Peace Corps site announcement!

Hiking through the forest nearby my house

Last Wednesday morning we all received the notice of where we would be working for the next two years- although I originally wanted to be placed close to the ocean… I was given a small village in the Eastern region of Cameroon. At first I was a little upset, but then I realized I can always visit the beach- no problem.. and I’ve had my fair share of luck with living by the ocean the past few years so I’m switching it up and heading to the jungle! I am opening up a new post so no volunteer (or any foreigner) has been there before. I am proud that my program manager gave me such a tough post- it shows that she has a lot of confidence in me!

By post is in Messamena, the East Region of Cameroon, 90 km away from the next town off a unpaved dirt path. In the rainy season it is almost impossible to travel through. There is no electricity or running water- it is considered one of the poorest regions of the country. I have to fetch water from a nearby well and if I want to use electricity, I will need to use a generator. I am 50 km from the Dja national reserve- home to Africa largest and best protect rainforest-90% untouch with over 107 mamals- Including gorillas, elephants, chimpanzees and others.( http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/407 ) I will be living among a few tribal groups- the pygmies, the Bikeles, and the Bioudouroas.

Here is a map of Africa that shows where Cameroon is on the continent

This is a map of Cameroon- My town, Messamena, is not on the map because it is so small but it is in the East region (Est) near the town Abong Mbong if you can find it!

On Thursday we met our Community host Counterpart and had a 2 day workshop on Peace Corps expectations and plans of action- since Cameroon is a bilingual (officially, with over 230 other local languages), the workshop was both in English and French. My community host is Jean Bick, he is the Chief of a small nearby village of the Bikele tribe. He is awesome! He is a traditional healer and told me he wants to teach my about what the forest has to offer medicinally- I can’t wait! On Saturday morning we all left to visit our sites and travel with our community hosts. It was so beautiful driving across Cameroon- the East region is all dense rainforest It was intense to arrive in Messamena- knowing that this is where I will be living the next 2 years!

My community host and counterpart, Jean Bick and his sister in their village

I spent three days in my village introducing myself to the Sous-Prefet (head of the town), the Mayor, the Head of Police, the Principals, the Doctor and staff I will be working with and as many people as I could meet in the town. It was so hard trying to explain why I was there in French (and nerve-wracking… think about it- being overseas from anything you are familiar with- in a new culture, a language you’ve only been learning for a month, and having to met all the head officials of the place you with will be living and working!) But- it was awesome! It was a lot to take in at first but the third day I really fell in love with my new village. Everyone was so nice and after meeting them, people would always say, “D’accord, nous sommes ensemble” –ok, we are together! So far 3 women have proposed to me and the officials of the town are telling me they are going to set me up with their daughters. Awkward.

So it’s hard to describe exactly what I will be doing- because I will be making my own schedule, but my position is to work closely with the Doctor Djeumbam (one of 2 doctors for over 30,000 people in the district) and the nurses to observe the Cameroonian health care system and create a system to establish emphasis on preventative care with all the 12 local health care centers to do community health programs with the locals. I will get to travel around the area a lot for the work- it will be really exciting- but hard to do emotionally. This area has alarming rates of HIV/AIDS, cholera, malaria and other water-borne illnesses. It will definitely be a reality of the severity of these issues.

The hospital where I will be working with the doctor and nurses

Right now I am in the Regional capital of the East Region, Bertoua. I will have to come here once a month for banking to receive my Peace Corps stipend. There is a Peace Corps office here where all the volunteers can come and meet and stay for a few days (with electricity and crazy fast internet connection- hence this update with pictures!) Visiting Messamena has totally boosted my spirits about the Peace Corps- I went from going with the flow and liking it… to loving it- I really think I am going to get a lot out of the experience!

Made it to the one month mark!

