What the Heck Have I Gotten Myself Into?

Those were my first words to Jose as we were being driven to our host homes in the middle of a blackout.

My first few days in Cameroon have been nothing less than interesting and educational. We arrived in Cameroon on May 21 at the Douala airport at about 9:00 pm. As soon as I stepped off the plane I felt the heat and humidity hit me. The airport is not air conditioned, but has windows with slats in them to let the air in, but not the rain. The airport had many police and security officers there, and yet I think it would be very easy to sneak past the two women checking yellow fever vaccination cards. The only two computers I saw were being used by the women checking passports and visas. We then proceeded to baggage claim, found all of our belongings (thank God) and went outside into the rain to be driven to our homes. The car ride was about 1.5 hours in the darkness. The drive was basically uphill once we left the city. We drove mostly on paved roads, but once we got into Buea and towards our host families, the roads became dirt and rocks, which was incredibly bumpy. I finally arrived to my host family’s house around midnight, and met no one but my host parents Cellestine and Marcel. They took me back to my room where I fell right to sleep.

I was abruptly awoken the next morning by strange children opening and closing my squeaky door, presumably staring at the “white man” inhabiting the room. They shoved me, asked me if I was going to work, to which I responded yes, and then they left me alone. They now do this every morning if I am not awake before 7, even thought I don’t have to be at work until 8 and it only takes me about 10 minutes to get there.

Our first day at the office last week, I shook a lot of hands, met a lot of people, and mostly took it easy and went over what they wanted us to do for the first few weeks. Day 2 we went to a ceremony at a very poor school where NKong Hilltop (the organization we are working at) installed a brand new ventilated latrine. The old outhouse at the school was so gross, that most children chose to urinate and defecate around the outhouse rather than go in it, which lead to about 30 students getting cholera in the 2012 – 2013 school-year. This week we have been visiting the communities and meeting some people that we will be working in this summer, all of which are much more rural than Buea, which is more like a city. The villages each have their own types of building materials that are used, some use wood, others use bricks or concrete, depending on what is available around them.

My host family is very nice, and I am living comfortably in my house. Cellestine and Marcel both graduated from a university and work during the day. Cellestine is an administrator in a nursing/midwifery school and Marcel is a high school and university teacher, who is also working towards his PhD. They also own a small bar. They have three children their son Jevis is 10 years old, and their daughters Karli and Delores are 6 and 1 respectively. They also have two of their nieces living with them, Joyce and Laura, who take care of Delores during the day and go to school in the evenings. Jevis and Karli have no idea about boundaries or personal space, so when my bedroom door is closed, they come in whenever they want, jump on me or my bed, touch all of my things and then try to eat my vitamins. I have had to hide almost everything I don’t use every day so that they won’t get into it. They are very loud, very early in the morning, before I wake up, which often wakes me up before it is necessary. They slam doors, yell at each other, and Delores cries and screams at the top of her lungs. They also wake up the roosters and chickens which make lots of noise outside my window.

The weather in Buea is very comfortable compared to the rest of the communities we visited, because of its elevation. The rains have not begun yet, but I am told that within a few weeks it will rain day and night for a few weeks without stopping, luckily my clothes dry pretty quickly. Because it is cooler up here though, the water I shower with every morning is frigid, which would feel nice after a long day in the sun, but the water does not always work at night, so I can only shower in the mornings.

The food here is definitely something I will have to get used to, but I decided that I would try everything at least once. So far I have tried snails, corn fufu, puff puff, vegetable (bitter greens, chopped nuts, and any meat the kitchen has), African yams, fish stew, mango, plantains, and salad, which is similar to our coleslaw. I also tried the Cameroonian beer, called Export, which comes in a 23 ounce bottle. It is easily the most popular drink here, but people also drink many Guinness products, and some places will sell Budwiser products, other places will not, but I haven’t seen anyone drink any yet.

Yesterday, I finally got travelers illness and ended up with a fever and stomach and intestinal pain, as did another student. Cellestine insisted that I eat last night, so she made me eat puff puff (fried dough balls) and some yellow, warm, creamy something, which even after putting some lemon in it to try to make it better, was gross and I could only manage a few bites. I only really ate a cliff bar and saltines yesterday. This morning she gave me some grasses to chew on and said they would help my stomach, but since they were rinsed in tap water (which I cannot drink) I chewed on one little piece and threw most of the rest of them away. I think sticking to my American medicine will be the best way for me to get better. My fever is gone today, but my stomach is still a little upset, so I am not sure I will be attending Mass early tomorrow morning for Ascension because I am pretty sure there isn’t a bathroom and when I went to Mass on Sunday it was close to 3 hours long!

I miss all of you so much and hope you’re all doing well! More next week!
Sorry, I tried to post pics but the internet here at work is very slow!

Anticipation: The Cameroon Saga Part 1

So this is it friends. Tomorrow I leave for my 10 week immersion in Cameroon. To say that I am excited would be an understatement, but as with most things, excitement is always accompanied by a little bit of nervousness. However, I truly believe that the last 16 years of my education have prepared me for this summer.

I was reflecting on just how much my education influenced my decision to apply for ETHOS in the first place. Between traveling to and hosting a student from Germany and the amount of studies about geography and different cultures in Grade School and the amount of traveling I got to do through Intercession in high school, I simply cannot imagine not traveling in college. It is also my Marianist, Catholic education that told me that the next time I traveled, it needed to be an experience where I could live in community with others and come to at least partially understand a culture completely different from my own, while also getting to do a little bit of good. My education has molded me to become a citizen diplomat.




I have always been taught that in order to really understand the world around me, that I must step outside my own comfort zone and outside of my own back yard. I know that will happen on this trip. I am fully confident that I will come back not only with some technical skills, but with the understanding that what is different is not frightening but an opportunity to learn and challenge ourselves.

I am more than certain that this summer is going to simply fly by, and that Jose, Alyssa, Chinedum and I are going to have the time of our lives. If you want to learn more about the ETHOS program or donate to our cause in Cameroon please visit http://www.udayton.edu/engineering/ethos/#1. (If you are donating you have to scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click the "Give Now" button and enter my name in the comment box.)

Hopefully Weekly Updates to Come!
Katie