Since my last post I have been to the extreme frontiers of this country in a whirlwind of travel- it has been amazing to see the diversity this country has to offer! .
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Students and teachers in the program
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Border Crossing into the Congo
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One day I got the chance to walk along the border of the Congo and see the route the smugglers use to import and export goods in and out of Cameroon. For 20 cents I was able to take a boat across the river into the Congo to see the villages there. It was so cool to see that part of the country and work on the project.. it wasn’t all easy though. I had to deal with prostitutes literally throwing themselves at me, explaining to men that Im really NOT interested and that yes, it is illegal in the U.S. It also wasn’t easy not being in control of preparing my own food- in Messamena I have my own kitchen and get to control that… there in the jungle I didn’t have much choice but to eat what was served.. which was often porcupine, pangolin and other types of bushmeat- not always appetizing!
I’m happy to be back in Bertoua and head back to Messamena. 2 weeks left until I leave for Paris and the U.S… I can’t wait to see everyone!
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| Sitting in a Baobob Tree |
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| Amanda's Community Soy Garden Project |
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My friends Chocolate farm
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| Housing in the North |
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| Mogode |
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| Rhumsiki |
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| Water Source in Messamena |
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| Top od Mount Ngaoundere |
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| Waza National Park |
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Maroua Craft Market
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Breaking it Down in Village while working with UNICEF
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Baka Encampment
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| Training of Trainers in Bertoua |
After leaving Messamena, I started to head north to visit some of the schools where UNICEF has built latrines and forages and took a few vacation days to visit and explore the north of Cameroon- it was AMAZING! The north is extremely different from anywhere else I’ve been so far! For one, the people in the north are SO calm and polite- I am used to the east were the average conversation includes at least 3 violent out lashes or harassing comments- in the north its totally tranquil. I got to stop at my friend Amanda’s post in Dir and see her awesome community soy garden, in Ngaoundere for a few days and hike to the top of Mt Ngaoundere, then to Garoua, then to visit Sean’s post in Pitoua to walk through and old Baobab grove, up to Maroua, to Suzie’s Post in Magode, visit Rhumsiki and celebrate our friend Joe’s birthday over an amazing home cooked meal and watch the sunrise over the valley, then to Tina’s post in Mokolo, Up to a safari in Waza to hang out with a bunch of giraffes, then down to Yaounde to celebrate the 4th of July with other PCV’s then finally to Messamena. It was such an awesome trip and it was great to be able to see all my Peace Corps friends along the way. This whole experience has been such an adventure!
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| Traveling through the jungle on motorcycles |
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| My bungalow where I stayed |
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Nguilili School, right in the jungle
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Soon after (One day later) I was back in Bertoua to attend a teacher training program that I was contracted by Unicef to supervise. After the training I traveled with the teachers to Moloundo, the fartherst southeast corner of Cameroon on the border of the Congo. I was stationed there for 2 weeks to follow their program that Unicef is conducting. They created a summer session primary school for children aged 5 that couldn’t afford schooling to prepare them for the upcoming school year. The program is targeted primarily at the Baka pygmie tribes here in the region, a group of people who live deep in the jungle and are hunters and gatherers. They are a very vulnerable population as their land they inhabit is quickly being depleted by logging and being paid with liquor to cut down the forest which has been their home for centuries. The chance to be educated can help the Baka avoid being taken advantage of by these companies coming in and stripping their homes from valuable resources.
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| Congo |
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The road to the bungalow where I stayed
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It was so interesting to work in these conditions. This part of Cameroon holds the largest stretch of untouched rainforest outside of the Amazon. I was DEEP in the jungle and got to see so many different types of trees, plants, wildlife… and weird insects. Toucans, parrots and monkeys were a common sight as we traveled to the Baka encampments were clothing wasn’t really an option for these peoples as they do not follow a very capitalist lifestyle many of us are used to, their houses are made out of sticks and leaves and once they have lived of the fruits of the land, they move to their next encampment. The Baka have an average height of 4.5ft and culturally sharpen their teeth to help them eat such types of bushmeat as, monkey, porcupine, gorilla, elephant and a few other animals not native to anywhere but here. I had the privilege to meet the chief of the baka tribes, who was smoking and interesting substance the entire conversation we had with him, to discuss t he importance of the program. I really couldn’t believe my eyes or ears most of the time- driving through the jungle on the back of a motorcycle and seeing valleys of small villages of mud huts, going to sleep with the howling of monkeys or the singing of the toucans, walking through swarms of vibrant butterflies and seeing the skulls of elephants scattered throughout.
One day I got the chance to walk along the border of the Congo and see the route the smugglers use to import and export goods in and out of Cameroon. For 20 cents I was able to take a boat across the river into the Congo to see the villages there. It was so cool to see that part of the country and work on the project.. it wasn’t all easy though. I had to deal with prostitutes literally throwing themselves at me, explaining to men that Im really NOT interested and that yes, it is illegal in the U.S. It also wasn’t easy not being in control of preparing my own food- in Messamena I have my own kitchen and get to control that… there in the jungle I didn’t have much choice but to eat what was served.. which was often porcupine, pangolin and other types of bushmeat- not always appetizing!
I’m happy to be back in Bertoua and head back to Messamena. 2 weeks left until I leave for Paris and the U.S… I can’t wait to see everyone!
