Rainy season has come and gone, and I think I’m going to miss it. It made little things like crossing the riverbed such an adventure. It brought me the fruits of my gardening labor, five cucumbers and two cantaloupes. It also brought me a touch of malaria. I’ve still got some things to look forward to, though. I’m getting trained to be a prenatal consultant at the hospital and I’m working on a couple different grants, one to dig wells and another to train peer educators in HIV/AIDS prevention. Also, I’ve started weighing babies regularly at the hospital and so far have only been peed on once.
I’ve been in this country a year now, but I’m still always learning. Here are a couple examples . . .
My counterpart Falta is without a doubt my best friend in Kolofata. I have spent far more time with her and her family than anyone else in my village, so it’s funny how we still learn things about each other all the time. The other day, I was sitting on a mat with her daughters, when little Yanama took my glasses off. I said something like “Ah, I can’t see!”, which would seem like a normal enough response, but this threw Falta through a loop. She’s said “Hold up, you wear those so you can see?” I tried to explain that I can only see about as far as my arm can stretch and tried to show with a bizarre hand gesture what “blurry” looks like because I don’t know the word “blurry” in French. She thought I’d been wearing my oddly shaped magnifying glass-like specs for fashion purposes. Then she asked if that’s why so many of the other volunteers wear glasses too. I was so surprised at first, but Falta was making complete sense. The hospital in Kolofata is one of three in this half of the country with ophthalmologists, and people come here and pay lots of money for surgery for blinding diseases like trachoma, not for silly reasons like “I can’t read the blackboard.” But now I really wonder how many kids can’t read the blackboard. Ah, cultural exchange.
Last week, I heard a man walking on my roof . It was early in the afternoon when I hide from the heat and sit in front of my fan. I stepped into the blinding light, confused and really hoping he wasn’t a Nigerian bandit. It turned out to be my neighbor, and he kept repeating the same phrase to try to explain what he was doing “C’est un varang.” “It’s a what?” He then jumped down from my roof and into my yard holding what looked like a baby komodo dragon. A varang is a giant lizard that lives in the bush (and apparently is quite tasty). So it’s ok my neighbor climbed onto my roof because my scrappy little dog McLovin would have tried to take on the varang, but wouldn’t have stood a chance against it.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
adjusting again
My trip to Europe was a whirlwind of museums, churches, and beautiful cities. I was on the go so much I barely had time to process the dramatic change of environment. Eating cheese and vegetables and smoked salmon at every possible opportunity probably helped with the adjustment. I appreciated a few things I probably didn’t before coming to Cameroon- a waste disposal system, paved roads with stoplights, and being able to blend in. I was a bit worried about the transition from the developed back to the developing world, but going away for awhile actually helped me realize that I’m in love with this little village of mine. I was very anxious to get back to Kolofata, and I felt very excited and refreshed stepping off the plane.
Once I made it to Kolofata, however, I found I had to re-learn a few things. First, coming to northern Cameroon, even just after vacation, means you have to go through a chronic explosive diarrhea phase. Secondly, weather affects your plans. I’m experiencing my first rainy season right now. When it rains, the roads get washed out and become impassable for at least a few hours. My counterpart was out in a small village giving vaccinations and her motorcycle fell in the road/temporary river. Shortly after, she got very sick with pneumonia and malaria. She’s better now, but we haven’t been able to do much work together. Also, the electricity and running water generally go out when it rains.
After being back a month, I finally feel like both me and my bowels can handle another year and a half here. I planted a garden in my yard, started teaching gymnastics to young girls at the women’s center, and giving weekly nutrition presentations at the hospital. Rainy season is also malnutrition season here, because most of the money people make after the millet harvest is used up, people are working in the fields a lot, and it is hard to transport food. I’m trying to promote the use of a local tree called moringa which has very nutritious leaves (and tastes kinda like spinach). Over the next couple weeks, I’ll be planting a lot of trees.
I’ve also acquired a couple roommates, medical students from England who will be at the hospital in Kolofata for six weeks, who have been great fun so far. We climbed a mountain a few days ago, and as we were walking through the fields back to my house you could look to one side and see a full rainbow between two mountains and then look to the other side and see a beautiful orange sunset over the savannah. It really is an amazing place to live, even when the electricity doesn‘t work.
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Once I made it to Kolofata, however, I found I had to re-learn a few things. First, coming to northern Cameroon, even just after vacation, means you have to go through a chronic explosive diarrhea phase. Secondly, weather affects your plans. I’m experiencing my first rainy season right now. When it rains, the roads get washed out and become impassable for at least a few hours. My counterpart was out in a small village giving vaccinations and her motorcycle fell in the road/temporary river. Shortly after, she got very sick with pneumonia and malaria. She’s better now, but we haven’t been able to do much work together. Also, the electricity and running water generally go out when it rains.
