March 11th, 2015 by Rachel | Tags: Peace Corps | No Comments »
Today marks exactly six months since I first landed in Cameroon. I have now officially been away from the US soil and my family for the longest time ever. The Peace Corps journey continues to bring in many challenges but also wonderful joys to my life. I’m constantly reminded that choosing to quit my job in working at the desk all day and move across the ocean to do more meaningful work is the best decision I could make in my life. I thought now would be a good time for me to write several reflections on what happened in the past three months since first arriving at my post. Because I realize that many readers here are not on Facebook, I am going to include some news that were shared on Facebook.
I recently completed a ten day in-service training with other Peace Corps Volunteers from my pre-service training group. It was such an invaluable time as I was able to have so many questions answered. Prior to coming to the training, I was really confused and unsure about how to organize and prioritize my projects as I was so overwhelmed by so many problems that I have found in my research. The Peace Corps staff members and volunteers have really helped me tremendously figure out how to plan my work well for the next 21 months.
To complete Peace Corps’ second goal which is to teach the host country nationals about the American Culture, I taught my Cameroonian friends including Ruth and Hilda how to make pizza and chocolate chip cookies.
Also, during in-service training, a group of us, volunteers, took our counterparts out for pizza for dinner one night as part of Peace Corps’ second goal to share our love for an American food.
I was invited to join a march with the US Embassy to fight against gender based violence last January. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet the Cultural Affairs Officer, Merlyn Shultz, and share my Peace Corps experience with her.
I have been on the radio with Hilda almost every Friday discussing various issues in the disability community including water access, relationships, poverty, self-esteem and club feet. The radio reaches out to the entire population of Northwest region. Two Peace Corps Volunteers have come to me to tell me that they heard me on the radio. Speaking on the radio is such a powerful way to education issues with the communities.
A group of Cameroonian women with disabilities came together to raise money to hold a photo exhibit featuring my photographs of women with disabilities at the Congress Hall in Bamenda in honor of International Women’s Day. Because the exhibit went well and the women truly enjoyed collaborating together on the project, they have decided that they want to continue to work with me in photographing women with disability and exhibiting them in Cameroon.
