The last post was serious. Now for the good stuff...Most of it random thoughts
I made a point to come here today and write this stuff down, if not for anyone else but myself to remember the good times. But check it because the laughs never stop...
The dog at our house is in terrible condition. Its got scabies or something and most every visitor to the house is afraid of it and wont go near it. "Gunshot"(later found out his name to be Joseph) is determined to kill that dog...carry his gun to Kumba and shoot it, and carry it back to the village for Theodore to eat. Its not unheard of to eat dog, but because that dog is so mangey it leaves for some good laughs.
In the evenings you can hear all the sounds of the jungle around us. Its pretty loud, and every night one sound is distinct above the rest. When we asked the villagers what it was, they told us it was an "animal" also called "the one with three toes". Thats all we got as to what it is called, but Karen the girl who lives in the house with us is afraid of it. She wont go outside at night. Even the girls in the group as well. So in the nights its not common to hear one of the guys say,
"Pray you no go far, animal de chop you, nam nam nam nam nam."
Translation: "Do not go far from the house because the animal will eat you"
I had the chance to travel to "Wise Dog City" saturday and what a trip it was. Wise dog wanted to take me to his area, and to great his aunt and family. First we went to his place, one room in a plank house, basically like an apartment. He had posters of 2-Pac, G-Unit, and the like all over the walls and an old pair of Timberlands with Wise DOG, NYC, and dollar bill signs inked on them. Everyone called him "Wise Dog" as we passed through the area known as Danykash so he was not joking when he said that was his name. His aunt received me (across the road in a block house) and she was very gracious. We had some snaps (pictures) and took one bottle of Export "33" and some ground nuts. When I left for another "program" she was upset I was not going to stay around and eat her food and made me promise to return once more for lunch.
The "area boys" are the group of young men in the village. They can be called rascals as well, just young guys that get into mischief. They keep late hours, sometimes steal corn from others farms,and just like to clown around. Sexy provides us with "sound" as he is always singing. The Game chain smokes because he thinks its cool. Gunshot just talks about killing that dog. Nokoka (introduced earlier as another name I wont repeat) talks to me in pidgin and refuses to use English. Most of them come to the house in the night to play cards or drink some mimbo. The white stuff is great. I also tried afofo, African gin, which is made from distilled palm wine in the village. It was pretty smooth, but not nearly as nice as mayanga (white stuff).
We went to a place in Kumba called "Classy Burger" They have burgers and Kentucky Fried Chicken that is so good it tastes like the real thing. The owner spent some time in the states, and specialized in cajun cuisine. He seems to be doing well for himself with his take out business here in Fiango, a section of Kumba. He is called "Burga Burga" by locals simply because of the restaraunt name.
One of my friends here, Samuel, is called "School fees". When I asked him why he told me a story of when he was young in primary school his father gave him money for tuition and he never got his receipt. After asking for months, the father called the schoolmaster and demanded to know what had happened to the tuition money. When he found out his son never paid the money he and the schoolmaster embarassed Samuel in front of the entire class. Since he chopped (ate, embezelled, stole) the money for his school fees and everyone knew it, he got the nickname
"School Fees". He still keeps it to this day, probably 10 years after the fact, and he proved it when someone greeted him on the street and also with the name on the back of one of his t-shirts.
I gave some dresses (mostly t-shirts and some collared shirts) to my friend Alain's family. After 5 minutes of opening the parcel, every man in the house had a new shirt on. Know that my Kennedy Union Operations shirt is resting on the back of one young Cameroonian right now (hope I wasn't supposed to return that).
They prepared pepper soup at Alain's house with porcupine. The"bush meat" was nice, but the soup was so hot my eyes were tearing. I spilled some of it on the table and when it touched my arm, it swelled up and I swear I had some sort of first-degree burn from that pepper soup. Those African peppers are no joke.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Wow Internet is Slow: Week Rundown
Wow, I have been waiting for this page to load forever...I have managed to increase my level of patience simply because everything takes longer here, nothing is as easy as it seems, and its easier to relax and just let things go then to get upset because things don't go according to plans (which they never do). Now that I am done philosophising, let me get down to bizness.
Monday: We made it to the village (the two men in the group) early in the morning, but we had to wait to begin work because the keys were with our good friend Julius, aka "Wise Dog", and he was behind us in Kumba. We dismantled the formwork from the dam (catchment) while waiting and once he arrived, we perservered the work day until 6pm in order to accomplish an important task: casting the concrete collection chamber that sits after the catchment. This is nearly unheard of because most work days end by 2-3 pm depending on the amount of work. It was imperative that we cast the collection chamber so that work could progress as the week went on.
