Lessons Learnt

So I’m over half way through my project and I think it’s time to share some knowledge about the things I have learnt.

1.       You will always pack the wrong thing - In my head I genuinely thought all of Africa was hot, I packed light clothing and brought loads of sun cream. But it’s rainy season here and quite cool. The one hoodie that my mum forced me to take has been amazing on a cool morning. However saying that, it does get warm around midday enough to break out the sun cream but perhaps bringing 4 bottles was a bit excessive.

2.       You will go OTT on medication - like the packing I was convinced every other day I would be chained to the toilet either chucking up or let’s just say “clearing the bowels” but that hasn’t been the case at all, bar one day where I went off my food after a dodgy lunch I’ve been fine what would have been better is some cold and flu tablets or a hot lemsip.

3.       The restrictions - as I’ve mentioned previously I have been independent for many years being able to get around the UK with no difficulty. Being able to buy whatever I wanted and have a multitude of activities within easy reach to occupy myself. This is defiantly not the case here. You will have restrictions put on you for your safety, probably more than if you were an independent traveller. As if you decide to rent a motorcycle without ever having driven one the only person you have to answer to is yourself (and perhaps your parents). But on a placement  your partner organisation is responsible for you, so if you get injured it might reflect badly of them (as they have to answer to EWB if you get injured).

4.       Living without -If you had to imagine what you could live without back in the UK you could probably go without your favourite food but how about TV, power, internet, water? We have had no water for 3 days now, having to live with filling up containers and using that to wash. Having to manually fill up the toilet so it will flush, having to use a bucket to wash your hands, having to use a jug to wash up. Don’t get me wrong most days everything is fine we have fast internet, water power etc. but on the odd occasion you have to live without.

5.       Problems with Communication – now I’m in an English speaking area so I should be okay right? However not only do the natives speak Bambui, which I have learnt my fist phrase “a-ben wa-a” which means good morning, but most of the English they speak is pigeon. Also when they do speak English they speak with turns of phrase that are completely different to what you’re used to. And when all information is communicated orally this can be a big barrier.

6.       Barriers due to culture and traditions- on one hand this has been amazing to see the traditions of the area and to witness all the things that go on but it also takes a lot of time. If you are on a site visit you may be required to go to someone’s house to great them and their family. If this happens you are required to eat some food and drink something even if you are not hungry or thirsty. This is all part of the relaxed nature of Cameroon where it doesn’t matter how long things take as time to them is infinite. Whereas to us it’s not, we have very little time to complete our projects and we need to get going with our work.

7.       Dealing with the people – The Bambui people are one of the friendliest I have ever met and they genuinely are pleased to meet us. But even with this you have to be ready to adapt and work with people, they will casually say that you should buy them things or give them gifts/money and this is completely normal. You have to realise this and not get frustrated or get annoyed just smile and say perhaps or say nothing. When people ask you to buy things say “no thank you” or “next time”. What is considered rude in the UK is perfectly normal here, like answering the phone during a meeting or picking your nose when you are speaking to someone.  We were once stopped by some youths who created a barrier near our work asking for money as they were fixing the roads. We could have got annoyed or refused but instead we gave them 100 CFA which is about 13p and said good work.

Now again this seems like I’m complaining about my placement but I’m not it’s just that I could never have imagined these things. Although we had a wonderful week in London talking about all these issues it’s very different from experiencing them first hand. Even for seasoned travelers the differences between visiting a place and living and working there are very different.  

Water Balance Site Visit

As another part of my project I am conducting a water balance mapping the water that is available against the current use and future demands. This involved going and visiting the springs, which are in the middle of nowhere

On our way to the site we were literally attacked by soldier ants or army ants.

These giant biting ants which managed to go in my hair, down my top and up my trousers all at the same time! I swear despite being with three guys I was very close to stripping off. So after a frantic picking and slapping we were free of ants ish (I did keep finding them in my hair). I also managed to have a fight with a thorn branch leading to my first blood split in Bambui. 

So we continued to measure the flows using a bucket and stopwatch . I have also started to train up one of the technicians, Anthony, to measure flow and take the GPS reading.

He seems really excited to find out how to do it and amazed me today when he designed his own way to measure the spring at Nkandeng which has yet to be harvested. He dug down a pit which he placed the bucket in and then used a section of plantain tree to funnel the water into the bucket. They also seemed to be able to get their head around the simple mathematics behind measuring the flow.

If a 12 Litre bucket took 12 seconds to fill then the flow is:

 1 Litre per second.

This is brilliant as for seasonal measurements of the flows as we need measurements from both the wet and dry season. I’m only here in the wet season so I will need to have people like Anthony to be able to do these measurements in the dry season.

So i'm sure you want to know why I'm not crying about how this was the worst day ever, with the ants and all.  Well… When we went to Atunui to measure the water flow of the stream three Bambui youths we there in just their underwear having a swim, and let me tell you they didn’t look too bad :P Unfortunately it would be the height of bad manners to photograph them so here is a picture of the stream and you can fill in the blanks.

