Important Announcment! And some fun in Yaounde&Bamenda :)

Picture this...

Sunday morning: The rain tapping on your roof has woken you up, not in a startling way, it's more of a soothing sound that reminds you where you are...Buea, Cameroon during the wet season. After untangling yourself in the sheets you make your way to your closet of a kitchen. All you want is to go to the coffee shop on the corner, order a hot mocha, relax and people watch. But you know, there is no coffee shop within 70km... what do you do?

Solution...

You make do with what you have (nescafe instant coffee, powered milk and nescquick), sit on your balcony, take a look around and enjoy every moment of your one and only precious life.

Internship with Green Cameroon
The days of my (second) internship here in Buea have been winding down. I encourage everyone to check out Green Cameroon's website and sign up for their newsletter! They are doing fantastic work in Buea and need interns all year around.

As part of my internship with GC, I have been researching grants and potential donors, creating partnerships around the globe and have increased and expanded Green Cameroon's volunteer/intern platform and overall visibility. I will continue working with them on the side when I have free time.

On the last days of my internship, we received good news from GlobalGiving (an online NGO/project fundraising website) that we had been selected to compete in their September Open Challenge as a trial period to be a partner on their site. So keep an eye open for Green Cameroon's projects on GlobalGiving and be sure to give a little in September! Being on GlobalGiving is a huge opportunity to get seriously needed funding for some great projects.

My colleagues and boss

I made a quick mid-week trip to Yaounde to try to figure out my visa extension. Turns out it will be easier and pretty much the same price for me to just apply for a residence permit as opposed to two 6-month visas.

Bamenda and First Communion
I was in Buea just for one night and then took the night bus to Bamenda. Monica and I bought our tickets earlier in the day so we could save a good seat, but even the good seat was hard to sleep in. We left the park at about 10pm but didnt get 'on the road' until a bout 10:30pm. There was some sort of problem (as there always is)...we were either waiting for the driver himself or another passenger. The last time I went to Bamenda I was very very cold on the bus, so this time I was sure to prepare and bring a hat and scarf. Those are 2 things I didn't think I would need those things over here but they sure come in handy. We arrived at the bus station in Bamenda just around 5am. I made a friend on the bus, Amelia*, and she found us a bike to take to our hotel. The hotel woman was sleeping when we arrived but she kindly let us check in early and gave us the room at a discounted price. We slept a bit and then walked all over Bamenda. Up and down Commercial Avenue, and through the central market. We took moto-bikes up to Uptown Station (aka Uptown) to see the beautiful view of the whole city.

View of Bamenda from UpStation

We stopped at a couple of craft shops and made out way to Mama's house in Bellow Fonchum (I dont think that is the correct spelling but its just an area in Bamenda). After dropped off the goodies I brought for them (papaya and smoked fish) we headed back to the market where I found some beautiful fabric and the perfect gift for Angel's First Communion. I bought her a beautiful gold (in color) watch with pink. I had them remove some watch links since she is so little.

Saturday was more bumming around the city and just checking things out. It is a huge city but the weather was absolutely beautiful! Sure it rained here and there, but the sun came out!! I hadn't seen the sun since JUNE living in Buea. It was just a wonderful sunny weekend. We bought Monica's bus ticket, spent more time in the market and met up with Amelia. Mama and the girls prepared delicious ndole for Monica and I before she took the night bus back to Buea. I went to sleep early to prepare for the festivities the following day.

Sunday, I woke up early, ran to the bus park to buy my night bus ticket (and get a good seat) then back to the house to bucket bathe and get ready.

I had an amazing breakfast of fresh Cameroonian coffee, groundnut paste and bread.

Me, enjoying the sun, Bamenda and life!!

Mama's brother runs the Linguistic Center in Bamenda and was hosting a Togolese priest who was doing his masters in Yaounde and trying to learn English. He is from Lomé, the capital . I chatted with him for a bit and reminisced about Togo, Benin and Voodoo. That is a region I would most definitely LOVE to go back to someday. 

Then we all headed to church as a family. It was the same church I went to last time but the mass was not in Pidgin this time.

Angel looked like an angel.

Mama making announcements during church.

All of those receiving their first communion

Family

Angel and I

After church we strolled back to the house and carried food from neighbors houses to Mama and Papa's house (where the party was to be held).

The Good News Bible Cake sent from family in Douala!

Angel's Mom and Dad - Mom came from Tanzania for the celebration!

 

There were many similarities I could spot between my first communion and Angle's. The obvious were things you see in the pictures... white dress, church ceremony, bible cake, celebration with friends and family afterwards, gifts, food, etc. But we are in Cameroon, so not everything was the same...  There was of course way more DANCING!!

 

Just as I thought the party was 'coming to an end'... Kevin* ( calls for me "Anto (thats my nickname there) - come outside you will really enjoy this" - so of course I follow....

Walking through the front gate into the yard is a crowd of people, some with drums, some singing and others dancing. Amongst them were two jujus. A woman and man (both were men but one was dressed as the female). They had huge masks on and were dancing around combing each others hair and having others comb their hair. As you will see in the video (I apologize for the poor quality, it was filmed from a cell phone since my camera was dead), they spotted the 'whiteman' and ran to dance with me. The random things that happen here, they really put a huge smile on your face...

*BIG NEWS*

For those of you who don't know, this is my second time in Cameroon and when I bought my ticket to come, I only bought a one way.
I wanted/hoped for something big to happen here. Here as in "West/Central Africa" - a job anywhere!
My money was going to run out in August/September so if I didnt find one by then, I would head back the US.
I was applying everywhere but always found myself under qualified (either lacking a masters, a fluent 2nd language or work experience).
In July I applied to be a "YAN Fellow" with Youth Advocacy Network, an American NGO that operates in Buea. Youth Advocacy Network (YAN) started in 200 and works as a vehicle of youth empowerment by teaching young children the power of social justice, social media and computers at large.

I've recently accepted their offer of employment and will be working as a YAN Fellow from September 15th, 2013 until July 15th, 2014. From the title of the position, its clear that it is not a career by any means. I will receive rent and a small stipend for my work but I'm sure it will give me invaluable experience and get me that much closer to the dream jobs that in actuality, still don't pay a lot, but enough to survive and pay off those student loans.

I am more than ecstatic about this position and the opportunity to live in Buea, Cameroon for an entire more year doing something I love - inspiring the next generation to bring about social change through computers and the internet IN AFRICA. :D It's a dream come true!

I would like to take this time to quote the king of reggae himself Bob Marley by reminding everyone to:

"Live the life you love, love the life you live"

If you succeed at doing this, then you my friend, are leading a
successful life regardless of what others around you say!

I've also decided to add something to my bucket list...

- Learn to drive a moto bike (well) and rent one to take on the Ring Road during the dry season for a week or so. Wear helmet during this adventure.  

The Cultural Festival in Mamfe that I was supposed to go earlier this week was postponed. Which was a good thing - I got sick once I returned from Bamenda because I took the night bus and sat by the window = it was cooooold! and no sleep. There was a death in the village so they postponed the activities to Fri-Sun so I am leaving tonight and just starting for feel better.

*Names changed for privacy

PEACE and LOVE <3