What is "Development"?

Development, as many have come to know it, is synonymous with modernization and progress. In other words, to develop is to become more like the Western world. The idea of development is thought to be inextricably linked to what the world wants and needs; development is a necessary good for sustaining human life. In this essay I will first discuss what my previous understanding of development was. These ideas are widely shared throughout the world and more so by international development professionals, something I had long aspired to be. Next, I will discuss the creation and romanticization of development work before I delve into my newfound understanding of this field of work and how I see myself fitting into the world as a practitione

For the purpose of this essay, I will be using several terms interchangeably. The West includes those societies deemed economically developed, such as Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa among others. These are developed nations considered the global north and the first world, while the global south includes regions deemed “economically backward” like Asia, Latin America and Africa. This group of countries is also known as the underdeveloped, non-westerns and the Third World or the Majority World, defined by what they are rather than what they lack.

While growing up, I was often confronted by television ads of seemingly helpless and hungry victims of poverty unfailingly from Asia and Africa. For just pennies a day one could “save” these impoverished beings. This molded my perception of the Third World, a perception that I would later find to be a complete and utter delusion. Soon I was well underway in my undergraduate career studying International Studies with the objective of landing a job as a professional development worker in Sub-Saharan Africa.

It was during this time period that I learned what it meant to develop, including the various methods used to do so. To develop is to adopt a democratic and capitalist society. Progress is building modern roads leading to modern cities that are host to Westernized hospitals and universities. Growth is industrialization. All of these things and more will lead to a more developed society, which is what everyone aspires for, who wouldn’t want development? The more I studied, the more I learned the benefits of helping the underdeveloped develop. By helping a country to develop, they will have a lower infant mortality rate, people become educated (we undoubtedly know this is beneficial to all civilization), new access to Western health care will save millions of lives, and adopting Western agricultural practices will lead to a more nourished, healthier and more productive population.

From the start, I had always critiqued methods such as the Washington Consensus, sweeping solutions like the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), and international actors such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). These methods to me were obviously an extension of colonialism and further pushed the people deeper into poverty while benefiting the rich. SAPs, which started in the late 1970’s, have had an undeniable negative effect on the very countries they originally sought out to help.  These programs were a type of “tied aid”, meaning that the borrowing countries were required to put into practice several economic policies in order to get a loan from the World Bank or the IMF.  As a result of such “aid”, the wealth gap widened due to exploitation of recipient countries. Often times these program encourage Transnational Corporations (TNCs) to move into said countries to take advantage of cheap labor and lax laws (Slusser, 2006).

During my undergrad education, I was reading books and blogs of “famous” development professionals such as Jeffrey Sachs and William Easterly, educating myself on the best way to “develop” poor countries. As mentioned before, these professionals and many others believed that development was growth, and primarily, economic growth. I was schooled on the various theories of development, such as modernization and structuralism. “Modern economic growth was not only a question of ‘more’ (output per person) but also ‘change’” (Sachs, 2005, p. 38). This particular recipe for change had several ingredients: changing gender roles, mandatory and free education, urbanization, and eradication of traditional beliefs and methods, among many other things.  

Since obtaining my bachelor’s degree in 2012, I’ve had the opportunity to work abroad in Cameroon for 16 months and have continued to ponder my role in the world as a development worker.  Here at SIT Graduate Institute, I have been able to view the aforementioned theories of development through an entirely new lens, leading me to a better understanding of the world and my role as a practitioner. For several decades, the white man has been dictating the lives of minorities all around the world. First, this came in the form of colonization as several groups of people were conquered and deemed as savage, barbaric, and backwards. This gave the white man leverage to pillage and steal resources from countries they were attempting to “develop” for their own economic benefit. As colonization became outdated and regarded as wrong, even in the eyes of Westerners, the white man needed to keep his control of the so-called uncivilized populations for his own prosperity (Escobar, 1997).

This is when the social construct of poverty and “underdeveloped” began to take flight. Those lacking a capitalist society revolving around material possessions were regarded as underdeveloped. As stated by Escobar (1997), “Development proceeded by creating ‘abnormalities’ (such as the ‘illiterate’, the ‘underdeveloped’, the ‘malnourished’, ‘small farmer’, or ‘landless peasant’) which it would later treat and reform” (p. 88). Groups of nomadic herders who carried everything they owned on their back were seen as non-contributors to society in terms of the economy. These people are what our Western first world society considers to be poor. This creation of the underdeveloped by the white man was an opportunity to not only “help”, but to control these populations whilst reaping endless socio-economic benefits from destroying the livelihood and culture of these “poor” people. These ideas continue to pervade the general consciousness of development work. They are the reason why the West is still spewing their propaganda of “helping the poor develop”, through their endless charity campaigns portraying poor African children starving to death.

Today, I am aware that poverty is a fabricated fallacy invented to dichotomize the “developed” and the “underdeveloped”. This enabled development workers, mostly hailing from Europe, America or Canada, to legitimize their work as the betterment of the poor helpless people. “Growth is a collection of ‘things’; well-being is nothing else but ‘well-having’”(Latouche, 1997, p. 139). The objective of development is no longer about the quality of life of a person but more so the amount of material possessions one has produced, purchased, and consumed.

What is hidden behind this simplified definition and approach to “development” that many give credence to, is that if it were actually successful, it would inevitably lead to more waste, more pollution, and more environmental degradation. Our Earth does not have the capacity to function and provide for humans if all countries are living like Westerners. By acknowledging this, it is evident that we must begin to research and apply other theories of development. We, those who aspire to work in the field of “development”, need to challenge the status quo and challenge the traditional ideology of development. We need to challenge the system in the same way that “Ivan Illich set out to challenge the very idea of development as a threat to people’s autonomy” (Rahnema, 1997, p. ix) in the 1960s. Although working in Africa, particularly West Africa, as a practitioner is still a career goal of mine, I have become much more critical of my role as a development professional, and what it truly means to develop.