 But it was something like this

Christopher's Fist Blog post

I have realised that some people might be interested to find out how Chris is doing, as he would never start his own blog I have forced him to write a blog post for mine. These are his words:

Here is a summary of things, stuff and occurrences:

Number times I have shared the front passenger seat of a taxi with a nice man: 1

Number of times I’ve shared the back seat of the taxi with 3 (THREE) large mamas: 1

Number of times I’ve fallen over walking down a hill: 2

Average temperature of fufu: >800°C

Average density of fufu: >a large black hole

Number of times I’ve eaten fufu: 4

Number of times someone has yelled “white man” at me: 100+

Number of times children have sang a “white man song” at me while walking down the road: 1

Number of rogue poos that I have seen in my frequently attended pit latrines: 10+

Number of times I’ve times I have forgotten someone’s name: 25+

Number of times a man has held my hand for an uncomfortable period of time: 8

Number of times I’ve been asked if I’m German: 5

Number of times I’ve been asked if I’m American: 5

Number of times I’ve witnessed two rival football managers having a fight: 1

Number of times I’ve been mistaken for Prince Harry: 1

Number of whole bottles of ketchup I’ve consumed: 1.5

Number of bowls of beans I’ve eaten: 30

Number of times I’ve seen a man hit over the head with two live chickens: 1

Number of times I’ve worn wet shoes: 10

Number of times I’ve seen a man chase a goat over a field: 1

Number of times children have yelled “white man” at me from the boot of a passing car: 1

Incidents of major traffic accident near misses: 31

Number of heated arguments with the man from the Camtel office: 1

Number of times I’ve explained the concept of pizza to someone: 8

Number of times someone has talked to me about the occult, black magic, witches and wizards: 10

Number of times I’ve been asked to quote a price to sell Jo to a local man: 1

Price I quoted to sell Jo to a local man: 1 (fairly healthy) cow

Number of times I’ve embarrassed Jo at a football match by being a yob: 4 (per match)

An unapologetic western experience

So today we had our weekly day off… and let me tell you it has been epic!

Personally I think me and Chris have been integrating very well with the community. We go to football matches on Sunday, we eat at “four corners” bunched up with the locals, we eat the local food, we follow all the traditions and customs (I can’t even tell you how many times Chris has held a guys hand because that normal here) But today was different.

We met up with Jenifer, a peace core volunteer from the US, who has been in Cameroon now for almost 3 years. We decided to go to Bemenda as she said she knew some “white man” stores. So that’s what we did, we did the touristy gift shopping at prescraft (the only tourist shop) instead of wandering around markets for hours on end. We brought cheese, mustard, pringles and lintt chocolate. We came home and had left over carrot and coriander soup with fresh bread, cheese and mustard instead of cooked meat, plantains and rice. We played cards games like “go fish” and “black jack” whilst eating the Pringles and chocolate. But what was the best was the free flow of conversation, talking about religion, politics, weather, Cameroon, things back home like TV shows, something that only a westerner would know.

It really got me thinking about how much effort I have been putting in with people, I think it’s a lot easier for Chris to talk to people but I have to initiate conversations, as people tend not to talk to women. I have to speak slower and repeat what I’m saying till people understand me (everyone thinks I’m speaking French). Even with our partner organisation, who are originally Portuguese, there are certain words or phrases that we will have to explain or some of our British-isms don’t translate.  

Although I loved today I found myself thinking it was a good experience but not something I wanted to continue to do too often. I can see the appeal of westerners sticking together and the comfort of being with someone who understands you but I don’t want to surround myself with western people even if it’s easier. I like having stilted conversations where I try to describe British public transport or autumn to people. We like walking with people and finding out about their lives and their history. Even if I spend most of my time with Chris who is also a British engineer I feel like we are on the same page with this and we are constantly making friends and talking to other people. 

A bad day

So I want to pre-empt this by saying how much I love my project and my partner organisation, I do believe (like everyone does) that this is the best EWB project this year. However yesterday I had a bad day.

It started on Friday where instead of going to our usual food haunt called the “little old man in the small shop on the four corners roundabout” (we should really find out the guys name to make things simpler) we went to another shop/shack. I ordered my classic meat and rice thinking that nothing could go wrong but the sauce tasted a bit off to me, after a few bites I really didn’t want anymore. That whole day I felt a bit off. I wasn’t to the pebble dashing/ vomit stage but it did put me off my food. Unfortunately this coincided with our partner organisations trip to the capital Yaounde. Meaning that, Chris and I, had to sort ourselves out for the whole weekend.

