Catching Up -happenings in December

Monday, January 3, 2005

Its been a crazy last few weeks, which has caused me to run far behind in my blog writing. I apologize, but can only see it getting worse as time approaches for me to leave Cameroon. That's right, only seven and a half months stand between me and the United States of America. But don't get me wrong, while I am very anxious to return to my family and friends and begin the "rest of my life", I have much to do here in Cameroon before that time comes. And it will take every bit of the last months to get it accomplished. In an effort to provide and update on all fronts, I think its probably best to go topic by topic through the last month since my last real update.

THE BANK
After months and months of frustration caused by the ineptitude of the Board of Directors (they like to come by one at a time just to "check-in", but can't seem to get together at the same time to have a meeting), we finally had a Board Meeting the second week of December. I'm sure they were overwhelmed since George and I had built up quite an agenda for them. The president did come by the day before the meeting to preview the items though, which allowed the meeting to go much faster. After beginning at 10am, we finished around 3pm with no break for lunch. The only reason we finished when we did though was because I was running a seminar that afternoon and the president wanted the whole board to attend.

During the meeting, we were able to accomplish a couple of big items that had been on the burner for months including the approval to hire another employee to help us out (we're growing, and we want to extend hours to Saturday, which isn't possible with only one employee), the approval of special loans for Christmas (which were quite a success and brought in several new members), and the approval of a marketing plan and an action plan for 2005. These were necessary to put together a budget reflecting all the priorities of the bank for the new year.

George and I continue to offer consulting services to small businesses in town. The nursery school we worked with back in August and September has completely turned around and had a large Christmas party with an inspector from the Ministry of Education attending. Its a success story. We've also started working with a member of the bank who just opened a beauty salon just up the street. She just opened a month ago, and she's having more problems than she knows how to deal with. Its a complicated situation, but I'm confident we can put her on the right track. I've also been working with a couple of other women from my business seminars who are trying to get loans to start their own businesses. I hope I'm here to see them open up and become successful.

BUSINESS SEMINARS
The business seminars are turning out to be the most rewarding and successful thing that I have done here in terms of sharing some of my knowledge and working with people to improve their situation in life. Its been amazing to me the lack of basic knowledge that exists (such as how to calculate interest on a savings account). I'm sure I would be similarly amazed in the US. Of course, that's why I'm here, right? I was able to secure Peace Corps Small Project Assistance funding for the seminars which is what enabled me to keep the price low (about 40 cents per week) while giving handouts and having guest speakers.

Attendance has hovered around 40 people each week, with most of the same people returning each week, but some new faces coming in each time, despite the fact I have stopped marketing the seminars. People are attentive and ask questions when they don't understand. And luckily, my french seems to be good enough as to not cause problems (it helps that most everything I'm saying is written down on the handouts). I've also continued to have guest speakers, including the return of the bank auditor from Douala, Inspector Bata, who did a great job once again.

I took two weeks off for the holidays, and I restart this week with a seminar scheduled for every Wednesday in January before ending the series of ten. I will likely restart the seminars in March, giving me time to evaluate and take care of some other projects during the month of February.

SCHOOL
My students have been doing quite well, and even my older kids seem to have calmed down a bit and are more willing to learn (they were rebelling for a while). English is a tough language to teach, but I figure if I teach it like I was taught french, then hopefully they can get somewhere. Before the holiday break, we talked about Christmas and used the Santa doll that a friend sent from the US to review parts of the body.

The last day of school before the break, there was a retirement party for the physical education teacher who had been there for over 20 years. As part of the festivities, my two classes (the older kids) played a small soccer tournament with three teams and three games. The kids asked if I would play with them, so I rushed home and put on some shorts and shoes and went over to the field. We tied the first game and lost the second. Its been a long time since I've played soccer, but I had a great time running around with my kids.

PEACE CORPS
It seems as though fate is against the business program here in Cameroon. After our semi-effectual founder left last June (he was mentally gone long before then), we have had a series of administrative delays and two final candidates choosing other positions at the last minute (with no backup candidate!) highlighting the inefficient human resource processes of our beloved federal government. It seems they make you jump through so many hoops that many people (and probably the best qualified) just get tired and give up before they reach the end. So, here we are once again with a candidate who has chosen to go elsewhere and have "reopened the search process" which means we couldn't possibly have anyone here before July. Since I leave in August, that means the burden has to fall elsewhere or it falls through the cracks. So far, I and my fellow volunteers have written the program's year-end report, redesigned both the three month pre-service training and the one week in-service training (which will be held here in Edéa the second week of February) and created recommendations to update the project's five-year plan (we can't actually update it without a program director) among many other things. The simple fact is that if the volunteers didn't do it, it wouldn't get done, or at most would get done in name only.

As chairman of the business program steering committee, I've been trying to move the program forward despite these issues. At the training in February, the newer volunteers will be choosing my replacement as I work towards the completion of my service. After that, I can only hope for the best.

Just a quick word on the money situation. It seems that our federal government has delivered to the Peace Corps what public policy folks call an unfunded mandate. In other words, do more with the same amount of money. At least in our case, this is becoming impossible and the seams are beginning to show. Its not clear how it will all resolve itself, but the increasing lack of administrative support, inconsistent payments to volunteers and even reduction in medical support has already caused some volunteers to decide to pack up and go home early. Just wish us luck, and if you feel inclined, call your congressman.

On the bright side, the Peace Corps Africa pagne (fabric) arrived! I bought a couple of "complets" (6 yards each) and decided to have shirts made for George and myself. The tailor finished with them, and George was very happy and I expect he will wear it on a regular basis.