Glasses Distribution 7/19

An American organization, Eyes on Africa, donated a giant box of reading glasses and toothbrushes to be given out in my community. People in my village have been complaining of eye trouble for quite some time. You can imagine that most of these Cameroonians sit over cooking fires all day long, filling their eyes with smoke, and often don’t have lights and must read in the dark, and generally have lifestyles that cause eye strain. Most older people in village have difficulty seeing but have no access to glasses or eye care.

Before giving out the goodies, I did some general education on oral hygiene and eye care. I taught people how to properly use their glasses and how to brush their teeth. With the lesson out of the way, I began to have people step up to the table and try on different glasses to find the right magnification strength. It was wonderful to see people’s faces light up as they found the correct pair for their eyes and could finally see the words on the page. They would try on the weaker pair and still squint at the page of paper, unable to read, but would eventually try on the right pair and their face would glow. They broke out into huge smiles and then would just be in disbelief. They all wanted to just sit and read the entire page we were using as a tester because they were so happy they could read it. They were so incredibly grateful. I was probably blessed a hundred times. They would give me giant hugs, they would clap, one woman even broke out dancing. They were so happy. In all, we gave out 176 pairs of glasses, but there are still more people who need them. It was a great start, and I’m hoping to hold another session. It was a wonderful experience.

The best part of it though was working with a local woman who had made glasses cases for the event. She is a widow who is currently struggling to support her family. Her daughter has epilepsy and needs medications, which are hard to buy. The daughter has a severe case and is unable to work or contribute to the family’s income. The daughter also has a young son that the mother must support. As a 57 year old farmer, she is able to provide food, but she has been having a hard time proving other things. I suggested that she make cases for the event as an income generating activity. We were giving out the glasses for free, so people should be able to afford to buy a case. This woman worked hard to hand make over one hundred cases. The day of the event, they sold out. The woman came back at the end of the day to collect the money (as I had been selling the cases for her), and I told her how much she made. The equivalent of over 100 US dollars. She nearly fell off her feet! She was in total disbelief. She almost started crying. She gave me a big hug and told me, “Thank you. May God bless you and may you have a long life. You are so helpful to me.” 

The Adamawa 7/10

I just got back from a trip to the Adamawa, a northern region of Cameroon. A group of us took a very luxurious train to get up there. It was easily the nicest transport I've taken while in Cameroon.

The landscape was beautiful. It was very green (at this time of year) and all the grasses and trees were contrasted by the rust-colored dirt. Everything was also very flat, at least compared to the South West. Fields of grass stretched forever across the plateau, interrupted only by huts and cattle. And the cattle were everywhere! On the drive out to one particular village, we had to stop the car on three separate occasions to let the herds of cattle pass. One time, we even had to swerve to avoid hitting a cow that jumped out of the main cluster and came towards our car. 

It was really interesting to see some of the differences between the Adamawa and the South West. The people in the Adamawa are predominately muslim, and I was there during Ramadan. Each morning we were all woken up by the call to prayer and throughout the day we would see crowd of people stopping to pray along the streets and at the mosques. People dressed more conservatively, and Western clothing was rare. Nearly all men were dressed in traditional bubus and women wore elaborate pagne gowns. However, seeing women in general was less common. They were out less, and even at the market, were rare to see. In the South West, it is the women who run all the stalls and sell the goods, but in the Adamawa, it was practically all run by men. This is because many of the women stay in their compounds with their families and do not go out.

P.S. Happy Fourth of July!

Na Who? 6/15

I’m pretty sure I’m officially integrated now. I did not come to this conclusion by the food I ate or by some mamy congratulating me. I spent the night at a fellow volunteer’s house. She woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and I was also roused from my sleep. The room was pitch black, and I was still half-dreaming. I gained enough consciousness to realize someone else was in the house. In a state of semi-delirium, and thinking I was still back in my own bed at home, I shouted out, “Na who?!” Or “Who is there?” in Pidgin. That was my first reaction to being woken up. I didn’t even consider a possible intruder, I didn’t just ask “hello?” I shouted out “Na who” in my best Cameroonian accent. 