Clearly, more research needs to be done on alternatives to current prepackaged solutions such as SAPs. Some researchers have suggested that we must end the idea of “think globally; act locally”, because it we need to acknowledge that people  “can only think wisely about what they actually know well” (Estava, G. et al, 1997, p. 279).  If development workers continue to implement their own global perspective, they consciously or unconsciously assume that they know what is best and therefore maintain the vision and interests of a very small group of people.  However, if things are local and initiated inside the community, they will reflect what Esteva and Parakash (1997) call “radical pluralism” which expresses the unique ideas conceived by communities rooted in specific places.

To do this, we need to look around our own environment and work with what and who we know. I find this challenging because I am realizing that like many others, I have romanticized the idea of living and working abroad and am having a hard time letting go of that dream. This is not to say that one cannot be informed on global issues and causes. On the contrary, we should be aware of our position and ability to share knowledge as well as stand in solidarity with localized movements. As Pam Simmons (1997) suggests, “Perhaps the best efforts of women in the developed world should be put into resisting the spread of Western-style patriarchy and fighting its source closer to home” (p. 252). This suggests that instead of going abroad to do “development work”, I should be working in my own country, in the environment that I am familiar with and a part of.

Another way to move into the post-development phase as a practitioner is to abandon development approaches that are not grassroots movements, those which work with the marginalized groups of people who are written off by organized politics and current development projects. In a sense, grassroots strategies take out the middleman and work directly with communities. The overall and long-term goal is to develop a new and holistic approach to development; on that goes beyond neo-classical economics and industrialization (Sheth, 1997, p. 335).

Woven throughout all of these methods of overcoming traditional development practices is the idea of an inclusive society; one that affirms all human beings are uniquely gifted. As noted earlier, traditional development values the consumption of material goods. The key in combating this is to appreciate the sheer presence of each individual human, their uniqueness and whatever ordinary and/or extraordinary gifts they bring. In doing so, we as practitioners also need to respect all peoples’ subjectivity so they will be seen as active contributing members of the society and the world that they live in as opposed to passive and incapable beings.  

It is key to my development as a practitioner to remain critical and vigil when working towards social justice and all realms of life. This is why I must be constantly evolving as a professional in the field and question my role in each and every position I hold or aspire to hold. Some strategies of application for myself in the future include: keeping the grassroots level in sight, working holistically and intuitively while always making sure that I am being inclusive. There are several local movements throughout the United States that I can become a part of or I can support others abroad. If I choose the latter, I must remember to remain local and not make the movement my own but instead act as an ally. Regardless of where I find myself working, one thing will remain constant at the core of my work my aspiration to serve others. Throughout all of this, I hope to become a researcher in the post-development field and possibly even a professor who will guide others along their way.

 

Works Cited

Escobar, Arturo. (1997). The Making and Unmaking of the Third World Through

Development. In Rahnema, M. with Bawtree, V. (Eds), The Post-Development Reader

(85-93). New York: Zed Books Ltd.

Esteva, Gustavo and Parakash, Madhu Suri. (1997). From Global Thinking to Local

Thinking. In Rahnema, M. with Bawtree, V. (Eds), The Post-Development Reader

(277-289). New York: Zed Books Ltd.

Illich, Ivan. (1997) Development as Planned Poverty. In Rahnema, M. with Bawtree, V.

(Eds), The Post-Development Reader (94-101). New York: Zed Books Ltd.

Latouche, Serge. (1997). Paradoxical Growth. In Rahnema, M. with Bawtree, V. (Eds), The

Post-Development Reader (135-142). New York: Zed Books Ltd.

Sachs, Jeffery. (2005). The End of Poverty. England: Penguin Books Ltd.

Sheth, D.L. (2007). Alternatives from an Indian Grassroots Perspective. In Rahnema, M.

with Bawtree, V. (Eds), The Post-Development Reader (329-335). New York: Zed

Books Ltd.

Simmons, Pam. (1997). ‘Women in Development’: A Threat to Liberation. In Rahnema, M.

with Bawtree, V. (Eds), The Post-Development Reader (244-255). New York: Zed

Books Ltd.

Slusser, S. R. (2006). The World Bank, Structural Adjustment Programs And Developing

Countries: A Review Using Resource Dependency Theory. Conference Papers -- American Sociological Association, 1.

Gender Roles, Cooking, Witchcraft and More

My inspiration for this post started when I was 

sitting in a taxi on my way home from work.

Wait...

Let me back up and fill you in on the taxis over here...

Taxis
When you hear the word taxi, what do you think of?
Personally, I think of a yellow car that drives you where you want to go. There is a tracker of some sort in the middle, and you are either charged by the distance or the time it takes to get there. I also think of NYC because in all the movies I see there are tons of taxi cabs in NYC.
If that is what comes to mind for you, that's a good start.

Here in Cameroon, and in several other parts of Africa, taxis are 'shared taxis'. You stand on the side of the road in the direction you need to go and wait for a yellow cab. In these cabs, there will be 3 (sometimes 4 but usually 3) people in the back and 2 people sharing the front passenger seat which usually leaves the middle person sitting on something uncomfortable and close to the driver. In Buea, taxi fares run from 100fcfa (20 cents) to 250fcfa (50 cents) depending on the distance. Typically this is how it goes:

You are standing on the side of the road.
When a taxi is approaching you put your hand out sort of like you are hailing a taxi. If you are with a friend or two then you must put out the number of places you are trying to get in the taxi. (eg: You are with 2 friends, you hold out 3 fingers).
As the taxi is approaching if he flashes his head lights that means the cab is full (in other instances, like crossing the street, this flashing of lights could mean 'go ahead and cross I will slow down').
If the cab is not full he will pull up next to you, but it will be a quick sort of drive by where you are expected to shout out your destination.
If the driver doesn't hear you he will call you to come to the car or slowly back up for you to say again.
If he hears you and is not going there, he will simply continue driving.
But if he is going there you will get a BEEP BEEP which means "Yes! Hurry up get in the cab!"
There are even secret codes for certain destinations here depending on the direction you are going and the way you make your fingers point. It could mean Mile 16, Muea, Bakweri Town or Buea Town, Campaign Street, etc.

All of this non verbal communication has taken me some time to master. And I am still learning.

OK, now back to my inspiration for the post...