After work, no football because it was nearly dark when we returned to the house. We had our baths and then dinner and then sponsored a party for all those in the village that have been working with us. We carried 6 crates of beer across the lake, some cheap wine that tastes like juice 5 gal jug, and bought some white stuff (palm wine) from one of the villagers. We also had ground nuts (African peanuts) and puff corn (popcorn). Elvis was the DJ and the party lasted until midnight. Everyone had a nice time.
Tuesday: Rain de fall hard. Rain de fall plenty. No work in fact. We spend most of the day in the house playing cards, a game called "check" that is similar to UNO with regular cards, and just relaxed. Football in the afternoon, and after that took some white stuff at the local pub (a small room in front of one guys house where people congregate around vats of palm wine at any hour of the day.
Wednesday: The plumbers got to work by cutting and dicing the galvanized iron pipes, attaching valves and the inlet to the pipe line at the collection chamber. Digging continued in full force as the chairman of the traditional council returned and decreeed that any man who did not dig was required to pay 24 bottles of beer (2 crates) to the traditional council and he was planning on traveling to the Senior Divisional Officer of the Meme Division in Kumba to turn in names and make if official. Football in the afternoon, got me two goals and one of the guys said it was "christmas" for me. We played through the rain and after we went "down" to drink some white stuff and catch some fun. Great dinner of Ndole (probably my best African dish) and sleep.
Thursday: Work progressed again at an alarming rate!!! Digging continued and the laying of galvanized iron pipes went forth. It is a difficult task because of the terrain, but its moving. We built the forms for the tap stands that will be located in the village (3 of them). To do this, we carried planks from the catchment to the village. I carried one on my head, 12" x 1" planks 20 ft. long. Probably more difficult that the bag of sand.
Friday: Again, digging and laying of pipes. I dug my own section of the trench on Friday. 4 meter section, just like every other man in the village, and I have the blisters to prove it. The way I see it, people will be talking about this project for many years to come, as well as the people who orchestrated it. I dont want them saying that we forced them to do all the manual labor, but that we contributed just as every other man to realize our common goal.
Weekend: Shacking and sleeping and football.
Monday: We made it to the village (the two men in the group) early in the morning, but we had to wait to begin work because the keys were with our good friend Julius, aka "Wise Dog", and he was behind us in Kumba. We dismantled the formwork from the dam (catchment) while waiting and once he arrived, we perservered the work day until 6pm in order to accomplish an important task: casting the concrete collection chamber that sits after the catchment. This is nearly unheard of because most work days end by 2-3 pm depending on the amount of work. It was imperative that we cast the collection chamber so that work could progress as the week went on.
After work, no football because it was nearly dark when we returned to the house. We had our baths and then dinner and then sponsored a party for all those in the village that have been working with us. We carried 6 crates of beer across the lake, some cheap wine that tastes like juice 5 gal jug, and bought some white stuff (palm wine) from one of the villagers. We also had ground nuts (African peanuts) and puff corn (popcorn). Elvis was the DJ and the party lasted until midnight. Everyone had a nice time.
Tuesday: Rain de fall hard. Rain de fall plenty. No work in fact. We spend most of the day in the house playing cards, a game called "check" that is similar to UNO with regular cards, and just relaxed. Football in the afternoon, and after that took some white stuff at the local pub (a small room in front of one guys house where people congregate around vats of palm wine at any hour of the day.
Wednesday: The plumbers got to work by cutting and dicing the galvanized iron pipes, attaching valves and the inlet to the pipe line at the collection chamber. Digging continued in full force as the chairman of the traditional council returned and decreeed that any man who did not dig was required to pay 24 bottles of beer (2 crates) to the traditional council and he was planning on traveling to the Senior Divisional Officer of the Meme Division in Kumba to turn in names and make if official. Football in the afternoon, got me two goals and one of the guys said it was "christmas" for me. We played through the rain and after we went "down" to drink some white stuff and catch some fun. Great dinner of Ndole (probably my best African dish) and sleep.
Thursday: Work progressed again at an alarming rate!!! Digging continued and the laying of galvanized iron pipes went forth. It is a difficult task because of the terrain, but its moving. We built the forms for the tap stands that will be located in the village (3 of them). To do this, we carried planks from the catchment to the village. I carried one on my head, 12" x 1" planks 20 ft. long. Probably more difficult that the bag of sand.
