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.