After being back a month, I finally feel like both me and my bowels can handle another year and a half here. I planted a garden in my yard, started teaching gymnastics to young girls at the women’s center, and giving weekly nutrition presentations at the hospital. Rainy season is also malnutrition season here, because most of the money people make after the millet harvest is used up, people are working in the fields a lot, and it is hard to transport food. I’m trying to promote the use of a local tree called moringa which has very nutritious leaves (and tastes kinda like spinach). Over the next couple weeks, I’ll be planting a lot of trees.
I’ve also acquired a couple roommates, medical students from England who will be at the hospital in Kolofata for six weeks, who have been great fun so far. We climbed a mountain a few days ago, and as we were walking through the fields back to my house you could look to one side and see a full rainbow between two mountains and then look to the other side and see a beautiful orange sunset over the savannah. It really is an amazing place to live, even when the electricity doesn‘t work.
>
Sunday, March 15, 2009
After three months at post with , I feel like I can finally say I'm getting into the swing of things. I started taking Kanuri lessons with my counterpart, Falta. Each night, I go over to her house, sit down on a mat with her and her two little girls (who are without a doubt, the two most adorable children in town) and I point to things and ask what the word is in Kanuri. I write a couple pages of words and phrases down in my notebook each night, and little by little, I'm learning. Although I still don't understand the structure of the language, I'm amusing people in town with my attempts to extend the greetings to the next level of "How's the dust?", "How's the house," and "How's the neighborhood?" I'm also getting used to teaching English, and I'll find out how the kids are doing next week after I give my first test.
Between English classes, Kanuri lessons, and spending time at the hospital, my days are full. I've been going on the morning rounds at the hospital, which gives me a chance to see all the patients. I've seen some really interesting patients, like a baby with a cleft palate, a man with a poisonous snake bite, and some burn victims from gas truck explosion. I also saw a childbirth last week, which was amazing and miraculous and incredibly gross at the same time. I started helping to give HIV tests during prenatal consultations, basically just pricking fingers. I think if I keep observing at the hospital, I'm going to get the chance to learn a lot. I've got my In-Service Training coming up in a week, so I'll get some good internet time and write more then. A bientot!
Between English classes, Kanuri lessons, and spending time at the hospital, my days are full. I've been going on the morning rounds at the hospital, which gives me a chance to see all the patients. I've seen some really interesting patients, like a baby with a cleft palate, a man with a poisonous snake bite, and some burn victims from gas truck explosion. I also saw a childbirth last week, which was amazing and miraculous and incredibly gross at the same time. I started helping to give HIV tests during prenatal consultations, basically just pricking fingers. I think if I keep observing at the hospital, I'm going to get the chance to learn a lot. I've got my In-Service Training coming up in a week, so I'll get some good internet time and write more then. A bientot!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Since my last blog, I finished up the trachoma campaign, took a few days to nurse my body and bike tires, and started trying to get a handle on the health situation in Kolofata. I'm the first volunteer in the health program in my village, so assessment is really important. First I met with some different groups of people- the hospital staff, a women's group, and high school students, to discuss the problems and needs of the community. My next step is to go door to door with a survey, which should really help me get to know people in the village better, but I'm pretty nervous to do it alone!
I've been able to experience some festivals lately, both the Fete de Jeunesse (Youth Day) and the "jour d'amour" (Valentine's Day, sounds so much better in french). The Fete de Jeunesse on the 11th of February is a huge holiday here, with a parade, talent shows, soccer match, and a women's handball game. The talent shows are essentially lipsinking expositions in which members of the audience come to the stage and put money in the performers pockets. In the parade, each school in the district makes up their own song and marches across the soccer field singing it. The highlight of the parade was when the majorettes from a high school did their routine to Aqua's "Barbie Girl." What a funny place this is.
Something I've struggled with is not having anything like a regular schedule and finding myself with a lot of free time and limited entertainment options. There are two bars in town, my favorite of the two is where lots of children come to follow french-dubbed spanish soap operas and occasionally plays 90s toni braxton music videos. I've read twelve books and discovered a whole new world of entertainment with a shortwave radio. BBC news is fantasic, although the lengthy sports news segments mean that I will come home with far more knowledge of European club soccer than i ever wanted. I will never get sick of listening to cricket matches, however, because i will never be able to understand the game nor lose the humor in hearing "snoggelfarts is up 370 to 2 at the wicket between fourth snack and tea time." Other fun channels provide Chinese news in English, Japonese news in French, and a call in show called "Wake Up with the Bishop."