Most taxi's play music, some play recordings of preachers/prophets and others have nothing to listen to at all.
One day, a Cameroonian gospel singer by the name of Elizabeth Tekeh was playing. I always hear her music, and although it is classified as 'gospel', I enjoy it! It is quite catchy and up beat, plus, she has a great voice. That day, I listened closely to the lyrics to the song and was quite disappointing. She is usually recognized as a 'strong empowering woman' but the lyrics she sang seemed to contradict other songs I have heard her sing.

She sings mostly in Pidgin English but you should be able to get most of the lyrics.

Listen to the song here:

I call this song "Marriage" because I can't find the official name and no one here knows it either.
I've wrote the lyrics myself. Everything that looks like this: (is the translation from Pidgin-English and/or my own interpretation and opinions).

Marriage na love o and understanding o
If wona love and understand wona self, marriage go waka fine

(Marriage is love and understanding.
If you guys love and understand yourself, marriage is/will be good. 'wona' is loosely translated to 'you people' or you guys or you {more than one person}
"o" is put on the end of words to show emphasis or exaggeration.)

If you want your marriage fo last, love your wife o.
If you want your marriage fo last, give and provide for your wife.
If you want your marriage fo last, submit yourself to your husband.
If you want your marriage fo last, respect and obey your husband.

(fo is for = to (in this case).
 
submit: verb: accept or yield to a superior force or to the authority or will of another person. synonyms: give in, yield, give way, back down, cave in, bow, capitulate, relent, defer, agree, consent, accede, conform, acquiesce, comply, accept
obey: verb: 1. submit to the authority of (someone) or comply with (a law). synonyms:    do what someone says, take/accept orders from, carry out/follow the orders of, be dutiful to, heed; 

To me, submit is a very degrading word. When I think of obeying and submitting yourself to someone, I honestly think of the way slavery was in the US [and I'm sure everywhere else]. Where the slave is treated as some sort of animal who is not worthy of making their own decisions and must submit themselves to their master and obey their every command. 

That is just not OK with me.)

If any man play ei part as God talkam for bible
God go favor wona marriage
marriage ei go waka fine

(Which ever men play their part that God has said in the Bible, God will favor your marriage. Marriage will be good.)

Marriage na love o and understanding o
If wona love and understand wona self, marriage go waka fine

If your wife make you vex no holler around people
Callam for inside room
Talkam show say you di vex and a humble woman will say sorry
and marriage go waka fine

(If your wife makes you angry dont yell at her in public. Call her to come inside the room. Tell her that you are mad and a humble woman will say sorry and your marriage will be fine

If the reason he was angry is legitimate to apologize for then I have no problem. But I don't see why it doesn't say If you make ya wife vex say your are sorry and kiss her. )

Bible don say husband na da head of the household
Woman na helper of the husband
Do your best walk with your husband
When you walk with your husband you marriage go waka fine

(The Bibles says that the husband is the head of the household. The woman is the helper of the husband. Do you best do what your husband does/wants. When you do what he does/wants your marriage will be good.

Even if that is what the Bible says, the Bible is a book that was written 3,500 years ago.  
“The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change” ― Heraclitus. 
It is not OK that women are still seen as inferior to men. We have a lot of growing to do. Just look at what happened this last year even in places that are supposed to be seen as "equal". This just goes to show, the world has a lot of growing to do.)

If you want your marriage for last, no hide money for your wife
If you want your marriage for last, no hide anything for your husband
Wona work together, hand to heart
Wona reason together
Marriage go waka fine, fine, fine, fineee.

Marriage na love o and understanding o
If wona love and understand wona self, marriage go waka fine

If you want your marriage for last, pray for your marriage
Be faithful to one another
Honest to one another
Transparency every day wona come together
Wona walk together marriage ei go waka fine, fine fine fineee.

Marriage na love o and understanding o
If wona love and understand wona self, marriage go waka fine

This brings me to my next observation...

It's tradition!!

Gender Roles    

"A woman's place is in the kitchen. Except some Saturdays, maybe I will cook for her and give her a break."
This statement was said by one of my students in class. He is 14 years old. There wasn't a soul who out-rightly and openly disagreed with his statement. Not even me, I was trying to be more of a mediator and just let the discussion flow. Most of the boys in the class and a couple girls sat there nodding their heads agreeing.

I can picture the response to that same statement made somewhere else: a cold hard slap in the face and a room full of pissed off men and women alike. The first thing I think of when I hear that statement and others like it is "What is wrong with people!? This is the 21st century!" But, after the steam stops coming out of my ears and I come back down to Earth, I realize...it is just their cultural traditions. And, according to cultural relativism, I am in no such position to be saying that this way of thinking is wrong or even correct for that matter. At the wedding I went to way back when, I remember watching all of the young girls and women waking up early to clean all the dishes and begin preparing breakfast then continuing on to prepare an enormous dinner that evening which would feed all guests. This was all happening while the men were sitting around, drinking beer or tea, eating breakfast, sleeping, smoking cigarettes, etc. But no one seemed to complain - they all knew their respectful places in life.

For my YAN class the main program for the entire year is as follows: learn about computers, choose a problem or issues in your community to research on, then build a website and use multi media to teach others about the problem and advocate for solutions. I won't lie, I was really trying to encourage someone to research somewhere along the lines of gender roles and/or women's empowerment. But, no one took the bait. Even after we had great class discussion prompted by two women guest speakers we had come into class and discuss these issues. It was a bit disappointing to see no one jump on the idea... but it was a very concrete and necessary reminder to me. In the field of International Development, us outsiders, are not here to implement 'correct' way of living and change the way things are because that is what we want to see happen. Just because we think one lifestyle is better than another doesn't mean we are correct. It is about listening to the problems of the people. Then, collectively working towards sustainable and long term solutions to those problems. If gender roles and women's empowerment are not issues that are seen by students as issues, its because they are not issues at this point in time. As much as I see them as problem,s I am not a Cameroonian youth in any sort of position to advocate for women's rights in a foreign country when no one has asked me to do so.

This was a nice learning lesson for me. You can't make people see a problem that they don't think is a problem. You can't tell someone what the problems are in their own communities.

