Rollin' along- part III

RETURN OF THE BUSINESS SEMINARS
Due to popular demand (the bank's board president pretty much demanded it), I decided to do an abbreviated series of four seminars during the month of March. Taking the four most popular from the first go-round, I began with an attendance of 35 for "How to start a business", and did my least favorite, but most important subject of "Accounting Basics" this week. This time around, we're going a little deeper, and are following a real-life example to help folks see the lessons "in practice".

To advertise the seminars, I designed a sign to put over the road that leads to the market. Since there's no local newspaper, that's how you get the word out about something. It was put up a couple of days before the first seminar, but unfortunately was torn down by a large truck passing a few days later. Luckily, I at least took a couple of pictures of it beforehand.


TRIP TO THE VILLAGE OF KELLY-BITCHOKA
Living in the rather large city of Edéa, I don't get a whole lot of opportunity to get out to the small villages. The treasurer of our bank has been begging me for quite a while to come out and see her village, which is a couple of hours away by slow train from Edéa. Finally our schedules allowed a trip out, and I was warned to bring drinking water and lots of bug repellent.

I met Jacqueline (the treasurer) at the train station early Saturday morning, and after many delays, arrived at the station where her brother met us with a pickup to continue on to the family house. Of course, we had to stop and have lunch with the local catholic priest (Jacqi has a brother who will be ordained in July and a sister who is, well, a sister). We finally arrived after an hour of poor muddy roads (we had to get out and push the truck out of the mud three times). As you might imagine, there's not a whole lot to do in a small village. After touring around and drinking a beer, there was lots of sitting and occasional talking while the rest of the family caught up in the local language. One of the highlights was hanging out with one of the small boys down by the creek where they get drinking water and bathe. Its quite pretty down there. I was also shown the palm oil press and the small family palm oil plantation near the house.

Grandma gave me a couple of bottles of peanuts to take back home, and we ate a whole lot of river fish while there. As we were leaving, I gave the boy who took me down to the creek my baseball hat, which we adjusted and he wore with a big smile on his face. On the road back to Edéa (we drove back rather than wait for the train), we stopped a number of times. Once a village elder stopped the truck to give us (and me) some bananas and papayas. Another time, we stopped to have a cup of palm wine with the aging local deaf-mute traditional dancer (he feels the vibrations). It was a lot more fun coming back than the weekend had been, but overall, a great experience.


OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD
It wasn't exactly the yellow brick road, but I headed out last week to meet the General Manager of CAMCCUL, the bank network with which I am affiliated. My good friend Cathy, whose bank is also in the same network, had set up the meeting for Saturday morning with Mr. Niba, the equivalent of the CEO, at the bank headquarters in Bamenda. As much as I like Bamenda (the weather is at least 15 degrees cooler at all times, and they speak english), its about a 10 hour trip each way from Edéa. So, I decided to make a real trip out of it and accomplish a few other things on the way. Immediately after my seminar on Wednesday afternoon, I headed out for Yaoundé two hours away. I arrived to find my friend Jen in the process of leaving the country after getting tired of being harrassed and deciding that teaching math to high schoolers was not her favorite thing in the world. The next day, I got up to meet with the director and the acting director of the business program to discuss the upcoming training, among other subjects.

I left in the early afternoon, following a nice farewell lunch with Jen, and arrived later than I had hoped for at my family's house in Bandjoun. I had called them on the way to let them know of my delay, so I arrived to find dinner almost on the table. Of course, momma had prepared one of my favorite of her dishes, spaghetti with fried fish. yum. I arrived at the house in the dark to find a lot of excited kids. They were so happy to see me, and I, them. I had brought them a dozen coconuts from Edéa, which they can't get up there, so they were pretty happy with that as well. Because of my late arrival, even the smallest kids stayed up way past their bedtime. Soon after, I went to sleep in my old room.

