Ma Vie Au Cameroun: May 2012

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Looking Back

As my 1 year mark quickly approaches, I decided to read how far I have come by re-reading my old blog posts. Let me updated my dedicated followers.

Fish. I am still not a huge fan of fish, but I will eat it. I will not eat the head, the eyes or the tail, but I want to try the fins because I hear that they taste like chips. I was at the US Embassy in Yaounde last weekend and I was offered fish and given a fork and knife. I tried using the knife and realized that I have only ever eaten fish with my hands. So I switched my tools for eating and was then called "villageois" by a gentleman from Nigeria.

Bush Meat. I found out 6 weeks after living with my Host Family what type of bush meat I was eating; hedgehog. It tasted like beef but with a lot of little bones. Right now is termite season, so I am trying to get the courage to eat some. People say that they are delicious. The next thing on my list, which is a huge honor, is to it Boa aka snake. Where I live, women are not allowed to eat certain meats, and boa is one of them. So to be offered a dish is a huge honor and I will not be able to say no.

Toilet Situation. I have a "Western Toilet" as they like the call it here and I HATE IT! A latrine, a hole in the ground, is much cleaner when you do not have reliable water. Sometimes I have dreams of having a latrine. Life would so much easier. But another I have learned along the way, is always travel in skirts. That is because when you have to go and there is no latrine your only other option is to ease yourself on the side of the road and pants would expose you too much, you can hide yourself better with a skirt.

Work. I am all over the place with work, but I have found that my favorite type of work is teaching groups how to make new things to sell or just to improve their daily life: lotion or American style cakes. Right now I am working on making soap and learning how to infuse oils to improve the quality of the soaps and lotions. My next goal for the upcoming school year is to do a training with Primary School Teachers who do not make that much, around $140 a month, on how to make their own products so that they can save money throughout the year.

I still work with my group in the next village over. In the next few months I am going to be working with their kids, about 30 kids or so, to introduce "Piggie Banks" to them. When I first explained the concept to their moms, their were shocked that kids in the States save money! They demanded, in a nice and enthusiastic way of course, that I teach their kids!

The most important thing I have learned with work is that things do not always go as planned. I was and still am passionate about doing the Women's Rights and Empowerment club to educate women of the community about issues going on in the world, but it just did not work out. I am sad about it, but I still have another year to see if I can do something with that project idea. Also, the kids candy business failed because the boys kept eating their candy. It was a good learning lesson for them about a business and for me as well: giving candy to 5 kids under the age of 15 and expecting them not to eat their candy was ridiculous on my part, but we had fun in the process.

If anyone has anymore questions for me shoot me an email: daniellenicolai@gmail.com. I love hearing from you in emails and letter forms. It makes the bridge between Cameroon and the United States just a little bit smaller. Thank you for all of your support over this past year. I cannot wait for what year 2 has in store for me!

Danielle Nicolai
B.P 89
Meiganga
Cameroun

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Transformation

I came to Cameroon to "save the world." But I have found that through this experience that I am learning more about myself. June 1st will be my 1 year in country. To me, it feels as though I have been in Cameroon for just a few short months. When I asked my Dad what he thought, he responded immediately, "YES! It feels like you have been gone for 2 years!" There are days when I feel like the end of my 27 month service cannot come fast enough, but now that I am reflecting on this past year; I do not want to leave. I keep thinking of ways to get back; if not Cameroon someplace in West/Central Africa. I feel at home here. When I am away from Meiganga, I miss my friends, work, the comfort of seeing familiar faces greeting me as I pass.

Before I came to Cameroon, I knew absolutely no French. One of our family friends told me before I left, "Bon voyage!" and I responded, "Bon voyage!" Now, when I am upset I have an easier time expressing myself in French rather than English. For example: I was in an Anglophone village (English Speaking part of Cameroon) and a Juju hit me in the head with a stick. I was so upset that the first words out of my mouth were in French.

I know certain character traits about myself. I am a perfectionist, Type A, like things done my way and done on my watch type of person. Well, let me just tell ya, that is not the way things are done here. Its this weird thing that happens now when everything is in chaos, its literally as if all I hear is static like when the TV or radio is on a bad channel. I am able now to sit of long car rides, next to smelly people, goats in the trunk and having a goat snack on my ponytail and all I hear is static. Things do not phase me as much anymore.

