Happy Holidays!

Hope all is well. Things have been swell over here. I haven’t been doing too much traveling lately, except for going up to Buea/Limbe (beach) for Halloween and Kumbo (Northwest mountains) for a pretty delicious American Thanksgiving. 

Work in Bamenda has been pretty busy lately. The money for my Peace Corps Partnership project, the NGO Fair, has been raised!  THANK YOU again to all those who donated. The two-day event will be February 24-25, 2012 in the center of Bamenda.

At this point, I have been organizing planning meetings, drafting and sending out invitations, doing protocol (very important here to meet the authorities and get their approval), ordering publicity documents, fundraising, etc. I have been trying to raise money from businesses and local councils (as community contribution) but they are telling me to return next year (month). People are beginning to get into the Christmas spirit these next few weeks, meaning taking their mind off of work. I’ll have to try again in January.

I’m pretty excited for Christmastime. In Bamenda, there are already Christmas lights being strung in town and neighbors’ backyard trees. There is even a dancing Santa across from one of my offices. There will also be traditional festivals in the villages this time around. I will try to visit some of them, as chiefs (fons) will be around, everyone will be dancing, shotguns will be fired, Cameroonian food and drink will be heavily consumed, etc. I just went to a tailor and ordered my Northwest traditional dress...stoked!

In other news, I’m coming home for vacation! March 7-27, 2012, immediately after the NGO fair. Thanks Mom! Can’t wait to have a break and spend some time at home!

I’ll make this post short and sweet. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all!

Melange of Updates and Observations

Life has been eventful in Bamenda lately. We just had a presidential election (see previous post) with the incumbent re-elected and the swearing-in ceremony today (30 years in power and counting). No Arab Spring here, but a lot of police in town wearing riot gear. Last Wednesday, the main opposition leader, John Fru Ndi, returned from the capital city to his hometown (here, Bamenda). When he arrived with his entourage, the police stopped him and said his car could only pass through a certain street (behind the main city road) to get back to his house. He refused to do so, publicly stating that as a citizen he should be free to walk on any street he chooses in Bamenda. The police continued to refuse him access, so Fru Ndi stepped out of his car and walked to his home (which is on the other side of town). By now, a large gathering came to the streets and accompanied him on his walk. As they were passing a certain junction, City Chemist, a man in his new car shouted, “Na who Fru Ndi dis (who is Fru Ndi)” in a mocking manner. He drove through the junction and hit a motorcycle driver. This upset the crowd and people yanked him out of the car and beat him up. They flipped his car over and burned it. If the guy did not escape, he would have been killed by mob justice. But after that incident, the crowd at Fru Ndi’s compound was peaceful upon return.

I was actually on my side of town and Peace Corps warned me not to enter the main street. The media reported that the bike guy died, but he was actually not injured. People also learned that the riot was incited by convicts recently released from prison. After the burning of the car, these convicts smashed windows at the gas stations and looted for items. People here say that the media is painting Bamenda as a radical opposition city ready to protest and fight the presidential results – when in fact, the return of Fru Ndi to his home was peaceful and everything returned to normal the next day. Americans, be grateful for your democracy and your freedoms. At least you have a right to protest and complain about your government in peace. And at least you have a right to carry a gun. Other parts of the world are not as fortunate.

In other news, my NGO fair has been fully funded on-line! A great big THANK YOU to all of your support. If you made a donation, please send me your mailing address and I’ll send you a fun postcard. Now I just have to wait for the funding to trickle in and we can begin planning…more updates soon.

Also, my fair trade work with the Bamenda Handicraft Cooperative is moving along – my good friend and RPCV Gabe Albin designed the logo. Check out the website: www.bamendahandicraft.wordpress.com. If you know of any fair trade retail stores (besides Ten Thousand Villages), please inform me and I’ll contact them to order beautiful handicrafts from the Grassfields region!

I’ve started working more with GHAPE, a Kiva-supported microfinance institution here in Bamenda. They do awesome work (www.ghape.org and www.kiva.org) and I’m helping them build capacity within the staff. I taught a Microsoft Powerpoint class with them yesterday and will teach Excel next week. Strategic planning this month.

I don’t remember if I’ve already discussed this, but I enjoy my work and I love living in Bamenda. I know that I had a romantic vision of Peace Corps and envisaged two years of living in the bush, in a mud hut, using a latrine, etc. I wanted to see if I could challenge myself to live in ascetic conditions. But for me, this is not entirely the case. While there are obviously still many rural places that lack running water and electricity, not all of Africa is poor. Bamenda is considered by some as the intellectual capital of Cameroon, with people studying abroad and the Cameroonian Diaspora contributing to their families back home. Erase those stereotypical images of lions and elephants roaming around the savannah. Last night I had conversations about the iPhone 4, Blackberry phones, and listened to Bob Dylan and the Arctic Monkeys with Cameroonians at a wine bar. I remember someone mentioned once at a seminar, “Africa missed the Industrial Revolution. Let’s not let the IT Revolution pass us by.”

All the while, the electricity went out and we had to use candles until it returned. I’ll discuss this more as I get closer to the end of my service, but I believe that infrastructure and human capital are the two crucial elements to international development (I’ve been reading Jeffrey Sachs). If Cameroon can invest in their resources and their people and crack down on corruption, it can compete in the globalized world.

That is, if they choose to do so. 

Last update: I've been eating like a madman lately and I think I've slimmed down. Either I have a tapeworm or Cameroonian food does not make me fat. Score!

Experiencing a Presidential Election in Africa

This past Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011, Cameroon held its presidential election. 23 candidates were in the running, including the incumbent President Paul Biya of the CPDM party and the chairman of the main political opposition party, the Social Democratic Front’s (SDF) John Fru Ndi. The current president has been ruling Cameroon for 29 years, the fourth longest-serving ruler in Africa, and is highly expected to win another seven-year term.

