I’ll explain.
In January, I was conducting an initial health survey in the town of
Mbakaou. I interviewed 82
households containing a total of 613 people (out of 4,167 in the town). These questions (for the most part)
were divided into sections of nutrition, malaria, water sanitation and sexually
transmitted infections. The
questions regarding STI’s and HIV were awkward for many, were sometimes greeted
by laughs and sometime they were simply too inappropriate to ask to certain
locals (especially Fulani Muslims).
However the question that felt strangest to ask was “In the last month,
how many days have you had diarrhea?” Could you imagine if a 24 year old man
from say Europe or Japan showed up at your door, introduced themselves as a new
resident and community organizer and then asked you if you poop has been
strange or if you had someone with HIV in your house. As slow (and awkward) as the survey could be, the survey was
useful for both information and getting to know the people of my new town. Also the people I interviewed were
usually very kind and surprisingly open on sensitive questions. I always received a seat by the
homeowner for the interview and never received a rejection when I asked to
conduct the survey.
Although my French is definitely improving and I was able to
use it through the survey, I learned I need to continue studying it regularly
in my free time and work on the local languages especially Fulfulde. Almost
every interview in my survey required one of my counterparts (FBI or Alphonse)
to help translate from French to Fulfulde or Hausa or Gbiya and back into
French so I could record the responses.
I am focusing on Fulfulde, which is the most common native language in
Mbakaou, Adamawa, the Grand North of Cameroon and also spoke in many countries
through central Africa. It is the
primary tongue of the Fulani people but due its influence and widespread use,
many others (especially in Mbakaou) speak it.
Sadly Sub-Saharan Africa has a bad wrap with ethnic and
religious conflicts, even nowadays.
However Mbakaou and Cameroon in general, are inspiring examples of
coexistence between religions and ethnic groups. Mbakaou is pretty evenly divided between Christians (of
several denominations) and Muslims and both groups are very respectful and
cooperative with each other. It is
an inspiring sight not just in Africa, but also in the world today.
I know it has been a while, but I hope to have another
blogpost up soon! I hope you are all well!