Friday: Again, digging and laying of pipes. I dug my own section of the trench on Friday. 4 meter section, just like every other man in the village, and I have the blisters to prove it. The way I see it, people will be talking about this project for many years to come, as well as the people who orchestrated it. I dont want them saying that we forced them to do all the manual labor, but that we contributed just as every other man to realize our common goal.
Weekend: Shacking and sleeping and football.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Week 2 in the village
Life is so good in the village I almost did not want to return to Kumba for the weekend. I am coming back next weekend because it is a big weekend around here as most of the secondary and highschools are finished with exams so every young person will be out. Also there is some kind of competitions going on at Soba Park ((Shacking Home)) on Friday and Saturday there is a football match for that charity organization i joined (CLICKS) and then in the evening one hip-hop artist is releasing his album and he asked me to come to check it out. I met him at the club Olabi Maze last weekend and thats another story in itself.
Before I get into the village, one story of Soba Park last weekend...I was getting a bit annoyed with some of the songs the DJ was playing (American joints) and when he played a Cher song, I was determined to do something about it. So I requested Usher and Lil John "Yeah". The place went insane. Mass people started break dancing in a large circle. It was extremely impressive some of the moves these kats had and it was pretty wild. After that we moved to the nightclub, I was a guest of some of the other whites in town here with a human rights org. Free entrance to the club and free whiskey proved to be a pretty good time. My friend Capone was with me and we ended up moving back to the house around 4am.
OK now back to the village....The second week proved to be more fun than the first. Work was a bit more difficult and my friend Mark and I worked pretty hard. Thursday we did out part of the community work and carried around 50 lbs of sand on our heads over 1 mile. It was excrutiatingly painful but I endured. No joke, I wanted to drop after moving from lakeside to the school house, and there was still nearly a mile left to trek through the bush....it was raining and we were crossing over again and again the trench we had dug, and uphill for a good section of the trek. It was killer. But in the end I felt like a badass, and I feel even more like a Cameroonian after doing it.
Got two goals in the football match on Tuesday night!! It was great because I had been on a 6 game dry streak in the village after many misses and a lot of talk. My team still managed to lose after two defensive breakdowns in the last 3 minutes of the match.
The girl who lives with us in the village can cook like a maniac. Ive been eating like a king I tell you. One morning for breakfast we had potatoe omlettes, another we had coconut pancakes. She made plantain and potato chips for snacks in the after noons. For dinner, every night we have the best African cuisine, from fufu and arrow, to garrey and ndole, which are traditional meals of starche and vegetables.
We were invited down to Pa Georges places on Wednesday night for some white stuff. He turned on his generator and we listened to music and drank the palm wine for a good hour. Three glasses and ya man had a decent buzz. That stuff is powerful and one must take care when drinking it. Its very nice though, and the village seems to have a steady supply of it. Its funny though, because every morning they have some and by evening its finished for the day.
The "Area boys" of the village are the guys who keep late hours in the nights and were integral in the pouring or the concrete dam. The main dudes in the crew are Gunshot, The Game, and Sexy, and we've been having some fun times working in the day, footballing, and then relaxing afterwards. To pass the time and make work go faster, we sing one song in particular "Do Me" by P-Square, some Nigerians. You-tube it because the song is sweet. The music here is some of the best and the dancing compliments it very well. Yesterday we went to a 40th anniversary in town and after a long church service, waiting forever to eat, we enjoyed plenty of dancing and then some ladies you could find at "grab-a-granny" night at Tony and Cleo's gave me a run for my money on the dance floor. By the time it was finished, they said I was a white African. Thats cuz I got killer moves...
I have been working on my pidgin and its getting better and better. Now I am even having small conversations and am struggling to hear some of the guys in the village as they talk very fast, but I will only get better.
Too much more to tell, but times short. "stay blessed"
Before I get into the village, one story of Soba Park last weekend...I was getting a bit annoyed with some of the songs the DJ was playing (American joints) and when he played a Cher song, I was determined to do something about it. So I requested Usher and Lil John "Yeah". The place went insane. Mass people started break dancing in a large circle. It was extremely impressive some of the moves these kats had and it was pretty wild. After that we moved to the nightclub, I was a guest of some of the other whites in town here with a human rights org. Free entrance to the club and free whiskey proved to be a pretty good time. My friend Capone was with me and we ended up moving back to the house around 4am.