Friday was our one month mark of leaving for staging! We made it through the hardest month of the 27, so 26 more to go! It has been crazy adjusting to the culture, going to trainings, trying to figure out how everything works… seems like it has been way longer than just a month!
Training is going really well- we are all getting along great, throwing parties on the weekends, making pizza from scratch- dough..sauce.. cheese- the works, I moved up from in my French class from beginner to passing the placement requirements in one month and we are learning a lot abou. I am getting really comfortable here in the village- learning some new skills of cooking all our meals over a fire… cleaning fish/chicken for dinner and how to make fufu and couscous.
The most exciting thing is that we find out our post on Wednesday! Its crazy to think that we will know where we will be working for the next 2 years so soon!!! Then our counterpart who we will be working with comes on Thursday and we go and visit our new city this upcoming weekend for a week. I have no idea what to expect… Cameroon is such a vast country so I could end up in any type of climate! I look forward to moving into my own place and setting things up!
On Saturday I was in a break-dancing dance-off competition and I made it to the third round! It was hilarious- my host brother asked me to come with him so I went and only wanted to hang out and watch but I was the only foreigner there so I was called up first. It was awesomely embarrassing moment… then the next round was again ridiculous..and the last round was kind of just a roast where everyone made fun of each contestant before the had to dance and we battled it off with the host/dj. If the whole town didn’t already know me before this night, the all do now… haha

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

A few pictures of Yaounde, Bafia and Bokito

View from our Training Site in Yaounde

Walking to school with my host brothers... who are carrying machetes

My host families house

The road I walk to get to class in Bokito

Made it to Cameroon! The beginning of my Peace Corps journey

It has been such a crazy week of new experiences, to think about my life one week ago to now is a complete opposite- so quick how things can change!
After saying a lot of hard goodbyes and trying to figure out what to pack for 27 months, I arrived in Philadelphia for the “staging event” or brief introduction to the Peace Corps. When I got off the plane there were two other girls from Cleveland joining too and turns out 5 of us are from the Cleveland area! There are 54 of us in our group that are split into 3 sectors; Agroforestry, Youth Development and Community Health- I will be in the Community Health sector. Everyone is really nice and come from a lot of different backgrounds.
The next day we all took a bus from Philadelphia to New York then a plane to Brussels then finally Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Arriving in Africa was so exciting- I really couldn’t believe that this was all happening! We all got onto a bus and drove to the hotel as the sun was setting and took in the views of the jungle that we landed into. Cameroon is so beautiful!
The first 5 days we were in the capitol at a hotel and were given many orientations to the culture and background of Peace Corps in Cameroon. We’ve had to do countless introductions to different officials and have had the opportunity to go to a cultural dance show, have dinner with the US Ambassador and be on a national television show!
On Tuesday we left the capital and headed 2 hours north to where we will begin our trainings and move in with a home stay family. It has been such a change going from the large capital to the small village of Bokito where I am living now. My host family consists of a grandmother, a mom and dad, and 5 boys aged 17, 12, 11, 2 and 1. The house I live in is a 25 minute walk through dirt paths to get to the training site- we are really in the jungle/forest! Everyday we have trainings from 8am to about 5 or 6pm. The days are long then we come home to the host families to practice speaking French (which for me is still pretty much a mix of Portuguese) and integrate ourselves into the family and culture.
I am really excited about being here and really impressed with the way the Peace Corps has set up the trainings and how they have such a strong presence here in Cameroon.. We are all being trained on medical procedures to keep ourselves safe and healthy- I am really surprised with how many materials the PC has provided us. We are definitely well taken care of and watched over if anything goes wrong.
I have so much more to share but it will have to wait for another post. Right now I only have access to Internet 2 days a week and it is pretty slow. I think that will change soon but for now if you contact me and it takes awhile to respond, bear with me! You can call me… I am most available on Sundays- 011 237 740 58 032!

One week countdown

My blog for Brazil never really took off- I could never get myself to write about life there without it sounding like some kind of "othering" process that I was studying at Berkeley. My time in Brazil was absolutely amazing and I plan to move back to Rio someday.

