Fishing Season

Before arriving in Mbakaou for my service, I learned that Mbakaou was a major fishing town and that fish would be an essential part of my diet.  I was very concerned.  At the time, I was in training in the small landlocked village of Mengong, and I ate fish every single day with my host family.  They were good cooks but the quality of the fish was decent at best and I was eating EVERY SINGLE DAY.  Thus when I first learned I was going to cattle country (Adamawa is Cameroonian cattle country) I was very excited, until of course I found that the town in particular was the center of the regional fishing industry.  I didn’t know if I could do fish every single night for the next two years.

 However my concerns were soon washed away.  First, it’s still cattle country and beef is always part of the local diet. Second, when fishing season did start (last February, but really in full effect the last month or so), the Fish was amazing!!! On top of that, the fish is unbelievably cheap (even compared to other regions).  If I wanted a fish for lunch, namely one that had been caught that morning, I would go to one of the fish stands, choose my fish, watch it get grilled and then pay $0.40 to $0.80 cents for it!  For a good sized delicious fish!  Yes, translated into US dollars!  Also, it is well prepared healthy fish.  It’s not like other cheap things that seem too cheap to be considered healthy.  Like the vodka in Russia I heard about when I was there that costs less than a dollar.  STAY AWAY FROM THAT!  Like other seemingly innocent things in Russia, it could kill you.  Thankfully (and hopefully I am not jinxing myself), it is not the case for the fish of Mbakaou, Cameroon.  On top of that, mango and avocado season coincide with fishing season, which is a good sign for nutritional intake in town.

Despite the nutritious fish and increased incomes in the town, the fishing industry also has a few negative impacts on the area as well.  To start, many young men who would otherwise attend high school drop out to work in the relatively profitable fishing trade, much the same way several decades ago in the American rust belt, young men would drop out to work in coal mines (as a broad example).  This may provide immediate income for their families, but it is seasonal still relatively low income, and deprives both the town and Cameroon of educated individuals.  Also there are other negative effects to making one industry the center of a town’s economy especially when that industry is (legally speaking) seasonal.  Farming is also important, but aside from cattle raising it is often subsistent farming and is not as large as the fishing industry. 

Recently, I have also been learning more and more about the high HIV relevance in the fishing villages because of men who travel to the lake, fish and have relationships (or other sort of connections) with local women and then leave them behind. 

Finally, another concern has been raised in Africa in general and was particularly brought to light by a New York Times article, is the use of mosquito nets as fishing nets.  I have heard of it used in lake Mbakaou yet, however I have not seen it, but their use raises a lot of concerns.  First, people are not using their mosquito net to protect them from mosquitoes.  Living by a lake only makes them more vulnerable and most families only have one.  I am already having trouble convincing people to use their net primarily for their young children and pregnant women, who are the most vulnerable to malaria.  Moreover, while the nets are very effective in scooping up many fish (sometimes too many), they kill many fish because of the insecticide they use on the nets and they leave those toxins in the lake. 

All in all, fishing is an essential part of the town’s economy and lifestyle (including cuisine) and these problems need to be overcome so we can continue the fruits of the lake without major consequences.  I hope you are well and eating good food too!

Bushman, Beekeeper and Survivor of a Thirsty Land.

Yes this is a grand overstatement, but it sounds better than: a peace corps volunteer who goes to remote villages for health animations, attends a beekeeping conference and is experiencing a drought.  Honestly the last one is worst than it sounds.