OK now back to the village....The second week proved to be more fun than the first. Work was a bit more difficult and my friend Mark and I worked pretty hard. Thursday we did out part of the community work and carried around 50 lbs of sand on our heads over 1 mile. It was excrutiatingly painful but I endured. No joke, I wanted to drop after moving from lakeside to the school house, and there was still nearly a mile left to trek through the bush....it was raining and we were crossing over again and again the trench we had dug, and uphill for a good section of the trek. It was killer. But in the end I felt like a badass, and I feel even more like a Cameroonian after doing it.
Got two goals in the football match on Tuesday night!! It was great because I had been on a 6 game dry streak in the village after many misses and a lot of talk. My team still managed to lose after two defensive breakdowns in the last 3 minutes of the match.
The girl who lives with us in the village can cook like a maniac. Ive been eating like a king I tell you. One morning for breakfast we had potatoe omlettes, another we had coconut pancakes. She made plantain and potato chips for snacks in the after noons. For dinner, every night we have the best African cuisine, from fufu and arrow, to garrey and ndole, which are traditional meals of starche and vegetables.
We were invited down to Pa Georges places on Wednesday night for some white stuff. He turned on his generator and we listened to music and drank the palm wine for a good hour. Three glasses and ya man had a decent buzz. That stuff is powerful and one must take care when drinking it. Its very nice though, and the village seems to have a steady supply of it. Its funny though, because every morning they have some and by evening its finished for the day.
The "Area boys" of the village are the guys who keep late hours in the nights and were integral in the pouring or the concrete dam. The main dudes in the crew are Gunshot, The Game, and Sexy, and we've been having some fun times working in the day, footballing, and then relaxing afterwards. To pass the time and make work go faster, we sing one song in particular "Do Me" by P-Square, some Nigerians. You-tube it because the song is sweet. The music here is some of the best and the dancing compliments it very well. Yesterday we went to a 40th anniversary in town and after a long church service, waiting forever to eat, we enjoyed plenty of dancing and then some ladies you could find at "grab-a-granny" night at Tony and Cleo's gave me a run for my money on the dance floor. By the time it was finished, they said I was a white African. Thats cuz I got killer moves...
I have been working on my pidgin and its getting better and better. Now I am even having small conversations and am struggling to hear some of the guys in the village as they talk very fast, but I will only get better.
Too much more to tell, but times short. "stay blessed"
Project Update (Week Two)
Back in K-Town (Kumba) for another weekend, and limited time to write, with so many things to write...Here goes..
The project is moving very well. Most of the week was spent continuing to excavate for the dam/catchment and moving more sand, concrete, and gravel from the lakeside to the catchment site. On friday we poured the entire concrete dam, using over two cubic meters of concrete (14 bags of cement). All of the concrete was mixed by hand with shovels and the formwork was made from timber cut in the jungle a kilometer away and the posts were made of small trees. We cut the forms with machetes because the wood was still very wet and the saws we bought from the hard ware store just didn't cut it. Digging on the trench for the pipeline was suspended for the week because community work was needed for transporting materials and pouring the concrete (bucket brigade).
Work will continue Monday as digging will continue and we will finish concrete work at the catchment site with construction of the collection chamber. We are working with two plumbers to help join the iron pipes, so that work will begin by wednesday and then its a straight shoot until we reach the village. The terrain provides only 2 high and low points, which makes constructing the pipeline fairly easy. We will see.
The project is moving very well. Most of the week was spent continuing to excavate for the dam/catchment and moving more sand, concrete, and gravel from the lakeside to the catchment site. On friday we poured the entire concrete dam, using over two cubic meters of concrete (14 bags of cement). All of the concrete was mixed by hand with shovels and the formwork was made from timber cut in the jungle a kilometer away and the posts were made of small trees. We cut the forms with machetes because the wood was still very wet and the saws we bought from the hard ware store just didn't cut it. Digging on the trench for the pipeline was suspended for the week because community work was needed for transporting materials and pouring the concrete (bucket brigade).
Work will continue Monday as digging will continue and we will finish concrete work at the catchment site with construction of the collection chamber. We are working with two plumbers to help join the iron pipes, so that work will begin by wednesday and then its a straight shoot until we reach the village. The terrain provides only 2 high and low points, which makes constructing the pipeline fairly easy. We will see.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Life in the Village (Part II)
Naturally this sections will have mand amendments, but theres some things needed to be said.