After a few weeks of a very open schedule, I started to feel a little restless and jumped into a few activities and now I'm thinking "What I've gotten myself into!". The high school hasn't had an English teacher for a few months, so I offered to help out with a class or two. So they gave me eleven hours of teaching English (ahhh). My first week of teaching was pretty intimidating, with about fifty students in each class, many of whom do not have books, paper, or pencils. I'm going to keep trying it out, but feeling a little conflicted that it will take time away from health work I should be doing. I also have a once-a-week health class that I will be teaching at the women's center and I'm pretty excited to start. Lastly, I'm finishing up a project that the volunteer before me started with the US Embassy. She got a grant to build a primary school in a small village close by. The school is built, but my job is to finish up with the buying of desks and inauguration of the school. Wish me luck!!!
I've been able to experience some festivals lately, both the Fete de Jeunesse (Youth Day) and the "jour d'amour" (Valentine's Day, sounds so much better in french). The Fete de Jeunesse on the 11th of February is a huge holiday here, with a parade, talent shows, soccer match, and a women's handball game. The talent shows are essentially lipsinking expositions in which members of the audience come to the stage and put money in the performers pockets. In the parade, each school in the district makes up their own song and marches across the soccer field singing it. The highlight of the parade was when the majorettes from a high school did their routine to Aqua's "Barbie Girl." What a funny place this is.
Something I've struggled with is not having anything like a regular schedule and finding myself with a lot of free time and limited entertainment options. There are two bars in town, my favorite of the two is where lots of children come to follow french-dubbed spanish soap operas and occasionally plays 90s toni braxton music videos. I've read twelve books and discovered a whole new world of entertainment with a shortwave radio. BBC news is fantasic, although the lengthy sports news segments mean that I will come home with far more knowledge of European club soccer than i ever wanted. I will never get sick of listening to cricket matches, however, because i will never be able to understand the game nor lose the humor in hearing "snoggelfarts is up 370 to 2 at the wicket between fourth snack and tea time." Other fun channels provide Chinese news in English, Japonese news in French, and a call in show called "Wake Up with the Bishop."
After a few weeks of a very open schedule, I started to feel a little restless and jumped into a few activities and now I'm thinking "What I've gotten myself into!". The high school hasn't had an English teacher for a few months, so I offered to help out with a class or two. So they gave me eleven hours of teaching English (ahhh). My first week of teaching was pretty intimidating, with about fifty students in each class, many of whom do not have books, paper, or pencils. I'm going to keep trying it out, but feeling a little conflicted that it will take time away from health work I should be doing. I also have a once-a-week health class that I will be teaching at the women's center and I'm pretty excited to start. Lastly, I'm finishing up a project that the volunteer before me started with the US Embassy. She got a grant to build a primary school in a small village close by. The school is built, but my job is to finish up with the buying of desks and inauguration of the school. Wish me luck!!!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
trachoma boot camp
i have had a wonderfully busy start to the new year, thanks to a big public health campaign in my district. i've been waking up at the crack of dawn, biking a couple hours a day, walking from hut to hut in villages with my counterpart, eating lunch with the traditional village chief, and feeling a little bit like i'm doing what i came here to do, which is fantastic.
however, i've been out in villages combatting a disease that i had very little knowledge of prior to two weeks ago. trachoma is basically pink eye that lasts a long time and eventually causes blindness. in early stages, it can be treated with antibiotics, but after a point surgery is necessary, and after another point it is irreversible. a year ago, thirty one percent of people in the kolofata district had trachoma (that's enormous), so the kolofata hospital collaborated with opthamalogists without borders to fight this. health promoters went into each village and educated people on trachoma and how to prevent it, then explained that they would be treating the entire population with eye drops over the course of two weeks. health promoters and community volunteers went door to door giving two doses a day for three days to over twenty-seven thousand people. the prevalence of trachoma went down to six percent this year. the goal is to eradicate the disease in three years by treating everyone once a year, as well as providing education throughout the year. i get to be a part of year two :)
my counterpart, falta, is a health promoter at the hospital, so it is her job to go door to door with eye drops and a list of the people living in a each compound, and recording each time a person receives their dose. oh an small side note, she does this with a twenty-month year old child on her back. i've been giving the eye drops. it's been a great chance for me to get to know each village in the district and learn the greetings in local languages. when we've given everyone the morning dose and i've sufficiently terrified the children of the village, the health promoters rest and have lunch at the village-chief's compound. i have yet to figure out what the village chief's role is, but they have been great hosts. i've been eating quite well, a lot of rice and meat and leafy greens. i'm really growing to enjoy sitting on a mat eating from a large shared platter. the other health promoters tell me i'm already a kanuri woman, which makes me feel quite warm and fuzzy inside.