I was back at post for only ten days after the Inter-Service Training conference before going to a beekeeping conference in Ngaoundere.  In that short period of time I was able to hit the countryside and do a series of malaria and nutrition animations in very small villages on the lake and out in the bush (the countryside).  One of the villages Housseini and I visited in the bush looked like it was out of a Discovery Channel show with it’s painted houses that I never saw in the villages that sit on the road from Mbakaou to Tibati.  The villages by the lake are also important to visit, because I found, to my surprise, that many of the locals are still lacking a lot of information on malaria despite their close proximity to the lake.  On top of this they are a fair distance from the nearest health center making a visit expensive, difficult and often done in only extreme cases.  This is a major problem for healthcare in rural Africa in general.  A round trip motorcycle or car ride to the nearest health center plus the cost of treatment, can be a major blow to the family budget of a farmer or fisherman.  This is why prevention (especially with malaria) is so important and why I believe these odd little visits to villages are absolutely worthwhile.  I just hope the information is well received.  It can be a difficult sell convincing people to do anything different in their personal lives, especially if the information is coming from an outsider who does not even speak Fulfulde/Hausa/Gbiya.

Regarding the second overstatement, I recently attended a bee keeping conference.  As you might have deducted, income (or lack of) is a strong detriment of proper (or any) treatment.  Upon hearing of the conference, I saw the production of honey as a possible income generating activity in the surrounding communities.  My before mentioned counterpart Housseini runs a local agriculture group in the small town of Bolinting.  We are planning on starting the project with them.  As someone who use to be afraid of bees, this conference posed some challenges, but with a rudimentary bee keeping suit (a wide brimmed hat, raincoat, jeans, hiking boots, gloves and a mesh around my face) and lots of smoke derived from leaves, branches and cow poop, we were able to protect ourselves.  However now my hat smells like smoky cow poop.  The conference was interesting and I hope to keep you all updated with the project as it comes into being. 

Finally, the biggest problem I have been facing recently has been the lack of rainwater.  It is the end of dry season however rainy season is coming late leading to many of the wells drying up.  Worse, of the five pubic water pumps in town (many built by foreign NGO’s and corporations), only one works.  There is another one but it is privately owned.  There is a well in my compound however it is almost completely dry.  When I throw the bucket down to fetch water, the side of the bucket hits the bottom of the well and it usually brings up muddy water.  I do have a water filter that cleans the dirty water, but it often means not having very clean showers and buying lots of bottled water too.  It is a worrying concept and it surprises me that people seem so less concerned than myself.  The problem is also affecting cities and other regions.  In the regional capital of the Northwest, Bamenda, water has finally started running through the pipes after not working for three weeks!  And this is a city!  It does rain occasionally and when it does it rains hard.  But it is a troubling development if it does not start raining regularly soon.

That is all for now!  I hope you are all well!

Hi, my name is Alex. May I ask about your poop?

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!

Life in Mbakaou

Hey everyone. I am back in Ngaoundéré after my first month (sort of) in my new home of Mbakaou.  Its a great town and I really like it so far.  There is a lot to say so I will try to sum up the best I can of the last month.  After the ten hour bus ride, a night in the town of Tibati and another 45 minutes in a car, I finally arrived at my new post on the bottom side of the lake of Mbakaou, where the town derives it's name.

The town of Mbakaou was founded in the early 1960s when the Dam was constructed on Lake Mbakaou.  Today Mbakaou is a major fishing village and the towns population explodes during fishing season when  men come from all over the grand north of Cameroon to fish and to buy fish.  The population is divided pretty evenly between Christians (mostly Catholic and Presbyterian, who have a church called Martin Luther King Church) and Muslims.  Ethnically, there are the Gbaya, the largest group who tend to be Christian, the Fulani, the largest and most influential Muslim group, as well as the Hausa and the Emboro who are also Muslim.  There is a Muslim chief and a Christian chief (both very nice and welcoming) in the town.

I live with a butcher named Al-Adji Awal, his two wives, eight children, brother (Hassan) and his brother's wife.  They have been absolutely wonderful to me.  His wives cook dinner every night and breakfast most mornings and they help me whenever I have a problem.  I believe culture has a lot to do with that.  They really look out for others especially in their community and those living close together.  We live in a walled compound that houses the whole family in a few houses including my own.  I have been lucky to have electricity and although I do not have running water or plumbing I have gotten use to using the latrine.  I was extremely lucky to have been left a lot of furniture and kitchen supplies from the volunteer I replaced.  Thanks Dale! (He even left macaroni and cheese!)

