Popcorn

This is a silly blog post, but I realized the other day how often I actually eat popcorn! At one point during my year and a half at post there were no kernals to be found in Meiganga. I freaked out. I called my postmate and told him that there was an emergency in Meiganga. When I explained the situation, he hung up the phone. He didn't understands.

But let me share with you all of the fixings that I love on my popcorn:

• salt
• pepper
• Lawry's Seasoning Salt
• Cajun seasoning
• curry
• cumin
• garlic powder
• garlic salt
• parmesan cheese
• yeast (to taste like parmesan cheese)
• powdered milk (once again to taste like parmesan cheese)
• cinnamon
• sugar
• butter

Currently as I am sitting on my couch writing this blog post, popcorn is popping on the stove and Baby Dieudonne keeps saying my name outside! So I am off to go share with him one of my favorite foods!

Monumental Day!!!

Today was a monumental in many respects. Maybe monumental is an exaggeration, but it was a pretty awesome day nonetheless. If you remember my blog post, Resilience Training, we have come a long way since last year. Today after 12 months of saving, we gave back the money!!! Let me repeat this so you understand the reason for my excitement: after meeting every week and each member saving about 200 CFA, about 40 cents which is HUGE for these women, we “broke the box” or divided up the savings! The savings ranged anywhere from 47000 CFA, $94, to 8000 CFA, $16. When I handed out the money to each member, said their names, and shook their hands everyone was cheering and the cheering did not stop at the 20^th person! We celebrated afterwards with a warm liter of Fanta, which was a wonderful treat.

Sidione, the translator, is a dear friend of mine; she was a life saver. She came in without knowing anyone in the group very well, not knowing what exactly the group did and she came every week to be the secretary! But the most wonderful thing about her is seeing how two groups of people who normally do not get along so well not only work together, but laugh and cry together. Let me explain, Sidione is Gbaya, or Christian, and the group members are Emborro, or Muslim. Generally different tribes to not mix. They live in different parts of town; they do not respect each other; they do not work with each other; they just tolerate each other. But this group is working together!

This is my most rewarding work, not because I actually do a ton with them, but because I am able to see how far they have come and knowing how far they will go. We have been through a lot together this year; the death of Moustapha, finding a new translator, the frustration of me struggling with French let alone speaking Fulfulde; but here we are now. January 8^th we will be starting our 3rd cycle, or 3rd year of saving. They decided today that they all would set aside 1000 CFA, $2, for the start of next year so that can be prepared for any unexpected costs, sicknesses or deaths, that might occur. We are able to see the impact of Claire's, the Peace Corps Volunteer whom I replaced, and my work; they are planning head and saving on their own. That is precisely why it is the most rewarding work, because I can see the change! 

Today was a great day, my friends; what a wonderful day it was.

Season of Thanksgiving

There is a lot to be thankful this year. And going with this season of Thanksgiving I want to share with you what I am thankful for this year.

I am thankful for Meiganga. My compound. My 7 little brothers and their parents which are mine too. I am thankful for the security that living in a compound brings. I can sleep well at night knowing that there are always 9 other people living with me. I am thankful for work. My 3 savings groups; 1 in Dana (17 km from Meiganga) which will start saving in January whose group name means in Gbaya: 'Working for tomorrow.' My group in Meidougou  is about to finish their 2nd year of saving and finally my group at Centre Socio, an alternative school for girls who learn how to be tailors. I am thankful that the technical high school in Meiganga now has access to a world map that 4 students, a teacher and myself worked tirelessly on for a month. 

I am thankful for my Peace Corps support system. I am grateful that I was able to host Thanksgiving at my house for not only volunteers but my Cameroonian neighbors as well. I am thankful that we had food on the table that tasted like Thanksgiving. I am thankful that I wasn't homesick. How could I be? 10 PCVs and 7 Cameroonians sharing a Thanksgiving meal in my living room. I am thankful for how cheap beers are in Cameroon and that kids will just dance even if there is no music.

I am thankful for my family back home who I get to speak to every Sunday afternoon. I am thankful for my dad's health, my mom's positivity when I have an awful day and my sister who is planning her trip to Cameroon with Ben. I am thankful for being able to celebrate James and Jill's wedding in August and dancing the night away with the Nicolai clan. I am thankful for my new cousin in the Zanrosso clan and being able to catch up while I was home.