Tension was in the air in the weeks leading up to Sunday, including a shootout on the main bridge of Cameroon’s economic capital, Douala, to protest Biya’s rule; undetonated bombs found in an electoral office in the beach town Limbe (both incidents on the same day) to threaten against corruption and election fraud; and arrests of over 200 demonstrators who participated in the 50^th anniversary of the October 1 “secession day” of Anglophone regions from the country. All of these events leading up to Election Day have kept Cameroonians vigilant.

Election Day itself was pretty quiet. Taxis did not run and business establishments were closed. People walked to their destinations. In Bamenda, the headquarters of the SDF, there were rallies the night before as people awaited their beloved leader Fru Ndi to return from campaigning throughout all ten regions of Cameroon. E-day went smoothly for the most part, but there were two reports of voting irregularities in Bamenda. In one, a woman was giving money to people to vote for a certain party. In the other, a boy stole 21 voter registration cards and tried using them all to vote for a certain party (vote early, vote often?). Both were caught and beaten up. I was having dinner last night and chatting with the restaurant worker. I asked him if he voted, and he said, “Why yes. My father is a member of the ---- party and he gave us all 5,000 francs each for voting for his candidate.”

I hung out with a good friend on E-Day and asked him if he was voting. He said, “Nope. My vote won’t count and the president will win anyway. I prefer to stay out of politics.” Now, having worked on a presidential campaign in the U.S., an apathetic response like that would have jolted me into Get-Out-the-Vote mode and I would have tried all sorts of arguments to change his mind. But here in Cameroon, it’s different. Things here can get violent quickly. In 2008, riots arose over soaring food and oil prices and the abolishment of presidential term limits. With the spirit of the Arab Spring, some Cameroonians are inspired to become like Egypt or Libya, while most want peace over change. “We have food and thus we are content. We don’t want to end up in civil war like our African neighbors” is a typical sentiment. But the tension is there. There’s rampant, blatant corruption that permeates in every fabric of society here. While I doubt there will be large-scale violence (crossing fingers), it can only take one leader to incite protests.

The election results are supposed to be counted and posted within 15 days after E-Day. Many Cameroonians are anxious to learn the results and complain that it shouldn’t take two weeks to count votes. Out of 20 million citizens, only 7 million are registered to vote. 7 million people did not turn out to vote on Sunday.

As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I’m not allowed to discuss my views on Cameroonian politics. Thus, rather than expressing my own words I’ll use President Obama’s. In a speech delivered to the Ghanaian Parliament in Accra, Ghana on July 11, 2009, these words still seem relevant in today's climate.

“We must first recognize the fundamental truth that you have given life to in Ghana: Development depends on good governance,” Obama stated. “That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long. That’s the change that can unlock Africa’s potential. And that is a responsibility that can only be met by Africans.”

“Yes you can – because in this moment, history is on the move.”

All I’ll say is that I think most Americans take their democracy and liberties for granted. People all over the world wish their elected officials could represent their interests without having to resort to (potential) violence. We will see what happens during these next 15 days (side note: my birthday is in 11 days!). Praying for peace, freedom, and justice.

Carmen

P.S. Like what you’re reading? Please support my Peace Corps work by donating to my NGO fair! Visit here:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=694-190

P.P.S.

Read the full text of Obama’s speech here:

http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2009/07/20090711110050abretnuh0.1079783.html#axzz1aUEWXB92

Being Called "White Man" in Cameroon – Thinking About Race

I know I have posted about being a Chinese-American in Cameroon in the past. Today, I will delve deeper into my thought process and reflections on race.


I just finished reading Malcolm X’s autobiography, my all-time favorite book, for the sixth time. Since age 19, I have read this book periodically to gauge my opinions on race relations to see if they have changed or progressed. Growing up in LA, I am conscious of race because Los Angeles is commonly referred to as the “melting pot” of America, where the largest immigrant populations settle when they move to the U.S. Movies like “American History X” and “Crash” took place in LA. Yet even while I am aware of racial stereotypes and the jokes that revolve around them, I have never been directly discriminated against in my home city.

However, when I stayed in other states, particularly Richmond, VA, working on a political campaign, the year 2008 was the first time I had been taken aback by overt comments made by both whites and blacks. “What are you doing from Hong Kong trying to elect a black man president?” “I will not vote for a black man because…”,etc. I will not list other comments that were WAY worse. Needless to say, I became even more aware that people judge others by skin color in predominantly homogenized areas, regardless of whether the remarks made are intentional or out of ignorance.

In Cameroon and other countries around the world, the color of my skin is more obvious than even in Richmond, VA. “WHITE MAN” or “LA BLANCHE” or “NASARA” is constantly called at to Peace Corps Volunteers and expatriates walking down the street. I have friends who say they don’t mind being called “white man.” But that makes sense because some of them are Caucasian and male. Well, Carmen is neither white nor male. So with less than a year of my time here, I’m still very irritated when people shout this to me. I understand that this is a common term (in Pidgin it’s “white man woman”), or a calling out of admiration, curiosity, etc., but because of my race consciousness I still can’t let it go.