With that being said, I have now become more feisty. If someone is bothering me I have no qualms letting the person know how I feel, yelling at someone, or saying a witty remark to make the other person feel uncomfortable. When someone tries to rip me me off, I normally say something like, "You are a thief!" or "You are a comedian!" I tell people I am Cameroonian, which generally their response is, "You cannot be Cameroonian. You are white, only blacks are Cameroonian." Then I will respond, "I cook your food. I wear your clothes. I speak your languages. I live here. I have an I.D. card. I am just as Cameroonian as you are."

I still would love to change the world, but I am; just in a way that I did not think I would. I am changing the people around me. It might be small changes, but those small changes mean the world to them. Its the conversations that I have. Explaining to people, that is both not normal and not healthy for a 13 year old girl to get married to a 40+ year old man. I am 24, unmarried and kid-less. That is a monumental idea to a lot of people. I also feel like I am empowering the women I work with. When I walk into a meeting where the women are taking French classes, then introduce myself in Fufulde. They are shocked that English is my first language, that I just learned French and that I trying to speak Fufulde. When I show them by example that what they think is impossible, learning another language, is possible, their eyes light up. Those are just a few things that I feel like that I have had an impact with; but here are a few more. Introducing saving 200 CFA a week (about 40 cents), what a Piggie Bank is or making new types of products to sell.

Yes, there are extremely difficult days. Times when I almost get robbed, a rock gets thrown at me, the kids wake me up at 6am yelling in all my windows, men tell me that I need to be their wife, or have their babies. But I think the most important thing I have learned is to brush things off and laugh about something that happened. If I let the uncontrollable bother me too much, if I let the hard times get to me too much; then I would not be here.

After almost 1 year in country, I have reached a sense a peace. I am more comfortable in my skin than I have ever been. I have reached a sense of calm that I did not think would be possible for this Type A person.

My transformation.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Traditional Life: Jujus

Cameroon is known as "Africa in Miniature," which is exactly what it is. In one day's worth of travel one can go from the savanna to the jungle, then the next day to rolling mountains. With such diversity in landscape comes extreme diversity in culture. Cameroon is divided into 10 regions, which can be loosely grouped into 3 categories - Grand North, Gran South and Grand West. In the Grand North, where I am posted, there is more of a common cultural connection due to Islam.

I find it interesting when visiting other regions how diverse culturally Cameroon actually is. From what I have found, throughout Cameroon there is some aspect of the traditional culture. There is a "Fon," "Lamido," or "Chief" depending on the region. The person is the Traditional ruler. Where I am in Meiganga, the Lamido is not a big deal, in comparison to other areas. From my understanding, his main role is to settle household or land discrepancy matters. But in other regions the traditional life is the life of the people. I first visited Kumbo, Northwest in December for the "Cultural Festival." It was an annual celebration to unify the Banso area and to celebrate their unique traditions.

During this Cultural Festival week it was, to oversimplify, a large party at the palace, home of the Fon. People from all over the Banso area as well as Cameroon came to participate in the festivities. One of the most interesting parts of the Festival was the "Juju." A Juju is a spirit embodied by a person whose face is covered by cloth, a mask, or paint; and only the people in the traditional house know who the Juju is.

Throughout the year in the Kumbo area the Jujus only come out for special occasions: death of someone high up in the traditional house, Holidays, etc. During the Cultural Festival Jujus are out in full force as well as spectators. Each Juju is completely different. Because they each embody a different spirit, each Juju has different appearances and mannerisms; there is also a power structure. Some Jujus are more powerful than others, and the more powerful the Juju is, the more the people respect it.

Some Jujus are reigned in by a group of men trying to control the spirit. Some will dance around, others will do flips down the road and most have sticks or daggers in their hands commanding the respect of the people around them. When a Juju passes you, you must crouch down (like the catcher's pose), put your right hand in a fist and cup it at the bottom with your left hand and lastly, bow your head if you do not want to see the wrath of the Juju. I have seen one Juju beat and drag a man around for not following the protocol.

I went back to the Kumbo area this past weekend to attend a Shey Coronation ceremony of a friend. A "Shey" is someone who has been given title in one of the traditional houses by the Fon. After the ceremony, a group in the community dressed up as Jujus and danced for us. The video below and the 2 pictures above are from the cultural soiree. It was a fun interpretation of such a powerful, important and unique aspect of the culture in the Kumbo area. The rest of the photos are from the Cultural Festival in December. I hope that you find it just as interesting as I did. I showed these pictures to other Peace Corps Volunteers in other parts of Cameroon and they were all so amazed by the Jujus. Enjoy!