For now, my next trip is to Cameroon with the Peace Corps for the next 27 months! I will do my best to write straight-forward about my experiences without feeling like I am objectfying anyone or thing.

I received my invitation to join the Peace Corps one day when I returned to my apartment in Rio- the night guard told me a package had come for me and I knew exactly what it was..... I rushed upstairs to open the envelope that read, "Congratulations- Your Assignment: Community Health Educator Country: Cameroon Start Date= Sept 15, 2011 End Date Dec 3, 2013". It was so intense and I had 10 days to decide if I should try and stay in Brazil or accept the position. It was not an easy decision but I decided to go ahead with the Peace Corps. 27 months is a hard commitment to actualize and I am not sure if it has even sunk in yet.

I leave on Wednesday, September 21st from Cleveland to Philadelphia for a one-day staging event where I will meet the other volunteers. We will spend one day there then the next day we will be taking a bus to New York City to fly to Yaounde, Cameroon. There we will stay a few days in the capital for orientations and by Monday I will be moving in with my host family for my 3-month language and technical training in a city 2 hours north of Yaounde.

I will be studying French and learning different community based techniques for health interventions for the first three months. In November I will be assessed for my placement of where I will be living for the next two years.


One week left to say all my goodbyes, pack and try to prepare mentally for what is coming my way!

Getting settled

One week in Rio and I am starting to feel settled- I love it!

Looking for an apartment was harder than I expected... I guess I didn't quite take into account that it is the peak of summer and Carnaval is right around the corner so it is almost impossible to find a place. I was searching in newspapers and online rental ads for a place. Doing this forced me to learn many new works in Portuguese that I didn't know... haha I had to learn all the terms for renting, rooms, bathrooms, kitchens, monthly bills, total costs, shared spaces.... everything. Luckily my friend Gustavo helped to call many of the places ahead of time to explain my situation in Portuguese.

It was a challenge- some days I got really down asking myself what I was even doing here... especially after I went and visited one apartment. It was in an area that was hard to get to by public transportation and on the way I got a little lost. When I finally arrived I ended up in this run down part of town at a run down house. The maid opened the door to show me around the house. It was dirty, had broken windows, old pipes, next to no ventilation and the room she showed me was an addition to the house in which you had to climb a rusty staircase to enter. When she showed me the room I asked her if this was a safe place to live. She responded, “ Safe? Ha! I live in a favela and I would not even live here!” So that being said, I walked out of there.


My friend who used to live here gave me a contact of a guy who was opening up a language school for lower-income students in Rio. I contacted him and set up an interview for working together. We met and talked for a few hours- He is a really great guy. He introduced me to his mother who rents rooms in her house as part of a homestay option for foreigners. Because I will be working with her son, she gave me an extremely good deal on the room- it is way less than the crappy apartment I just wrote about and she cooks me breakfast everyday- and even gave me the first month free! The house is on the 15^th floor of a secure building 3 blocks from the ocean in one of the richest neighborhoods of Rio. It has large windows that are always open to let in the ocean air- unreal!

I will be helping her son open the language school- I am excited to see what I can bring to the school and the organization of the classes. He told me he would be able to get me a work visa- my current tourist visa only allows me to stay 6 months out of the year but the work visa could change that.... will I stay longer? Time will tell. I came here to feel things out and see what I can make of myself- it great opportunities decide to come my way, I will take them!


All my plans for Rio literally fell into place..... Nothing was for certain and I definitely went out on a limb to make this all work out. There were some really rough moments of doubting my decision to return to Brazil... but now things are starting to work out as I wanted them to play out. Anyone who knew all the details of this process know that I never gave up- I was overly stubborn to make this work and now that it is I am feeling so alive and good about life! Thank you to everyone who encouraged me and kept my spirits high during this process! I am glad things worked out the way they did because through the countless hours of research and headache I put into this, I learned alot about how NGOs function and work and how to set up independent projects outside of the country to hopefully use for myself one day.

Vamos!