His Excellencey Has Arrived

Paul Biya

The new Reunification Monument given by His Excellency himself, President Paul Biya.

Today, February 20th 2014, marks the 50th anniversary of the Reunification of the Republic of Cameroon. The President himself, Paul Biya, has come to Buea to celebrate and give some sort of speech. Or something like that. After what some people say 5 years and others say 2 years of anticipation... he has finally arrived. For my year here, I have been hearing "the President is 'coming'!" Slowly but surley things in Buea have been being renovated, demolished, repainted, updated and even built from scratch.

Don't get me wrong folks....I am all for development when its sustainable, and that is not what this is. (Just as an FYI, when I say 'they' I am referencing the government in general.)

They built a new GCE board office (a massive building where they produce, correct, distribute the GCE exams). It's a beautiful building no doubt. But... I've been told that there was money to build it in the budget years ago, but someone chopped (literally meaning ate in Pidgin but in this context meaning spent) the money and now they needed to have something to show for the money given for that building. Peoples' businesses and livelihoods were demolished so that the main streets looking "presentable" for Paul Biya's arrival. Like Mami Biggie (Sara: if you are reading this - she greets you), a woman who used to sell puff puff and beans and other breakfast foods, her small restaurant was demolished by the city council last year. She has been forced to move deeper into the 'dirty south' where she has been the victim of theft and even to this day isn't able to work and thrive like she used to. Last I checked she wasnt even working. They forced already poor business owners to re-paint their buildings out of their own pocket money. If they didn't paint, they business would not be allowed to operate. For maybe 6-7 months now they have removed the middle median in the road which had two safety purposes and was functioning perfectly well. Firstly, it gave those who were crossing the street some sort of 'half way' point where they could wait safely to continue crossing. Secondly, it forbid any vehicle from overtaking (which is something Africans love to do especially when they cant see and have been drinking and driving). This reconstruction has lead to so many frickin car accidents in the last 6 months. So many adults and children alike have died trying to cross the street. The reason why they did this was because the President drives in a V (or so I was told). He has people on every side of him while he is in his vehicle. Then, just one day before his actual arrival, they removed all speed bumps in the road from Tiko (the closest airport which is where he landed) to Buea so that he could speed with his convoy of ridiculousness. Someone who has not been to Buea in the last year would hardly recognize the city now. It has changed THAT much. If I knew the changes were going to happen so drastically and rapidly I myself would have kept better record via photos.

I've read that he has spent over £100,000-on his THREE-day visit in Buea. I also read that the budget for preparing for his visit was 25million CFA (50,000USD) which might not sound like a lot to us...but the average wage here is like $50/month!!

So lets back up a bit and check out Paul Biya's track record:

Paul was born as Paul Barthélemy Biya'a bi Mvondo on February 13th 1933. That makes him EIGHTY ONE YEARS OLD! He got into politics in the early 1960s and took office as the President on November 6th, 1982. ...*calculating*... That means he has been President for nearly THIRTY TWO YEARS. That means that more than 65% of Cameroonians have only known ONE president. That in and of itself is absolutely insane to me.

He first married Jeanne-Irène Biya who suddenly and unexpectedly died in 1992 of 'unknown' causes. Biya wouldnt investigate her death and had her buried quickly. She openly opposed some of his actions and some believe it was he himself who had her killed. Just two years later he married Chantal Biya who is 38 years his junior and wears wigs the size of Saturn.

He was the solo candidate in several 'elections' since his first inauguration. The first multi-party election wasnt held until 1992 and since then in every election there has been accusations of fraud and misconduct. After his re-election in 2004, Biya realized he would be barred by a two-term limit in the Constitution from running for President again in 2011. To fix this he  began expressing support for revising the Constitution, saying that it was "undemocratic to limit the people's choice." There were major violent protests yet the Assembly (who of course is chosen by and controlled by Biya) voted to change the Constitution to remove term limits. The change also provided for the President to enjoy immunity from prosecution for his actions as President after leaving office. How wonderful.

Looks like this guy won't be going anywhere until he dies...

Military (fully armed) were posted every 10-15meters on the day of his arrival.
Several were also posted on rooftops of the main streets.

Random things I have observed:

He is referred to as "His Excellency".

Nearly every single establishment (from small one room tailor shops to restaurants to hotels to any government office) has a picture of Paul Biya. I can't say for certain that it is manditory, but it seems as though. Even in the parades/marches they hold giant photos of him.

People are afraid to talk about him. Actually fearful. Unless they are saying something good. I actually shouldn't even be posting this....

