We arrived in village at around 4 PM. My counterpart, Magloire, who has enough energy to fuel two or three people, was ready go and do stuff, but I was exhausted from riding in cramped bush taxis for 9 hours in the hot hot sun. I took a bucket bath and called it a day and passed out. I got up early the next morning, and went running with Magloire. He’s a superstar runner (and superstar soccer player), and basically put me to shame. Meanwhile, everyone was just stop-walking, jaw-dropping staring at us (or rather, me) while running, so that was a bit uncomfortable.
After bathing, we began meeting EVERYONE important in village. It’s not uncommon to have many important people in village, and as someone new, it’s pretty important for me to know these people. I should preface this by saying that EVERYONE we met was incredibly welcoming, friendly, and told me something along the lines of their home was my home, which was really nice to hear. I felt incredibly welcomed into my village and it seemed that people were thrilled to have me. I felt even more fortunate later, when I was staying with a current PCV in a nearby village, and she told me her story of meeting the mayor of her village [see below]. My counterpart even told me a very endearing story about how they’ve been trying to make accommodations to get a volunteer in Ngambé Tikar for more than a year, and he was SO excited to finally have one.
Anyhow, we began with the député and then tried to find the priest of the Catholic mission, but he wasn’t there; we walked to the house of the chef du village (village chief), who called Magloire his “son,” and said if I ever had problems, to come see him. The chef du village is a bit of an intellectual and told me that he went to school in Minnesota (!) and played in the snow and built snowmen, etc etc. So that was cool. Next, we went to see the local hospital/center du santé, which was one of my favorite things. I met with the chief doctor, who is actually the only doctor who works there, and he was nice enough to give us a proper tour of the hospital. The hospital is incredibly clean and appears to be well-run – the doc told me he has a staff of 15 people. It even has a microscope in their lab!! Which is unusual, especially for such a small village. Also, they had ingeniously set up the microscope so that the direct sunlight came straight thru the window to light up the slides. With this, they can do testing for HIV, malaria, and any other illness that requires a scope. Dope.
Anyhow, we then met the chief of the gendarmerie, sous-prefect and the adjoint sous-prefect, who basically acts as sous-prefect when the sous-prefect is away (I don’t completely understand what the sous-prefect does or what that means, but I do know that prefects and sous-prefects are Important People in Cameroonian culture). Also, the sous-prefecture is on a large hill that overlooks my town and the surrounding scenery, so from there, you can really see how the village is divided between forest and savannah. It’s a gorgeous view, which, fortunately, is pretty close to my house. I’m thinking that it will be nice to trek up the hill every now and again, just for the view.
Like I said, my house is quite close to the gendarmerie and the sous-prefecture, so we also saw that. It seems like it’ll be nice – and really fun to put together. Right now it’s completely empty. It has a pretty large living room area and four modestly-sized rooms. I’m hoping to turn one room into a kitchen space, one into a study, and the other two into bedrooms. My pit latrine and shower area are in a separate “building,” about 15-20 feet from the house (which is probably good). There was also a large turkey wandering around my house, which seemed a bit strange, since I haven’t seen any of those yet. Magloire asked me what I thought of the house, and I said I thought it was nice. He seemed quite relieved and told me that he had been really nervous for me to see it, and was thus thrilled that I found it acceptable. Anyhow, after meeting so many people, I was totally pooped and the sun was really roaring. We grabbed a bite to eat and then I passed out for five hours until dinner time.
That first day was the hardest. I was just totally overwhelmed, and I couldn’t take in ANYTHING. We met so many people, and the sun was so hot and we walked all over, that I was kind of in shock. I even completely lost my appetite. The next day, I was a bit apprehensive to even face the day, but I knew we had a lot to do, so eventually I dragged myself out of bed. Over the course of the three days there, we finally met the head of the Catholic mission, the head of the sawmill that is in town, and the mayor. Everyone was consistently welcoming, friendly, fantastic, and said that I could come to them for anything. Since there’s no furniture to buy in town, the head of the sawmill even offered to have two beds and a table and chair built and ready for me when I arrive, since they have a carpenter on staff. It was a relief to be so unconditionally welcomed. And Magloire has been a remarkable counterpart. He let me stay in his home (honestly, there wasn’t really anywhere else for me to stay in my tiny, tiny village); and I feel especially fortunate, because he just seems incredibly motivated, energetic, idealistic, progressive and simply fantastic; in essence, a rarity in Cameroon.