So there I was on Saturday feeling a bit crap fixing my own breakfast and lunch which each time I eat or drank made me feel ill, but I thought it was a better option than to not eat at all. This is when I started to get low and missed home. This isn’t in the “I wish I was back in the UK” because honestly I don’t. I just wish some of the luxuries that I took for granted there could be here. I wish I could have gone up the road to a supermarket, 1 minute from my house, and brought a really nice sandwich or some pringles (because I love them even if they are ridiculously expensive now). I wanted to slob in front of the TV which had lots of channels instead of two that were entirely in French. I wanted to decide to have a shower and just go, not have to fill up and wait for a kettle to boil and then try to get the right combination of hot and cold water, using a flannel and a scrub and soap to wash. I didn’t want to have to keep applying bug replant spray, even though the little gits still managed to find places to bite me (above my nail on my middle finger right hand!). When I decided to watch a film on my laptop I didn’t want to have to go get the voltage box and plug that in and my laptop when the battery ran dry. for dinner I din't want cooked chicken, I wanted beans on toast! I wanted to go for a walk to the park with my dog, or go shopping or go into town and go to a gallery or to the cinema. Something that I can’t do here as they don’t have them and I’m not supposed to go places by myself, also everything is an hour’s drive away or more and I would rather not get in a local taxi.

Okay rant over (and mum relax) after a good night’s sleep I felt much better, full of life and excited for my next couple of months.

So why do you ask did I share this bump in an otherwise perfectly happy blog? I think it’s important for people to realise that, like Andrew said, things will challenge you. When you are ill and missing that favourite thing back home this is when you have to be strong, and even on an amazing trip/ project where nothing really has challenged you, YOU may provide the challenge. Also we tend to romanticise things and I want this to be a true account of what I’m doing and yesterday I had a bad day. 

Farm Visit #2

So it was time for my second farm visit where I would finally get to see the areas where the irrigation would be installed. Firstly it was an unusually cold morning so we got some beautiful misty pictures of the local area. I think it added a certain majestic edge to my visit.

The first area we went to see was Wada which is in the Felieh District. We went to a farm that belonged to a man named Roland. There I got to take a soil sample not only from the surface but also from a small excavation. As I have been told the soil is drastically different in the dry season, so the topsoil loam (stuff that we buy from garden centers) that is so good is only due to the heavy rain fall, when the rain stops it’s normally returns to red clay (found in the excavations).

 At each location I was making notes, taking samples, making measurements, using a compass to find North and taking a GPS co-ordinates. Needless to say I had a lot of crap to handle. So I enlisted the help of the farmers to carry things. I say I enlisted they offered to help then decided to carry my bag for the whole day (something Chris thinks is unfair sexist treatment, but I think he’s just jealous that he doesn’t get the same treatment)

The farmers were a little bit confused about the reason I was taking soil samples, so I had to explain some soil mechanics to them. The three different particles of sand, silt and clays and how by finding out the percentages of these we can make assumptions about their properties like the flow of water, like one that comes from a new irrigation system.

Where in the UK we have diggers that can excavate great depths we had the BAWA technician, Anthony, and a spade. We got really lucky that on the ride from Wada to Nta-Ambang I spotted a clear cross section of the soil. People here prefer to see or touch things so this was a great opportunity for them to see the different layers of the soil.

 At Nta-Ambang we met some other farmers where I was again asked to explain why I was digging up the ground and taking a sample in a ziplock back that had previously held my socks during packing.

Then we all sat down for a drink and some of the farmers voiced their concerns about how the project would be handled. One of the farmers brought up a really interesting point which I think is especially relevent at the moment. Bambui is going through a rapid development stage with the introduction of a new university and many or the areas that are farmland could become houses, they are worried about the security of this system when the water will be needed for houses. This is why it’s important for us to calculate a Water Balance to see what the situation is with supply and predicted use. 

As per usual I was forced to make an impromptu speech about my project.

Our final visit was to Gheto where we got to see some more farms. However these were special as they don’t take their crops to market as the students from the university come straight to the farms to buy the produce, as they are right next door. As many farmers struggle to get their crops to the markets and experience heavy losses from damage or taxi costs, this was something great to see.  

My Cameroon statistics

So I have officially been a Cameroonian resident for 33 days. So I feel like we should put some statistics to this:

Day 2

Days spent in Bambui: 31

Number of Hot showers: 1

Number of bucket and kettle showers: 15

Number of whole chickens consumed: 7 (approximately)

Number of whole fishes consumed: 8 (approximately)

Number of times I’ve eaten street food: 3

Days off (officially): 3 not including Sundays

Number of malaria tablets consumed: 37 (two were accidents)

Number of times I’ve cleaned my room: 1

Number of times I’ve been drenched by rain (even though I should know better): 4

Number of Blackouts: 12 (one lasting all day)

Number of days with water shortage: 31 days (usually in the morning only)

Number of days I’ve been sick: 1 (through my own fault)

Number of Cameroonian Football matches I’ve seen: 2

Amount of money I’ve spent: £50

Number of alcoholic beverages: 1 (and a cheeky glass of red) (hopefully this will increase after I finish my work)

Number of impromptu speeches: 20 at least

Number of times I’ve forgotten who people are: at least 25

Number of cameronians who have seen me in my PJ’s: 15 (they wake up very early, and who gets dressed for breakfast)

Number of days left of work: 41

Numbers of days till my return to the UK: 57

All these facts have been roughly approximated from my vague memories of July but with the beginning of August hopefully we will some of them increase (hot showers!) and at least one decrease (days till I’m back home).

Day 33