Dear Jules,

I hear stories about how I was as a child. How I used to read your diary, put on your makeup, try on all of your clothes, leave a crumb trail in your room while I snuck in to watch TV. I apologize publicly because I now know what it feels like to have to younger “siblings,” well in your case just one.

Let me explain…I live in a concession (a cluster of houses where you have a gate to get in) and the landlord has 7 boys. They go through all of my trash leaving the remnants scattered all around the concession, they beg to play with my soccer ball, they play with all of my knickknacks in my house. I am not sure how you dealt with me for so long; I have only been living here for 7 months. Well, today, Julie I had enough. The day before I let them watch “The Lion King” in my living room while I took a nap. My mistake, I know. Rule #1 of babysitting: never leave the kids alone. But you see, that’s why I did not babysit for long; just not good at it.

Today I went to go upload pictures to print out for them and that’s when I saw it. They had a mini photo shoot in my living room. They took my camera, used it, and carefully placed it back where they found it leaving the only evidence as the pictures that they did not know how to delete. (I kept the photos as evidence so when I talked to them, they would know that I knew. But I immediately deleted them because I did not think having photos of a shirtless 9 year old would be appropriate.)

I sat each one of them down, explained to them why they were in trouble and that I was disappointed. I used the word “disappointed” because I remember mom and dad using that word when they were upset with me; it stung more. I told the 3 boys that their punishment was that they could not enter my house for a week and they cannot watch “The Lion King.” Ironic as this may be, I vividly remember getting in trouble. Mom took away all of my stuffed animals and left one out so I could have a reminder of what I did. Although I no longer remember what I did…I do remember that stuffed animal was Simba; funny how things have come full circle thousands of miles away.

So Jules, I apologize for terrorizing you. But I looked up to you. I am hoping now that I can be the positive role model that you were to me to these boys. I think that I am doing just that. Once you get over “kids being kids” they are wonderful, smart, funny boys who just are interested in what’s going on my life; exactly the same way that I was interested in yours.

I am hoping that I am doing just that. I was tired of them asking to use my stuff constantly and feeling guilty when I said no. So I told them I would help them start their own business. For my selfish reasons, I gave them a loan in the form of bags of candy. The kids are excited that they are starting their own business. They are slowly paying back their credit to me and I have come to find out that they are amazing little business men. They just needed a little help to get them started on their quest to own a soccer ball.

So this is long, I know. But I wanted to let you know that the patience that you learned with me, I am now learning. I looked up to you and I think I turned out ok. I may have annoyed the hell out of you along the way, but I would like to think that we have had more fun than anything else. So, I hope to be the example that you were to me to these boys.

Sincerely,

Your adoring sister who cannot wait for you to come to Meiganga and meet my “siblings.”

The 3 culprits...how can you stay upset with these faces?

The boys who I started the business with...from left to right: Eneta (6), Apalo (9), Danata (12) and Epo (15)

Cameroonians say the darndest things...

So I have been told some pretty funny things by Cameroonians. I want to write them down and share them before I start to forget.

• After getting off the phone with Emma, my post mate, the person sitting next to me said: "Was that English? It did not sound like it. You don't know English. You really need to learn it."
• My neighbor Amanda while holding my cat and talking to him:  "You would make such a good dinner! We need to fatten you up!"
• At the bar with Amanda and this crazy man asks me: "Are there people like you in America? Big, huge, fat people like you?"
• Creepy guy comes over to my house as I was preparing to leave for the weekend...I no longer talk to this person or allow him to come inside my concession: "You travel too much. I need to put a collar around your neck and lock you to your couch so you can't leave."
• On the back of a motorcycle and the driver tells me in Fufulde: "I want you. I want to have your white babies."
• After leaving a restaurant while wearing my traditional outfit a man approaches Emma: "How much can I buy your friend for?"
• My friend grabs my stomach after not seeing me because I was on vacation: "Danielle, you got fat." 
• At someone's house: "Greet my friend on the phone...(once I hand the phone back over she tells her friend) I am with a white right now. Ya! She is sitting on my couch."

People like to tell you that you have gotten fatter when you have been away, even if it isn't true whatsoever! You just have to laugh. These are just a few things that I have been told that I can actually remember.

Resilience Training

Peace Corps had a session highlighting tactics for resilience during my first 3 months of training. The main theme that we were told was “just deal with it.” Most people found it amusing; others were upset because they were not given concrete answers. Since being in Meiganga I have had a lot of time to self reflect. The best training I could ever receive for my current job was from my parents and sister. If I let in a goal that I knew that I should have blocked, instead of giving me a pat on the back and saying, “It’s ok Danielle. You tried your best.” I was told, “Get over it and move on.” Still my favorite is, “Figure it out.” Though it seemed harsh at the time, I realized this past week how thankful I am for that harshness. It was the difference in making an awful situation manageable.

I work with a Fufulde only women’s group in the neighboring town. The woman who I replaced, Claire, had formed the group and found a translator, Moustapha. The group has been meeting for over a year saving money. Each member saves about 200 CFA a week which is about 40 cents. Moustapha and Claire helped the group save up enough money to buy a refrigerator so that they could sell yogurt.

Last Thursday Moustapha passed away. I visited him 3 days before he died in the hospital. He could barely walk and speak. He was literally skin and bones and the doctors couldn’t figure out the culprit for the sickness. He was 23 years old. After seeing him so sick I started to have nightmares for a week. I went to his funeral on Saturday. His family fed me and I sat with friends and talked about the life of a person who I had just met only a few months ago.

This past Tuesday I went to the Women’s Group without a translator, not armed with my Fufulde dictionary and not knowing what to expect. I went to the meeting and once I realized that doing this alone would be too much to handle, I left to find someone who could help me. I came back to the meeting with a 9 year old boy who spoke Fufulde and French. He was amazing and beyond helpful.

