Cleared to Return to Cameroon!

June 10th, 2015 by Rachel | Tags: Peace Corps | 1 Comment »

Me – This photo was taken just after I landed in the United States

All the cuts from the assault. Please note the image on the bottom left which shows the marks from my purse being pulled to the ground.

I am happy to report that last Thursday, I received clearance from the Peace Corps medical office in Washington DC to return to Cameroon. My teeth have been successfully repaired. The dentist placed bondings on all three of my teeth. The swelling in my lip is almost done. According to the dentist, it’s going to take at least a few months for the swelling to be completely gone. I received a mouth guard which I will have to wear at night indefinitely to keep my teeth stable as they are still a little tender from the trauma.

Left: This is me with broken teeth a week after I came back to the US. | Right: This is me with repaired teeth.

I am not returning to Cameroon until this Thursday because all flights, in particular the leg between the east coast of the US and Europe are completely booked solid prior to this date due to high season. I so want to be back in Cameroon that I begged the administrators at the Peace Corps office in Cameroon to try to book me on an earlier flight but they unfortunately couldn’t.

I am so looking forward to returning to doing work in my Peace Corps designated country, working face-to-face again with my wonderful work partners, seeing Alex again who will be at the airport when I land and also writing more blog posts about new discoveries that I will continue to find in Cameroon.