Andrea in Cameroon

The last two weeks have been filled with festivities and few classes.

Last week was bilingual week. What I learned is that Cameroon is
bilingual, but Cameroonians are not! Teachers were supposed to teach
part of the class in English or French, the opposite language from
usual. Despite that a few students complained about my French, most
were very supportive, so I tried to teach in French and repeat in
English. My students kept joking with me in French. It was so much
fun!

Today was la Fête de la Jeune (youth day). Classes were cancelled most
of the week. Yesterday, hundreds of students gathered around a huge
dirt field and had a dance competition. Students put aside their
conservative school uniforms and dressed in some rather revealing
clothing, like MTV rock stars. While I haven’t heard a single
Cameroonian who can sing well, it seems like everyone can dance
here!!!

Today, the streets were filled with kids! So many little kids in their
school uniform marched down the main street, each swinging his or her
arms and singing “long live the kids” (in French of course).

Why isn’t there a kid’s day in the States???

PS. Unfortunately, my digital camera is MIA, but I was able to take
some photos with a retro manual 35mm. It will be a few months till I
can get a new digital, so I won’t be able to post many pictures in the
coming weeks.

Over the last few months, I’ve been collaborating with Thryn and Gabe
on a computer training course for the teachers at my school. I handled
the logistics at my school while they provided training material in
both English and French. Yesterday, the first group of teachers
finished the 3 lesson course! They can all use Microsoft Word,
Microsoft Excel, do research on the internet and use email. Ideally,
this would have been an easy project, but we are in Cameroon (and
nothing is easy here).

The challenges of managing projects in Cameroon…

1.       Bureaucracy – Needed a stamp of approval from not only the
principal, but also the Ministry of Secondary Education.
2.       Fêtes – Scheduling between parties was a challenge… In
November it was funeral season and in December it was Christmas and
the New Year.
3.       Electricity and Internet – both flakey… both necessities for
computer classes…
4.       Keys to the computer lab – it’s hard to teach a class when
you are locked out of the lab
5.       Time - Cameroonians don’t respect time

Despite our challenges, the teacher training course was a success! We
will continue to have monthly classes for the teachers at my school.

As children, we are taught that boys wear blue and girls wear pink. Women carry purses, while men carry everything in their pockets.

Here, western clothing is unisex. It’s not uncommon to see straight men in tight pink shirts or carrying fake Louis Vuitton  bags. My favorite is when kids wear clothing with playboy logos and have no clue what the logo represents.

Western clothing is sold on the street. It’s mainly clothing that was donated by Europeans and Americas, and then sold at a premium. While shopping here is like shopping at a thrift store, the styles and brands vary greatly.

Today, I bought a pair of used jeans for 4,000 CFA (equivalent to $9 USD or 160 tomatoes). I bargained the price down from 7,000, though I think I could have gotten the price down another 500 CFA. I find it disturbing that the clothing westerns donate to the poor people in Africa is being sold for so much money! 

               

Click here to download:

A_giant_thrift_store.zip (1899 KB)

Just finished reading Easterly’s book “the Elusive Quest for Growth.” The more I understand about development, the more problems I see…

Why pay for education if there are no jobs? Why give out free condoms if there are no incentives to use them? Why give out loans if there is no incentive to pay them back? Easterly also explores technology, corruption, government policies, luck, and discrimination.

While reading this book, I was able to relate to so many topics he discussed… the kids working at the omelet shack who can’t afford school fees… the terrible roads that were supposed to be fixed years ago (but the money disappeared)… the insane number of kids everywhere…

It was an interesting book filled with numbers and statistics to back his theories, but I think that development is in the hands of its people. Neither education nor condoms will increase wealth here without people taking an initiative.

Looking forward to reading “White Man’s Burden”…

While healthcare is a hot topic in the States right now, Americans don’t realize how lucky they are!

I’ve been sick since the beginning of dry season almost 3 weeks ago, but I was hesitant to see a doctor here. I thought that the doctors had more serious issues to deal with – AIDS, malaria, typhoid, child births, etc. With my symptoms that appear to be either allergies to dust or a sinus infection, I didn't want to waste the doctors’ time.

This morning, I finally went to the hospital. From 7:30 – 8am, the doctors pray. Then, a doctor met me. I described my problem, and he gave me a prescription for a decongestant. He didn't check my temperature or look at my sinus issues… no listening to my breathing, looking in my ears, down my throat, etc. This is apparently normal for Cameroon.

I really miss having access to a great doctor!

I’d love to cook American food for my Cameroonian friends, but at times, I feel totally incompetent in the kitchen. In the three+ years that I lived in Manhattan, I used my oven only 4 times... 

When Cameroonians think of American food, they think of the hamburger, though few people have ever eaten a hamburger here. No one here has ever heard of the small restaurant chain called McDonalds.

So with my friend, Amy’s encouraging words, I ventured out to the meat market by myself, and attempted to make hamburgers from scratch. This was just a trial-run. After I master the art of cooking greasy American food, I’ll invite my Cameroonian friends over for dinner ;)

Pictures:

1 – 3: The meat marche

4 – 7: The marche… The dirt streets are filled with vendors selling the same things. Each vender sells their products by the pile -- small piles are 100 CFA (or 20 cents). That’s 4 or 5 tomatoes for 20 cents…

8 – 11: preparing food… It takes a long time to prepare food – soaking veggies in bleach water, marinating meat, cooking everything well-done, etc.

12: Voila! 

                     

Click here to download:

My_attempt_to_cook_a_hamburger.zip (2596 KB)

Microsoft research in India is working on several interesting technologies for emerging markets. I recently downloaded MultiPoint, a technology that enables several mice to connect to a computer. The idea is that several students can use one computer at the same time, and mice are inexpensive. For my school, this technology would be so helpful! I have 91 students in my Form 4 class, and there are 16 working computers. Today, I demonstrated the software to several other comp sci teachers at my school. We love the concept of MultiPoint, but there are not enough useful applications right now. Also, the applications are only in English, which is not so helpful for the francophone students. Perhaps, if other apps are developed, I'll find a way to get more mice at my school. For now, managing the computer lab will continue to be a juggling act...