Le blanc, le blanc!

In a strange way, I am starting to feel very settled here in the small town of Bokito! The other day at the market I ran into a few people from the community that I have previously met and it made me feel really comfortable to start to really get into the daily life here! Bokito is a relatively small village with limited access to electricity and consistent running water. I’m normally in bed by 9pm and up by 5am! Life is different here in the village- last weekend my host brothers and I took a motorcycle (all 4 of us on one) to their native village far out in the forest. All the houses were made of bamboo and mud and there was no electricity anywhere. The village was amidst a large orange, mandarins and cocoa. I was so impressed with how much knowledge the young kids had on the agriculture here! Its been great living with my host family- the 2 year old say hello and goodbye to me everyday and “Bon Appetite” every time I sit down to eat- its been a great experience.
Peace Corps training has been busy but manageable and we have all started to get to know each other pretty well over the past 3 weeks. Everyday is packed with training sessions on development practices, Cameroonian culture and language. My French skills have definitely improved but I do have a ways to go! Usually after our sessions are done for the day we all go and unwind for a bit in the village before going back to our host families.
Our trainings on the Cameroonian health care system has been intense and we’ve learned a lot and even toured the local hospital here in town…. It was really sad to see the current condition of that hospital and even worse, to hear how little doctors make when the ratio of doctor to patient is 1 to 10,000! Doctors here in Cameroon make about $350 a month and nurses about $200. The conditions are rough and the work is never ending.
In two weeks they will be announcing our post where we will all be working for the next two years of service! I am so excited to find out which region of Cameron I will be working. There are 10 regions in Cameroon that range from jungle to forest to desert to mountains to plains and are anywhere from hot and humid to…. hot and dry haha . I’m hoping to be close to the ocean in the jungle but will be happy anywhere- each region is spectacular in its own way! 2 of the 10 regions are Anglophone and the rest are Francophone. I will most likely be put in a Francophone region so I am doing my best to study the language everyday. I will be paired with a clinic and a counterpart to work alongside. I told my program manager that I want to gain technical skills in the health field so I am curious to see what that will equate to for my post! No matter where I am placed I know that I will be doing a lot of public health trainings involving HIV/AIDS and water and sanitation. I know that much of the work I did in India with Haath Mein Sehat will be incorporated.
Friday marks our 1st month of service completed! At first the whole 27 month idea really made my mind go crazy- but as I talk to other PC volunteers, I get the sense that the time really goes by quick with everything going on.

Visiting my host family's relatives

Eating lunch in the village

House outside the orange plaintain