It’s like a knee-jerk reaction when someone calls me “white man.” Because I’m light, I must have money. “White man, give me money.” It’s difficult with some people to explain that I’m just a volunteer and I really don’t have money. But people look at my features and bronze-yellow skin color, and others flip to think that I’m Chinese. Lately, taxi drivers have tried to rip me off by doubling my taxi fare price when I know the correct amount. I got into an argument with a taxi driver on my way to the office because he tried to double my price, I told him I’ve been here for over one year and know the price, he made a nasty remark, then I said I’d rather walk, and he uttered a hateful comment and glared at me. I got out and found another taxi. What made him think that way towards me? Was he disrespectful because I’m “white”? Does he hate Chinese people? Was he just pissed off that day? I didn’t have time to explain my story, that I’m a volunteer trying to engage the community and not some businessperson trying to exploit Africa. He probably judged me on the color of my skin and/or my Asian features. I am still fuming. One hurtful comment a Cameroonian made to me when I first arrived in Bamenda one year ago as I walked by, “You Chinese people should get out of Cameroon and go back to China.” I certainly did not deserve THAT, seeing as how I am a representative of peace and friendship from the United States of America. It makes me believe that human nature, regardless of one’s race, can be inherently ignorant by judging appearances.

I don’t mean to generalize this opinion about everybody, of course. There are awesome white people and awesome Cameroonians and awesome Cameroonian taxi drivers (I’ve had some of the best conversations with them here) that are completely respectful to me as a Chinese-American. But I do also believe that white volunteers’ treatment and experiences are far different than minority volunteers’. Generally, Cameroonians admire the Chinese so they are usually nice to me (just like white people – look up Stuff White People Like: Asian Girls). But I have also seen how Cameroonians act towards black Americans (particularly black American women), and they definitely would not treat a white man that way.

As Malcolm X broke with the radical Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad, he traveled to the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. He made the pilgrimage to Mecca and learned that there are light-skinned peoples in the world that are peace-loving and celebrate brotherhood and sisterhood. I wish more Cameroonians (and Americans) would have the opportunity to travel out of their home country and meet peoples and cultures from all walks of life. Or at least tune in to BBC news. It’s a good thing PCVs serve worldwide to promote Goal 2…

Scattered Rainy Days Encourage Scattered Thoughts

Hi everybody,

How are things? Hope the beginning of the fall season is treating you well. Right now it’s pouring rain, reminiscent of weather in DC (minus the humidity). Now that I’m in my second and last year of Peace Corps, I’ve really obtained a sense of my role here in Bamenda. I know which projects I’d like to work on, when to say no and not feel the need to appease others (I did that a lot in the beginning of my service), what foods I like, and the people I choose to surround myself with. Not too shabby, except all PCVs tell me the second year flies so fast I’ll be back home before I know it.

Goals for my second year: see this NGO fair through, continue organizational development with local NGOs in Bamenda, and creating linkages between the fair-trade certified Bamenda Handicraft store and U.S. and Western markets (will give more detail soon) and retaking French classes (my French skills have slacked. I need to be fluent in French speaking and writing).

And finally telling you all about what I do. Goals 1, 2, and 3 of Peace Corps. Bam.

I’ve been meaning to give a special shoutout to my friends who have served or are currently serving in Peace Corps worldwide. Most of them are UCLA alumni. Cheers to:

  

• Returned PCV Zach Williams – Niger: Zach worked in the health field and taught people how to eat nutritionally in the desert region. Zach, hope you’re well. You were the one who inspired me to join Peace Corps in college when I sat down with you for the Phi Alpha Delta interview. I was very sorry to hear when the Niger program pulled out a while ago.

• RPCV Jesse Lee – Romania; Jesse worked in the environmental protection field with local NGOs. I dig his activism. From student government to Peace Corps to the future...we've come a long way!

• RPCV Ankit Patel – Senegal; Ankit was a Small Business Development volunteer and worked in ecotourism to promote sustainable tourism right on the beach in his village. I remember guiding you through the PC process and was secretly anxious about my own application back in LA. I’m still sad I didn’t get to visit you while you were in Dakar during your six-month extension. I was in awe of your work. Africa reunion in the future?

• PCV Camille Aragon – St. Vincent & The Grenadines; Camille is currently working as a Youth Development volunteer in the education sector to create and manage educational programs. I hope you’re still teaching yoga at your lovely post and I’m so proud of you, old roomie!

• PCV Monique Green – Costa Rica; Monique is a Community Development volunteer working with the Children, Family, and Youth program. We need to have more Skype dates! I love hearing about your work.

• PCV Chris Latino – Mexico; Chris’s first post was in an insecure area earlier this year because of Mexican drug cartel violence. He had to switch posts for safety reasons and is now in another post. Chris, I think you are so courageous for staying in country and proud of you.

It’s good to know that we all go through the same ups and downs as Peace Corps volunteers no matter where we are in the world. Keep doing good work!

Sometimes I don’t know if I have topics to write about because things that may seem totally bizarre to people who have never spent time in Africa (at least West Africa) seem completely normal to me nowadays. It’s funny to see PCVs’ family and friends come into the country and gauge their reactions to certain things. For example, trash is everywhere on the streets. While the Bamenda Council does regular clean-up days each month, there is still trash out in public. When I asked a PCV friend’s mother about her impressions about Cameroon, her first response, “There’s SO much trash everywhere!” I think I’ve gotten used to flurries of activities here that something like trash doesn’t faze me…I just step over it.

I remember when I traveled to Peru with my friends Kat and Debby back in 2007. When we landed in Lima and took our first taxi ride, the three of us kept screaming at the top of our lungs at how drivers don’t follow the roads. It was SO scary. Then when we flew up to Iquitos to visit the Amazon River, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and stray dogs were traversing on the dirt roads in a chaotic manner. I remember yelling out, “How can people survive a road here? Why aren’t there accidents every other second?!”

