Rollin' along- part I

PALM OIL PROJECT BEGINS
I made it out to George's village, where the work had already begun on the palm oil tree nursery. A bunch of us crammed into a car along with 1200 carefully packed seedlings and headed out on Friday for the 45 minute ride out. It was a lot shorter than I expected, and the dirt roads were in pretty good condition (certainly in comparison to the roads up to Korup park).

As we rolled into the village, there were several men already at work filling the polypots with dirt, which would later be seeded. We climbed out of the car and set up a few chairs under the coconut trees that were helping to shade the nursery-in-progress. I had a seat while the work continued around me. George ran off to his father's home to change into his work clothes, and soon began hauling water back and forth from the stream not too far away that would be used to water the seedlings. The others were finishing filling dirt and placing the pots in neat rows to make watering and other maintenance easier. In the meantime, one of the young guys climbed up one of the coconut trees and kicked down a bunch for us to eat and drink (coconut juice from a green coconut is pretty tasty).

Soon, there were bamboo posts in the ground around the pots, and fencing around the posts (more for small animals than for theives). Finally, we started putting seeds in the pots and watering them. The project had become real. Now, we just wait until the little buggers grow up a little...


SED IN-SERVICE TRAINING
Somehow, (believe me, I was not advocating it) it was decided that the annual in-service training for all first-year business volunteers would be held right here, in good 'ole Edéa. Admittedly, we do have the nicest hotel this side of Yaoundé, and it turned out great... I suppose in my head I was comparing the sometimes raucous behavior of our group last year with the much smaller and considerably more demure newer group.

We spent the week talking about how the second year volunteers could be more effective and happier at the same time. About five second-year volunteers came in to lead sessions in addition to myself. My solo session was on approving and recovering loans and how to change loan policy to make it all easier. Every three hours or so though, we broke to eat. I can't remember the last time I've eaten such consistenly good food for an entire week. The shrimp in butter sauce and the duck were both outstanding.

On the Thursday night, we all went out for a large dinner in town (the only night they even left the hotel!) to have grilled chicken and shrimp at Chez Louise. There were about 25 of us, and even though the table wasn't quite big enough, everyone found enough to eat and drink. Its so good to be with friends...


BEGINNING OF THE END
During the in-service training, my Close of Service packet was delivered to me. This is the first in a series of events that mark the end of service for Peace Corps volunteers. Needless to say, it was a happy occasion to open the envelope and to find a booklet entitled "You're on your way home". Yes, indeed!

Our 'close of service' conference is coming up in a week, with three days of editing resumes, doing mock interviews and trying to figure out what we want to be when we grow up. The 35+ of us who will be there are looking at it more as a giant party - the last time we will ever all be together. It promises to be a week to remember.