The short time after Moustapha’s death, I kept thinking ‘what am I going to do?’ I had completely forgotten about the women in the group. At the meeting on Tuesday, the women asked me if I will still help out. With tears in my eyes I promised the women that for as long as I am in Meiganga I will be there every Tuesday. Because they are not allowed to leave their houses without the permission of their husbands, I also promised that I will find them a trustworthy translator. The women were ecstatic and thankful. One woman told me, “Thank you, Dany. We know that you are trying with your Fufulde. If you stay with us we will be able to help you.”

That was the first time since being here that someone has told me thank you for my help. But getting back to my main point, this past week was heartbreaking, stressful, tiring, and scary but after Tuesday everything changed. Yes, this is still an awful situation, but it is manageable. The village loved Moustapha and people are willing to help out. I realized that after Tuesday if I can find a translator literally on the street and run a meeting in a language that I barely know, I am going to be ok. That is the best training, as hard as it might be, but I know hearing “figure it out” from a young age prepared me more than I could have ever imagined this past Tuesday.

The Women's Group and Moustapha is in the front.

Karma in Cat Form

For those of you who have known me since the days when I would not let you comb my hair, kick and scream, ask “why” a billion times, or wake my parents up informing them that I did not feel like cooperating today at 5am; I have received my karma, in the form of a cat, for all my deranging that I did as a child. I am sure that the “Cat Gods” are finding this quite amusing.

I decided a few weeks ago that I would close the hole in the window so Makala cannot leave the house while I am gone. (Important background information: my cat is black. People here believe in sorcery and use black cats for sorcery purposes. So I closed the window because I would like to have my cat for 2 years and not have him wind up as sorcery meat.) Let’s just say that Makala was less than enthusiastic with this decision. 

Generally, I wake up around 5:52 every morning to Makala crying. Well the other morning I let Makala cry for a about 30 minutes before I decided to leave the comforts of my bed to make sure that he did not set my house on fire. Well this brilliant cat got himself stuck in between the screen door and the door. He crawled through the little opening in the screen but could not manage to get himself out. So naturally he decided to climb his way out. And thus, this is how this photo came about.

The next day I hear Makala crying. Once again I just let him cry because all he ever does is cry.  Well Makala decided to climb to banana tree outside of my house and hop on over to my neighbor’s roof.  Then he could not figure out his way down. So I came to the rescue once again.

And I will end with this gem of a video. This. Is. My. Daily. Life. With. Makala.

Major Typo

I made a major error in my last post...this is the corrected section. I am very sorry.

We will discuss topics like human trafficking in the United States, The Middle East and now extremist cultural is getting confused with Islam when in reality the Qur’an does not support the actions.

Our Game Plan

I am telling you about this plan in the planning stages rather than later. This plan gives me chills because of the impact it could have. Emma, my post mate, and I are starting to plan a women’s club for a month before and after Women’s Day, March 8, 2012.

This is the grand idea: women of all ages will meet once a week for 1-2 hours. Each week we will discuss something that is going on in the world that is happening to women. There are not many maps in Cameroon, so this will allow the women to look on a map and hear other people’s stories. We will start off discussing what is going on in our neighboring country, Congo. People do not know about the method of warfare; rape. Then we would talk about how rape is a violation of your rights, how rape is never ok, and how as a woman you should not feel bad for saying no.

We will discuss topics like human trafficking in the United States, The Middle East and now extremist cultural is getting confused with Islam when in reality the Qur’an does not support the actions. We will inform the group of the rights that are guaranteed to women in Cameroon. We will discuss articles in Cameroon’s national law that violates these rights. We will talk about powerful women in the world and what they are doing to change the system or what they are doing to overcome. But most importantly we will ask the women how they feel. How they feel when their husband take another wife, or when they are the second wife. How do they feel when they are expecting to take care of the house all day, take care of the kids and then have a meal at the end of the day waiting for their husband. How do they feel when they aren’t allowed to go to school, told that they are not intelligent, and beaten. We want them to raise their voices, to discuss, to debate, to learn, to feel empowered, and at the very least to change in some capacity.

Emma introduced me to Eve Ensler’s book I am an Emotional Creature. I am now reading her book A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer. We want to tie in Ensler’s “V-Day” campaign to our group. (If you haven’t read her books, I would really recommend them or seeing the play Vagina Monologues at the local college campus) Both Emma and I are extremely excited about the potential about this group. We joked that people are already going to think this is a radical idea so we should not sugar coat the topics that we bring to the group. If you have articles, stories, or thoughts please send them our way. 

$10 USD

Today I visited my friend's son in the hospital. She looked into her wallet and told me that the money has run out. Her son needs to be at the hospital til Monday if not longer, but if she cannot find the necessary funds by tomorrow morning he will have to leave. He is the sickest child I have ever seen. I am almost certain that without treatment he will die. What do you do? All she needs is 5,000 CFA which is about $10 USD. $10 dollars is stopping this child from potentially dying.

Another one of my friends had a splinter that got extremely infected. She was about a day away from going septic. Do you know what was stopping her from going to the hospital? 10,000 CFA about $20 USD. My other Volunteer friend gave her the money. She spend 4 days in the hospital and without the $20 I am absolutely certain she would have died.

What we take for granted back home is amazing. Until being in Cameroon, I would have never thought twice about $10. It is pennys for us. But here, $10 is literally life or death. I am not quite sure about the purpose of this post is other than to inform. I am going back to the hospital in the morning to see how my friend's son is. This has been weighing on my heart all day. I cannot get the child out of my mind. Hopefully tomorrow will be a new day for this little boy.