"You don fat"
Also meaning, "You have grown fat!"
To us over in the Western world... this is one of the worst insults you can ever say to a person, especially a girl/woman. I know when I am describing a person who is fat, I will even avoid that word by saying heavy or bigger or large just because of the negativity that is connected with the word fat. But here, the word fat is anything but negative!! I can't even count how many times someone has told me that I have gotten fat or have grown fat. For me, it is usually preceded or followed by the same person telling me, "You are enjoying Cameroon!" Here I would even go as far as saying it is a compliment to be called fat. People, and now myself included, will reply, "Thank you."

Accepting fat as a good thing, and actually being told that myself and others were 'too thin' was a bit difficult. My whole life I have been trained to think that I need to be thin. No extra fat, no rolls on my stomach, etc. Then, I slowly started to reflect on America's idea and perception of 'beauty' as well as the amount of criticism girls/women experience focusing around body image. It's a really sad thing that women are taught to shame their own bodies and criticize every inch of them. I went to Limbe beach with a handful of the 'foreign volunteers' about a month ago. We were laying on the beach in the sun enjoying ourselves. A fat (yes, I want to use that word because it is NOT a bad thing!) Cameroonian walked by all confident and happy in her two piece bikini. She was with some friends and they all walked town to the water. She began posing for photos and simply loving and enjoying life. This girl was big, she was very fat and yet that didn't stop her from enjoying her time at the beach. She wasn't self conscious she wasn't trying to cover herself up - nothing. Then, as I was noticing this scene. The girls I was with began to complain about every little part of their body. Nothing was good enough for them. A couple even began to mock the fat girl in the water. It was a sad situation. I think we can learn a lot about beauty when we take our eyes off of the altered/airbrushed/photo-shopped pictures in magazines, music videos and runways and begin to look at real bodies and real women.

Witchcraft
Lately, there has been a couple of instances of witchcraft going on in the area. People say that it happens year round but this particular time, the months preceding Christmas, is notorious for witchcraft ...and many motor accidents resulting in several deaths. About a month ago, a neighbor of mine said, "What has happened at your school today?" in a sort of panicked state - I could tell something wasn't right. I replied, "I'm not sure, I don't teach there today but will ask on Monday when I go... why what has happened?" She then said, "Over twenty students have collapsed!! No one knows why."

I thought, what on earth could have made more than twenty students randomly collapse all around the same time? I realized that I have really spent a fair amount of time in Cameroon and Africa in general because the first thing that came to my head was… Witchcraft. Yes, witchcraft. You think I’m crazy right? Well people here will think you are crazy for not believing. Cameroon is comprised of more than 260 different tribal/ethnic groups who each have their own dialects and traditional ceremonies and characteristics. Some are more likely to use witchcraft than others. When I arrived to the school in Buea Town on Monday to collect the curriculum booklets for corrections, my students had confirmed my assumptions… Indeed it was witchcraft that caused the children to collapse. No one knows who or why someone would have done that but it happened.

I know there are those on the other side of the world who are in disbelief and maybe even in outright laughter after reading this. "This isn't hocus pocus!" But I challenge you to stay open minded always remember to respect other cultures, beliefs and traditions. I challenge you to look beyond your own cultures, beliefs and traditions and beyond everything you have ever known to be real. Just because you don't practice, believe or have been witness to something - doesn't mean it doesn't exist. There will always be something we don’t understand and can’t make sense of, that’s what makes life interesting!

Witchcraft, magic and charms are all very common there here - all across Africa. My first experiences with it were in Uganda. I had students telling me about people who had died from witchcraft. For example, people were jealous of them so they would poison them or make a charm that would kill them. I laughed. I laughed a lot!! How ridiculous I would think to myself. The absurdity of an idea like that...

Then, something changed inside of me. When I was in Sengeal in 2011, I was witness to ndep. In short, ndep is an exorcism (in Western eyes). But it is much much more than that...it's a traditional  ceremony which is preformed as a type of collective therapy and allows for the public expression of the the individuals particular illness. It is held 2 times a day (at high noon and midnight) for 5-7 days. It is usually performed on young women who, I was told, are most susceptible to being possessed by a wrab. A wrab is a misguided spirit and Yoff Village (where I stayed) was full of these spirits. Friends told me that the spirits were more active and more dangerous during the day time, and that they often leech onto girl's/women's long hair and seep into their body that way. I was advised to wear my hair up and ward off these wrabs by wearing cowrie shells. What happens is, the girl or whomever needs an ndep first falls ill with some sort of mental illness such as insomnia. The family brings she/he to a local witch doctor who prescribes ndep. The Griot drummers use beats to set the patient into a trance that will eventually bring the spirit out of them. It was an extremely intense experience.

But, anyways, back to Cameroon...

Here in Cameroon, witchcraft is an offense that is not taken lightly. It is punishable by law with imprisonment of two to ten years and a fine of 5,000-100,000fcfa ($10-$200).

As for the moto accidents, this was the first one to set off the countless others...
Here was another very major one.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!
I had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! I spent it with Bill and Trixie of the 7th Day Adventist Hospital in Buea...they are both American volunteers who we (the local volunteers) like to refer to as the "Mom and Dad" of the volunteer community. Every Thursday they host a 'game night' where we all get together, sometimes bringing food but usually just smiles. That particular week, we celebrated Thanksgiving - and it was much more than I had ever dreamed possible in Cameroon. We substituted the turkey for chicken and the only thing missing was pumpkin pie! We had cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, deviled eggs, green beans, herb bread, ratatouille and too many desserts to count!!

This year, I am thankful for the opportunity to spend my 25th Thanksgiving in Buea, Cameroon, a place that has become a second home to me. I am thankful for the opportunity to be pursuing 

my dreams :: living and working in Africa, empowering the youth to advocate using new 

media technology and continuing my quest of infinite knowledge.

 Live the life you love and love the life you live.

Sending Love Back Home
I wanted to give a shout out to my sister Hanna who sent me not one but two care packages for Christmas. One of the things I was missing most (besides the obvious family and friends) was the pumpkin theme of things... especially a pumpkin spice latte from Ramones Bakery inside of Wildberries in my beloved Arcata, California. My sister was thoughtful enough to send me mini pumpkin spice creamers.