That was my initial reaction again when I landed in Cameroon. Especially in Bamenda, cars, taxis, buses, and motorcycles are constantly driving around and honking to get your attention. I must admit, I still jump when I hear the horns and when the motorcycles get too close to me and it takes me a while to cross the street (trust me, there are no crosswalks and stop lights). But there is a certain organization to this chaos. Like people say here, they are “just managing” the roads. Drivers look at all directions and use hand signals and yell to get to their destination. They also drive slowly (except for the young "okada" bike boys...even Cameroonians exclaim, “Those okada boys – i dey craze!”) to make sure that no one gets hits. It’s still amazing to me how things work out in a synergistic fashion. One of my Cameroonian friends asked me about traffic here in Bamenda compared to traffic in the States. I had to stop and think for a second.

I said, “Well, since I’m from LA, the capital of traffic and congestion in the U.S., there are probably higher rates of accidents in LA than in Bamenda. Drivers drive like maniacs because they love to speed and curve in and out from cars.” At least in Bamenda, people here drive slowly and for the most part drive defensively to manage the traffic. But we must also be careful – now that certain roads are tarred (paved), drivers feel the “need for speed” like they do back in LA/NYC. It’s weird to see the disparities as a developing nation adapts to developed nations’ practices. Tourists may think this is all crazy chaos, but it works.

Those are my scattered thoughts for today. Please support my work in Cameroon by donating to my NGO Fair project! I have raised $1,030 now…only $2,811.03 to go!

Visit here:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=694-190

People have been asking about the deadline to donate. I am hoping to raise the full $3,841.03 by September or October, so please visit the link as soon as you can. The sooner I can raise the funds, the sooner I can assemble the planning committee to organize and market the fair.

Thanks for continuing to read my blog and I really appreciate your comments. We are together.

Carmen

A Dey Talk for Pidgin Small Small…

Hope everyone’s summer is going well (is it still summer? I don’t know seasons anymore). As of this weekend, I have about one year left in my Peace Corps service! The time has really flown and I truly am happy with my PC experience here in the best post in Cameroon.

This “summer”, or the beginning of the rainy season, has consisted of the comings and goings of international volunteers and ex-pats. It’s the time when volunteers finish their service, whether Peace Corps, VSO, or independent vols, and new ones arrive. It’s been super sad seeing people leave (special shoutout to Gabe, Catherine, Faith, and Nia!), but nice to see fresh faces. Not only do I learn from Cameroonians, but I also enjoy sharing experiences, technical skills, and networking with other Westerners. Families of volunteers have also been visiting. Since I live in Bamenda, I’ve been able to meet and explain the culture I’ve experienced. One common topic visitors have been asking about is the language and the use of Pidgin English. I’ve been meaning to blog about this for the longest time.

While Cameroon is a bilingual country (French and English, including over 200 local African dialects), French is the majority language. English is spoken in the Anglophone regions of the Northwest and Southwest, and I live in the Anglophone capital of Bamenda, Northwest. I’ve discussed the strained relationship that Francophones have on Anglophones in previous blog posts. In Francophone regions and to gendarmes throughout the country, Anglophones (here people call “anglos”, which is derogatory) are expected to speak French. Because they are the minority, they must know both French and English in order to succeed. However, most Francophones don’t know a lick of English. Blame it on the educational system here, where they have opportunities to learn German and Spanish, but barely the other bilingual language. But deep down, Francophones admire that Anglophones speak “grammar” (proper English) because this is the American language popular in Jay-Z and Beyonce songs (I’m mainly talking about the youth) and Obama speeches. As a result, Francophones express a holier-than-thou attitude that they’re better because they consist of the majority. It’s quite interesting.

Now, there’s a difference between grammar English and Pidgin in the Northwest and Southwest regions. There are signs at the schools that state “No Pidgin Allowed” (even though I hear teachers speak it on campuses) to enforce learning proper English. Parents advise me not to speak Pidgin to their infants because it will be harder for them to learn grammar as their brains develop. Once when I entered a taxi and spoke Pidgin to the driver, he told me that I shouldn’t learn Pidgin before learning grammar. When I explained that English is my first language (he thought I was from China), he said, “Okay great, you already know grammar. Then you can learn Pidgin.” Even Anglophone Cameroonians are biased about their own language.

Some people refer to Pidgin as “special English” or think it’s a simple language. I’m borrowing this history section from an unofficial Peace Corps publication on Pidgin, but it was believed to begin in the 15th century when the Portuguese settled in West Africa. With the arrival of more Europeans in the 17th century, Europeans and Africans interacted with each other by combining English, Portuguese, French, and local African dialect words. By the 19th century, Pidgin was spoken throughout West Africa, including West Cameroon, Southern Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. It was referred to as a trade language, or “language of contact.” For example, some common Pidgin words used today are derived from Portuguese, such as:

Pidgin: “pikin” ; Portuguese: “pequenino” – child
Pidgin: “dash”; Portuguese: “dache” – gift/tribute
Pidgin: “sabi”; Portuguese: “saber” – to know

Most Pidgin words are derived from English, but it consists of direct, literal translations from grammar and pronounced in an African sing-song voice.