One time I told a Cameroonian friend I was enjoying some alone time at the beach in Limbe. I mentioned there were a lot of French military guys around. He warned me so very seriously about not speaking to them in reference to anything bad in the country. To just say, "I enjoy Cameroon." and nothing else. He was seriously scared for me.

He has been in office for OVER THREE DECADES.

He has 'Presidential Palaces" in each of the 10 regions in Cameroon.

His wife Chantal has her own massive mansion in Yaounde.

They fear for good reason: There are presidential spies around you at any time. In Buea, this fear multiplied while anticipating his arrive and now that he is finally hear. You never know who you are talking to or who is listening.

If you read my country profile, he has ABSOLUTE power over the country.

It's no coincidence that everything is government run/controlled and consolidated. They want easy shut downs of mass communication

He hasn't invested in health or education sectors since his election.

People have fabric made out of his face. And they wear it.


Peace Work Fatherland//Paix Travail Patrie

Coat of Arms for Cameroon: Peace - Work - Fatherland

These three words, "peace, work, fatherland" are meant to represent Cameroon as a country. These are the three main things the country stands for. Lets break this down a bit...

Peace: Sure there hasn't been any wars internally or externally but does that constitute peacefulness? In my year here I have witnessed more fights and outbreaks of unnecessary violence than in all my 23 other years combined. Police turn to violence in a heartbeat. Normal every day citizens raise their voices at the drop of a dime and soon begin shouting in other people faces often times leading to pushing, shoving and punching. When people protest, they are rapidly shut down, oppressed and sometimes even killed along with journalist who speak out against the government.

Work: The official unemployment rate is at 30% which is bad enough but does not reflect the real numbers. One cant be sure of the actual unemployment rate but it is much much higher than this. A very popular young Cameroonian hip hop star named Jovi explains in one of his songs: "Degree dem dey fo mbanda" which is Pidgin means: "Degrees are on the shelf" - in other words...people study, earn degrees yet cannot find a job and do nothing because there is no way for them to reach their full potential in such a country therefore their degrees 'sit on the shelf'. I myself know countless educated Cameroonians who cannot find a job and are still living day by day.

Fatherland: Can't really dispute this one...

Whats the scoop on Cameroon?

Well, that ends my rant. With all that being said I also want to make it clear that Cameroon is the most beautiful, hospitable, diverse, amazing country I have ever had the pleasurable opportunity to live in and I would not trade my time here for anything. I wouldn't choose to live anywhere else and I am so thankful to be here. The people her are absolutely beautiful people and I love every second I am here. Please don't let this post taint your image of Cameroon as a whole, every country has its own problems...

Happy Youth Day 2014!!

HAPPY YOUTH DAY 2014!!!

Tuesday February 11th marked the 52nd 

National Youth Day in Cameroon!

After some delay and miscommunication with the printing and distribution of the YAN Club tshirts – Youth Day 2014 was a major triumph!!! 

In Cameroon, several holidays (including Youth Day) are celebrated with a very serious and organized march from the Presbyterian High School to Enap Junction up around an area called “Clarks Quarters” which is the area before Buea Town (the highest point and end point of Buea). On this particular day, students meet and organize themselves according to school. First are the areas nursery schools followed by all primary, secondary, and professional schools. To march, you must be in uniform. Most students wear their school uniform and march as part of their school but other will sport a ‘club’ shirt and march behind the school with their respective club.

You can expect these marches (which are also known as “March Pass”) to happen on the following holidays: Youth Day, Women’s Day, Reunification Day and whenever the President comes (if ever…remember: Buea has been waiting nearly 2 years for his arrival). There might be other holidays but these are the only ones my friends could think of when I asked.

This ‘marching’ I speak of is similar to parades we have in the US but the major difference is the seriousness of order and unification. Schools are shamed if their students aren’t marching in unison. You might remember me writing about some of my students missing class because they were ‘marching’ – and now I understand why. Marching is something that is practiced throughout the year. Those who march best are put in the front lines which is an honor to yourself, your family and whoever you are marching under (whether it be a school or organization). Schools were literally laughed at along the sides of the streets by those observing if they were not marching well.

On Tuesday (Youth Day) I had attempted to meet all of the students between 9am-10am at the Presbyterian High School so we had time to set up and organize ourselves before the marching began at 10am. I easily forget “African Time” or “Blackman Time” because at 10:30 when the Primary Schools started marching, I only had a handful of kids ready to march. I won't deny it, I was really worried that YAN would be laughed at for only having 2 members marching under each school and I was also at the same time confused because all the students seemed so eager to march. But nevertheless, I had to leave the students to organize themselves so that I could find a good place to take photos. 