after lunch, we do the afternoon dose and i bike back home around four. it's a nice routine, but my body and bike are definitely feeling the effects. the roads here are rocky and sandy and overall just rough, and i have now experienced over ten flat tires. i'm getting better at patching them, but i always feel a little bit of dread as i get on the bike and anxiously pedal away thinking about the impending deflation.
i think the highlight of my trachoma week was when i spent a day in a small village called grea, which is tucked into the side of a little mountain that rises somewhat unexpectedly out of the flat sahara. after the morning dose, we walked back to the chief's house, and saw a group of people with bright blue dots of paint under their eyes, long beaded necklaces and earrings, large nose rings, and slightly lighter skin. they were a nomadic mbororo group from niger. they will live outside of this village with their cattle for a couple months. they go into town once a day with all of their donkeys and fill containers of water from the well. i'm still mostly confounded at how this little village next this tiny mountain has five different ethnic groups and languages. it's quite a place. on the way home that day i got a flat tire and was rescued and brought home by a kind neighbor with a moto.
oh funny story, i was in an a small arab-shuwa village one day where my counterpart's sister lives. when falta introduced me, her sister said, "oh i know you, you're the girl who always bikes by with a dog chasing after you". the week before, the dog ran along side of me for 20 kilometers as we were coming back from maroua. so in that village i'm known in as the crazy dog loving foreigner who comes as your face with an eye-dropper. it's pretty strange to never be anonymous.
so i'm doing well, i got some shelves and a table built so my house is feeling a bit more like a home. the dog has not eaten any more chickens, he's more into lizards these days. miss you all, i've gotten a bunch of letters this last week and the responses are on their way. thank you!!!
however, i've been out in villages combatting a disease that i had very little knowledge of prior to two weeks ago. trachoma is basically pink eye that lasts a long time and eventually causes blindness. in early stages, it can be treated with antibiotics, but after a point surgery is necessary, and after another point it is irreversible. a year ago, thirty one percent of people in the kolofata district had trachoma (that's enormous), so the kolofata hospital collaborated with opthamalogists without borders to fight this. health promoters went into each village and educated people on trachoma and how to prevent it, then explained that they would be treating the entire population with eye drops over the course of two weeks. health promoters and community volunteers went door to door giving two doses a day for three days to over twenty-seven thousand people. the prevalence of trachoma went down to six percent this year. the goal is to eradicate the disease in three years by treating everyone once a year, as well as providing education throughout the year. i get to be a part of year two :)
my counterpart, falta, is a health promoter at the hospital, so it is her job to go door to door with eye drops and a list of the people living in a each compound, and recording each time a person receives their dose. oh an small side note, she does this with a twenty-month year old child on her back. i've been giving the eye drops. it's been a great chance for me to get to know each village in the district and learn the greetings in local languages. when we've given everyone the morning dose and i've sufficiently terrified the children of the village, the health promoters rest and have lunch at the village-chief's compound. i have yet to figure out what the village chief's role is, but they have been great hosts. i've been eating quite well, a lot of rice and meat and leafy greens. i'm really growing to enjoy sitting on a mat eating from a large shared platter. the other health promoters tell me i'm already a kanuri woman, which makes me feel quite warm and fuzzy inside.
after lunch, we do the afternoon dose and i bike back home around four. it's a nice routine, but my body and bike are definitely feeling the effects. the roads here are rocky and sandy and overall just rough, and i have now experienced over ten flat tires. i'm getting better at patching them, but i always feel a little bit of dread as i get on the bike and anxiously pedal away thinking about the impending deflation.
i think the highlight of my trachoma week was when i spent a day in a small village called grea, which is tucked into the side of a little mountain that rises somewhat unexpectedly out of the flat sahara. after the morning dose, we walked back to the chief's house, and saw a group of people with bright blue dots of paint under their eyes, long beaded necklaces and earrings, large nose rings, and slightly lighter skin. they were a nomadic mbororo group from niger. they will live outside of this village with their cattle for a couple months. they go into town once a day with all of their donkeys and fill containers of water from the well. i'm still mostly confounded at how this little village next this tiny mountain has five different ethnic groups and languages. it's quite a place. on the way home that day i got a flat tire and was rescued and brought home by a kind neighbor with a moto.
oh funny story, i was in an a small arab-shuwa village one day where my counterpart's sister lives. when falta introduced me, her sister said, "oh i know you, you're the girl who always bikes by with a dog chasing after you". the week before, the dog ran along side of me for 20 kilometers as we were coming back from maroua. so in that village i'm known in as the crazy dog loving foreigner who comes as your face with an eye-dropper. it's pretty strange to never be anonymous.
