The Final Days

Our last week in Cameroon was awesome. We visited 4 villages and finished up two projects. We traveled to Teke for the 4th time but this time went the night before to enjoy a night in the village with members of the water committee. We had a blast and did some dancing at a "bush night club."

In the morning we did some final measurements and talked with the committee on where they want tap stands and other details. Upon leaving the village we were able to provide a full report, cost estimate, and drawing for their project.

We also finished a project at one other village. This was the third time we had been to this village and we were going to go survey a different water source since the first one we looked at wasnt going to work. We passed 2 nights in the village and completed a design from start to finish. The project was looking to be very good. We had a really good conversation with the chief about the future of the project and how to motivate the villagers to support the project. It was really good to end the trip on such a positive experience.

We also visited a village where ETHOS had worked in a previous summer. It was awesome to see how excited the village was to see Mark again. We walked up to the stream catchment and learned a lot about how the project took place. It provided a neat comparison between the past summer experiences while staying in a village and ours where we stayed in the town. I feel each is a unique experience and both amazing.

The last few days we spent saying goodbye to people, having farewell dinners, and of course having fun. It felt so surreal that we were preparing to leave. The 10 weeks had flown past and despite missing home I did not want to leave the culture I had fallen in love with. The challenge now is how can I take the aspects of their culture that I loved and the things I learned about myself and apply them to my life here.

The trip home all in all lasted about 40 hours. It was tough but was well worth it.

In closing, the summer provided me with the experience of a lifetime. I learned how fun it is to be fully immersed in a different culture. I learned a different set of cultural values. I was welcomed into peoples country, town, and homes with the most welcoming smiles everyday. I was exposed to a true passion for life. Furthermore I was exposed to true faith in God. I learned that its not what physical goods you have that matter but rather your family and your meaningful relationships that provide true happiness. And during all of this, I was able to challenge and apply my engineering education while improving the lives of others.

Pictures from our travels!

Above:

-Sabina, the immersion group coordinator, Geoff and I

-Me getting a haircut on the roadside in Yaounde

-Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon

The Final Stretch

Our trip with the immersion students went really well. In the nation's capital, Yaounde, we visited the US Peace Corps office and learned that Cameroon has the longest continuously running peace corps program in the world. They currently have about 130 volunteers here and plan on doubling that number for next year. We also visited the Brasseries (breweries). We got to tour the brewing plant that produces 33 Export and many other beers found here in Cameroon. It was incredible to see how industrialized and developed the plant was. Cameroon drinks A LOT of beer. The company is mainly French owned with the Cameroonian government owning part of it as well.

We also visited the US embassy and got to meet with the ambassador. The security was incredible. Our names had be submitted in advance for background checks, they caught a couple people taking pictures of the building while we were still on the bus and called them out and made them delete them, all the doors were explosion proof, and many other things. I learned a lot during the talk about the role of embassies in countries and the fine line between being there to make changes and impose our way of things and being there to promote relations. There is corruption in all levels of government here so that is one of the main things they focus on changing. They make public announcements about their disapproval of things the President does and are always sure conduct business in a fair manner.

In total we spent about 20 hours driving throughout the country. It was awesome to get to see all of the landscapes. In the north there were lots of mountains. We also got to see all of the agriculture throughout the country: Bananas, plantains, mangoes, papaya, rubber trees, corn and many more. Cameroon has an amazing amount of resources. They help feed many of the countries in West Africa. That is one of the major things that has helped Cameroon become so developed. And it is something that could allow them to continue to develop and become quite powerful in Africa.

We have about 10 days left in Cameroon and are going to be SUPER busy. We have trips planned to 4 villages during this time to finish up designs and do some final survey work. It should be a lot of fun.

I will post pictures of our travels soon!

Hitting the Road!

This past week was spent relaxing around the house, reading, and a lot of sleeping. I can thankfully say I have recovered from malaria. Thank you everyone who was thinking and praying for me. I was able to finish East of Eden by John Steinbeck this week and am close to finishing a Time to Kill by Grisham. The lazy days reading were something I have not enjoyed for quite some time and were happily welcomed.

I spent more time with the immersion students on Friday and Saturday. We got to meet with the head chief of Kumba. He is the top person in Kumba in the traditional part of the government. The government has both elected officials and then traditional member who are usually members of royal family. He said that the government is approaching a critical decision between the traditional way of things and the western influenced way of government. Really interesting stuff. We also visited an orphanage run by a widow. It was home to 19 kids and was very emotional. Very inspiring. Her faith was incredible. The group brought big boxes full of clothes, toys, and supplies for the house.