It is the simple things in life that make me the happiest :)

Thanks Hanna (and Andy!)! And thanks Olivia and Mom and Dad for the letters and pictures!! Cora, I know you still love me :)

If anyone wants to send me a letter, card, package or photos please do so! It makes me whole week brighter - I love hearing from you guys back home. My address is:
Antonia Morzenti
c/o Youth Advocacy Network
PO Box 8
Buea, Southwest Region
Cameroon, West Africa

Youth Advocacy Network

I have been insanely busy with YAN! 

Please check out the details on their website here!

Very small turn out for the weekend catch up class at Lycee!

These are the "Advanced YAN" students who graduated last year and the year before.
They loved YAN so much they wanted to continue working so we have class once a week.

Here is the view walking from the Government High School in Buea Town.
Look at all that green!! Buea is right on the footsteps of Mount Cameroon.

Random Things I Have Been Doing...

I have been cooking... A LOT!!

The Thanksgiving dinner gave me some inspiration for what I can do here.

I've made several beef stews full of veggies, cakes, garlic mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, peppered steak, chicken soup with rice and even.... APPLE PIE BY STOVE TOP!!!

I went to a traditional wedding in Kumba. (Groom is on the left)

I started reading this epic book!!

Work has been stressing me out quite a bit so I have decided to make more solo trips to the beaches in Limbe. To get away from Buea, and people, and work, and everything!! 

Holiday Plans

This break is a much needed break! I am so thankful that it is in just 5 short days!

On the 20th I will leave to go to Bangem. It is in the Koupe Manengouba district of the Southwest region and is one of the two 'villages' that the Bakossi people hail from. The other is Tombel. Of course these two places are not the only villages, there are several inside of these areas - they are just the two general names that Bakossi people will give to others when asked where their village is. Here in Bangem is where I will get the see the Twin Lakes that I have heard so much about! One is male, one is female. It is forbidden to swim in the female lake. And apparently, as I mentioned before, if your throw a rock in the lake, it will throw it back out. I won't try this though. Unless I get permission from the chief. I don't want to upset the ancestors.

After about 5 days here just relaxing and exploring, I will go to Kumba and spend Christmas. I have many friends in Kumba so I know it will be a joyful and wonderful Christmas.

My 'sister' is getting married on the 28th so I am going to try my best to attend that wedding. 

After that, I will swing back to Buea to repack and reset myself before an epic journey up to the North and Extreme North regions of Cameroon. Here, my friends Megan and I will be visiting Maroua, Garoua, Rumsiki, Ngaoundere and many other exciting places! We will spend between 10-13 days playing and exploring! :) I can't wait!

Making Progress and Attending Bakossi Weddings in Douala!

To kick things off this week I would like to play a song by Don Tom - a very popular Nigerian artist. There is such great music to dance to here! It is not all Cameroonian though, the majority of the popular music comes from Nigeria. This song is super popular here and played all the time :)

 

 Here is another popular song, the video is not very great but the song is :)

I have been busy busy busy and need to make more time to write in my journal and on my blog.

Yoga on the rooftop
I have began teaching yoga classes Monday-Wednesday-Friday at 6:30am on the rooftop of a friends apartment building in Molyko, Buea. I have anywhere from 4-8 students a day. They are really enjoying it and I am having fun too. We started doing classes in the bottom of an apartment building next to my colleague Delegate's (his real name is Max but everyone calls him Delegate pronounced 'Deli-gay') house. It was almost like an open garage and the doors to two peoples' rooms were located just there - so if they stepped outside to go to work or for whatever reason...they were in our yoga class. It was also distracting because on water day (Buea has water every other day) everyone would be filling up their buckets and jugs from the tap that was literally right behind the class. So people would just be staring at us and even sometimes saying things - all in good fun, but it was hard for me to teach and to keep my students focused so we found a better place - right on top of the very same building is a beautiful open rooftop that overlooks Buea and Mt. Cameroon. That is where I teach now, people can't distract us but the noise from the busy street is still there. I will have photos soon :)

Networking and Civil Society Strengthening
Last week I was invited to attend the Press Conference for the launch of the project “Action for Civil Society Organizations (CSO) Strengthening in the South West Region- ACSOS”. It was implemented by Reach Out Cameroon (and NGO in Buea) within the framework of the Civil Society Strengthening Programme- PASC. PASC is a Cameroon and European Union partnership. It was interesting to see where CSO like Social Development International are going in the next year to come and what the Southwest Regions plan is to strengthen their capacity. It was a good networking event and I made a couple of contacts. They plan to made a database of NGOs/CSOs in the region by their themes (what they focus on: eg: health, micro-finance, water/sanitation, youth empowerment, etc) and their location so that organization can work together to meet common goals and objectives. That was a problem I noticed from the start. There are hundreds (literally) of NGOs just in Buea and they are all so small and trying to do all the same things....if they just worked together it would be much more beneficial to the community, the region and the country.

Moving Foward
Things are really starting to come together with the organization I am working for, Social Development International. I said I wanted to start at the grassroots level in this "international development" field...and boy I sure am. I had a meeting with the organization founder (Suliman) discussing transparency, accountability, record keeping, volunteer recruitment and project sustainability/success. The money and finance part sort of went in circles and got no where, but I think he understood my concerns about the way volunteers are recruited and the way programs are run. As a man said during the ACSOS program earlier in the week "If you try to do everything, you will not be able to do anything well" and since Suliman was at that Press Conference, I refered to that quote several times as I was explaining how we shouldn't be running 10-12 different programs with SDI ...we need to focus on a few and see them to completion.
Because of this discussion and what I have seen so far with the way the organization is run... I am in the process of leading volunteer/intern recruitment and orientation section of SDI. I will be creating job descriptions for the interns and start looking for people to fill the position. I am creating intern policies that will list all of their job duties and what is required out of them when they are working. Since there is literally NO record of what people do here, that is one of the first things that needs to change.