The next morning, I took a freezing-cold bucket bath, and went to the market (I had lucked out and it was market day) to see my old friend, the window and mirror seller, Jean-Guy. I hadn't called to let him know I was coming, since I didn't know if I'd have time to stop by. He was thrilled to see me, and we talked for a bit, before I had to take off for Baffoussam. On the way out of town, momma handed me a large market bag filled with oranges and pineapples. She said that I couldn't leave town empty-handed. Smiling, I got in a taxi, and headed off to meet my friends for lunch. When I arrived at the restaurant, there were six volunteers from all over having a beer and waiting for the food. I slipped in my order and proceeded to catch up on all the volunteer gossip- of which there is always quite a bit. Following lunch, we all went our separate ways. I promised to meet them for a St. Patty's Day party if I possibly could...

The bus to Bamenda was a good time since they were almost all anglophone and they knew Peace Corps. They even complimented me on my pidgin, which I don't get to speak that often. I got to the Mondial hotel, which has a good discount for Peace Corps and headed to the shower. Shortly afterwords, Cathy showed up after coming directly from Kumba. We headed out to see her friend, Geraldine and then to dinner. Geraldine wasn't around (and her mobile phone had been stolen), so we left word with the neighbors and had a chicken dinner while watching the brand-new MTV-Africa on a big-screen TV with sattellite hook-up. One of the shows we caught was 'Punk'd', which I had heard about but never seen. Ashton is a terrible actor! And not only that, the skits are completely ripped off from Alan Funt (may he rest in peace)!

The meeting with the General Manager started early the next morning (following beans and boiled potatoes for breakfast) at the headquarters building. The GM showed up pretty much on time, and we started out with introductions. Three hours later, we had finally made it through the agenda, and the GM asked us out to a tasty lunch.

After lunch, we left the GM and made it over to the handicrafts cooperative (started by Peace Corps volunteers some forty years ago). I bought a traditional hat and a nice carved stool while Cathy bought a number of small gift items. We then headed back to Baffoussam where we met up with a couple of volunteers and had a few drinks before heading off to sleep, preparing for the long return to Edéa.


IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT...
Teaching continues to be a welcome break coming twice a week. I recently taught my younger kids how to do comparisons in english (as in, my father is older than my mother). Alexandre, a young kid with imagination to spare, read out the comparison that he had composed, "A dinosaur is taller than a coconut tree". I couldn't help but smile.

My older kids are in the process of learning "Do-Re-Mi". I'm hoping to do some kind of end-of-year concert with the four or five songs that I've been able to teach them. And yes, "If you're happy and you know it" is one of them. They particularly like the verse that ends "shout out loud!".


AND FINALLY...
Spring has sprung, even here in Cameroon, just three degrees off the equator. How do we know? Well, mangoes have arrived in the market, mating monkeys are easier to find and kill for food (there's been a marked increase available for sale), and the music man has come to town. Almost like the annual showing of 'The Sound of Music', the music man peddles his specially equipped three-wheeled bicycle (I suppose that would make it a tricycle, wouldn't it?) around town selling religious music on cassette, CD and Video CD (brilliantly, he always arrives just before Easter). This bicycle is equipped with a display case on each side, attached somehow to the frame, with a single megaphone-shaped loud-speaker at the top, announcing his arrival with African gospel music. Needless to say, his arrival is greatly anticipated, and he does quite a lot of business. After a week or so, he peddles on to the next town. The cycling music man of Cameroon is indeed a sign that ingenuity lives in people around the world.

Rollin' along- part II

BIRTHDAY PARTY
The 19th of February was my 29th (again?!?) birthday. In Cameroon, no one throws a party for your birthday. If you want to celebrate, its up to you. So, I decided to have a party at my house for the occassion. I spent all of two days cooking and preparing for the fête, and was helped the afternoon before by Sylvie, who came to cook the Cameroonian part of the meal. I decided to make some good 'ole american food, including chili, tuna casserole and cake with chocolate icing. About 12 friends and folks from the bank came and ate. We had such a great time that we got up and danced for a while after it was all over. People brought food and wine, and I ended up with lots of leftovers (I gave a bunch to Alain to take home to his family). I'm sure there are many more parties to come.

