Efate, where the capital is located. I really don’t know what to expect. The best thing to do is have no expectations… it seems to work best in these situations and helps you adapt.

Sitting in to serve up a cup of justice.

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CTE tea from Tole

As I sit down to enjoy a cup of seemingly fair trade tea on this cold and rainy day in Buea, the Southwest regional capital of of Cameroon, the fresh and fragrant aromas are appealing but I can only taste the struggles that have gone into its past production.

I am currently stationed in a nearby village, Tole, to work on Malaria and HIV/AIDS initiatives for the community where the health clinics have not been fully funded by the government. The population is comprised of nearly 9,000 people and close to 1,000  work for the Tole tea plantation owned by Cameroon Tea Estates (CTE). This means one out of nine people work on this plantation, and with most Cameroonian families being quite large, at least one person per family is involved with the production. When something happens to the plantation or the workers, it creates a domino effect for the entire village.

In it’s height, the Tole tea plantation offered its employees adequate housing, healthcare and salary. It was a great employment opportunity in a country that has a soaring unemployment rate. However in the turnover from government ownership to privatization in 2002, many salaries and benefits were compromised and the plantation gradually began to crumble. Promised bonuses and compensations were consistently being put on hold. I have seen the way the houses and health care centers have been left with minimal to no upkeep.

In a depressingly publicly known and accepted corrupt society, social justice is rarely obtained, especially worker’s rights. Many people have the general apathetic attitude that nothing can be done, “What slips through the cracks by higher officials can not be governed by ordinary citizens like us” my neighbor once told me.  Respecting and following protocol is an integral part of Cameroonian society. It makes it difficult to contest what is taking place around you.

In early 2012 however, the CTE workers organized a sit-in at the Department of Labor office in Buea to make officials aware that they have had enough. Their lack of payments and benefits were creating a plethora of human rights dilemmas; health issues were not being treated since there was no upkeep of the clinics, not being paid meant not sending your kids to school, youth not in school created higher crime rates, women not getting paid lead to forced prostitution. A protest was arranged in 2006 that led to the arrest of many of its citizens but had an outcome of nine. The community of Tole was not willing to stand for this injustice any longer.

More than 500 people camped outside the offices of the ministers to make these injustices been seen and heard.  The officials were not able to continue their daily work without addressing these issues. The case has since been sent to the Cameroonian high court in the capital city of Yaounde and workers have slowly been seeing the effects. A large victory for the CTE  workers in Tole.

After three years of living in Cameroon, I have worked on many community projects ranging from building wells, organizing now legalized water cooperatives, creating school gardens and other projects. But this is the most radical case of community mobilization I have seen in Cameroon. I am paired up with a group of individuals who have created their own health care clinic to supplement where CTE officials has abandoned in Tole. The community has stood up for their beliefs and have made changes happen through community mobilization. It has been a great opportunity getting to learn how this community has shaped itself.

Workers in the tea plantation of Tole

Ku ku for Coconuts

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Since the last post a lot of work has done in Messamena and something in me clicked and I realized that I am not quite ready to leave Cameroon in November..  the light at the end of the tunnel was there… I saw it… then I decided to take a detour. I will be extending my service to continue up on my projects in Messamena. If you would have asked me 6 months ago, I would have laughed at the idea.  Some say that it was witchcraft that made me stay- which might be true haha. But, now I will be continuing my work to finalize the Coconut Farm NGO we've been working on- We named it in honor of my mother so I want to make sure its running well. So, just when I saw myself moving back to San Francisco, I have to put that aside for the time being. BUT, since I am extending, I get to do a home leave and be home for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years- something I haven’t done in 10 years.

A trip to Monaco

In August, in the middle of working on my projects, I came to Yaounde to see my friend Justine finish her service and leave the country. Long story short, she needed 2 bags sent to France and a round-trip flight was cheaper than sending the bags by mail… so I proposed to take her bags for her and it ended up being half the cost of shipping it and plus we got to hang out in Paris and South France together. It was 10 years of LUXURY- I’m telling you. We had a total blast and her parents went out of their way to be extremely hospitable while I was there. It was such a nice break from the jungle life I live. We got to walk around Paris, enjoy the beaches of South France, Travel to Monaco, go rock climbing, and enjoy copious amounts of cheese and wine. It was perfectly hedonistic.  On the way home I had a 24 hour layover in Casablanca where I was put up in a 4 star hotel and got to explore the city and drink an unhealthy amount of coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice..