Tribal Wrestling in Bakwai village
I was invited by some friends to go see Tribal Wrestling in Bakwai village which is the 'brother village' of Bonduma village (where the SDI office is located). I was so impressed by the quickness and strength of everyone who fought!! We arrived early and sat in chairs behind the elders of the village underneath a makeshift bamboo shelter. I saw the chief and introduced myself, thanking him for allowing me to bear witness to such an event. This event takes place every Sunday for 4 weekends and then it moves to another village. Participants started to arrive by foot singing, chanting and dancing as they neared the wrestling field. Directly across from where I was sitting there was another bamboo structure that held drummers 10feet or so above the ground. They played the entire time :) Soon about 3 villages and their wrestlers had showed up, each taking different corners or sides of the field.

You can tell who the winner is in this one...

Men/boys and women/girls of all ages are allowed to wrestle but it was dominated by males. I saw women whom my friend said were going to wrestle, but time did not permit so I was not able to see them. Things worked like this: if you saw someone you wanted to wrestle, you approached them and bowed, if they accept, they return the bow and you both walk to the scored table (which was right in front of where we sat) to sign up together. If you were looking for someone to wrestle one people had started you walked around doing various things that symbolized you were looking for someone to fight. Some walked around with long large grass leaves in their hand shaking them and singing, others wrapped themselves in a Cameroonian flag and just walked with their arms spread open like wings. The matches started with the youngest age group, maybe about 5-7years old and they continued up to full grown adults. You could see the skill level and pure strength increase with every change of age group. I was impressed by even the youngsters... they do not joke around - they take this wrestling very seriously.

Drumming away with an attentive crowd.

When the match would begin, they would be escorted out by their village coach who always seemed to be giving them some sort of inspirational pep talk. The ref would check the two opponents for 'illegal' things such as sharp objects, shoes, etc. He would have them shake hands and then the fun would begin. It wasn't the wrestling I was exposed to in the US... if you are whatsoever flipped on your behind/back area - you lose. There is no 'pinning' for 3 seconds or anything like that....it is all about staying low to the ground and keeping your balance. As the age category increased so did the competitiveness and seriousness. If there was a very good match, were it was going into the 3rd round (the final round where if no one was flipped on their back it would be called a tie), the crowd would start going wild. Whenever a person would win a match like that... it was like making a winning shot at the buzzer during a state championship basketball game - everyone from the crowd would just pour out onto the field screaming and cheering and then soon go back to their respected sides for the next match to begin.
I am seriously considering training for a few days and wrestling one of these weekend - I just dont know if I can find the time between travel and work. It looked like so much fun!! I hope you enjoy this video I made of just some of the matches I witnessed. I had to pay 1,000 cfc to photograph (2USD) but it was totally worth it, and I don't mind supporting village activities like that...even though I'm sure the money just went to palm wine :)

Muea Teen Mother Empowerment Workshops
After working with a handful of social mobilizers in Muea our second Identification workshop had a phenomenal turn out of 30 girls!! We had the mobilizers make lists of who they talked to, so when we arrived at 4pm we called many of them and sent the mobilizers out for one last round of reminders. We explained the program several times, since people kept coming in late, and made it clear that if they didn't want to be there - we didn't want them to be there either. Everyone seemed interested and on board. We helped them fill out paper work and set the date for the next and first official workshops.
A Delegate from the Ministry of Women's Empowerment opened up the workshop with some motivational words. She was actually really inspirational and got the girls singing, smiling and laughing. We stood and sang a couple of songs before our next speakers. Mr. Bate and the Manager both attended on behalf of Buea Mutual Health Care and they gave an introduction on the importance of good health, the benefits of having Mutual Health and how it worked. We had a total of 15 girls attend, which in my opinion - is excellent. We took photos of the girls and their children (if they had any) and also chose topics for the next few months of workshops.

The photo is quite blurry but here we are at the first official workshop in Muea! :)

After all the difficulties in Maumu and talking to several Cameroonians (and a friends/family at home), I am realizing that the way we were trying to go about this program wasn't the best idea. We are complete outsiders, especially me. These girls and their families wont trust me and our project for months. Instead of trying to target 20 teens from 5 different villages, I think it will be better to stick to 2 villages and work with whoever wants to attend. Soon the community and other girls will see the long term and short term benefits of the program. They will see out faces and become familiar with the project and our presence. I am thinking after some weeks or so, more girls will want to join in which case I will start a new series of workshops for a new group of girls in the same village.

Reaching out to Bolifamba (aka Mile 16) with Social Mobilizers
The Manager of Mutual Health has paired me with two women from Bolifamba whom I met with last week. I will be seeing them tomorrow and be doing a training of social mobilizers in the village. I will sensitize these social mobilizers on the Teen Mother Empowerment program and all of the benefits. From there, they will go door to door (as was done in Muea) to tell the community about the program and answer all questions. The identification will be set for sometime next week at the Bolifamba hospital, they already agreed to let us use their room once a week for our workshops.

Epic Bakossi Wedding
 Last week on Wednesday I went with Delegate to Douala for his nieces wedding which was a 3-4 day event. We had planned this for about a month since he knew I was interested in seeing 'traditional and cultural activities'. Wow!! What an event! Although it was in the Littoral region (which is Francophone) his family is Bakossi which is an Anglophone tribe so all week we spoke English, Pigdin-English, and their Dialect (Bakossi).

The traditional wedding was on Wednesday evening and it consisted of a massive party with tons of music, dancing and a lot of traditional activities. We arrived around 5pm and rested a bit as more and more family started showing up. Everyone was ridiculously welcoming and kind. After some introductions and some activities we ate. There was SO much food I thought I was going to explode.

Main guys are in the two white shirts. One was the elder brother of the
groom who is in the blue on the right.

So. Much. Delicious. Food.