Examples:
“wata” – water
“aks” – ask (my U.S. ex-boyfriend pronounces this word as Pidgin)
“shidon” – to sit, sit down
“wuside” (which side) – where
“komot” (come out) – come from (when I’m exit a taxi, I tell the driver “I komot for here”)

Pidgin from African dialects:
“ashia” – greetings, sorry
“wahala” – trouble
“ashawo” – prostitute
“okada” – motorcycle (this is actually a Nigerian Pidgin word; it used to be “benskin” in Cameroon, but with Nigerian movie influences people started using this)

There are even Pidgin sayings that come from African sayings and proverbs. For example:

“Small small catch monkey” – slow and steady wins the race
“Waka fine” – go well (literally, walk well)
“I don see my wifey…one plus one na one-oh” – I’ve seen my wife, one and one is one (this is actually a popular Nigerian song here and my favorite)

Did you know that Shakira’s 2010 World Cup song “Waka Waka” is from a Cameroonian song in the 1980s written by a group of presidential guards, Zangalewa, to support the Cameroonian army? Peep the video:



Zangalewa Waka Waka Song

“Zamina mina eh eh/waka waka eh eh/zamina mina zangalewa/anawa aa/This time for Africa”

I personally think Pidgin is a fun language. I make it a point to speak it when I’m in the public, so I’m more integrated in society and Cameroonians don’t rip me off by thinking I’m a tourist. However, I make it a point to speak grammar when I’m in the work setting, especially when facilitating workshops and seminars. Volunteers typically have mixed feelings about speaking Pidgin, or as some call “special English.” Some enjoy it, while others think it’s stupid and retards progress. I become offended when this perspective is taken. For me, Pidgin is its own language separate from grammar. You learn its history and its ties to colonialism. Call me Afrocentric, but I agree with this statement: “[Pidgin] is its own language – an African language – rich in proverbs and African wisdom, with an African grammatical structure, African concepts, an African accent, and African tones.”

While I understand that Pidgin should not be spoken in school and at work, I think it should continue in informal settings, such as the home and the market, in order to preserve the language. I will definitely speak Pidgin informally to other Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and African friends when I’m back in the States…and probably weird everyone else out. And I just found out that I can list Pidgin as a language on my USA Jobs career profile, so take that! ;)

Work dey fine and work dey plenty. Today na Sunday. A dey relax and A go for chop now. Waka fine and ashia-oh!

P.S. I am still fundraising for my NGO fair project. Please please please donate!
Visit here:
Carmen's Peace Corps NGO Fair Project

Celebration, Relaxation, and Motivation.

Hey everyone,

Happy July 4th! I hope everyone had a great holiday. The past few weeks have been pretty awesome. I traveled up to the mountains of Northwest Jakiri to teach rural teachers ICT (information and communications technology) and business classes, about the internet, how to use e-mail (Gmail), and facebook. Some of these teachers from the nearby villages had never used the internet (or even a computer) before, so it was interesting to explain abstract ideas and how they connect people from all over the world. They seemed intrigued (at least I hope).

The following week, I traveled to Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital, to attend the U.S. Embassy’s July 4th party. Their official theme was 50 years of Peace Corps. It was pretty amazing dressing up in formal wear and listening to the Ambassador give a speech commemorating volunteers both in Cameroon and worldwide. I also spent two nights at an Embassy staff’s home. It was the first time I felt like I was back in America. Clean hot showers, delicious food (t-bone steak and bratwurst from home, wines and chocolates from around the world), pool, etc. Thanks to the gracious couple for hosting me and allowing me to pamper myself after a year abroad.

This past weekend, I traveled to Limbe, Cameroon’s coastal beach town with black sand beaches, to celebrate the 4th of July with some Peace Corps volunteers. It was my first black sand beach (because it’s near the volcano Mount Cameroon) and it was sooooooooo beautiful. No matter where I am in the world, you can’t take the California out of me. We went swimming and boogey boarding and camped at night in tents. I hear you can go banana boating in the dry season, so I can’t wait to return and do a reprise of Lake Havasu. Now that Carmen is relaxed, she is ready to work again.

Speaking of work, I am super stoked about the progress of my NGO fair project. As I have previously mentioned, one of my projects is organizing an NGO fair slated for early next year, January 2012. I'm not sure if people know much about the Peace Corps Partnership Program, but I basically raise money through my contacts at home so Americans learn about volunteers' work abroad and contribute to make a difference. The proposal mandates that the Cameroonian community provides at least 25% of the funding. For the NGO fair, I am requesting $3,841.03 from my family, friends, and colleagues back home (54% of the total budget), while the Bamenda community contributes $3,336.49 (46% of the total budget). I am reaching out to the business and local council communities to encourage corporate social responsibility on their end. In essence, I am fundraising from both ends – from home through PCPP and with Cameroonian colleagues towards CSR efforts.

Peace Corps just posted my project on their website, so people can be directed there to learn more and to donate:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=694-190

If the link doesn't work, you go to http://peacecorps.gov, click on "Donate to Volunteer Projects" on the left, type in my last name Chang or my project number 694-190.

Please refer this link to anyone who may be interested in donating. Donations are tax-deductible and 100% of the funds go directly to my project. If you need more detail, feel free to message me with questions.

I will also mail you a fun postcard to show my gratitude. =)

So this will be me for the next few months, in full fundraising mode. Now that I’m back to work in Bamenda, I will also continue my fair trade efforts and organizational development for NGOs. Later this month, I will return to Yaounde for “mid-service” to visit the Peace Corps medical staff and make sure I don’t have any undetected worms or various bugs living inside me.

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer!

Peace and love.

Dependence and Sustainability

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all well. A very special Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers this weekend, especially to my grandpa, my uncle, and my dad. I miss you so much Daddy. You know I’m always thinking of you and I’m motivated to be successful and the woman I am now because of you.