Tomorrow morning Geoff and I are leaving with the immersion students on a week long trip through Cameroon. Will will visit the coast, the capital and then a city in the north that supposedly is very scenic. We will return next Sunday. I am quite excited!

Spain or Netherlands?? Should be a great match!

Minor Setback

The past week has been quite eventful. We have been doing some more traveling to villages and had some interesting discussions with them. We have had to tell some villages that the water sources they originally showed us were not going to work for gravity water systems. One village was able to locate a different source that is actually much better hydraulically and has a way larger volume. We will go survey this source during the last two weeks we are here.

We have been mingling with the immersion students. This past Thursday we had 5 of them over to our house along with the directors of the immersion program and Karine and her twin sister. There were 11 people total. We cooked 2 African dishes for the students to try. It was a lot of fun and I think everyone enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, Friday i got sick and Saturday I spent all day at the public doctor with Karine and then some of the immersion leaders and Dr Amin. I had to get blood work done and was diagnosed with malaria. I was given the best of medications tho and have spent the last couple days resting. I am already feeling much better!! The malaria pills are only 6 tablets but are VERY powerful drugs.

The whole thing has opened my eyes to how common malaria is here. Everyone i know here has had malaria multiple times. It is just what happens. Where people get into trouble is if they do not have the funds to purchase all of the medication. A lot of times people will space out the treatments as the money comes in. I was very blessed to be able to purchase everything I needed right away to ensure a speedy recovery.

Next week we will be travelling to 3 different cities with the immersion students and will be gone the entire week. I am quite excited to go site seeing!

Engi-nerding

Above: The director of RUDEC's family, kids and I in the village, the ETHOS group, our co-worker Gabriel, and members of the village after a survey.

The past week or so we have been working hard in the office on reports for the villages we have surveyed. We have finished 3 and have sent them back to the villages for them to look at. We are now planning to go back and discuss with the water committees the options we laid out. There have been some interesting things from an engineering standpoint. We have been forced to do some research on the feritilizers the village farmers use on their cocoa trees and their infiltration into the water table. We have looked at the effectiveness of biosand filters to treat this. We have also designed a system that requires a pump. We did much investigating of water pumps and previous systems which required a pump. It has been very interesting and taught me a lot. Very fun enginerding.

We have enjoyed many meals with families in Kumba. Everyone insists on either taking us out for dinner or having us over. They take a lot of pride in their hospitality. It is incredible how welcome people make you feel. It is especially overwhelming when people who do not have much take such pride in their small compounds and offer up a wonderful meal. We have eaten at the director of RUDEC's house twice and both have been very nice. It is fun trying all of the different versions of each African dish.

The UD immersion group arrived yesterday in Kumba. This is a group of 18 students who stay in cameroon for 1 month and do lots of travelling. Dr Amin (the chair of the history department at UD) is from Kumba and brings the group every year and leads them. We went to the reception for them and helped serve their meal. It was fun to share the things we have learned about Cameroon so far. We will interact with them throughout the month and do some travelling.

"Would you like a ball to play with?"

Above: Shots of the Capital, the journey there, the National Football Stadium, a typical bar with people cooking food on the corner, and a picture of a very nice house that you see here and there.

This past week was very very busy as we traveled everyday but Sunday. We made trips to various cities around Kumba and the capital dealing with some issues with our visa. It has been frustrating but I think its going to work out. In the process, however, we have gotten to see much of the countryside via long bus trips, see the capital, and have some good bonding.

We visited one village this week, Teke, but were unfortunately not able to get the surveying equipment. So we went and discussed our plans with the village's water committee, tested the water source's flow rate, and gave them a path to clear for when we come to survey. We will go sometime next week to finish the survey.

We have been working on the designs and reports for the previous villages we visited. The first village we are having issues with the lack of water the source is providing and are researching Biosand filters from wells as another option. For 2nd village, it appears they would need a pump (which a wealthy member of the village says he wants, regardless of the price). So we spent Friday in the office analyzing what kind of pump, size of storage tank, how long the pump would have to run and the effects of the pump in the system. Yes a bunch of nerdy stuff. But it was quite fun and challenging.

Last evening, Mark and I were throwing the frisbee in our compound and our neighbor was outside taking laundry off of the line and asked us if we would like a ball to play with. She had never seen a frisbee before and thought we were using something makeshift. It was quite humorous. She eventually agreed to play with us and caught on pretty fast.

We are heading to the market this morning to go shopping then watching Cameroon play. A must win for them. We watched the US match and then the England match very intensely yesterday. It was a lot of fun, despite that goal being taken back ( soooo sad).