Back in Cameroon I just attended our COS (COS) Conference with all the people that I arrived in Cameroon with in September 2011. It was the first time we have all been in the same room for a year and a half and it was the end of (most) of our time in Cameroon. We were taken to the US Embassy and shown how to prepare our resume and look for jobs- as well as introduced to the idea of working with the Government- something else I never thought I would be interested in, but am now curious. At the US Embassy it felt like we were back in the U.S.- especially when we got to eat in their cafeteria- I had enchiladas with a 2 pound side of sour cream and cheese haha.

Volunteers of the East Region at the COS conference

Land Rights Document for the Baka families in Koum

Housing construction on its way

Back in Messamena a few projects were recently completed. I’ve been working a lot with the Baka – a vulnerable group of hunter and gatherers in eastern Cameroon who are known for their rich culture of music and dancing. With the rainforest rapidly depleting, they are being chased out of their hunting grounds and into nearby villages. Historically the Baka and the Bantous (the surrounding local population) have always had conflict. The Baka are seen as “savage” because of their nomadic lifestyles.  The Baka in one of the villages I work in have never had land rights in the village but they were trying to get their children to attend public schooling. I was able to work with the Chef of the Village and the Sous-Prefet of Messamena to have land rights given to them and have the community work together to build housing for them. The goal of the project was not the end product of the housing- it was to have the Baka integrate into the community and for them to have something to own so others can be punished if they rob the Baka.  The house is now almost completed and there is now 2 Baka parents as committee members on the Parent/Teacher counsel.  I love working on this project… my degree in Cultural anthropology and Global Poverty and Practice is really being put into action. Unicef was really impressed by my work and I have been invited to give a conference on vulnerable populations and describe my work to future investors to Unicef in Douala this month  at a 5 star hotel- I’m stoked.

The day our Water Committee got legalized as an official Cooperative with a Bank account

In Koum we have also just got our Water Committee legalized and opened an account at the Post Office in Messamena. I’ve been doing trainings on water and sanitation, book keeping, leadership and management skills. I was so proud the day that they are now a legal cooperative- I think it can be a really sustainable project for them to learn and grow from. To complete the forage we had constructed, I told them that they had to pay $300, even though it was entirely funded by Unicef.  I explained the value of potable water and they agreed and understand now. I did not want the forage to just be a gift- I want them to own it. So I used $60 of that money as the balance needed to open an account and had it deposited into their account and after a community needs assessment, I used the other $240 to buy a large solar panel kit for community- I told them it was a gift for all their hard work on community development. If I put the entire $300 in the account, they would not continue collecting money monthly for the well and the committee would not run as well. The $300 came from them fundraising to outside counterpart- a skill they never would have motivated themselves to do beforehand. So now I taught them the technical aspects of the solar panel and we successfully installed it- in Messamena it costs roughly 40cents to charge your cell phone but I had them make a contract that the community can charge 20 cents to charge their phones in Koum. The money collect is being used to buy food to prepare lunch for the students at the school several days a week (using Soy bean grown in the school garden). They are ecstatic about all of it.

My Coconut Farming Crew

In Messamena Village we have been working so hard on the Coconut Farm- it has been a lot of manual labor to get it going and a lot of volunteerism. The clearing of the land had to be the communities contribution to the project so they have been working endless days on a project that can really change their village but means it is taking time out of going to their own farms to work on the Coconut Farm. I’ve been bringing food a few days out of the week to keep the parents feel appreciated for all their hard work. We’ve named the project “Karla’s Coconut Farm” after my mom and it has the potential to really change the community. Funds gained will pay for all students supplies once the coconuts start producing.

Preparing to plan the first Coconut Tree

Planting the first Coconut Tree

Karla's Coconut Farm

We had a grand opening of the coconut farm on Sept 9^th and the country director of Peace Corps Cameroon was able to come and visit my site with a few other members of the Peace Corps administration. She planted the first coconut tree with the students and the first moringa tree with one of the local chefs. It was a really big ceremony and everyone in the village came out to join. I had the country director announce to the village that I was approved to extend my time in Cameroon- something I had not yet told them. It was an awesome day where it felt like everything really came together in my service. There is still a lot of work to be done on the farm, and we are trying to get it all done by the end of October before the rainy season really starts up.

There are a lot of projects I have lined up for the next few months that I am excited to carry out- I’m glad Im extending for it, I think it was a good choice.  There are alt of opportunities I still want to explore here.