Work here in Bamenda has been keeping me pretty busy. Late last month, nine Peace Corps Volunteers and I organized an HIV/AIDS Peer Education Youth Camp as our Northwest regional project. HIV/AIDS rates in Cameroon are at high alarming rates, particularly in the Northwest region. We had 19 kids from each of our ten posts (one boy and one girl from each volunteer’s post; one did not show) arrive to the Northwest regional capital, Bamenda, for four days and three nights of HIV/AIDS lessons (disease prevention), condom demonstrations (both male and female condoms), life skills (public speaking, engaging in conversations with peers, different types of communication behaviors), guest speakers (a woman living with HIV; contracting the disease here is a huge stigma), and American games (hula hooping, Connect Four, Uno, the chicken dance). We also watched GLOWA’s documentary on child trafficking in Bamenda and had my colleague discuss how human trafficking relates to HIV. (Peep the documentary here: http://www.vimeo.com/12297404)

The kids’ ages ranged from 10-16. The idea was that we invited and trained young leaders from each of our villages/towns/cities to learn about HIV/AIDS , become peer educators, and return to their communities and teach their friends and families about the disease. The kids seemed to really enjoy it. They were asking all types of questions that they would not asked in their community, either because they wouldn’t receive direct answers or they would be too shy to ask. For sustainability purposes, at the closing ceremony they performed skits on how they would talk about what they learned to their community – such as talking about HIV, STDs, healthy relationships, and stigma to friends on Youth Day, at health clubs on campus, etc. It’s always great to be working with young people who are motivated to make their community better.

After the camp, I facilitated two strategic planning workshops with my host institution, MICROEDEC (business resource center), and CHRAC (conflict resolution and human rights NGO). After producing a 5-year plan with the former and 3-year with the latter, I will help them follow up with their operational plans, both internally and for their programs.

Another highlight with work: I found a fair trade project FINALLY! I had been running around in circles since last August trying to find groups interested in entering fair trade formally or at least adhering to fair trade principles (if you want to learn more, visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade). In terms of handicrafts, there are two main cooperatives in Bamenda, Prescraft and Bamenda Handicraft Cooperative Society (BH). They are already fair trade-certified with the World Fair Trade Organization. For some reason, I thought they were doing well for themselves and did not need help. Boy, was I wrong. My favorite restaurant here is a part of the BH compound with a spectacular view overlooking all of Bamenda (there’s the restaurant, the store, and apparently a rest house). One night I was early for dinner at the restaurant and since the workers are super nice, I asked if I could visit the handicraft store. She told me it was closed but I could go to the next building and watch the artisans. I ended up talking to some men who were carving musical instruments out of wood and the Pa told me of the need to find overseas market linkages. Although they already export their products to Ten Thousand Villages (based in the U.S. and Canada), requests have plummeted. Thus, members of the cooperative, which consist of about 200+ artisans in the Northwest, have resorted to subsistence farming because they cannot sell their product. I met with the manager and I’ll be helping her create a new website, revamp their product catalog, make their store more attractive to tourists, market the rest house, etc. I’m stoked about this opportunity and hope this will help them find more sales!

Finally, I’m waiting on approval for my Peace Corps Partnership project proposal to be approved for an NGO fair in Bamenda. Once it’s confirmed, I will go into much more detail and enter into full fundraising mode. Basically, the main ideas are networking, establishing linkages, volunteerism, and corporate social responsibility. But I will update you on this very, very soon. =)

Now that I’ve been in Cameroon for one year, I feel like I have the experience to talk about sustainability and its relation to international development. Peace Corps warned us during training that when we live and work at post, the locals will be asking you for money because they assume you are rich (as we all know, this is not true). There’s small scale, as in locals asking you outright for money when you’re walking down the street. Then there’s the work setting, where people are asking you to do their work because you’re “white.” It’s the sense of dependency that’s been passed down in the African culture, and cultures around the world, through the shackles and legacy of colonialism. I understand this and it makes volunteer work frustrating. Sometimes I react strongly…NO I will NOT give you money. NO I will NOT do your work. I’m a Peace Corps volunteer, I’m an advisor, and I’m here to encourage sustainability. What is sustainability? Here’s the official definition: Of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged.

Throwing money at people will not solve any problem. When big international donors come and give money to fund projects, then pat themselves on the back because they were “charitable” and don’t monitor their beneficiaries’ work…only to realize later that these beneficiaries have “chopped” (stolen) the funding for personal gain. Well, you looked away, the receivers know they can get away with stealing, and here’s renewed dependency on white people. We went over this in grad school…here, I see it in action.

(I need to read that Trade Not Aid book.)

My biggest gripe right now is the use of websites for NGOs. In the States, you can create your website and then register a domain name by paying a $20-50 fee for two years. Great, that’s easy because you can do your transactions with a credit card. In Cameroon, there are organizations that wish to do the same because they want their own domain name to make them look respected. But there is no credit in Cameroon. Thus, people will ask white volunteers to register their NGO’s website using a credit card.

But what will happen to the website after it has expired after two years? The NGO will ask another volunteer to renew that subscription with a credit card. I can understand this if you have a lifelong board member/donor who can continue to pay. But maost don't. Then there’s also trying to have donors send money through PayPal on the website. If there is no credit system, there is certainly no infrastructure for PayPal.

How is that sustainable?

As a Peace Corps volunteer, I’m only here for two years. When I leave, what will you do? Continue to ask another white person for help? What if they’re not around anymore? Again with the dependency.

This is frustrating because there are solutions to this problem. For example, thanks to my good friend Catherine, she introduced Wordpress to her NGO (and to me). Wordpress works as a blog, but you can create it to make it look like a website. It’s great for laymen, such as myself, where you don’t need to learn fancy HTML codes and can easily post and update items. Best of all, it’s FREE. No need to register on your credit card for two years of a domain name in a country where credit cards do not exist. Wouldn’t that make the most sense?

But of course, people are reluctant to do this. Why? Because we can just have the white person do it for us and I don’t have to learn all that fancy shtuff.

Anyway, I’m glad some people here understand. Especially in dire financial straits, Wordpress is a great tool for organizations to market themselves for absolutely no charge. I will be creating and launching websites for Bamenda Handicraft and CHRAC. Then I will teach them how to use the website, how to add content, and how to make it professional. Catherine, you rock. Less dependency, more sustainability.

