Reflection

So as my time is coming to an end I thought I would do a reflection of my time here in Cameroon.

So I think for the first time I’m beginning to relax and enjoy myself. Not that I haven’t enjoyed myself, but there was always this looming 90 days away from any comfort that I had known, or basics like showers and food. It was always thinking about what would I do when I got back. However I think now that it’s only 24 days away it feels like everything can wait. To some people this must seem like a long time but when you have only 1 weeks to finish your project, time will definitely fly. It’s almost like if I crave chocolate or cheese I only have 3 more weeks and then I can just go and get them. The only thing that I am concerned about is the fact that I have so little time before I have to go back to university. I'll still be marveling at things like showers and shops and cash points being everywhere! 

I am more concerned about what I’ll miss now, going from longing for the UK to getting nostalgia for Cameroon, WHILST I’M STILL HERE! I suppose this means I have better opportunity to savor the good things. Firstly the absolute freedom (well within a boundary) I can decide on my site visits and plan my work schedule decide on meetings and when I want to have lunch. Even in the evening or when I want a day off, okay I normally have to consult Chris but he is quite complaint. Not having to look after myself, I wake up and my breakfast is usually set out for me to pick and choose from and then I always go out for lunch. Then it’s Fernando's superb cooking for dinner, or possibly a trip out.  In addition my washing and ironing is done for me and I never have to do washing up, well occasionally I do but it’s sporadic at best. As anyone who knows me, knows I hate cooking!

So what about the future 2013 AC (after Cameroon)? Some things I hope will change, I want to be a little bit less superficial, this is probably the longest I’ve ever gone without wearing makeup. Having the choice of 10 items of clothing for 3 months means that you just don’t really care what you look like, favouring practicality over fashion. I hope to keep my slimmer frame, this has been the best diet, remove yourself completely from any junk food and most other types of food lol I also probably walk 1 hour everyday with a very heavy bag . I hope to maintain this (though it will be impossible) and possibly join some good teams back at uni maybe even the girls football team (amateur for sure) and possibly netball. what will probably be more likely is i'll binge on everything I was kept away from and slip into a food coma. 

So what about personal growth/ awareness? I have come to the sad conclusion that I talk too much, I have always been aware that I’m chatty but it’s almost like a disease! Chris has become quite exasperated by me and I do feel sorry for him sometimes. I also realise that although I love helping people there is lots of problems with international aid. I have to admit Reignite is amazing and navigating these tricky waters very well, bringing skills and sustainability to projects rather than just throwing money at it. But I have seen other projects that have had issues and things that should really be done by governments rather than international aid. I think I would like to do something similar again, or even work abroad for a bit but for right now i'm looking forward to my next year in England :D 

An Update

For the past week I have been very busy and the Internet has been crap, a dangerous combination for a healthy blog. So here is just a quick update.

We had another day off and decided on a trip to Bamenda to go fabric shopping, as we can’t come to Africa without getting an outfit hand made. It was lots of fun picking out the different fabrics, then getting some trimmings. I decided on a nice blue and red fabric, whilst Chris went for the OTT African look. Later in the week Evangeline, our secretary at BAWA took us to her tailor. She was a lovely women and had known Evangeline since primary school. We always loved what she wore so we felt happy to try her out.  When we walked in she presented a catalogue for me to look through, and after I had decided on what I wanted, a tunic and a dress, it was time to get measured. We collect them next week and hopefully everything will be perfect and I’ll have some nice pictures to show everyone back home.

Evangeline

The next the morning we found out that some of the local farmers came to set up a nursery in the back of the house to plant the seeds that I brought from England to help the Cameroonian bees, this was so nice as I thought that they had forgotten but it just takes a bit of time.

The day started with me deciding to finally do my soil testing. I decided the best place would be outside BAWA and I was soon joined by the technicians and even a few locals who all wanted to know what on earth I was doing. I then began to describe a bit about soil mechanics that I don’t think translated very well.

Then we were off to the Ecotourism centre to help the youth guys build a Tippy Tap for Chris’ sanitation project. 