The villagers:
We greet all those that pass in the mornings and afternoons with "Good MorningO" and "Good AfternoonO" just the pidgin way of greetings. Our compound is at the end of the village, near the bush, so we are a bit isolated from the rest of the village. There are two parts to the village: up and down. We live up. The young men in the village are clowns ( I mean that in no offensive way and I use that term with the utmost affection) and we have been having some good times with them. Here are some of the guys we work with and also play football in the afternoons: Francis, Theodore, Franklin, Gunshot, Sexy, The Game, Mother F*cker, and Liberty. You can see possibly how their nicknames might reflect their demeanor. Many of the enjoy American hip hop and idolize the gangster persona they see on television. Most of them are farmers and have finished only primary school, a few are in school now in Kumba. Communiation is somewhat difficult, but managings with thumbs up, raised eyebrows, smiles, and hand shakes for the moment. I am slowly stringing together sentences of pidgin, and have down many phrases.
I dont see much of the women but the children come to the house in the evenings to play with the girls in the group. Usually hopscoth, jump rope, some game similar to jacks with rocks, and writing as well. Thats during the time we go for sport (ball) and then baths and supper to hit the sheets early. The midgits (real small flies that bite) disturb more than mosquitos, but I will take some discomfort over malaria any day.
The chairman of the water committee's brother invited us to him home Thursday night for "movie night'. We watched Thunderball, and oldschool Bond movie. After the first disc, the generator was finished and we moved to the house to sleep. Depending on money, the generator gives light once or twice a week. We have one, but I dont even like to use it and fuel is very expensive.
The rain is falling very hard now which restricts nearly all movement in town. We had mostly dry weather last week, which was very fortunate as the rainy season is fast approaching and work would ideally be finished before the rains fall hard. Rain can paralize the continent in many regions due to unpaved roads and a life of trekking as means for mobilization.
The villagers:
We greet all those that pass in the mornings and afternoons with "Good MorningO" and "Good AfternoonO" just the pidgin way of greetings. Our compound is at the end of the village, near the bush, so we are a bit isolated from the rest of the village. There are two parts to the village: up and down. We live up. The young men in the village are clowns ( I mean that in no offensive way and I use that term with the utmost affection) and we have been having some good times with them. Here are some of the guys we work with and also play football in the afternoons: Francis, Theodore, Franklin, Gunshot, Sexy, The Game, Mother F*cker, and Liberty. You can see possibly how their nicknames might reflect their demeanor. Many of the enjoy American hip hop and idolize the gangster persona they see on television. Most of them are farmers and have finished only primary school, a few are in school now in Kumba. Communiation is somewhat difficult, but managings with thumbs up, raised eyebrows, smiles, and hand shakes for the moment. I am slowly stringing together sentences of pidgin, and have down many phrases.
I dont see much of the women but the children come to the house in the evenings to play with the girls in the group. Usually hopscoth, jump rope, some game similar to jacks with rocks, and writing as well. Thats during the time we go for sport (ball) and then baths and supper to hit the sheets early. The midgits (real small flies that bite) disturb more than mosquitos, but I will take some discomfort over malaria any day.
The chairman of the water committee's brother invited us to him home Thursday night for "movie night'. We watched Thunderball, and oldschool Bond movie. After the first disc, the generator was finished and we moved to the house to sleep. Depending on money, the generator gives light once or twice a week. We have one, but I dont even like to use it and fuel is very expensive.
The rain is falling very hard now which restricts nearly all movement in town. We had mostly dry weather last week, which was very fortunate as the rainy season is fast approaching and work would ideally be finished before the rains fall hard. Rain can paralize the continent in many regions due to unpaved roads and a life of trekking as means for mobilization.
Life in the Village
This is where it gets difficult to explain but Ill give it a try...
Finally last Monday I trekked to the village with no intentions of returning to Kumba until the end of the week. Members had been waiting for us as there was a reception planned to welcome us and commence work. We arrived in the village by 4 and the ceremony began. A generator provided electricity for some music and a microphone. As we entered the village, the man with the mic gave a play-by-play as we "entered the village, greeted the chief, moved to the house, returned to the reception, and took our seats". Everyone from the traditional council and water management committee was introduced and then a welcome from the chief, response from me, and then some food and drinks after. We drank some bottles of beer and then some "white stuff" aka palm wine. The local specialty of the village keeps some members inside one residence in the mornings to take the fresh juice after returning from farms or preparing to go.
The villagers are fishers and farmers for the most part. Barombi fish (talapia) and giant shrimp come from the lake and are tasty. The farmers harvest cocoa, plantains, bananas, palms (for oil, and wine when the tree is finished) and timber. Life is interesting when the sun goes down at 7pm and there are no lights to attract the bugs and keep one awake. Early to bed means early to rise and I wake up every day at 6am, to sleep usually by 10pm. We bath using stream water (buckets) in a brand new outhouse constructed behind the two-room concrete school house we reside in. The outhouse is divided into three parts, has two holes necessary for taking care of business and one side to wash the body to feel fresh. Its funny every time I go for my bath and I shout at using the cold stream water, our friend Julius from Kumba asks,
"Is there a lion in there?"