If you have worked in international development elsewhere around the world in a volunteer capacity, I would love to read your thoughts and experiences. Feel free to comment.

Hope this was an insightful post and thanks for reading. To my groupies, I expect some responses from you. ;)

Happy 4th of July! I’ll be at the U.S. Embassy party commemorating 50 years of Peace Corps, as well as camping on the beach!

Peace and love.

"Make sure to chop much so when people from America see you grow fat they'll know you are doing well in Cameroon."

Wuna good aftanoon-oh,

How is everybody? I’ve been missing home very much lately, especially the food. Soo…if you’re in California, can you consume some extra In-N-Out, dim sum, carne asada fries, and tequila strawberry-blended margaritas for me? If you’re in DC, will you grub on some extra chili dogs from Ben’s Chili Bowl and Ray’s Hell Burger for me? I’ve been cooking and making meals from SCRATCH (yes, homemade food, and yeah, I haven’t given anyone food poisoning yet – miracle!), such as guacamole, burritos, chili, crepes, fried rice, fried noodles, minestrone, hash browns, stir-frys, key lime pie, steak dinner (including garlic sautéed green beans and baked potatoes – YUM) etc., and I can get most everything in Bamenda…but there are still certain items I crave.

Except I watched the documentary Food Inc. recently and I’m somewhat traumatized by all the hormones and artificial chemicals we inject into our bodies, either directly or through the chicken and beef we consume. Most of you know about this already, but check out the movie and it’ll have you running to the nearest farmer’s market. You’ll learn about the food industry and the big companies who control the products we consume at our grocery stores (no, this is not the hippie views in me…it’s real talk). Also, some books to check out are The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Skinny Bitch (but not if you have a weak stomach – it’s graphic).

Don’t remember if I’ve talked much about food in Cameroon. There are some people who don’t like food here, but I enjoy most of it, particularly in the Northwest where I live. Some of the traditional foods here are achu (made of a banana and taro paste with yellow soup in the middle), fufu corn and njama njama (which is cassava, a carb, and huckleberry leaves, tastes like spinach; this meal takes like grits and collard greens), pepe soup (pepper soup with chicken, fish, or goat meat), egussi with rice (peanut paste – arachide in French – verrrry yummy), koki (mashed baked beans wrapped in banana leaves; tastes like tamales), ndole (bitter leaf mixed with egussi), roasted (grilled) fish with plantains and/or bobolo (or baton de manioc in French…I really don’t like this), chicken kati-kati (usually eaten with fufu corn and njama), chicken DJ (amazing – prepared with tomatoes, carrots, and green bean sauce), jeloff rice (like fried rice without eggs). There are obviously more, but these are the most common and traditional. Besides the bobolo, these are actually my favorite dishes although it took me a few tries to enjoy achu since it’s so rich. Achu and fufu corn/njama njama are traditional specifically to the Northwest region, and it’s eaten with your hands like Ethiopian food. With the fufu corn, you take a little dough ball of it and wrap it around the njama njama. Achu is a little harder to explain…you use two fingers without breaking the soup. Everything is eaten with hot sauce, or “pepe” in Anglophone and “pimante” in Francophone, made of grinded peppers, garlic, oil…it’s delectable.

My apologies, I don’t usually like taking pictures of food but I’ll try to post some so you get a better understanding.

A delicious snack here is called soya (brochettes in French) – which are steak pieces on a stick like shish kebabs. There are grills at many bars around where they make soya. There is a local bar right next to my apartment and our soya guy makes THE best in the Northwest…no exaggeration (I’ve tried soya in the Extreme North, the North, the West, other parts of the Northwest and ours deserves the honors). He cuts the steak into thin pieces so it’s like flank steak and marinates them with crushed nuts so it’s crispy when he puts it on the grill. IT’S SOOOO GOOD. Imagine having steak all the time with large beers! It’s definitely one of my favorite pastimes in Cameroon. Friends, if you visit me in Bamenda, I’ll definitely show you some yummy cuisines.

Eating here is definitely more organic than in the States since I buy groceries from this lady’s store, in which her garden is right behind her house/store. I’m able to eat well, have a balanced diet plentiful of veggies and fruits, and meats. Oh, let me elaborate on fruits. Pineapples, watermelons, coconuts, papayas, bananas, oranges, and apples are available year-round (as well as avocadoes), and mangoes are in season now. I seriously lucked out on Bamenda, Cameroon – all I need to find is young, raw coconut (my #1 favorite fruit, tied with pineapple, watermelon, and mango) and I’ll be thoroughly satisfied.

Cameroonians are very proud of their food (as they should because it’s delicious). However, many are close-minded to trying new dishes. When I invite friends and colleagues over for dinner, they usually arrive with a skeptical attitude that they won’t like my meals. I had a gentleman ask me once, “Why didn’t you make fufu corn and njama njama? You don’t know how to make it?” (Actually, I love making njama njama and rice). I said, “Uh, I know how to make it. I just didn’t prepare it tonight because I wanted to make an American dish.” I remember during my stay with my host family, they would always make me omelets with a pound of palm oil each morning. One day, I was tired and wanted scrambled eggs. They were appalled to see me breaking up the eggs on the pan. I said, “RELAX. I am using the same exact ingredients (and way less palm oil)…just preparing this breakfast a different way.” They thought I was weird but I think one of my host sisters was intrigued thereafter.

It was amusing talking to one of my Cameroonian colleagues about food, the Executive Director of the child trafficking NGO I work with, GLOWA. He traveled to Tanzania a few months ago, and when he returned I asked him about the food there. He said it wasn’t very good – the fish was dry, there was no flavor…and there was hardly any pepe! “Now that I’ve traveled out of Cameroon, I understand trying food from somewhere else. I can’t believe you guys have to endure this coming from America to Cameroon!” I told him, “Well, you have nothing to worry about because the food here rocks!”