Bambui Sports Report: Mbifie hold on to Title in Final Clash of the Season

Mbifie 1 – 1 Ndoka (6 – 5 after penalties)

Last Sunday was the cup final between Ndoka FC and Mbifie FC, or as we called them; Spurs and Barca.

Although we go to watch the football every Sunday this week it was different. A local businessman had decided to sponsor the cup competition. The prize for the victorious finalist was a whopping 1,000,000 CFA! This is around £1300 which is a substantial amount of money in Bambui.

The promise of this large cash prize turned the usual grassroots competition, with its viewing figure of around 100, into a spectacular event drawing a crowd of well over 3000 from all over the region. The Fon and other dignitaries were on hand to give out the prizes after the pulsating match reached its climax with Mbifie snatching the cup on penalties.

This was the 4^th consecutive year in which Mbifie have put their name on the trophy which really highlights their dominance over the Bambui football league and the culture surrounding it.

All of the teams in the Bambui league play in replica kits of European football clubs. Mbifie play in that of Tottenham Hotspur (probably due to Cameroonian international Benoit Assou-Ekotou’s presence at the club), while Ndoka chose to model the kit of Barcelona. Even though we like to support the underdog (Ndoka, having never won a trophy), it was nice to see someone in a Spurs shirt receiving a medal…

As is always the case here in Cameroon, the match was heated. Mbifie should have been down to 10 men in the first half. The occasion had clearly gotten to the referee which clouded his judgement in the opening 30 minutes. After a harsh challenge by a powerful Mbifie defender (already on a yellow card) on one of the Ndoka starlets, the referee reached for his cards only for the Mbifie captain to grab the cards from the referee’s hand and refuse to give them back! This resulted in the defender not receiving his second yellow – and nothing was done about the Mbifie captain – Now I’m no expert on the rules of the Cameroon Football Federation (FECAFOOT) but perhaps they should have been down to 9 men?!

After a tense first half in which tempers flared and the local army tamed the crowd by appearing menacing with their weapons, the deadlock was broken on 60 minutes by Ndoka FC. A neatly taken set-piece resulted in a powerful header hitting the back of the net which sent the crowd wild. This sparked the first pitch invasion of the afternoon. I was impressed (and comforted) by the army personnel’s quietly firm and professional response to the invasion, calmly asking that people walk back to their spectator positions.

Ndoka’s lead was short lived. A smooth short and quick passing move resulted in the Mbifie striker calmly breaking through the Ndoka defence to slot a low drive past the keeper. It was 1-1. And time for the Mbifie fans to run onto the pitch.

As the game was still tied on 90 minutes the referee signalled that the match would go straight to penalties to decide who would be victorious. Extra time was skipped due to the (surprisingly…) late starting of the match and the fact that it would be dark soon.

It was all down to fate.

After the first 5 penalties it was still even; both teams converting 3 of the 5. In sudden death the Mbifie goalkeeper showed everyone why he is regarded as the best stopper in Bambui by saving Ndoka’s 7^th spot kick and silenced his critics by ensuring victory for the competition favourites.

The pitch invasion which followed this tense and atmospheric finale was just as entertaining as the match itself. Cars, bikes, a man on a horse, flags, flares, horns, drums and general joy could be seen and heard emanating from the hallowed turf of the St Peters pitch.

Mbifie were victors however Ndoka will feel they should have taken something from the game.

Who can stop Mbifie? Ndoka are easily the main contender to the throne of Bambui football however they need to invest in their squad and work on a ‘plan B’. Playing everything through their star players, numbers 7 and 17, is not always effective. This strategy was immobilized by Mbife by simply marking them out of the game and dominating the midfield with their strength. It is claimed by some fans and the wider community that the repercussions of this defeat could spell the end of the Ndoka managers time at the club as they are perceived to underachieve.

So, Mbifie take the biggest prize in Bambui football again, however it was not as easy as they’d have liked. Does the nature of this win show that they can be beaten? Yes. Does it show that their glory days are drawing to a close? This reporter doesn’t think so.