Kills me every time. Mornings are used to prepare breakfast and some small reading. There is one girl from Kumba as well who stays in the village with us. She helps with most of the cooking because it is no easy task to prepare any meal here in Africa. I have been eating rice, spaghetti, eggs, greens, fish, plantains, potatoes, yams, and fruit: papaya, pineapple, oranges, mangos, bananas, avacados, but have not yet tasted my best fruit (called Monkey Kola because the monkeys love it so much).
Works starts around 9am as most of the villagers have returned from fishing and the farms. It is necessary to work with their own schedules as they provide all of the manual labor. We have been working all week on two objectives: digging for the catchment and tracing and digging the pipeline. The stream has been dammed and nearly half the catchment is excavated. As for the pipeline digging has gone for two days and around 200 meters have been dug (60mm deep and 40mm wide) for the PVC pipes. There is around 800 meters that will need to be dug so we are moving along quite well. Next week we plan to pour the concrete catchment and begin laying the galvanized iron pipe and hopefully PVC the following week. We are disagreeing with the plumbers on the price for the work, but they will still come to the village tomorrow and begin work as the engineer can sort that one out.
Finally last Monday I trekked to the village with no intentions of returning to Kumba until the end of the week. Members had been waiting for us as there was a reception planned to welcome us and commence work. We arrived in the village by 4 and the ceremony began. A generator provided electricity for some music and a microphone. As we entered the village, the man with the mic gave a play-by-play as we "entered the village, greeted the chief, moved to the house, returned to the reception, and took our seats". Everyone from the traditional council and water management committee was introduced and then a welcome from the chief, response from me, and then some food and drinks after. We drank some bottles of beer and then some "white stuff" aka palm wine. The local specialty of the village keeps some members inside one residence in the mornings to take the fresh juice after returning from farms or preparing to go.
The villagers are fishers and farmers for the most part. Barombi fish (talapia) and giant shrimp come from the lake and are tasty. The farmers harvest cocoa, plantains, bananas, palms (for oil, and wine when the tree is finished) and timber. Life is interesting when the sun goes down at 7pm and there are no lights to attract the bugs and keep one awake. Early to bed means early to rise and I wake up every day at 6am, to sleep usually by 10pm. We bath using stream water (buckets) in a brand new outhouse constructed behind the two-room concrete school house we reside in. The outhouse is divided into three parts, has two holes necessary for taking care of business and one side to wash the body to feel fresh. Its funny every time I go for my bath and I shout at using the cold stream water, our friend Julius from Kumba asks,
"Is there a lion in there?"
Kills me every time. Mornings are used to prepare breakfast and some small reading. There is one girl from Kumba as well who stays in the village with us. She helps with most of the cooking because it is no easy task to prepare any meal here in Africa. I have been eating rice, spaghetti, eggs, greens, fish, plantains, potatoes, yams, and fruit: papaya, pineapple, oranges, mangos, bananas, avacados, but have not yet tasted my best fruit (called Monkey Kola because the monkeys love it so much).
Works starts around 9am as most of the villagers have returned from fishing and the farms. It is necessary to work with their own schedules as they provide all of the manual labor. We have been working all week on two objectives: digging for the catchment and tracing and digging the pipeline. The stream has been dammed and nearly half the catchment is excavated. As for the pipeline digging has gone for two days and around 200 meters have been dug (60mm deep and 40mm wide) for the PVC pipes. There is around 800 meters that will need to be dug so we are moving along quite well. Next week we plan to pour the concrete catchment and begin laying the galvanized iron pipe and hopefully PVC the following week. We are disagreeing with the plumbers on the price for the work, but they will still come to the village tomorrow and begin work as the engineer can sort that one out.
Welcome Home Party
Last Sunday after the CLICKS meeting we attended a party sponsored by a new member. The occasion was for two reasons: the new member was celebrating his leaving Cameroon for America (Boston) to work in some service organization and his brother had just returned to Cameroon from Romania. He is a professional footballer there and his team just moved into the first division. The party was fairly standard. We arrived and they posted chairs for us to sit along the wall. Then we waited for someone to bring a crate of bottles and had some drinks. Here you buy cigarettes at roadside stands in singles. One guy made mad money by carrying a bag with cigs and plastic satchels of whiskey to sell to those that were drinking and smoking. A wise decision no doubt because I am sure he made some good money.