Yesssss…score one for cross-cultural exchange.

Updates on life:
Last Friday was a national holiday, the day of Cameroon’s reunification between the Anglophone and Francophone’s regions. Some Anglophones are still bitter about this because they feel marginalized as the minority (read previous posts since I discuss this a lot). Check the article:
http://cameroonwebnews.com/2011/05/18/cameroon-north-west-remembers-50-years-of-reunification/

Planning for the NGO Fair is going smoothly! I just submitted my Peace Corps Partnership Program proposal and will be waiting to hear back for approval in a few weeks. I will give you all more details about this project and would like your support. =)

In two weeks, I’ll have been in Cameroon for one year! I still remember when I was doing beaucoup de voyage around the States – Omaha, Vegas, Miami, and my going away party in Los Angeles – exactly one year ago before arriving here. I can’t believe how fast time has flown. The new set of Small Enterprise Development (SED) and Education trainees arrive in two weeks and they’ll do the three-month stage in Bafia. I can’t wait to meet them…I hear one is a SED volunteer from UCLA! Now we’ll have four Bruin alumni in Peace Corps Cameroon!

Ashia for the weekend!

P.S. I have been obsessed with Kanye West’s new album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. This is the first time in a long while I’ve been excited for music. His film for “Runaway” is awesome. Check it.

We are on African Time.

My dear family and friends,

Hope all is well. I would first like to say thank you for all of your feedback and responses because it shows that you actually read my e-mails. I am grateful to have such a supportive network.

Work has started to flow faster. I went up to Kumbo two weeks ago with GLOWA staff and a short-term American volunteer to observe awareness talks on child trafficking at schools and HIV/AIDS trainings. Then I got sick and that was the rest of my week (but no worries, I’m fine now!). These past two weeks have been good – I just wrapped up a week-long Strategic Planning session with GLOWA and it went smoothly. This is GLOWA’s first time going through the SP process, so I’m excited to help plan their future for the next three years. I should be doing SP with MICROEDEC next month when the founder returns to Bamenda. I’ll also be traveling next week back up to the North of Cameroon, Ngaoundere, to do Diversity training sessions for the newly-inducted Health and Agroforestry Peace Corps Volunteers’ In-Service Training and their Cameroonian counterparts (mango season is coming soon up there YAY!). I’m telling you, time has just flown by. In three months, I’ll have been in country for one year…can you believe it?! I sure can’t (not that I’m trying to count down or anything, but that means in June I’ll have 15 more months in Cameroon).

I have been meaning to discuss the concept of “African time.” I know many of you are familiar with African time, Indian time, Persian time, C.P. time, etc. (at least my African-American, Indian-American, and Persian-American, friends have told me this) which means essentially the same thing – an event that starts at 1pm doesn’t really begin until…4pm (smile). In the U.S., I would joke about this with my friends – if it’s a social outing, don’t show up to the party until an hour or so later because you’re important and you want to make an entrance. But in Africa it’s real. Seriously, don’t come on time because all you’ll be doing is sitting there and waiting for at least three hours. Bring a book/headphones. To use the popular French phrase “J’arrive” or Pidgin phrase “Am coming” (which actually means, I am leaving you right now and coming back later), you have no idea if they will be “coming” in 10 minutes or hours. Or tomorrow. Funny enough, it’s completely okay to say this. “Am coming” you say, is then followed with nods of approval (I’ve started using this phrase as an excuse to leave). The concept of time and time management is definitely different from ours.

Needless to say, I can sometimes get frustrated with African time. I have already accepted this at cultural ceremonies and festivities (always have a book and bottled water in my purse), but what has been bothering me the most is African time in the work environment. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but things can move s-l-o-w-lllllll-yyyyyy. As Westerners, we are used to the concept of work to be, well, work. You come to the office to do your job, run meetings, complete tasks, and meet deadlines. Here, it seems like people enjoy their time at the office. They work a little, then go on Facebook, then work some more, then have a meeting, then friends come to visit…then hey let’s have a drink…which ends up with drinking the rest of the night. What’s ironic is that people believe in hard work. Office hours are Monday-Saturday, 8-10 hour days. Sunday is the only day of rest. Yet, people enjoy saying “A dey for office.” BUT NOTHING IS GETTING DONE! AHHHHHHHHH!

Disclaimer: This is not every office – there are organizations here that adhere to Western time, like mine.

Yet even as annoyed as I am with this, it’s made me realize that enjoyment of time is a value that Cameroonians hold dear. People don’t understand why Americans are always bouncing from one appointment to another. It’s rude to leave a Cameroonian or refuse a drink when someone invites you to sit down…are you not enjoying your time with them? Westerners are so preoccupied with getting work done and filling in schedules…well, this is why we are the developed world, n’est pas?

This leads me to wonder if we, as Westerners, are really enjoying our lives (thank you, Melissa Wells, for engaging in this topic with me). Which values do we hold the dearest – spending time with loved ones, happiness, conspicuous consumption? Of course I still get impatient when my work here takes forever to begin and/or to accomplish (working on a presidential campaign turned me into a twitchy person), but I’ve begun to deal with it. Especially in a professional setting, I try to reach a happy medium by incorporating American time management and hopefully people will get it. If we have a meeting and the person is late, I’m not going to wait around. If one is really serious about working with me, then one will be on time.

But I will always make time to sit down and hang out, take a drink, and speak some Pidgin. After work. Work hard, play hard.

That’s it for now folks…remind me next time to post about chaos theory, “adventures,” and speaking Pidgin so I don’t forget.

Next time-ohhhhhhhhh!