I have been blessed beyond measure. Some years I would struggle to say at the dinner table what I was thankful for, but this year the list doesn't stop. Never before have I have been completely comfortable in my skin and content with where I am in my life...so that is what I am most thankful for.

Thanksgiving evening filled with laughter, great food, great company and lots of dancing!

Local Computer Training Center

Meiganga has been my home now for 14 months now. It is a wonderful place to live and work. I am asking now for my friends and family back home to have a direct impact on my home away from home. My postmates, Andrew, Emma and now Charla, have been working on creating a Computer Training Center in Meiganga for over a year now. This project is intended to create a computer training school open to the community. The profits from inscription fees would go towards updating and expanding the capacity of the school as well as, in the future, paying professionals for their time spent teaching. The computer training is intended to increase the technical competency in our village and the surrounding areas, allowing community members to better utilize and understand information technology on various levels. 

This center already has people lined up to use it! If this project is funded, Charla and I will be hosting a 3 day computer camp at this training center for our A2Empowerment scholarship girls. Check out the link on the bottom of this blog. Any donations would be greatly appreciated. If you are able to pass this link along the community of Meiganga would be forever grateful. 

Thank you! Merci! Oseuko jur! 


https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=694-212

Different

When I had my first interview for the Peace Corps, I remember thinking when hearing about the lack of privacy I should expect that it couldn't possibly be true. How is it acceptable to have kids just look at you through your windows and stare? Or if they are even more annoying yell your name constantly until you respond or they get tired; the latter of the two is normally it.

I feel bad for celebrities and zoo animals because that is my life. People gawking at you all day or if they get enough courage actually coming up to say hello. The worst is when people touch my hair or stroke my arm. Its weird, but in an even weirder way I understand. I look different; I dress different; I act different. 

Some days it gets to me more than others. It doesn't bother me when I get invited into a "hair salon" and the hair dresser just wants to touch my hair or when little kids exam my hands and are puzzled by the freckles. I am still not a fan of kids staring at me through the windows though. 

I was traveling back to Meiganga and my car stopped to pick up passengers in this small town in the middle of nowhere Cameroon. It was market day there which happens once a week. As soon as I get out of the car to stretch my legs, almost instantly a group of 15 young boys crowds around me. They sat staring at me with their jaws dropped saying nothing; no hellos, just stares.

As I am writing this and reflecting on my first Peace Corps interview I am laughing inside. I now understand what it means to have no privacy, people searching through your trash to find what the white has thrown away, or having a group of kids join you on your run. 

On va faire comment? What are you going to do about it? 

Happy Tuesday!

I am just going to go out and say it...my parents are too darn cute! Look at them in the traditional outfits that my friends had made for them!

Adjusting back

I have been back in Cameroon for a little over 2 weeks now. I was welcomed back into country with a 22 hour bus ride; it took longer to get from Yaounde to Meiganga than Los Angeles to Yaounde! Home feels like a distant past. Saying goodbye to my parents this time around there were no tears shed, a breif hug and a "see ya later!" Then we waved goodbye. I keep showing pictures of my time home and the most common response is that I look just like my mom!

After that nasty bus ride, I got right back in the swing of things. I kept telling Emma and Samantha, my postmate and cluster mate respectively, that if I sit down I will not get back up. So lets keep going! What I am referring to is a little ceremony that Emma and I had planned for our scholarship girls. An NGO, A2Empowerment, awards girls in Cameroon scholarships for High School based upon need and merit. Last year we had a difficult time with attendance of monthly meetings and girls thinking the scholarship was a gift not something that they earned. 

This year we tried changing things up. We held a ceremony to give out their scholarships and certificates. A guardian for each girl was invited as well as the principals from each school and other important community figures. Although only 3 of the invited 9 officials showed up, it still was considered a success. Speeches were made by Emma and I as well as the principals in attendance. Emma and I focused on, "We are here for you!"  

I honestly think it resonated with the girls. The mom's were proud, we were proud, A2Empowerment is proud. After the ceremony we celebrated with cakes and soda and went on to enjoy our Saturday. Our next meeting is September 29th where we will be talking about goal setting for the school year. We have fun monthly meetings planned for the girls. 

Coming home was a necessary break for me. It allowed me to clear my head, enjoy the company of loved ones. Thank you all for the hugs, the kind words, the letters, everything. My second year is going to be a great one...I can just feel it. I cannot wait to share it with you :)

Delicious cakes that Emma made!

The seats for the officials invited.

Emma and I with the girls after the ceremony.