EE notes for NWP

these are my notes and feedback, as the new NWP EE committee rep, to my fellow PCVs at the "the slum" (Northwest Province volunteer co-house in Bamenda) from our national EE committee meeting (held in Yaounde on 2/9/2002):

full of grace

2/12/2002 (part 3):
i'm in the process of writing Rama that letter about kids in Africa. in depth and interesting. that said, my letters home still aren't flowing that well...

i'll end with a quote from Mike:

"don't feel bad that you're struggling... Peace Corps is like this."

...and a quote from David:

"...some people, for reasons clearly unknown to me, walk gracefully down here on earth. And those of us fortunate enough to be touched by them as they give of themselves live better lives, and learn to treat others better, as modeled by the graceful ones."

Mike is a graceful one.

bicultural, bilingual

2/12/2002 (part 2):
had a series of interrupted, interesting conversations with Cheryl in Yaounde. we’ve only sat and spoken to each other twice... so it was nice having such comfortable conversation with her now. she has quite a personality and a head on her shoulders. not to mention class.

we talked about family, moms, brothers, marriage, our biculturalism and Africa... Cameroon, Mali, South Africa and Morocco, in particular. she’s thinking about extending service for a year in Mali. Bamako, actually. had some advice for me about Morocco, too.

about bilingualism... won’t go into depth now, as i’m tired. i’ll elaborate later. basically, every time i go from Francophone to Anglophone Cameroon i come back thinking/speaking French. can’t just turn it off. it confuses me.

i guess it’s the same when i come back from Syria to America. it takes a while to readjust to the different zone and – hmmm... mentality? it's the same confusion that has me wanting to start writing English from right to left and Arabic from left to right (see 4 languages post). i wonder if that confusion translates into, or is reflected in, the national cultural identity of Cameroonians?

during the African Cup of Nations i couldn’t help but be totally amused by the commentary. 5-10 minutes in French, then 5-10 minutes in English. even the pre/half/post-game shows were simultaneously bilingual! 2 anchors... one Francophone, one Anglophone. and often one will be speaking directly to the other (or their respective guests) in one language and receive a reply in another.

“can you say IDENTITY CRISIS?!” i don’t know???... is it forced? is it working? it is strange... at least to me. and talk about a legacy... colonialism’s, that is.

well... i guess i’m not that tired. i did elaborate. that’s all i have to say about language here, for now.

cramped discomfort

2/12/2002 (part 1):
two days later [from the tired outline]. here we go...

the trip(s) to and from Yaounde were rough. did the Bamenda-Baffousam-Yaounde thing on the way there. cramped and uncomfortable. HIGHLY! had a friend traveling with me, from bamenda... and he had it worse!

in Yaoudne, the EE [environmental education] meeting was short (relative to the journey, that is)... good group. more on that later...

saw a bunch of PCVs, too. talked to Adam in Bamenda. he’s leaving (ETing) in June. on good terms, of course... he's probably known for some time now. Kay was ill and in Yaoudne. Nat, too. spoke to Kay... she’s leaving her village for another one, also in June.

not sure, but Kristen may still be unhappy with her post.... didn’t see her though. cannot confirm. Robert moved posts, as well. still in the SW though. that’s it for our stage... but i also saw and spoke with a bunch of other PCVs in Yaounde.

had an extended conversation with Mike. i vented. again. totally. was looking for advice. maybe even some inspiration. tough though. i kinda dropped or bounced a lot off him. he did ask one interesting question:

“ideally... if you had it your way, what would you do or what would you want to accomplish here?”

good question. what is/are my goals? figure those out, then go for it... just do it.

tired outline

2/10/2002:
things to write about (just an outline... ‘cuz i’m tired now):

• trip to/from Yaounde... talking to a few PCVs
• EE stuff... write up house feedback & things to ask Mike
• Bilingualism... mine, Cameroon’s and identity crises (or at least language confusion)
• Carton rouge aux travaux les enfants... letter to Rama on Youth Day

btw... the Indomitable Lions won the Cup of Nations over Senegal: 3-2, on penalty kicks. glad i left Younde... must be nuts there now!

village project 2

2/6/2002:
material & labor:
-35 cement bags (4,700 cfa /ea.) = 164,500 cfa
-6L fuel for delivery (500 cfa /ea.) = 3,000 cfa
-labor, water & sand (community contribution) = ~33,000 cfa
-subtotal (materials & labor) = 200,500 cfa

-total (subtotal - community contribution) = 167,500 cfa

schedule:
-approx. 15 young men in village to assist w/labor.
-their schedules will rotate over course of project.
-need to meet & confirm before work commences.

extra funds? (200,000 - 167,500 = 32,500 cfa)
-will look into small project for these and ask about using them.

Africa

2/5/2002:
wicked sh%t happens here in Africa... was listening to that True Love, True Crime series on Network Africa/BBC this morning. can’t say all the entries aren’t a little melodramatic, even exaggerated. but still... the ones about rebel soldiers killing infants and chopping off people’s arms are all too real. and all too often corroborated by the news itself.

rebel soldiers in Sudan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, Congo, Ivory Coast... and the list goes on and on. just depends on the relative stability or instability of African nations at that particular time and no African nation seems immune. i’m sure all have suffered through these same stories of faction fighting, tribal warfare and general lawlessness.

what a mix in some of these countries... religions, tribes, races and, of course, political ideology (or power struggle to put it simply). that’s what it ends up being, but always under the guise or split along the lines of differences in people. people.

Tony Blair said that Africa is the scar on the conscience of the world. indeed... Africa has a lot of people to blame for its present situation. but will they fix it? can they fix it? my brain is not totally in gear here... need to stop...