After we had finished eating it was nearing midnight and I was already beginning to feel sleepy - I was just not used to staying up late. There were 2-3 men who were leading all of the festivities. There was a lot of palm wine drinking from a calabash. As the festivities continued I had one of the Aunties as me to help her with part of a traditional ceremony. I was a bit confused and embarrassed but agreed without knowing what I was doing. She brought me in a room with a couple of other female family members and the bride, Ida. The told me that part of the Bakossi tradition, and many other tribes for that matter, is the 'choosing of the bride' ceremony. The groom is tested by being approached by several women covered from head to toe in fabric and he must choose the correct woman that is his wife. This is what they wanted me to do - cover myself in fabric and walk/dance/sing together with the aunties as we approached the groom to test him. Of course I participated!! As we entered the house and the living room where everyone was gathered, someone spotted my white feet because the sheet/fabric was not long enough... the whole room was bursting with laughter, excitement and surprise! It was hilarious!!! I was told that in some tribes it is very serious, there is no laughter and if the groom chooses the wrong woman he is fined by the brides family. Afterwards, the aunties even gave me 2,000 cfc ($4) as part of the tradition... it was nice...bought my airtime (phone credit) for the next few days!

DJ Delegate and I getting ready to dance Wednesday night!

The men of the families always did this high five hand shake thing the whole weekend. Someone told me that it represented unification of the family and the amount of times that they 'high fived' represented a persons rank. (men of same age = 3, women and young men = 2) They would give three high fives with their right hands and then on the third high five they would grasp hands and then shake their hands as they brought their hands down.
I was warned that we would be dancing until DB (dawn break) but I knew I wouldnt be able to make it that late. I finally called it a night at about 2:30am and the house was still rocking with music. I woke early at about 5:45am and could still hear the music going and people hooting and hollering. I pulled myself out of bed and thought, well, 3 hours is enough sleep - these guys havent even went to bed yet! As I get upstairs I see the house is a mess and people are half a sleep and half dancing and just spread out all over the place.
By 8am those who had went to be (like me) were all awake and the ones who had never slept were still awake as well. The women started preparing the breakfast (tea and bread) while the men just hung out and BSed with each other. I moved back and forth between the men and the women. At about noon or so, everyone slowly started to fall asleep and begin to rest for the day. Thursday, as Delegate had explained earlier, was resting and preparation day. The men slept and the women cooked copious amounts of food for the next day...the court ceremony, church wedding and reception. I helped with whatever I could...washed dishes, peeled carrots, talked to so many family members, politely denied marriage proposals, etc. It remained a pretty low key day for the most part - everyone was just recuperating from the festivities the night before and preparing for what was to come the next day.

On Friday we had the court ceremony at 9am which was really 10:30am. Delegate had to go back to Buea to pick up a niece so thankfully I was in good hands with his family and just went with them. Everyone loved my dress; I had it made especially for the wedding. After court I came back to sleep a bit because I knew I would be up late that night. Delegate made it back in the early afternoon. The church wedding was at 2pm but I went with the second round of family members who arrive closer to 3pm (we didn't miss anything). We were out of the Church by 5:30 and taking tons of photos for at least and hour.

Groom and Bride at the Wedding on Friday.

Beautiful flower girls!

My new family :) I love them so much!

Some of the youngster of the family, they were
calling me "auntie" by the time I was leaving.

By the time we got back to the house, it was just about time to head to the reception. I changed into my 'dancing outfit' and we were on our way. Things started at about 9pm and dancing started veeerrry late, probably after 1am. I danced danced danced until 5am with everyone else!!

Hanging out at the reception, waiting for the dancing to begin!

By the time we got home after dropping everyone off, I wasn't even tired anymore. So I watched the sunrise and chatted with family. All of a sudden I heard large pig squeals coming from the back of the house. I went to watch the Saturday pig slaughter...another part of the wedding tradition. The husband's family gave a pig to the wife's family as part of the bride dowry. It is also like some sort of test - if the family eats it and is sick, then the marriage is not true and it will not work but if the family eats it and it is OK, the marriage will last and it is true love. The pig was huge and it took 5 men to hold him down and kill him. It was really intense but the men insisted that I watch so I can learn all about the traditions :) They then cut up all the parts of the pig and made a list of all the boys in the family (because the big is for the men [although they did share with the women]) and divided up the meat depending on age. Soon I was eating cooked pig skin with pepe (mixture of ground peppers) and holding my own raw chunk of meat to bring home. They really accepted me into the family as one of their own.

The festivities were slowly coming to an end and I started backing up to leave. I found one good cup of coffee and ice cream before I left the city and headed home with other family members who lived in Buea. I made it home before 5pm and tried to catch up on work, but the electricity was out so I just hung out and went to sleep early.

Future Plans
This week I am meeting with the social mobilizers of Bolifamba to set an Identification date for the village and better explain the program so that they can go door to door sensitizing the community about the program. On Friday I will have my 2nd Muea Teen Mother Empowerment workshop and am very much looking forward to it.

I need to find a job in Yaounde because I've made up my mind that that is what I want to do when my contract is done with Social Development International. I am going to Yaounde next weekend (April 27th) to do some networking, apartment hunting and job searching. I was accepted to SIT Graduate Institute for the Intercultural Service, Leadership and Management Masters Program which I would pair with Peace Corps but I will post pone that until fall 2014.

The following weekend, May 4th-5th I will be traveling to Bamenda, Northwest Region to meet/visit a family there. While I was visiting SIT Graduate Institute in February, I met a woman who was going to school there who was from Bamenda - she sent me to Cameroon with a package for her family so I will be bringing things for them and celebrating her younger brothers birthday with them. The Northwest also speaks English and Pidgin and has many historical chiefdoms. I also believe it is the largest exporter of palm wine in the country.

I am exactly where I am supposed to be

The plane landed nearly an hour behind schedule (right on time if you are going by African time) but thankfully it was still light outside. As I stood in line for customs I could feel my skin soaking up the humid sticky Cameroon heat. Suddenly, the power went out and as if rehearsed, the entire airport let out a synchronized sigh. “I'm back” I thought to myself as the corners of my lips lifted towards my ears. The line was moving slow, but I was in no rush. I could hear the officials speaking in French as they used their cell phones as a flash light to review passports.

Paul was right around the corner waiting to greet me in the luggage area. What a blissful reunion it was. He pointed out Mr. Suliman Turay (CEO/Director of Social Development International) who was waiting in the balcony region. They had been waiting since 2pm – it was now nearly 7pm. It was necessary for them to leave Buea early because depending on traffic, it can take anywhere form 1 ½ to 3 hours to get to Douala and you might have to wait for the bus or taxi to fill up before it leave (taking from 10min-3hours).