Almost lighting the PC house on fire with my birthday cake-28!

Being really 'American' on 4th of July

A mural I recently finished at the entrance of Messamena

This is me sharpening my machete, preparing for a days work in the field

Getting Robbed, Being Charged by a Gorilla and an Attemped Kidnapping- my life in a nutshell for the last few months

Its been awhile since my last post, alot has happened and thinking about sitting on a computer  always overwhelms me, I don't know how I'm going to switch back to life on computers in the states after so much time in the jungle.
 

Finished Well in Messamena Vilage- the Water Committee and students who use it

A Baka family I've been working with for the past year. This is me hiding from the rain in their home

Doing a training on Well repairs in Koum with the Ministry of Water and Electricity

In March my bag with all my belongs was robbed at the bus station in Yaounde- I was so upset and over Cameroon at that point. I felt violated and was wondering what I was still doing here... I was ready to finish, especially since I just got back from being in Cape Verde.  So, that month was pretty rough and was definitely a low point. But things got better soon after. It took awhile to post a blog about it because if I wrote it right after my things were stolen I would have went on a negative rant about Cameroon- which I didn't want. There are enough horrible things being said about Africa that I didn't want to add to that pool. Plus I was robbed 3 times in Brasil and I never have said anything bad about that paradise.

Since then I've been working on a bunch of projects.... We finished a well in Messamena Village, planted 200 trees in 4 of the schools and are working on putting together plants for a large coconut farm. It's been alot of work, and alot of fun too.

Our crew in the treehouse

I recently went back to Moloundo where I did a summer camp with UNICEF for Baka studens last year, but this time to search for the wildlife I didn't get a chance to see last year. It was awesome to see my friends who I made last year again- I didn't think I'd ever get a chance to see them again because this place is ISOLATED! Its part of one of the largest streches of untouched rainforest outside the amazon. It was so beautiful! I went with My friend Kristin and her boyfriend Eric who was visiting from the states. We spent 5 days in the jungle and it was rough in such a great way! We set up an itinerary at the WWF office but had to just go with the flow as this place is not really set up for a great amount of tourism.

Eating fruit that the gorillas just ate next to our campsite

Gorilla en Route

We entered with an ecoguard who had a rifle, and 3 porters/guides who were born in the area. It was awesome! The first night we got put off the main track and had to sleep in the middle of the jungle, not at a known camp... the mosquitos were terrible and the whole night you could here the jungle in movement- it ws thrilling bt I don't think I got more than 2 hours sleep. Then next day we made it to a lookout over a savanna where we slept in this treehouse structure. It was a blast! We didn't see much in terms of wildlife but had a blast hanging out with eachother. The next morning when we were hiking out, we were trying to find the trail but the jungle grows back quickly so we were a little lost. All of the sudden we heard a gorilla screaming and the ground started rumbling. The Baka tour guide stopped us and had a look of fear in his eyes, I looked up and saw a large 600 pound gorilla charging us. He was HUGE and his face was so human like. The ecoguard quickly got his rifle set and the rest of the guides started pounding theirs chests and the gorrilla vered off 100 feet away from us  back into the forest. I tried to pull out my camera to take a picture but my heart was beating so hard when I saw the gorillas face and knew I could be in some serious danger. That image will not leave my head though.
After catching our breath, we hiked on the route to find the WWF car waiting for us. Because of a tree that had fallen, we ended up hiking through 30 miles of jungle in a little over 24 hours. It was rough! We got some rest and headed through the park the next day to the border of Cameroon and the Congo to a beautiful relaxing campsite. On a short hike around the area we saw 6 gorillas and 2 elephants within 45 minutes from our camp. It was so cool. We got to see the homes of panthers, chimpanzees, a variety of monkeys, birds, elephants, gorillas and more. It was a real life zoo with no fences. That night when we were bathing in a river we saw an elephant bathing just down river from us under the moonlight.

Patrick- our ecoguard with WWF, right before we got charged by a gorilla

Elephant bathing

On the way back the next day we caught a group of poachers en route in the forest. There was a decoy foriegner who came up and was saying she was just taking pictures but when she showed me her camera it was of photos that were on the otherside of the park a few days away and that was the last "photo" she took. It was a scam. Only the WWF has the right to go through the parc and that is why we had an Ecoguard with us. Patrick, our ecoguard, took their paperwork to the office and they were punished (I'm not sure how, but I know it wouldn't be pretty). Just after that we came across another large male gorilla on the road. it was so cool and out of this world to see a gorilla like that.