There were so many people around it was hard to move or even think!! The only other time I have seen a gathering of that many people was at a Cameroon football game in Yaoundé.

I finally found a good spot to post up and take photos. After watching all of the nursery and primary schools pass I knew Lycee was next – they are the first secondary school to march. I saw the YAN banner coming from a distance and was pleasantly surprised by the number of students I saw following! The students came through in the end and I realized my panic and sad feelings were nonsense! I should really know better by now. Shortly after Lycee passed, those from Buea Town went by with a good number of students marching as well! 

YAN looked fantastic!!! I was so proud of those kids. The police officer even let me step onto the road to take their photo after I nicely asked him, “Excuse me Sir, abeg, a wan comout roadside and snap just one one of ma own pikin dem. Ma pikin di com na na so” as I pointed to the approaching students. I think he was more surprised and impressed with my pidgin than anything else so he couldn’t refuse my request to take photos.

As soon as Buea Town went passed I squeezed my way through the crowd to the ‘stadium’ where I told everyone to meet. By everyone, I mean the 4 or 5 students who were on time. I was hoping they would pass on the word to others by when I walked passed the stadium no one was there so I continued walking up. I found the students from Buea Town collecting their ‘tickets’ which they would bring to school the following day to prove they marched so that they wouldn’t get “punished” aka beat. We quickly snapped some photos so that I could go find Lycee and do the same. 

After walking everywhere in the neighborhood looking for Lycee I was finally able to find a few of them who had been walking around looking for me! Since it had already been more than an hour since Lycee finished marching, we were only able to gather about 8 students for photos which is better than none! 

I would have to say my favorite part of the march pass, except for my exceptionally bright and awesome YAN students, would have to be the Nursery and Primary schools who had an “Arts and Culture Club”. I am the biggest ‘cultural/traditional’ clothing fan you will ever meet. So when I saw children ranging from 4 years to 10 years dressed in local traditional wear as their uniform I nearly died. It was the cutest thing I had ever seen – like mini little chiefs marching about, Take a look: 

I also learned a new pidgin word this day : chakhara = scattered, disorderly, messy, chaotic.
eg: Clarks quarters don chakhara fo Youth Day.

Cheers to a successful

Youth Day 2014!

Unexpected Dentist Appointment AND Really Exciting Upcoming Events!

Episode at the Dentist:

While I was wandering through the Northern regions of Cameroon, I had a filling come out!! I dont know where or when, but suddenly I noticed it wasn't there anymore.

I did some research and decided to be sure I cleaned it out really well after every time I ate. Sooner or later, I knew I would need to get it taken care of. I had heard of a dentist in Yaounde, but that was such a far an expensive trip. I asked my trusted American doctor volunteers at the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital here in Buea if they knew any dentist in the area. They said there was one in Mutengene which is only about 15-20min from Buea, a 300cfa (70cents) taxi ride. I decided to go for it!

 When I got dropped off in Mutengene, I had no idea where I was going. So I just started asking around "Where is the dentist?" "I want to get me teeth looked at?" "Dentist office?" : saying all while pointing to my teeth. Finally, someone understood me. They pointed in the direction and said, "Tell the taxi drive 'dental entrance'." And that was that.

This is what I walked up to...

Not the most welcoming dentist office I have ever been too, but surely one I will never forget.

As I entered the waiting room, there were about 12 others waiting to see the doctor who had not yet arrived from Douala. Appointments started at 10am and it was now after 11am. Finally the doc showed up carrying a small kit with some dental tools. Sooner or later I was called back to the examination room. I explained my situation and he invited me to sit down in the dentist chair that I'm sure my Dad would remember from way back in the day. It wasn't adjustable, it was just there, how it was. My nerves had me nearly shaking.

With no gloves, no face mask/mouth protector he began to look inside my mouth with instruments that had unquestionably not been sterilized let alone cleaned since the last patient. He then said he needed to clean the tooth and put in a 'temporary' filling to make sure there was no problem (ie: infection) when putting in the permanent one the following week. The dental assistant woman turned on the generator and soon another spinning unsanitary tool was in my mouth 'cleaning' my teeth. It hurt. The doctor then proceeded to shove cotton soaked with hydrogen peroxide into the hole where the filling had been and sealed it with a cement like liquid. There ya have it - a temporary filling. Then I was on my way home.

