Water Projects

Both of the water projects have picked up speed and seem to be nearing completion. Or at least I sure hope so. After months of delays and other hitches, it looks like we might actually have come out on top. This past week I divided my time between Nzimbeng and Akid, spending the nights in village to oversee the work.

The Nzimbeng people have been incredibly hardworking and motivated. They have finished the storage tank and are in the process of constructing the filters and catchment. They have been carrying materials, cracking stones, collecting sand, and digging pipeline. I’ve been very happy with their results so far. Hopefully the cement work will be finished within two more weeks and they can finish the digging and begin connecting pipeline. Its looks like we’re actually on schedule to finish by January. Of course, things on my end aren’t quite as smooth. I’ve been going back and forth between the village and my house, my house and a larger town to transport material, and have barely slept in my own bed the past week. The community does their best to welcome me, and my days in village generally aren’t too bad. I sit at the site watching the work, mostly there for moral support, while men cut up fresh pineapple for me and feed me. The other day I was literally sitting in the warm sun, reading my book, while men went into the bush beside the tank site and chopped up pineapples with their machetes for me to eat. Then I went back to my host’s house and was fed several meals. Not so rough. Sometimes I do pay the price however. For example, this past time I had to knowingly sleep in a bed that would give me bedbugs. To top it off, some sort of rat or animal had died in the bedroom during the day (but they couldn’t find the body) so the whole room reeked of decomposing meat. I had to just tough it out and enter the room and sleep encompassed in the smell of rotting carrion. But Peace Corps has increased my ingenuity, if nothing else, and so I simply smeared toothpaste under my nose (just like vick’s right?) before going to bed, and everything was fine.

The Akid project hasn’t been quite as smooth, but there have been fewer incidents of things dying in bedrooms, so at least that’s appreciated. The Akid community was disheartened after a few mishaps with the pump. A few pieces broke as it was being installed, and after that they became demoralized and didn’t want to work anymore. That has created some problems for me and has caused the project to last longer than necessary. However, the engineer came out this last weekend and finally installed the pump, so everything should work now. The people were happy to see things moving, and are now eager to work and the project should (theoretically) really take off. All that’s left is to connect pipeline and build the standtaps. They are saying they will finish by Christmas (which I rather doubt), but January seems like a reality. Additionally, this past weekend in Akid offered me the highlight of having a meal prepared for me exclusively by a man. That’s right, in my two years here, I have never had a man prepare food for me (unless I was paying someone—like the streetmeat men or omelet guys). I have been served many meals in Cameroon, but all of them have been prepared by women. That morning, a man cooked pancakes for me. Building water systems and breaking gender roles, one person at a time! Love it! Of course when we asked if he ever did this for his wife, he quickly said no. We’ll work on it.