Chris’ Lessons learnt

So I’ve managed the impossible got Chris to write another blog post, this time it’s got actual words and feelings in it! So as a parallel to my post about lessons learnt here is Chris’ impressions of his placement so far.

1.       I hadn’t anticipated the urbanisation of the village due to the rapid expansion of the local university. This includes the presence of mini cities (apartment blocks) with high wastewater flows causing widespread ground contamination.

2.       I wasn’t expecting the level of interest from the local people about the project. Everyone wants to feel involved so they like to know my program. I also get asked for advice on a broad range of engineering topics which are outside of my field as a water/wastewater engineer. I don't actually mind this as it keeps me on my toes and I like feeling as though I'm helping out as much as possible... But it can distract me from my project, the programme for which is already tight!

3.       I should have packed earlier/ better as I intended to bring DVDs which would have been useful. I probably should have brought and extra pen (to add to the broken one I brought). And possibly a calculator. 

5.       I should have brought a football as they are massively overpriced.

6.       I’ve learned to understand other people’s concept of time. It may not be the same as mine. 3 months is not a long time in which to complete this project and therefore it can be frustrating at times when we're delayed by people turning up late.   

7.       People here are friendlier than I thought they would be. A friend told me a saying from East Africa; “if you have a friend from West Africa, you don’t have a friend”. But I think this is grossly unfair as I’ve met some lovely people here. Plus, Cameroonians consider themselves to be Central African!  

8.       Due to the fact that Fernando and Teresa are really well embedded into the community I feel that has taken a lot of responsibly off my shoulders when it comes to stakeholder management. They already know who to inform and who I should pose questions to. They understand how institutions such as the Village Council, the Palace and the District Council operate and interact. If I had to find all of this out for myself, I would be much further behind with my project and I would not know who to keep informed.  

9.       The local food isn't great which I expected, however, Madam Eunice (wife of the BAWA manager) is an amazing cook. We were invited to dinner and had rice, stew, beans and potatoes. It was more flavoursome than most Bambui food. It should also be said at this point that Fernando's fried chicken is better than other leading brands!!