Chris Maughan

Reignite Sports Editor, Bambui, Cameroon    

Jo: I saw some nice footballers and got free wine! And food!

The Tippy Tap Demonstration

This post is from Chris, as this was a brilliant step in his quest for improved sanitation for people living in Bambui.

The Tippy Tap was introduced to me by Lisa at the EWB Professional Network in Newcastle. A group of us actually made one on a damp dull day in the Toon.

When I came to Bambui and assessed the hygiene and sanitation facilities in the schools and other public places I saw that in most places it was almost impossible to wash your hands after using a pit toilet or before eating food. I instantly saw how useful the Tippy Tap could be and I can’t even begin to imagine the health benefits that this simple contraption could bring to the community. So, cheers Lisa!

So, here’s the background: Around 3.5 million children under the age of 5 die every year from diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections. That’s more than AIDS, TB and malaria COMBINED. It’s thought that something as simple as hand washing could spare 1.2 million of these young lives by preventing the transmission of infection.  

The Tippy Tap is a basic and cheap piece of kit which can be constructed out of local and sometimes recycled materials. It works by pressing a pedal with your foot to pour water onto your hands. Soap hangs on a piece of string next to the water container so that it is within easy reach. This method of hand washing only uses a tiny amount of water per person while it also virtually eliminates transmission of germs form one person to another. And you don’t need to be connected to a water main! A teacher or caretaker can fill up the container at the start of each day with water from a nearby standpipe.

Teresa asked me whether we could construct a demonstration hand washing facility outside of the Reignite Ecotourism & Craft Centre and I knew the Tippy Tap would be perfect for this. It can be used by the surrounding population so that by the time school starts, the children will already have seen it in use and will maybe even ask their teachers for one at their school.

I gave the instructions to the guys at the Centre and I was impressed that they’d managed to acquire all of the materials and decorate the wood for just 2,000 CFA (£2.60ish). I popped in to help assemble it which only took us 10 minutes!

We presented the Tippy Tap to the Quarter Heads and members of the Bambui Village Council. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. People have since asked me if I can go to their house and construct one for them! I think Teresa sees this as a small business opportunity for the youths as they already know how to construct them. I’ll be running a small workshop to teach the Bambui Village Council Health Committee and other members of the Bambui Youth Organisation the science behind this initiative as well as how to construct the Tippy Tap.

Overall the demonstration and Q&A session went well. The young guys at the Ecotourism Centre did a great job with the construction and everyone seemed to love the idea – especially for schools.   

I hope that over the coming weeks and months we will see this rolled out as a standard piece of equipment across every school in Bambui, as well as the markets and health centres.

Please check out www.tippytap.org for more information on this device and see where else in the world it is being used!

Tabasang Titus

Sadly this week our friend and colleague Titus passed away suddenly. He worked with us at the Bambui Water Authority where he was a highly regarded technician. Titus always managed to make us laugh and smile with his stories of local life, as well as impress us with his professional and dedicated approach to his work which involved safeguarding the community’s water supply.

Although we have only been in Bambui for 2 months, we saw Titus almost every day and were lucky to be able to call him a friend.

Titus had briefly suffered with an illness, the complications of which, along with his high blood pressure, caused him to have a stroke which resulted in his passing. It saddens and frustrates us further that Titus was alive when he arrived at the hospital however there was no equipment to care for him. The hospital has only one respirator which was being cleaned and so was full of water. This could not be used and Titus could not be given oxygen. By the time he could be treated elsewhere, it was too late.

It’s difficult and perhaps unfair to compare the health care facilities in Bambui, Cameroon with those in the UK, but we can’t help feeling that this entire situation could have been averted had Titus been diagnosed and treated with simple medication earlier. This is the reality across much of Africa. The life expectancy in Cameroon is just 55 years. It’s tough here.

Titus was 43. He leaves behind his wife and 5 children.

Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time for the Bambui community. 

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!! 

Site visit #3 (through the magic of pictures)

I've done a few post now where I've done a lot of writing, so I thought I would give you a break and express my latest site visit through the magic of photos, courtesy of Fernando . Enjoy!