so i'm doing well, i got some shelves and a table built so my house is feeling a bit more like a home. the dog has not eaten any more chickens, he's more into lizards these days. miss you all, i've gotten a bunch of letters this last week and the responses are on their way. thank you!!!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
life at post
so here's the first entry in my new blog! sorry, my old e-mail address expired so i opened up this new one. to catch you up, i finished my ten weeks of training i'm now officially a peace corps volunteer! i was sworn in at the beginning of december and i got to give a speech in french at the ceremony to the rest of the trainees, our host families and the ambassador. it was short and sweet and a bit sappy. i tried to use the phrase "you are the wind beneath my wings", but i think the meaning may have been lost in translation.
the next day i made my way up to maroua, the capital of the extreme north province, to pick up my new dog :) he's a loveable two year old mangy mutt that i inherited from a volunteer who just finished her peace corps service. i named him mclovin after the superbad character, but i think now that houdini may have been more appropriate as he is able to jump fences and squeeze through crevasses like he has magical powers. other than that and the one time he caught a chicken and brought it into the yard, he is a really great dog.
when i reached my village, i moved into my new house. it's big, with a spare bedroom for visitors (hint, hint) and i have running water and electricity, so i feel like i'm living the good life after three months of bucket baths. it's also really nice to cook my own food and plan my own schedule.
work-wise, right now i'm doing a lot of observation at the hospital and meeting people in the village. there was a big vaccination campaign my first week in kolofata and the surrounding villages, so i got to spend a bouncy day in a land rover touring the health district and another couple days giving vitamin a to swarms of little children. this month i'm hoping to start teaching at the women's center, get regular kanuri lessons, and start doing a big community health assesment.
i'm settling to village life little by little. i have a very motherly neighbor conveniently named mommy who has given me some cooking lessons. there is kind of a funny gang of foreigners here- there's the french medical student fabian, the linguistically challenged egyptian teacher at the franco-arab school, me (the wholesome midwesterner?) , and my funny post-mate and temporary roomate adam from oregon who i think is a bit apalled at my well, my low ambition to bring modern comforts like a fridge and couch into my house. i like a lot of things about this place, like how i always feel like i'm on a beach walking through the sandy streets, how i have a regular egg lady and meat man, and that people greet me in multiple languages.
right now i'm back in maroua spending the holidays with my friends in the province. maroua is by the way a wonderful city with cheese, hamburgers, pizza, and smoothies. we created a christmas tree with neem tree branches and exchanged secret santa gifts at the peace corps house here.
i hope everyone had a merry christmas and has a happy new year, i miss you all very much!
the next day i made my way up to maroua, the capital of the extreme north province, to pick up my new dog :) he's a loveable two year old mangy mutt that i inherited from a volunteer who just finished her peace corps service. i named him mclovin after the superbad character, but i think now that houdini may have been more appropriate as he is able to jump fences and squeeze through crevasses like he has magical powers. other than that and the one time he caught a chicken and brought it into the yard, he is a really great dog.
when i reached my village, i moved into my new house. it's big, with a spare bedroom for visitors (hint, hint) and i have running water and electricity, so i feel like i'm living the good life after three months of bucket baths. it's also really nice to cook my own food and plan my own schedule.
work-wise, right now i'm doing a lot of observation at the hospital and meeting people in the village. there was a big vaccination campaign my first week in kolofata and the surrounding villages, so i got to spend a bouncy day in a land rover touring the health district and another couple days giving vitamin a to swarms of little children. this month i'm hoping to start teaching at the women's center, get regular kanuri lessons, and start doing a big community health assesment.
i'm settling to village life little by little. i have a very motherly neighbor conveniently named mommy who has given me some cooking lessons. there is kind of a funny gang of foreigners here- there's the french medical student fabian, the linguistically challenged egyptian teacher at the franco-arab school, me (the wholesome midwesterner?) , and my funny post-mate and temporary roomate adam from oregon who i think is a bit apalled at my well, my low ambition to bring modern comforts like a fridge and couch into my house. i like a lot of things about this place, like how i always feel like i'm on a beach walking through the sandy streets, how i have a regular egg lady and meat man, and that people greet me in multiple languages.
right now i'm back in maroua spending the holidays with my friends in the province. maroua is by the way a wonderful city with cheese, hamburgers, pizza, and smoothies. we created a christmas tree with neem tree branches and exchanged secret santa gifts at the peace corps house here.
i hope everyone had a merry christmas and has a happy new year, i miss you all very much!
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