September 15th, 2014 by Rachel | Tags: Peace Corps | No Comments »
Close your eyes for a second. Picture Africa in your mind. What do you see?
You’re probably envisioning a hot desert. People wearing African pagne and walking with big buckets filled with water or food on their head. Lions, tigers and giraffes roaming through the open space land. You’re probably also imagining homes that look like shacks and are not well maintained. You may think there is no access to electricity and people have to walk far to find water.
Prior to leaving for Cameroon, people asked me how I can recharge batteries for my cochlear implant devices. I was also asked how I can protect my sound processors from the heat. People also asked me how I can find toilet paper and other essential items. Most importantly, everyone’s been asking me how I can stay in touch with everyone in the US.
Well, let me tell you what one small part of Africa really looks like. I’m in a village called Mengong which is in south of Cameroon, just outside of Ebolowa. The village is so small that there is probably only three convenient stores and two restaurants. The convenient stores have everything I would need which includes toilet paper, soap and packaged food. They even sell a chocolate spread that is similar to Nutella. It’s chocolate with peanuts. It tastes very similar to and just as yummy as Nutella. I am living with a family of six in a beautiful home that is built with bricks. There is electricity. I can recharge my batteries for my cochlear implants every night and use the dry and store. The moment my host mother opened the door to the bathroom, I saw a toilet. You have no idea how happy I was to see a toilet. I even texted my mother, “OMG! I have a toilet! And electricity.” However, in order to “flush” the toilet, I have to get a bucket of water and pour it into the toilet. There is no water access inside the home. However, just right next to the house, there is a water pump. I just take a bucket outside and pour water into it. I do take a bucket bath. I can boil the water to have a hot bucket bath. I certainly will have to do laundry by hand with the buckets and also wash dishes by hand. The weather is cool and mostly cloudy at the moment. The landscape looks like as if I’m in a rainforest. There are lots of green trees and grass. There are even palm trees. There are no lions, tigers, or giraffes but there are lots of roosters roaming the grassy field. I am so grateful that I can turn my ears off because roosters are pretty loud in the early mornings. People in the village wear ordinary everyday western clothing. They even dress beautifully and look clean. Some guys wear nice dress shirts and black pants. Children and teenagers walk around with iPod and headphones on their ears. I see people everywhere texting and making calls frequently with their cell phones. I just spoke to my parents in the US without any problems. My host family has a flat screen TV with channels from both the US and France such as Nickelodeon, Synco, Canal+, and MTV. Children love watching Spongebob. My host family also has a car.
So, for what I have described so far about my surroundings, is it what you have expected to see in Africa?
It’s important to note that what I shared is based on just one person’s experience and every volunteer has unique experiences. For example, not all have toilets and most host families do not have a car.