VISIT FROM A SMALL FRIEND
It was Saturday morning, and I decided to go out with my machété and trim the hedges a bit. I left the porch door ajar and went about my business. About an hour later, I came back in the same way I left. I was a bit startled to see a bright green snake slithering off to the corner away from me. As it turns out, the snake (although young) was a deadly green mamba snake, one of the most poisonous in the world. Of course, I wasn't thinking about that. I just wanted him out of my house. Luckily, he was only in the screened porch, and not in the house proper, so I sealed off the house and went inside, hoping that he'd find his way out.

A bit later, the guys who cut my lawn about once a month or so came by and did their job. When they came looking for payment, I mentioned that I had a snake in the porch. They became quite alarmed and one of them took the rake he was carrying and expertly tapped the snake on the head with the blunt end. About six taps later, he had crushed the snake's skull, and removed the body to the bushes.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING
March 5th was the biggest day of our bank's annual calendar- the general assembly meeting of all members. It happens every year after the annual audits and budgets are complete. The members are brought together to approve the budget, propose changes to operating procedures and vote on various board members. And, like any other gathering in this country, its an excuse to eat and drink together. The president wanted to give everyone a piece of the agenda, so I was given the task of not only making my own statement (comments about the past year, business seminars and a first goodbye and thank you), but also the task of presenting the 2005 budget. I had overseen the assembly of the budget, so I put together a budget rationalization sheet and presented all of the numbers and explanations. There were over 70 people there, and George told me that it was only the second time in the bank's history that they had been able to assemble a quorum for the meeting. The meeting was videotaped and photographed (I'll be bringing back a copy to watch over and over like wedding festivities- I can't wait to see the tears in people's eyes as they listen to hours of speeches in french). Afterwards, I went to the VIP reception (the regular members were served chicken, bread and beer) where we had a massive display of food and drink. The grilled fish had to have been at least 20lbs and had eyes as big as 50 cent pieces.


INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY
Once a year on the 8th of March, women around the world take the day off and parade and hold seminars promoting women. In Cameroon, its a HUGE deal, which takes weeks of preparation. Women all buy the same fabric for the parade, which all the important folks in town attend (along with a marching band which doesn't really march). Afterwords, everyone eats and drinks until they can't stand up anymore. Given that the bank's women's committee has been very successful in the past year, with a membership of greater than 40 women, they wanted to take part in the festivities.

I ended up as the official photographer for the group, and took numerous individual and group poses. I also took photos of them marching in the parade and them eating afterwards. My payment was a tasty meal and drinks at the end of the day.

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.

BOOK REPORT: Grisham, Moore, Hemmingway, and Leonard

'The Partner' by John Grisham
When you need an interesting, reliable fast read, John's your man. 'The Partner' by John Grisham is unfortunately, also utterly forgettable.

'Downsize This' by Michael Moore
I've seen a couple of the movies (including Farenheit 911, which came out since I've been here-thanks to a volunteer going home for the holidays), but 'Downsize This' was the first of Michael Moore's books that I've read. Its a little dated at this point (having been written in the mid-nineties), but its still interesting, and at times appauling and shocking. In case you didn't pick it up from the films, Moore is quite the blue-collar socialist. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course... The book lays out his

'For Whom the Bell Tolls' by Ernest Hemmingway
The classic novel, 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' by Ernest Hemmingway was sent to me by my friend Rob (thanks Rob!) since I clearly had some time to do some reading. For me, at least, the book was a 'real time' story of an american spanish teacher who decides to save Spain from the fascists by blowing up a bridge in the mountains. The 'translations' from spanish are a little annoying at first, as is the slow pace of introductions, but like all great books, it draws you in. Pretty soon, you can imagine being there with Robert and his band of rebels. Its a great book- one that means something after you put it down.

'Tishomingo Blues' by Elmore Leonard
A daredevil diver, the Detroit mob, and a few Mississippi hicks all converge across the river from Memphis for a little relaxation, a little southern fun (in the form of Civil War reenactments) and lots of surreal action. Its a bit on the fantastic side, but the author of 'Get Shorty', among others has created an interesting and sometimes funny look into what gets people up in the morning.