Crazy Landscape at sunrise

Beautiful Crater Lakes, South West Region, Cameroon

After that I headed across the country to Nkonsamba to go camping next to the crater lakes to celebrate my friend Joe's 30th birthday. The lakes were beautiful and we had a blast celebrating together. We were up in the mountains so it was so cold- I couldn't believe that I was still in Cameroon! The lakes are said to be some of the deepest lakes in the word by depth and diameter, so the water was a color of blue I've never seen before!

After swimming in the Male Crater Lake

Attending the Girls Forum i

From there I headed down to Kribi for the 2nd annual Girls Forum and this year's theme was "To educate a girl is to educate a nation". My counterparts from Messamena and I were lucky to be chosen to attend. I was so excited to bring them because they have never been far outside of Messamena, let alone to the beach in their lives. It was a 3 day conference were we learned the importane of girls in school and what we can do to retain their participation through educational practices. It was really empowering and my counterparts really got alot out of it. I took them swimming in the ocean for their first time ever and took them to eat seafood theyv'e only ever seen in pictures but never in real life. It was so cool to introduce them to all of this and they were so grateful to have had this experience. It was awesome.

Receiving our certificated from the Girls Forum 

Introducing my friends to Lobster, Shrimp, Crab and Red Snapper after the conference

Taking my friends swimming in the ocean for the first time ever

 Back in Messamena things are starting to wrap up. I only have about 4 months left! In Messamena Village the Cheif of the Village came up to me and told me he wanted to discuss something with me. I was a little worried, I didn't know what he was going to say. He offered to build me  house in the village for me to stay- they don't want me to leave and wants to kidnap me but know they can't because the embassy would find me haha. It was nice way of saying they don't want me to leave and since right now things are going so well the thought of extending a year sounds like a good idea. I'm finally really getting into the culture here and understanding the way of life. It hasn't been easy, and I will easily say that this is the hardest country I have traveled to... but then I see pictures of everyone back home and realize I'm ready to get back into the swing of life back in the states for a little while at least. The Peace Corps will definitely open the doors for future international work in the future.

 Someone owns ostriches in Dimako, East region... bizarre

My last big project was just approved. In Messamena Village we will be starting a 2 hectare (350 feet by 700ft) coconut farm with about 400 trees. I have been writing a grant to PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) and proposed the idea of getting a non-profit legalized to start a income generating farm to help keep kids in school, give scholarships to the top students and teach the community about healthy life choices and safe sex practices. We now have a group that is working on the legal forms and opening a bank account and we will start to clear land next week. I might be out of contact for sometime in the Jungle. I'm really excited about this project and think it has potential to really help Messamena Village grow and develop. It is exciting to see how hard work really does pay off. I'm happy to be working with this community- they have a strong work ethic and drive to work together- I just hope they don't really kidnap me haha ;)

Get L'eau Koum! Island traveling...

Water Source before.....

Water Source Afterwards!

Proud members of the Water Committee in Koum!

At the schools we have continued with our first crop of soy and moringa to prepare for our larger planting cycle coming up in March with the beginning of rainy season. With the gardens I started a hand washing program using rainwater collect from a large barrel and soap that UNICEF had provided. I’ve been dropping soap off on a weekly basis only to the schools that always had it available to the students (there were issues with corruption in the past) and have started ‘WASH’ clubs at each school that consist of 5 older students who are responsible for making sure all the students are washing their hands and know why it is important to do so. Its been a lot of work but the Parents, Teachers and Students have all been excited to work together on it , which has made the work a lot easier to implement.

Hand Washing Field Trips

With the community members I’ve been working on creating Water Committees to make sure that potable is always available in the villages. Each villages has a board of about 10 members- A president, Vice President, Secretary, 3 treasurers, 2 technicians and 2 board members who are allowed to vote on the issues. We’ve worked together to discuss how much they need to collect from each family in order to start a savings account for if and when their water source fails in the future. They decided times that water would be available to the community and who would be responsible for locking it up and opening it everyday.  In the East people are known to be very…. Aggressive. Most of these meetings were about 2 hours long and mostly consisted of people pointing fingers at each other and yelling- a total catfight hahaha.  But, all in all they have been working out and we just successfully repaired a Forage in Koum with the help of UNICEF and are beginning another in Messamena Village thanks to grants I received from USAID and UNICEF. At the end of these 2 water projects, over 900 people will have access to potable water.

