Visiting my foster child

For all of those of you who have foster children in the developing world, I am sending a huge “thank you” from all the villages you support. Today, I visited my foster child, Anatou, in Bambalang, 90 minutes from Bamenda. It was one of the most amazing and moving experiences of my live. Plan has been operating in the community since 1996 and build schools, wells, a bank, organized training programs and given the village pride. I was the first foster-parent in all those years, who had come to visit their sponsored child. The whole village turned out at a reception ceremony at the Fon’s Palace to say “thank you” to me and to you. Four groups of schoolchildren sang songs written in my honour, several people made speeches and presented me with copies, I was presented with a traditional costume and invited to dance with the traditional dancers. After a tour of Plan projects, there was a huge feast for 200 people at Anatou’s family compound with more speeches, singing and dancing. Anatou herself, the little princess, was a little overwhelmed at being the symbol of her village’s good fortune; but handled it perfectly. I felt so privileged to represent all the foster parents from Canada and around the word and to receive the appreciation of the people of Bamdalang on your behalf.

Carrying stuff

What people carry here on their heads or on their shoulders is incredible. This big guy was carrying half a tree. I took his picture as he walked towards me, and as he drew level with me he put it down and started to talked to me in pidgin. He was part of a work party from the local prison and a couple of minutes later the guard came along with a gun over his shoulder, chatted with me and then they disappeared up the road with the tree trunk.

Kumbo

My second workshop was in Kumbo, up in the hills, 3 hours drive from Bamenda on terrible dusty roads. To get there we had to get a car from the “car park” on the outskirts of the City. There are areas set up for each destination and it’s like a taxi system; you have to take the next car going to your city. The cars are mostly 2 door Toyotas. They sell seats to Kumbo at 2,500 francs ($5) and when the car is full, they leave. Full means the driver plus 8 passengers – 3 in the front and 5 in the back. We had to buy 6 seats between two of us so that we could be reasonably. The country side is beautiful; but I didn’t get very many good shots, as we had to keep the windows rolled up to keep the dust out.

Fish and chips Cameroon style

I have tried many of the local dishes here; but most involve eating indistinguishable meat products with your fingers. We went to the best hotel in Bamenda on Saturday and had a buffet which was delicious. Afterward the chef came out to meet us and informed us that we had just eaton hedgehog!
So mostly I stick to fish and chips with a Tuborg.

The Rains

When it rains here it really comes down. It usually starts with hot sticky weather for 24 hours and then a sudden wind followed by a few drops and then a downpour that would soak you in a minute if you are cuaght in it. Yesterday at the workshop we were trapped in the lecture hall for an hour and no-ne would cross the courtyard where are lunch was waiting for us in the dining hall. For some reason the rains are always followed by power outages. We were without power here all day today.

Mud brick houses

The mudbrick houses built here are a lot more sophisticated than I had imagined. The bricks are shaped and baked in the sun and are about the size of our cinder blocks. After the walls are constructed they are covered with a skin of cement to protect from the elements and last for years

What a workshop!

What an incredible day. I am exhausted. After a week of logistics, meetings, and lunches with mayors I finally got led my first worshop here and remembered why I came back to Africa. On a sweaty day at the Presbyterian Church hall they started to trickle in at 8:30. By 10:30 I had 34 finance office from as far away as Wum, engaged in lively debate. These people are so great, so open, so eager to learn. They want to know everything we are doing and want to debate everything. I was on my feet for 8 hours, drank 3 litres of water and totally loved the day. I am back tomorrow, Saturday for another session and then I monday go 5 hours into to hill country to lead two days of workshops in Kumbo.