Also at the party was a friend, Clara. She is a very interesting person, with her parents based in Yaounde, the capital city, she is a personality for some television network and her boyfriend/fiance is a Nigerian film director. Her career has allowed her to interview some interesting peeople from Cameroon and next month she is interviewing Samuel Eto'o and Drogba (two widely known professional footballers from Cameroon and Ivory Coast respectively).
The party was pretty fun with some dancing and then calling it quits around midnight (no club that night because of work the next day...I gotta keep it professional).
Also at the party was a friend, Clara. She is a very interesting person, with her parents based in Yaounde, the capital city, she is a personality for some television network and her boyfriend/fiance is a Nigerian film director. Her career has allowed her to interview some interesting peeople from Cameroon and next month she is interviewing Samuel Eto'o and Drogba (two widely known professional footballers from Cameroon and Ivory Coast respectively).
The party was pretty fun with some dancing and then calling it quits around midnight (no club that night because of work the next day...I gotta keep it professional).
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Shacking Home
First, the old Soba Park bar, situated on Buea Road (which could be compared to the Southside in Pittsburgh or Temple Bar in Dublin), is now called Shacking Home. To "shack" means to drink mimbo (alcohol). The place is under new management and is dope. The front is an open porch area and in the back is a dance floor with a DJ every weekend (maybe every night). Naturally we made friends with the DJ after being there for a few minutes and then mayhem erupted. Next thing is mass dancing and here the DJ gives talks over the music (in French) because a lot of the club bangers are from the Ivory COast and that is francophone territory. So once we hit the dance floor, all i could hear was every song dedicated to "my American friend, Mr. Justin" and then some French...At first it was clownin but after a while it got a bit old...still a good time no doubt. Picking up some pretty killer dance moves ((REGAN (S) get ready for a dance off when i get back)).
Sunday, June 1, 2008
The real deal: Project Update
So I've trekked to the village three times since I have been here and to the lake side, many times. It is very trecherous and many of the vehicles we hire to transport materials say they will never return to the lake side.
Its been a bit over two weeks in country and things are moving fine. The community has been very serious and adament about moving materials and starting this project. We visited the site Friday (all of the students, the engineer in Kumba, a plumber needed for laying the pipeline, and a mason/carperter). Sand, gravel, 20 bags of cement, and all of the pipes are now resting in the village!! This is a very important as it was not an easy task and took nearly 2 weeks to accomplish. The catchment site has been cleared and we have traced the pipeline.
We are returning to the village on Monday for a traditional welcome and to officially begin the project (this should be a big party and very interesting). All of the girls here have cameras so I am sure the entire project will be well documented.
You may be interested to know that all of the materials were transported by canoe across the lake and we nearly lossed some of the PVC pipes when one canoe tipped. Men from the village should have dived to recover them today as it is very important we have all of them.
I brought a bunch of soccer shoes and a ball that I will slowly get to the guys in the village. We have already played one match after the first days work (aside from the matches I have played in Kumba) and the Barombi village pitch is quite nice.
We just received another grant that we applied for so thats good because we thought money might run out.
I gotta run to another sunday evening meeting (posted some info about this once before). Time to willlld out!!!
Its been a bit over two weeks in country and things are moving fine. The community has been very serious and adament about moving materials and starting this project. We visited the site Friday (all of the students, the engineer in Kumba, a plumber needed for laying the pipeline, and a mason/carperter). Sand, gravel, 20 bags of cement, and all of the pipes are now resting in the village!! This is a very important as it was not an easy task and took nearly 2 weeks to accomplish. The catchment site has been cleared and we have traced the pipeline.
We are returning to the village on Monday for a traditional welcome and to officially begin the project (this should be a big party and very interesting). All of the girls here have cameras so I am sure the entire project will be well documented.
You may be interested to know that all of the materials were transported by canoe across the lake and we nearly lossed some of the PVC pipes when one canoe tipped. Men from the village should have dived to recover them today as it is very important we have all of them.
I brought a bunch of soccer shoes and a ball that I will slowly get to the guys in the village. We have already played one match after the first days work (aside from the matches I have played in Kumba) and the Barombi village pitch is quite nice.
We just received another grant that we applied for so thats good because we thought money might run out.
I gotta run to another sunday evening meeting (posted some info about this once before). Time to willlld out!!!
One interesting car ride
So its pretty difficult to summarize what went down over the past week, but I will try; only to pay attention to details that matter and paint a picture of life in a West African country.