I collected my luggage and we met Suliman outside near our taxi. I was welcomed to Cameroon by being called “cheap” for not tipping the two men who literally only lifted my luggage into the car (without asking, just taking) and were both tipped by Paul 2 seconds before they asked me for money.

I was quickly reminded of the terrifying roads and drivers of Africa. There are no rules, no regulations, no lines on the road – nothing. I call it ‘chaos that works’. As our taxi zipped left and right tooting his horn and braking for no one I recalled the secret to keeping your sanity while on the road – don’t look out the front window, always look to the side so you don’t see what the drive is doing or what is really going on. I have heard the front seat be called the death seat in many regions because there are so many head on collisions with public transportation.

Mt. Cameroon (view from Paul's house)

I took Monday as a free day to get acquainted with the city but realized it would take me at least a couple of weeks – Buea’s population is over 200,000 and is very spread out – there are many districts and villages within the city. I met the two others who are working for SDI right now as well – Sara (from the US focusing on farming and agriculture) and Monica (from Australia focusing on Health and Nutrition). We are all staying with the same host family right next door to University of Buea. Paul lives behind Malingo Junction which is only about a 10min walk from my house.

Tuesday I went to the SDI office and met Suliman to discuss my projects for the next 5 months. We decided I would focus on facilitating capacity building workshops with teen mothers in Mamu village. I did as much research as possible on the previous projects that had been facilitated by previous SDI coordinators/volunteers, but information and contacts were scarce. Paul and I went to the Police Department to get a photocopy of my passport/visa, get it stamped and laminated so that I can use that as my ID. Afterwards we went to the Linguistic Center to take a French placement exam. I am Intermediate B and Paul is Beginner A. Classes start April 8^th.

On Thursday I met with Max (aka Delegate) who is the SDI Social Worker. He worked with the previous project in Tole (another village in Buea) and was the one who assessed Mamu village and identified the 20 teens whom I will be working with. Max is a short, middle aged Cameroonian who is not yet married, he says it is because he can cook better than the women and they don't like that. I was hesitant to partner with him at first, mostly because I my self was being gender biased not sure how good of an idea it was to have a man working with with teen mother empowerment. But I have to say, his attitude and knowledge wooed me and I am thrilled to be working with him on this project.

Later that evening Max and I met up to go to Mamu village to meet the teens. The meeting started at 4pm but we spend the first 30-40min walking around the village ‘rounding up’ the girls and reminding them of the meeting. It was finally about 5:15 when the meeting started and there were 6 teens present. I can see that my two biggest challenges will be 1) getting them to come out of their shell; 2) language barrier between their Pidgin-English (mix of broken English and local dialects but it is codified as its own language) and my English. We decided to meet every Thursday at 4pm. As part of this program, the women (and their babies) will be enrolled in Mutual Health (a local health insurance) for an entire year. Upon completion of the program, SDI will fund the teens to either A) go back to school; B) start a business (trading foods, small shop, etc) or C) learn a trade/apprenticeship (hairdressing, seamstress, etc). The program is absolutely free of charge – all that we require is attendance and participation from the girls. This year, SDI and the project received a grant from The Girl Effect and is has made all of these wonderful things possible.

On Friday, Suli, Max and I went to the Regional Deligacy of Women’s Affairs in Buea Town. I met with a the Chief of Services for Family and Children's Affairs and he wants to help me and contribute. I will go back to meet with him at the end of this week because he is traveling until then and will not be around. Before leaving, we stopped to see the Regional Delegate for Women’s Affairs. She was very interested and impressed by our program and is looking forward to hearing more. She even mentioned that she might want to come by one of the workshops. I have to stop back and see on on Tuesday or Wednesday to show her the program for the first workshop.

I went to Buea Town market on Saturday and got a wicket sun burn. The market was beautiful (as are all African markets) and I spent close to two hours wandering around with Sara and Monica.

Sunday Mama Pocome (Francophone neighbor) took the three of us to church because of our activities in Buea. She thought we could benefit the church. In my case, I went so that I could talk to their congregation about the problems that teen mothers face and how they can be addressed (i.e.: what topics I should use for my capacity building workshops). We went to Full Gospel Mission Church (which is a Pentecostal church) for 2 hours. I think faith is good, I think the morals that many mainstream religions bring are good, I think spirituality is also good – but I think there is a line and sometimes that line is crossed. I said it before and I’ll say it again – the missionaries devastated Africa and the destruction is evident all over the continent. For me, I am much more interested in traditional and animalism practices like the Ndep ceremony I saw inYoff, Senegal. I hope I get to be a part of something like that again.

Later on Sunday I wandered down to Muea (pronounced Moon-ya) town market by myself and made some new friends. Ruth helped me find some great fabric stalls and is going to look for the International Women’s Day fabric so that next Sunday I can buy it from her.

My backyard/compound

Sister Bernadette

Everyone here is genuinely hospitable and caring. I really enjoy their generosity and their frequent greetings and smiles. I have made it a personal goal of mine to visit every region (except for the Far North and the North) while I am here. I am living in the Southwest region and I visited the Littoral region in 2011/12, so I am left with 6 regions: East, South, Center, Northwest, West and Adamawa. 5 out of 6 are Francophone regions. J'ai haït de voyager (I am excited to travel).

Cameroonian food I have tried (so far):

Soya – meat on a stick (variety of meats).

Chin-chin – small crunchy fried sweet fried dough-balls.

Puff-puff – fried dough, sometimes with sugar (like a donut).

Ekwang – pounded coco yams, mine had a sauce that was fish based and had a lot of palm oil, not sure if it is always served like that.

Okro soup with Gerri - A fish based stew like soup made of Okro and vegetables with gerri which is ground dried cassava.

Ndole with Water Fufu – cooked green veggies with ground wet cassava. There is also corn fufu which I haven't had yet.

Dodo – slices of plantains fried in oil.

Bobolo – long pieces of cassava wrapped in leaves, traditionally eaten with grilled fish.

Fufu