This has all been a lot of work- but I have really been enjoying it! My day to day life is never the same and I like that mix. But- after a few months of this I was lucky enough to be able to take a vacation—to Cape Verde--- just in time for Carnaval!

My good friends Joe and Amanda were on board for the trip so although it was difficult to book the tickets, we made it work! We got to spend a few days in Senegal, 2 weeks in Cape Verde, then back to Senegal for another few days before returning to Cameroon.

Joe, Me  and Amanda headed out of Cameroon

Senegal was awesome- we were all so stoked to take a little break from Cameroon and explore. Since there is Peace Corps in Senegal we were able to stay at their boarding house while we were there and even use their bikes to cruise around Dakar. Dakar is a very pretty city- I was jealous of the Volunteers in Senegal because when they come to their capital they are minutes from beautiful beaches, plenty of clubs, paved roads and tons of restaurants (where you can even find sushi). One night we even went bowling… at a bowling alley. Dakar is a big city and was such a change from Yaounde. The one frustrating thing was that our Central African French was not understood by many people at all- turns out French isn’t spoken by much of the population at all.

Street Parade in mindelo

Then we headed over to Cape Verde- and I was so excited. Everything reminded me of Brasil which is all I wanted out of the vacation J But Cape Verde really blew me away and was above my expectations. The islands were spectacular, the people were so friendly, Carnaval was a blast, the fresh seafood was delicious and most importantly- the coffee was awesome! It was awesome to hear all the music, to practice portugues de novo and be with good friends. It was so fun to hop from one island to another and see how different each one was- there are 10 islands and they are all so different from eachother- including the local language and the peoples attitudes.

Carnaval Float in Mindelo

In Cape Verde we arrived on the Island of Santiago and headed to the capital, Praia, where we were staying with a couchsurfer, Emanuel. We met him and he immediately took us to a local bar to watch the soccer match with all his friends. 5 hours of food, music, dancing and laughing later- we left that bar. It was an awesome way to be welcomed into Cape Verde! One of the dancers on Amanda’s dance team in Boston had family in Cape Verde so we got to meet up with them and made more friends and we grabbed some drinks and watched the sunset- it was incredible. Then we ended up taking a 20 hour boat ride to the top of the islands to Sao Vicente where we arrived in Mindelo. There we met our next couchsurfers, Nelson and Marina who just moved from Portugual and we had great dinners at their place and late night swims in the ocean. We spent a few days relaxing on the beach and eating some fresh fish and drinking tons of good coffee. We had a few days before carnaval was about to start so we took another boat to the island of Santo Antao… it ended up being the most beautiful island I’ve ever seen, full of huge valleys and cliffs right up to the edge of the world with beautiful blue ocean below. Amanda and I took a 7 hour hike along the cliffs and got ourselves lost into one small village where we walked into a crnaval parade. It ended up being an old Peace Corps village so we made some friends and they let us stay at their place and made us dinner… it was awesome! We then made it back to Mindelo and Carnaval was starting. This time we were staying with another couchsurfer, Kiso- an awesome guy who knew so much about the island and introduced us to some how his friends who just came out with their 4^th CD and another guy who was filming Carnaval as part of his world tour career. It was so much fun! Carnaval was a blast, as expected… dancing in the streets, awesome costumes, samba music all around and everyone livin’ it up. The whole trip was such a blast… it was a like a slice of heaven to me… boarding the plane to leave Cape Verde was depressing, I did not want to leave (Duh).

Traveling thru the jungle is not easy... but it's beautiful

Beaches of Dakar

The boat we took for 20 hours to get from Santiago to São Vicente

Cidade Velha, Santiago- Cabo Verde

Dancin' it up

Beaches in Dakar

Fontaininhas, Santo Antão

Wowzas!

Kick off to Carnaval

Late Night Swims in Mindelo with out couchsurfers

! Santo Antão!

The past 2 months has been really busy with work and have been very exciting for me. The first months at my post were all set up for me to get to know everyone in my village and start small programs and write up grants for projects I wanted to do with UNICEF… but now I am at the point where I get to implement projects that I have been writing grants for the past few months.

Hiking in Santo Antão

But.. Im back in Cameroon and refreshed. It is another struggle to readjust to crazy jungle life, but I’m in the home stretch right now and have some exciting projects coming up. San Francisco and my motorcycle are just around the corner J

Biking in Dakar