The Peace Corps tells us that the first few months are all about integration, but after two weeks I really wanted to get to work on something.  Since arriving, I showed up to the health center on a daily basis to prepare for work and I worked with the local volunteers who distributed the polio vaccines.  Polio is still a serious problem in three countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria.  As Nigeria is a neighboring country to Cameroon, there have been cases of polio in Cameroon, even one in my town Mbakaou last year (according to local health officials).

Despite those activities, which I do mainly to help out and to introduce myself to the community, I was ready to start my own projects. My official title is a Community Health Educator.  As it turns out, when I was introducing myself to village officials I found myself very welcomed by the high school headmaster to start lectures on family planning and HIV/AIDS.  My first two classes (addressing each subject) was a class of thirty students.  Both went relatively well and the headmaster wanted the same duo of classes....this time with ninety high school students. The first class, which was on family planning was extremely difficult to control.  So for my second lesson with them on HIV, I planned a game outside and was lucky enough to have one of their teachers to help me keep discipline and translate my bad French.  It went much better.  Another volunteer, Karen, advised me on the game and I feel it was an effective way to help the students understand the effects of AIDS.

When I get back to post, although I will continue working on HIV awareness and family planning (especially with the two local women's groups), my number one focus will be on malaria.  I have already seen its effects on a few individuals in town and it is one of the number one killers in the world.  Malaria is very acute in Mbakaou, because of the lake nearby.  Already a major problem in Cameroon, it is exasperated and made a major year long problem for Mbakaou's population.

I had a wonderful Christmas with other volunteers and I hope you all had the same.  Happy New Year!

A Volunteer in Ngaoundéré

Yes! I am now officially a Peace Corps Volunteer woohoo! And yes I am in Ngaoundéré, which I will get to. Spoiler Alert: Ngaoundéré is awesome.

On November 19th I was officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the health program.  The US Ambassador to Cameroon did the ceremony with the Peace Corps Country Director and several Cameroonian officials. One of the prouder moments for me was taking the oath of service.  According to one of the volunteers who served in the army during Vietnam, it was the exact same oath of service except we said Peace Corps instead of Army, of course.  Everyone was dressed in the same fabric but with a wide range of styles and none were the same.  It was a great event.

One if the best parts of the event was the fact that so many Cameroonian's were there.  Whether they were host families or officials, it was great seeing them there.

My host family was there and it was good to see them one last time.  I should say my host mother and father were there.  Only two of the twenty three members of the family.  The Peace Corps asked if I would recommend my family for the next group of volunteers.  I said absolutely (as they took such good care of me), but I recommended them for someone with excellent social skills who can deal with such a huge family and an army of neighbors who gravitate around the household.

I left Mengong that day and the South the day after.  Myself and five girls (four in health and one in agriculture) went first to the national capital of Yaoundé by bus with other volunteers heading to the center and east provinces.  We also were able to see my friend Mary Beth before she returned to the states for medical reasons.  Mary is one of my closest friends from training and was super pumped for going to Adamawa.  I know what ever she does next though, she will do a good job.

After a short break in Yaoundé, we took the night train to Ngaoundéré, which was impressively nice almost to the standards of European sleeper trains I used before.  I would say nicer than the St. Petersburg to Moscow train for sure.  I woke up early in the morning on the train and saw as the scenery began to change.  We were in Adamawa, and it was beautiful.

The South could best be represented by thick green jungle.  The Northwest by huge green mountains, cliffs with waterfalls and jungle like forests.  Adamawa by semi-arid land including desert vegetation and large desert hills. Just from what I saw so far.  It almost reminded me of central Arizona.  However each region is diverse, and the country as a whole is very diverse (with ten regions total).

We arrived in Ngaoundéré mid-morning and were instantly greeted by Peace Corps Staff.  At the Case (a sort of regional headquarters for volunteers, pronounced cause), we were greeted by a large group of volunteers from the region who cooked us dinner, showed us around and overall made us feel very welcome.  I could not ask for more.  I really like the volunteers who believe in being a support system for each other.  I think that will be important for me and others over the next two years.