The following week I came back. They said my dentist appointment was at 10am but I knew better. I arrived at 10:45am and the doctor was still not there. Soon he entered. Again, with no gloves or face mask he started digging into my mouth. This time I got a permanent filling. When he had finally finished, he asked me to bite down. I tried. I failed. I told him, "It is not fitting, I can't bite properly." So I laid back down and he started chipping away at the filling little by little. He stopped and had me try again. Same thing. I told him again. This time, he said to me, "It must be psychological." Yes, that's it... After 24 years on Earth and 10+ fillings I don't know when my bite isn't correct. I just left it as it was and went on my way, no use arguing. Total price for both visits was 1,00cfa (@2) for consultation + 10,000cfa ($20) for the filling = 22$. Not bad!

That was one experience I hope I never have go through again.

*Side Note/Random Thought/Story: Its difficult at times because Cameroonians have a different accent and put emphasis on different parts of the word. So we could all be saying the same word and we wont be understanding each other. For example, say the word spaghetti. No really, say spaghetti out loud right now. Now say "spag" (A as in Auto). Now say "a". Now say "tea". Now say them one after another, spag - a - tea. This is what my friend was saying to me while he was telling me what he was going to cook me for dinner. I was so confused... what kind of tea is spag? Nope, it was spaghetti. He was cooking me spaghetti, not some tea called spag.

Here are some really exciting upcoming events:

• February 11th = Youth Day

This is a day dedicated to the youth of the country. It is a public holiday and there will be no schools. On this day, Nursery, Primary and Secondary Schools all around Buea will march in a parade! There will also be local youth groups and other organizations participating. Yup, and you guessed it - Yours truley - YOUTH ADVOCACY NETWORK - will have our own group marching with awesome banners. Pictures to come!!

• February 15th = Race of Hope
  
  
  
  
  

As you may know, Buea is home to Mount Cameroon which is the tallest Mountain in Central/West Africa (4,095m/13,353ft) and second highest on the continent just behind Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The mountain has several nicknames: internationally: “The Roof of Central and West Africa”; locally: "Mount Fako" and "Mongo-ma-Lobo" meaning the Mountain of Thunder in the local dialect, Bakweri. The entire massif is known as "Mongo-mo-Ndemi" meaning Mountain of Greatness. The Mountain is of a volcanic origin and rises from the Atlantic Ocean and presents a sequence of vegetation forms like mangrove forests and freshwater swamps at sea level, evergreen lowland forests, sub ­mountain and mountain forests to mountain and sub alpine grasslands (savannah) above 2000 m.

The race, as you probably guessed, is a race to the summit!! The fastest recorded time of a hike (run) from Checkpoint, Molyko (700m) to the Summit (4095m) is about 4h 20min!! Average hike time for tourist is three days -- I would be lucky to even reach the summit! This year they have given the race back to Guinness (yes the beer) to be organized so everyone is expecting a spectacular event. There is a trade fair at the starting location which kicked off just last night and will continue until next weekend. I have a friend who guides up the mountain, Thompy - his father (who is of late) is the record holder!!

It has been raining every now and again here in Buea with a lot of cloud coverage. Many people say that rainy season will come early (how unfortunate seeing as how the season stayed late last year). My friend was telling me that, "There is no way it will rain on the race day." I said, "How can you predict that." He replied by saying, "Everyone knows that Guinness will go to all the Bakweri Chiefs around the mountain and pay them to hold the rains. Just wait, as soon as the race has finished, it will be raining the following weekends.". How's that for some ancient traditional meteorology?

• March 8th = International Women's Day 

Last year I missed this day by TWO days! I was so bummed. I still got a skirt made with the fabric of that year. I like the idea of Women's Day but at the same time I personally feel like it is just a show. Most people who participate dont even realize what it is supposed to represent. Not to mention, women get ONE day a year?

This is a holiday here in Cameroon where women and men alike buy the special themed fabric, sew dresses, shirts, pants, skirts, etc and march together in celebration of women. The photo caption above is last year's theme. This year it is "Inspiring Change". Please, take time to learn about the significance and seriousness of this day by exploring HERE and HERE

I plan to give a special lesson the week prior to the celebration and hold an essay contest in my YAN classes. The lesson is still in the making as is the essay requirements but I think a day like this is worth taking a break from our regular work to learn about. The winner(s) of the contest will be featured on my blog :)

YAN Students - Keep up with activities here

Please, if anyone has suggestions or comments on this 

lesson/essay contest - share!