The word of the week is "Welcome!"

So I have finally made it to Cameroon and baring a slight mishap, where Chris missed his connection in Paris, we made it to Bambui (only 1 day late). We are having slight problems with the internet as a storm knocked down one of the towers but it’s being slowly fixed, as they say in “African time” which will probably be 2 weeks. We have also been rushed off our feat with everyday a new meeting. On my arrival it was meeting Mr Jude and Mr Polycarp two presidents of quarters in Limbe and Douala. I have also visited the king AKA the Fon, the police, the Brigade(more police), the lord mayor Mr Sofa etc. As well as meeting all the team from BAWA the Bambui water authority.

When we are not on the road (which is very bumpy) we are in the house. Everything is much bigger and spaced out here, but somehow it’s still warm and inviting. Teresa and Fernando are like a work mum and Dad. They look after us and cook all our meals. They have been giving us tours round the village. The food here is great. Everything is fresh and the meals have been amazing. I have a very nice bedroom and my own bathroom, I am really enjoying sleeping under a mosquito net. However there are no hot showers so I’m washing with a kettle and jug.

We went for a tour around the office where we will be working this summer which is basic but the people are so enthusiastic and innovative with what they have that I’m sure it will be fantastic. I feel like a foreign dignitary, everywhere we go we are giving a speech and introduced with shaking hands and welcomes. When we leave we also have to shake hands. We gave them a british flag which will be erected outside the office to show our partnership. There have been so many photos of us going about our work. 

We have had our first meeting where we sent out our plan for the 3 months, and it seems like we have no time at all! Hopefully I will be able to keep up with everything and be able to post photos soon 

At the airport

So i've managed to check in, at the right airport on the right day. As someone who hasn't done a lot of travelling solo this is a big deal. My loving brother and Dad drove me to the airport and hung around till it was time to check in. Surprisingly there wasn't any teary goodbyes, just my dad yelling at me to contact them every 3 days, limitted internet access means nothing to him :D so just a shot hop over the pond to Paris and then meeing up with Chris. So far so good :D

And so the time comes...Packing

So with only one day left I have decided to pack.Luckily I live with the most organised woman in the world...my mum. We managed to fit it all in and we were only 2 kg over the allowed weight.

Some excellent top tips for those who still have not packed
1. Roll clothes rather than fold
2. Group things together, and have all the essentials near the top (you don't want to have to go hunting for that toothbrush)
3. Plastic bags are great, put everything in sealable bags, it means they stick together and if anything explodes it will limit the damage
4. put everything in a bin bag, makes everything waterproof
5. with medication/pills try and transfer some over into different packages so you conserve space (you can usually fit another packet in each)
6. Invest in an old lady style pill box (at least for your first week) it means that you have easy access and you won't forget to take anything especially if you are taking new stuff or, like me, you have the worst memory .

Some Pre-Departure photos :)

Here are some photos from my pre-departure course hosted in Gillwell park scout center in London.

On of the many presentations that we did, good practice for our placements. This was all to do with identifying the relationships and importance of different groups of people. This can help when you have to solve problems with different stakeholders. 

A beautiful sunset over the park ruined by Sam who is working in Vigyan Ashram in India with fellow volunteer Liv.

Another shot at the sunset.

Showing off one of our many communal meals cooked by each team per night, you can also see the wonderful wild flowers, responsibly sourced by me, acting as out table decorations.

Working on split solving with Kirsten, Bobbie and Ina. With Kirsten heading to India, Ina to Mexico and Bobbie is off to... i'm not sure where, somewhere exciting though. 

Some more presentations. 

The troups returning after a thrilling game of ultimate Frisbee, played with a tray! Well it is a bunch of engineers what did you expect :P

The campfire, which was thoroughly used by us all as a breakfast venue and the nights entertainment. Becca being the queen of the fire starters. 

And some more presentations, you may be seeing a theme here. 

You can see the undivided attention of everyone, even I was starting to dread the hours of sitting and listing to things that would be incredibly useful to me in the following months.

Dinner Al fresco, luckily the weather held out for us and we got to dine out under the sun/stars each night.

A very amused Kirsten

The fields

One more try at getting a good sunset picture.

Happy Birthday to Anna, who brought us the joy of sharing her chocolate cake! 

And that was that! Hopefully I am now prepared for anything that gets thrown at me! Come on CAMEROON! 

Pre- Departure Course Fun

Hey everyone I'm blogging from London!

We are currently occupying a lovely little building in Gilwell park scout center. It's been amazing so far meeting all the other volunteers as well as finally meeting Chris, my project partner. We have been getting loads of information and managed also to see Ali and Mariana our project manager and partner organisation representative. The topics covered so far have been expectations, our roles, safety, the history of the organisation and on and on...

I defiantly feel more prepared and I feel like i may not fail completely which is always good. Everyone here is so different but we all share a passion for engineering. One of the most interesting thing I have learnt so far is about project motivations. They are either spawned from love or from anger, I thing my motivations are are about love and sharing it with other people as well as my time and my skills and ideas. Hopefully I will feel the same at the end of the project.

Time flies

So it's starting to get very real. I have booked my flights (baring a little £230 mishap with me getting the wrong month and having to make mad frantic calls to get it changed) and in 24 short days i'll be off. Today I was organising all my documents for my visa application, having never done one before this was quite interesting the letter of invitation from the King was AWESOME! I feel so wanted.

I'm picking up more practical items like clothes and contact lenses and thinking about what shampoo to take :D, I actually had a great trip to Go Outdoors where I tried on backpacks and looked a microfiber towels ( sad I know).
With regards to feelings I'm alternating between completely terrified and oddly optimistic. I've been stabbed in the arm so much i'm getting used to that dull pain that feels like I've permanently got a large bruise or a dead arm. And I'm feeling like i may not get a horrible illness and die, which is a good thing.

Fundraising has been great i'm just £232 short, also I got my first completely anonymous donation, very cool.  I can't imagine who it is but it's got me very intrigued.

Well that's it for now i have my training in 2 weeks, and then it's bye bye England.

Another First

So i've just come back from the doctors after discussing all my injections. I now have a dead arm from Getting Hep A & B jab. I've booked my Yellow fever and I have to go get my typhoid, Cholera and Malaria sorted. I'm going to be spending around £300 just to keep myself alive and well while i'm working. However on the plus side it wasn't actually that painful :D

Fundraising is still going well, I'm helping EWB- Birmingham to organise a band night, with the promise that they will give me some of the profits towards my personal fund. I'm always in awe of how helpful people are.

So only a million more things to complete on my checklist and i'll be ready to leave!