I love the regional capital Ngaoundéré with its almost middle eastern feel (reminds me if Egypt and Tunisia in particular), kind and laid back people and yes, abundance of beef.  I like the Adamawa a lot so far and can't wait to get to post.  I have a ten hour bus ride tomorrow but I got help organizing my trip from the local staff and I will be getting help from a volunteer located near me named Victoria and my counterpart Alphonse.

I'm excited and almost at post.  I hope you are all well!

Road to Adamawa

Hello again!  Its been a while but I wanted to make one more blogpost before swearing in as a peace corps member and moving to Adamawa next week! Today I met with one of my counterparts: Alphonse, a motorcycle riding nurse.  Awesome right?  He seems eager for me to get started right away and is very busy.  I'm excited to get started.

I've been busy in the last few weeks as well.  Four weeks ago I went to the market to buy a live chicken.  I was dressed in my finest pagne (African fabric) and a collection of phrases in Bulu to no avail as the chicken salesman did not show up in time. I had to go to class but my aunt purchased the chicken instead and it was waiting for me after class.  I named it Marie Antoinette, learned a new farm skill and that night had some of the most delicious chicken I've ever had.

While in training we had a few chances to practice classes and activities on the unsuspecting locals of Mengong.  We had a nutrition lesson in a primary school.  Afterwards one of the volunteers nearly started a riot by handing out the paper cut out fruits to the children after we used them for an activity.  We escaped alive.

We ran a nutrition screening at the primary school, did an activity on attitudes of men and women with a group of high schoolers and my group taught a class on Ebola at the health center.  The Ebola class was interesting.  Some people were really interested yet others were not too concerned.  The class focused on the current crisis, causes and prevention.  I talked about prevention.  I think with the way Paul Biya is handling the airports (masked doctors screening arriving passengers) and the borders, and the way many Cameroonian's eat bush meat (monkeys and bats are the main potential Ebola carriers), it is more likely an Ebola strain starts in the rural regions here then spreads I through the airports.  Either way it is unlikely in the near future.  I hope.

All for now, next blogpost in Adamawa!  I hope you are all well!

Northwestwards

Hey Everyone I need to divide this post into two parts: My sight visits in the Northwest and my new post in Adamawa!!!!

Journey to the Northwest

I'm back from Fundong in the Northwest region of Cameroon. I had a site visit with five other volunteers (three in health and two in agriculture) and we made the ten hour journey to the regional capital of Bamenda from our training center in Mengong (and Ebolowa for the agriculture for volunteers).  Upon our dusk arrival at the Peace Corps headquarters in Bamenda, we caught a cab that took us on the two hour mountain journey to Fundong. We arrived and met Jon who was the volunteer we would follow around for the next few days.

The Northwest is beautiful with large green mountains and lots of waterfalls.  The Northwest is a big tourist hit for its scenery and I can see why.  On top of that the people are very friendly and they speak Pigin English (English with local words and in a local dialect).

Jon showed us a water catchment that he and his counterpart worked on providing fresh water for the village below, and we met other volunteers who worked with local farmers and an agricultural bank.  On Sunday (and Saturday) I made the wild journey back across the country on an upset stomach.

My home for the next two years!

I am going to Mbakaou, Adamawa for my post!  I know so far that it is a town of 4,200 people on a lake.  I will try to hold off on the details until I get there and post about it then.

The ceremony was pretty fun. Someone made a sorting hat and read off the location as we wore the hat.  We then scooted to various parts of the room to stand and cheer with people going to the same region.

When we came back to Mengong from Ebolowa (where we learned our sites) a bunch of people in the van were singing out loud and suddenly stopped when a police officer poked his head into the van at a checkpoint.  He just laughed and let us on our way.

That's all just more training and less wifi in the next few weeks.  I hope all is well back home!