I will share several good signs that I think indicate how great he will be to work with. First of all, one of the first things he said to me was that he wants to create something concrete for the community – that is his vision. And he spoke about this with such fervor and enthusiasm. He seems very genuine about it. He also seems to have ideas of what those things might be (for example, a centre d’écoute or “listening center” – which I think basically means, a counseling center, but I’m not totally sure yet). Second, the PC volunteer who site prospected my post knows him well, has worked with him, and thinks highly of him. I think it’s a very positive sign that an existing volunteer has a strong, positive relationship with him and esteems him as highly as she does. Another time, we were discussing marriage in Cameroon and he said that here, when a man gets to be around age 25, people start saying he should be married, having kids. Magloire is 27, unmarried and has no kids. He told me that he doesn’t want to do any of that until he has accomplished his goals. In this way, he is an unusually progressive and determined individual. What we might call a “positive deviant.” Moreover, not only did all of the responsables and notables in my village seem to have great relationships with him, so too did practically everyone else in village. Making the short loop around village, we stopped no less than five times so he could go greet someone or go tease a little kid. He seems to know EVERYBODY and everyone likes him. And he learns quickly and is observant. He noticed my hair twirling habit (who hasn’t?) and at one point said to me: “you do that when you’re working or when you’re bored,” which is, of course, true. Added bonus: he laughs at everything. I feel like the funniest person alive when I’m chatting with him. I feel like the most fortunate PCV in the world to have been placed with him. I’m posting a photo of him being goofy at the river we had to cross by ferry to get to village.
Anyhow, site visit was very overwhelming, but by the end of three days, I was beginning to feel really excited to work with Magloire and my village for the next two years. The next step of site visit was visiting a current PCV. Magloire was kind enough to accompany me to visit my closest postmate, who is also his friend. This turned out to be a good thing, since we took a bush taxi (like the last time, a 1980-something four-door sedan) with fourteen people in/on it to a river, which we then crossed in canoes, and then waded barefoot thru knee-deep mud to reach the other side, where we took a 10-minute moto ride to reach the next village. I’m pretty certain I wouldn’t have known how to get there without him. We left Sunday morning around 7 AM and arrived around 12:30 PM. This is the PCV who is currently living in the same village where my closest postmate (Ralph) will be located – that is, he is replacing her.
It was really great to discuss village life with her. Her village seemed a bit bigger than mine, and seemed to be quite a party village – bars everywhere, lots of drinking. We ate some of the best fish I have ever tasted and just chatted about lots of things. I realized that I was even more lucky to have had such a welcoming village when she told me her story of meeting her mayor. Apparently, when she met him, he said to her “you have breasts like African women,” and reached over and grabbed hers. I can’t imagine what I would have done if I had encountered that, but it would have certainly turned me off to the whole experience. Moreover, another trainee here told me that half the men in her village were really welcoming and half were really creepy; apparently a number of them asked if she was just like the volunteer she was replacing and thus would not sleep with them. So all things considered, although it might seem like it should be a given to be welcomed into a community (and not harassed), I guess I feel pretty fortunate that I was so welcomed and not harassed.
Another great part of site visit was coming back from it and seeing all my fellow trainees again. We’d all only been apart for a week, but somehow, when we all saw each other again today, I suddenly felt a lot closer to everyone. It’s strange, but true, that distance makes the heart grow fonder. I guess we all went to post, realized how alone we’d be (in terms of seeing other Americans) and then coming back together, we just valued being together all the more. Despite that, I am super psyched and ready to go back to post. Training has really become a bit of a drag. It’s annoying because even free time during the day is not free time. There’s not much to do at the training site, and I could go home, but then my homestay father would be confused why I was home and I wouldn’t want to have to explain it to him. We’re not doing that much anymore in training, and I’m ready to just start getting settled at post. My French is just pretty kickass right now, and I can basically communicate with anyone, and even joke with people, which is nice. I guess I do need to start focusing on learning pidgin English and maybe some Tikar, which is the most prevalent local dialect in my community.
So, despite the initial shock of reaching village and realizing how completely alone I’d be in a home with no electricity and no running water and only a pit latrine, I’m now pretty stoked. All those things are kind of superficial, and it’s easy enough to get used to. What I think is more important and can really make or break a PC experience is the work itself and one’s counterpart. I don’t want to say that I have the best counterpart ever, but I really think I do. So I’m just stoked about that. BRING IT ON.
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