Greetings to everyone,
Hope you are all swell. My apologies for not writing sooner – I have been both busy and lazy with updating my blog. These past few months have flown very quickly. I organized my PC project, the NGO fair, in February. I went home in March for three weeks…it was wonderful to see people and catch up. Now I’ve been back in Bamenda wrapping up my work here. I am finishing my Peace Corps service and returning home July 6, 2012! Can’t believe it’s over so soon.
Lately I’ve been doing some reflecting on my two years of service. Why we’re here and how we as volunteers have contributed to the community. There have been setbacks and sometimes I’m not quite sure if the work we do here is worthwhile. There are high turnover rates within some of the organizations I have worked with in these past 1-2 years, indications of people stealing money from projects, friends and colleagues who assume that you’ll do all the work as a white person. Male colleagues who don’t respect you because you’re female, because you’re younger, because Peace Corps doesn’t give out money. On top of that, I still get irritated when people call me “white man” or “Chinese” or make kung-fu noises on the street (I’ve never been able to get past this). There are days when I just sit inside the house and watch TV all day because I don’t want to deal with the outside world. Why am I here? Am I making any kind of difference? Are people even following my work advice? Are people just seeing me with $$$ on my forehead?! In many cases, yes.
But in other cases, no. During my time here, I have managed to make genuine Cameroonian friends. People who work hard, people who don’t ask you for anything, people who want to make a difference in their community but face all kinds of obstacles. People who view you as an equal; not as a white person, but someone they can learn from. And from that, true cross-cultural exchange.
One of my very good Peace Corps friends lives in a village about 45 minutes away from Bamenda. I remember when I visited his post, he introduced me to his best friend who’s a respected teacher in the village. We hiked the waterfall that day and I remember this man was genuine and warm. I just found out he died two weeks ago. He got sick a few months ago and did not inform my PC friend. When his legs were swelling up, my PC friend went into Bamenda to buy some fruit. When he returned to village that day, his best friend had passed. At the funeral, my friend gave a eulogy and told everyone that this man had never asked him for money. Even when he fell ill, he refused to ask my friend for help. When my friend gave me the news, we wondered why bad things happen to such good people. “He never asked me for anything, and he was probably the one person out of everyone who needed help the most,” my friend lamented.
At the same time, I’m happy that this Cameroonian man was blessed to meet a Peace Corps volunteer as they shared conversations, adventures, and American and Cameroonian meals together. It touches me to know that he was friendly not because he wanted something out of a white man, but because they were genuine friends.
And this is what keeps me going. I’m so grateful for Cameroonians who appreciate me being here to bring not only technical assistance, skills that will transfer to shape the next generation of women and men into future leaders of Cameroon, but also to build friendships and learn from one another. The Peace Corps slogan, “the toughest job you’ll ever love” truly encapsulate my experiences here as a volunteer.
(Disclaimer: This post sounds pretty cheesy. It's not Peace Corps propaganda, I promise!)
