June 20th, 2015 by Rachel | Tags: Peace Corps | No Comments »
A couple months ago, I arrived at a radio station at 9:50 AM, ten minutes before the show would start, to give a talk. At 9:59 AM, I was still the only one at the radio station. The radio show is supposed to start at 10 AM. I was about to call the radio host to see if the show was still going to happen, but then I decided to give another few minutes. At 10:03 AM, a man who I have never met before came in and said, “I’m the journalist for today. [The radio host] called me to give the talk today.” This man then walked out of the room. At that time, a replay of a previous show had already started running. At 10:12 AM, the same man came back in. We then began the show with just the two of us talking. At 10:24 AM, the man puts an intermission on and goes to the door to let three guest speakers from an organization in. We then start playing the radio again. At 10:32 AM, a blind man who has also been invited as a guest speaker enters in. At 10:40 AM, a woman with mobility disability who has also been invited as a guest speaker, enters in. The radio show ends at 11 AM, the usual time.
This is the reality of life in Cameroon. People do not follow time precisely. Cameroonians do not think about what’s ahead of them. They think about what it is happening at present. They take their time to do their activities without thinking about what they have coming up in the future. Meetings often start late as many people do not arrive on time. They don’t intentionally arrive late. They are often doing something before arriving at a meeting such as preparing a meal for their family or taking the time to talk to a vendor at a market or a friend whom they might run into on a street or finishing up their previous meeting. They are also often late because their bus waited too long to fill up with people or their car made too many stops to pick up and drop off people. Like many other places around the world, both culture and money do really influence how Cameroonians operate time.
Cameroonians with disability wait for other attendees to show up so that a meeting could begin.
Because Cameroon is a lower-middle economic country, being able to earn money is extremely important. Thus, drivers will pack as many people as they can in taxis and buses so they can maximize the amount of money they can earn to meet their end needs. Buses to other villages and cities often do not leave on time. In fact, many buses do not have a schedule of when they depart and arrive. One time, when I was taking a bus from a town back to Bamenda, the bus took a few hours longer to travel because it made so many stops along the way and took time to remove the bags from the top of the bus and put passengers bags on there. At another time, I sat in a very full bus for 30 minutes in a village because the bus driver wanted one more passenger to maximize the money he could make. The bus did finally leave once another passenger got on.
Another example is that Cameroonians are very communal and communicative which means that having meaningful relationships with family members, friends and neighbors are very important. When they run into someone who they know on the street, they like to take the time to chat about how they are doing. When they go to local markets, they and the vendors like to communicate with each other about their lives. They don’t always look at their watch and say, “I’m sorry but I have to get going to a meeting!” Spending quality of time in conversing is important to them.
June 19th, 2015 by Rachel | Tags: Peace Corps | No Comments »
“The difference in winning and losing is most often, not quitting.” – Walt Disney
View of Yaounde from the airplane
A few minutes after I got off the plane in Yaounde a week ago, the lights went off for a minute. Then a few minutes after it came back on, it went off again for a minute. This moment made me realize that I was truly back in Cameroon, a country where the infrastructure is not always so stable.
Like with many events in Cameroon, the Peace Corps driver and Alex arrived about an hour late due to horrendous traffic. However, the moment I saw the Peace Corps car pulling up at the airport and Alex jumping out, I ran to him with excitement, and we then immediately hugged each other.
Yaounde
Because I knew that transitioning again from a western world to a developing world would be challenging, it was important that I could take advantage of every support I could receive. Thus, Alex being with me from the moment I was picked up at the airport until a few days after I returned to post has been an important asset in helping me adjust back to the Cameroonian life. Yes, he did go back with me to my post on a seven hour bus ride from Yaounde. I’m not going to lie. I did suffer cultural shocks as soon as I got back to my post, Bamenda, after having spent two nights in Yaounde. I had a meltdown while going to sleep on my first night back in Bamenda. I was overwhelmed by standing out and receiving extra attention once again in the community, negotiating fair prices again, the lower quality of infrastructure, and loud noises that exist in Bamenda. I said to myself, “I’m going to be OK. I’ve been through this a number of times when traveling or moving abroad. I’m just tired as I’m terribly jet-lagged and have been lacking sleep.”
However, Alex being there helped me overcome the shock very quickly as he helped me re-integrate into the community during the following couple days by going out with me for errands which included food shopping, buying more credit for the phone and internet, and meeting people at my work places. Having him present as a Peace Corps Volunteer has also allowed me to discuss the struggles that I was facing and hear his words of wisdom.
No one other than Peace Corps Volunteers would understand better the challenges I was facing. This was because we are all going through similar experiences. We are all Americans living in a country where we did not grow up and are surrounded by people who are culturally different from us. Alex’s presence as a Peace Corps Volunteer made me realize the big importance of volunteers needing to be looking out for each other for their social and emotional well-being. While spending a great amount of time with the locals in the community is crucial for integrating successfully, spending an equal amount of time with Peace Corps Volunteers is just as important for serving successfully.
I have been thrilled to see all of my work partners again, and my work is starting up again slowly.
June 13th, 2015 by Rachel | Tags: Peace Corps | No Comments »
#PeaceCorpsLove
June 11th, 2015 by Rachel | Tags: Peace Corps | No Comments »
I’m looking forward to getting back to work and seeing everyone in Cameroon again!
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.