The week was fairly slow as we were in a lull waiting for the pipes we ordered from Douala to arrive in Kumba, receiving the other four members of the group from UD, and just chillin out before we post up in the village school house for week-long stints during construction.
Tuesday was an interesting day. We are working with the divisional director of rural engineering for the Meme Division (a section of the South West provice where Kumba lies). He was asked to travel to Mbombe, a small village less than an hour from Kumba to check out a water system and town meeting hall the community has initiated. The village is nearly 3,000 people and organized along the road between Douala (major shipping port and commercial center) and Kumba. No running water tho. So he invited me to come and check the place.
We arrived in the car park at around 9am after getting to the hardware store at 7am to purchase and transport cement to the lake side (for the villagers to carry across the lake by canoe-hollowed out tree trunks). That is another story in itself, the fact that we had to pick up the cement at a different location and the seller would not issue a receipt becuase cement is scarce and we purchased each bag at 1.000 cfa (Central African Franc) over the gov't mandated maximum price... Anyways. We arrived at the car park to purchase a ride in a car to Mbombe. While waiting we ate at a small "off license" where I ate an egg, spaghetti, onion, green, and tomato omlette with bread. ((It was bomb, seasoned to perfection))
The I saw the car we were traveling in. 1980-something Toyota corolla hatchback. The odometer had stopped at 278,490 kilometers and nothing on the dash worked. We were ten inside this tiny car, four adults in the back (two babies riding on their mothers laps) and four in the front, the driver sharing his seat with a paying customer. The trunk was filled with goods and atop the car were six plastic oil-drum-size containers attached with rubber twine that we stopped several times because the driver did not properlly attach them. Needless to say, as many people here will tell you, "That's Africa."
We made is to the village in less than an hour and were left to meet with several committees before seeing the community hall and catchment site for the water system. After drinking 2 bottles of warm Mutzig (common courtesy to invite guests to partake in drinking 'mimbo'). We were set to return to Kumba. How would we get back? Sit beside the road and wait for a bus/transport that was not full and could carry us home. Rain soon fell and after waiting for nearly an hour, it so happened that the rented van that was picking up the other students from the airport in Douala passed and picked us up. The immediately noticed my white self standing beside the road and picked us up, giving us a free ride back home. Luck.
The week was fairly slow as we were in a lull waiting for the pipes we ordered from Douala to arrive in Kumba, receiving the other four members of the group from UD, and just chillin out before we post up in the village school house for week-long stints during construction.
Tuesday was an interesting day. We are working with the divisional director of rural engineering for the Meme Division (a section of the South West provice where Kumba lies). He was asked to travel to Mbombe, a small village less than an hour from Kumba to check out a water system and town meeting hall the community has initiated. The village is nearly 3,000 people and organized along the road between Douala (major shipping port and commercial center) and Kumba. No running water tho. So he invited me to come and check the place.
We arrived in the car park at around 9am after getting to the hardware store at 7am to purchase and transport cement to the lake side (for the villagers to carry across the lake by canoe-hollowed out tree trunks). That is another story in itself, the fact that we had to pick up the cement at a different location and the seller would not issue a receipt becuase cement is scarce and we purchased each bag at 1.000 cfa (Central African Franc) over the gov't mandated maximum price... Anyways. We arrived at the car park to purchase a ride in a car to Mbombe. While waiting we ate at a small "off license" where I ate an egg, spaghetti, onion, green, and tomato omlette with bread. ((It was bomb, seasoned to perfection))
The I saw the car we were traveling in. 1980-something Toyota corolla hatchback. The odometer had stopped at 278,490 kilometers and nothing on the dash worked. We were ten inside this tiny car, four adults in the back (two babies riding on their mothers laps) and four in the front, the driver sharing his seat with a paying customer. The trunk was filled with goods and atop the car were six plastic oil-drum-size containers attached with rubber twine that we stopped several times because the driver did not properlly attach them. Needless to say, as many people here will tell you, "That's Africa."
We made is to the village in less than an hour and were left to meet with several committees before seeing the community hall and catchment site for the water system. After drinking 2 bottles of warm Mutzig (common courtesy to invite guests to partake in drinking 'mimbo'). We were set to return to Kumba. How would we get back? Sit beside the road and wait for a bus/transport that was not full and could carry us home. Rain soon fell and after waiting for nearly an hour, it so happened that the rented van that was picking up the other students from the airport in Douala passed and picked us up. The immediately noticed my white self standing beside the road and picked us up, giving us a free ride back home. Luck.
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