The New Fad: Santa Hats 6/14

You can imagine my surprise when I saw a lady at the market wearing a santa hat. Santa does not exist here in Cameroon, and therefore the lady could not have understood what she was wearing. The baffling part was how she had come to acquire it. As I walked around the market, I found the answer. There was a man selling a big bag of used hats. Second hand clothes are sold commonly at markets here, assumedly imported from America and Europe through donations by charity organization like the goodwill or salvation army. We end up seeing lots of clearly American clothing. This man had somehow managed to get his hands on a giant bag of used hats. The hats must have been collected at Christmas time, because about half of them were santa hats. Just this massive pile of beanies and santa hats. The santa hat just looked like a stylish American fashion statement to the woman. We asked her and her friend about it, and sure enough, the friend said, “I told her it’s the hat that people wear in America around the holiday times.” No mention that it is actually santa who wears it. Just a cool popular hat that all the Americans wear. The new trend really took off. Later that day as we were sitting and eating, three big men walked by, all in santa hats as well. So thank you, Goodwill, there are now at least 20 people wearing Santa hats seriously thinking they look super hip and stylish in the middle of Cameroon in June. 

World Cup 6/13

The World Cup has officially started, and Cameroonians are now busy cheering on their team. My little town stayed up late to root for the Lions. The whole town crowded around three very small TV screens at the local bars in the center of town. All the stops were pulled. People had capes, flags, jerseys, and of course—lots of beer. It was so populated that people had to go and bring chairs from home. Cameroon’s first game was against Mexico. The crowd was very excited and cheered like crazy when Cameroon scored (of course, the goal did not ultimately count), but still, every single person was on their feet. Unfortunately, Cameroon ended up losing the game. It was definitely a bit disappointing, but the Cameroonians took it in stride and everyone still clapped at the end of the match. 

Drunk Driving Work 6/8

Drunk driving is not exactly frowned upon in Cameroon the way it is in America. There are no campaigns against it, and very little alcohol education in general. Beer, palm wine, and little baggies of liquor are very readily available and are a big part of the culture, at all times of the day. (Seriously, people start at the crack of dawn). This leads to a lot of drunk driving. When coupled with the fact that roads are very poor and motorcycles are the main means of transport, things can get pretty dangerous. I asked around to see if moto drivers would be interested in learning more about the effects of alcohol and decided I wanted to do some sort of drunk driving campaign. I have partnered with my friend (who is a volunteer in a nearby town) and we are going to run a series of classes for the moto men. We are going to teach them about the general effects of alcohol, health issues that can stem from drinking too much, how drinking affects driving, and how drinking can lead to other risky behaviors (like HIV). At the end of the course, we hope to create a new mentality in which drunk driving is perceived of as dangerous. We want to give the moto men who complete the course bumper stickers or something identifiable so that potential passengers can ensure they are taking a safe rider and put pressure on other moto riders to also pledge to stop driving under the influence.

We had our first lesson today and 23 moto riders showed up. It was a great turn out, especially for such a tiny village! The men were very interested and attentive and had so many questions. We will conduct another session this week.

Right now, we are only working with the moto drivers in my friend’s village, but if things go well there we are hoping to expand to my village and then surrounding areas. 

Epilepsy Follow-Up 6/7

We had our first round of follow-up activities with our original three communities this past week. We returned to the villages to record the number of seizures people experienced now that they are taking medicine to compare it to the time before, gave out new doses of medicine, and did some education. Generally, people reported fewer seizures than previously experienced. People seemed to be very happy with the new medication. For example, in my village, the health center finally received a delivery of epilepsy medication. It is the first time in over a year that the health center has had it stocked. However, most of Africa (and many other third world countries), are currently using a drug that has long since been abandoned by developed countries like the US or parts of Europe. The medicine that we are supplying is one of the more powerful and modern epilepsy medications. CODEF has it imported from England. Every person in my poor farming village chose to spend 3,000 CFA (equivalent to $6 for a month’s supply) to get the drugs we provided instead of taking the much cheaper drugs provided by the health center, which only cost 150 CFA. The old drugs are apparently just not as effective. People reported seeing and feeling a true difference in their life after only a month on the new medicine and were very happy about it. Other villages are still without any medicine at the health center and are relieved to be getting access to any type of medication whatsoever. I also gave some educational talks about the causes of epilepsy and how to react when someone has a seizure. Many people still believe that epilepsy is caused by witchcraft and believe that some sort of jealous family member has put a curse on them. We described the possible causes that have been scientifically proven, and showed how some of the instances that they believe are caused by witchcraft could actually have a different cause. Even more importantly, we reviewed how to care for a person when they have an episode. In some cases, people try to hold the person down to prevent shaking, or try to hit or beat the person to wake them or get the evil out during the seizure. These methods can be very harmful to the person, so we taught people better ways to care for them. We explained that the person should not be touched or restrained. The area around them should be cleared of furniture or sharp objects. The person should not be moved, unless they were in immediate danger. This last one is especially important since it is not uncommon for women with epilepsy to be cooking and fall into the fire during an episode. In some instances, people are afraid to touch or move the person, which can lead to the woman being left in the fire until her seizure is over. Finally, we expanded to two new villages and acquired 25 new patients, bringing the total to around 75 patients being helped by this program. We are already getting ready for our next session, which will take place at the end of the month!

