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

Fun in the city

What an amazing start to the week!

Monday we had the opening of the Ecotourism and Craft center. This was great as it was one ceremony that had nothing to do with us so no impromptu speeches where required. 

Dancing by the Youths 

Traditional flags were used in the performance

It was really interesting firstly I met a guy called nelson who is on the Agroforestry committee he wanted us to come visit his nursery. He was also one of the most touchy feely men I’ve met here. But on a plus note it seems Cameroonian men are about the right size for me 

Me and Nelson

Today we went to Bamenda to do some shopping, we were taken by one of the fons son Kizitor who as well as being a prince drives a taxi. Also again just the right height. 

Me and Kizitor

The whole city was so noisy and busy, however it was surprisingly clean and apart from the occasional cry of "white man" we were left to wander and not hounded too much.

Commercial avenue, Bamenda

We saw a great master at work in Kizitor, who refused to let us pay full price for anything. Also he had a great local knowledge so took us to this amazing stall in the market place where there was a man who made traditional crafts 

Traditional craft stall

I was very tempted by one of the juju masks but I didn't think I could pull it off.

Juju mask used to bring good luck and ward off bad spirits 

For lunch we went to this nice restaurant that had as their special greek salad and had cappuccinos! We of course left and found a back ally where we had rice and meat like any good Cameroonian. On our way back we headed up the mountains where we could see one of the waterfalls, 

Waterfall

and after a bit of a climb a panoramic view of the city 

the climb

Bamenda

We finished off the day by eating fresh coconut and showing off our new purchases to Teresa and Fernando. 

Second Day off

For our second day off in Bambui, we decided to take another trip to the neighbouring villages on our search for African crafts for the new reignite shop, which opens this Monday.

We found this old man who makes picnic baskets, it’s amazing what people make and it’s just sitting on a poll outside their house by the side of the road.

Then we continued to Fundong  (from around Bamenda) where we decided to see the palace. The previous Fundong Fon was famous for having 100 wives.. The palace is situated on the top of a mountain, a good strategic position but very difficult to access. Whilst we were climbing we encountered some villages herding cattle with horses, the horses were terrified of the car so we had to stop and pull over whilst the horses where dragged past. When we finally reached the palace we were met by a queen who asked if we had anything for the king… we had totally forgot so used the baskets we had brought earlier that day and then we bought some alcohol from the queen to put in. I also had to borrow a strip of fabric from the queen to use a skirt as I was wearing trousers which I couldn’t wear in front of the Fon.

The palace was amazing, really old and had lots of wooden carvings all over the place. We were taken to this courtyard to meet the Fon who was sitting down. He was very old at least 80-90 years old meaning he was probably the son of the Fon with 100 wives. He only spoke pigeon so we had to use one of his wives as a translator. He then invited us to sit down and share some food…. And hour and a half later we had something to eat. The whole time we were in silence, or near to it. It was a very strange experience sitting still for an unspecified time, at one point I thought there was smoke coming down but it was actually a cloud moving over the compound, as we were so high up. We finally left after a photograph, and a promise to tell our Fon we had met as they are old friends. He told us he would hit our king when he saw him as they were very old friends.