Things That Are Hard To Get Used To

Some things are surprisingly easy to get accustomed to, like no electricity, freezing showers, no fridge, no internet, washing laundry, or moto rides. However, there are certain things that always get you. Here is my list of those things.

1. The compliments here.

They don’t really seem to be compliments.

Yesterday, one of my co-workers said to me enthusiastically, “You are really getting fatter here! You’re really bulky!” And I was expected to say thank you.

Or the recent compliment I’ve been hearing from suitors is, “You’re so simple.” As in, “You are the perfect girl, you’re just so simple.” Great, thanks, I really want to marry you now.

2. People watching you, constantly.

Also very blatantly. People stare at you as you walk down the street and actively turn their heads to follow you. You can make eye contact with them, but they don’t stop or turn away, they just keep staring. You literally can’t do anything without being watched. And everyone knows who you are. You can go to another town and think you’re safe, but then suddenly five people are calling your name.

 

3. People making fun of you.

Sometimes they do it in the dialect directly in front of your face, so you can’t tell what they are saying, but you hear the word for “whiteman” repeated and there is a lot of laughing. I’m right here. I know you’re talking about me.

There are endless amounts of things for them to use to mock you. The number one thing however, is your American accent. They love to imitate American accents, or what they think is an American accent. This results in them speaking in an incredibly high-pitched voice, or a very nasally voice. Sometimes both.

4. People laughing at you.

Often for no apparent reason.

This is clearly related to the above point, but sometimes it goes even further than simply making fun of you. For example, you eat fufu or some other local food? Hilarious. You eat spaghetti or an American food? Hilarious. You’re doing laundry? Too funny. You’re walking up a hill? Just stop, I’m dying! Basically everything you do is funny. There is no way to win.

5. The infallibility of tradition.

Certain things are just the way they are, and that’s all there is to it. It doesn’t matter if logic dictates otherwise, but deviating from the way things are done is just not happening.

You want to put fufu on the same plate as your ndole? It cannot be done! In fact, refer back to point 4, because this is also hilarious and they will laugh at you. You want just beans and eru but no rice or plantains? Impossible.

The portion of rice she is serving is too big and you only want half of it? Forget it. It goes something like this: “Mamy, can I only have 50 cents of rice instead of 100? 100 is too much for me.” “I only sell rice for 100.” “Ok, then can you give me half of what you normally serve, but I will still pay 100.” “But this is the amount of rice you get when you pay 100.” “I understand, but I only want half.” “I only sell for 100.” “That’s fine, just give me a small portion.” “It is not possible.”

6. This brings us to the use of the word “possible.”

Many things are “not possible” when really, they are.

For example, your friend has left her room and she always shuts the door when she’s out. A man comes looking for her and calls around in the unit. A second friend arrives and asks why your friend’s door is open when she is not there. You suggest that maybe the man opened it when he was looking for her. This causes one huge fit of laughter (again, point 4) and then, “No, it’s not possible.” Oh but it is. If we’re going with my understanding of possible, it’s absolutely possible. It is one possible scenario. I can come up with other possible scenarios also. But, no it is simply not possible. 

7. Greetings here.

“How?”

“No, fine.” You always have to negate whatever you say first. Even if it’s positive overall. It’s a bit confusing.

But my favorite response to “how are you doing?” is the commonly used, “No, normal.”

8. People peeing everywhere.

Today my neighbor was peeing on her front porch when I walked out this morning. Not even in the yard, but on her porch.

9. The noise.

You do actually get accustomed to this, but only to a certain extent.

Today, I was woken up by my neighbor screaming her daughter’s name at the top of her lungs at 5:30am. She wanted a pan brought to her.

Right now, there are two girls having a shouting match, a rooster is crowing, and someone is hammering a wall next door.

10. Men in women’s clothing.

This is very popular here. Pink sparkle flip-flops with a big flower on the toes? Perfect for an 18-year-old male high school student. A satin pink jacket with the words “pretty” in rhinestones across the back? Excellent for a male moto driver. A very tight, deep-V shirt, with scrunching where the breasts are supposed to be? Perfect for every man here.